Michelle Barsa - Senior Advocate and Afghanistan Team Leader

Phone: 1.202.403.2000
Email: michelle_barsa at huntalternatives.org

Michelle Barsa is senior advocate and Afghanistan team leader at The Institute for Inclusive Security, where she focuses on expanding the role for women in Afghanistan's peace and reconstruction processes. At the Institute she works to promote women’s active participation in political reconciliation, reintegration and state-building processes. Further, Ms. Barsa leads training for all civilian and military personnel deployed to Provincial Reconstruction Teams in Afghanistan and consults the US Armed Services on development of pre-deployment training for Female Engagement Teams.

Previously, Ms. Barsa worked in Afghanistan as an emergency program manager with Catholic Relief Services. Prior to that, she worked in CRS's Jerusalem, West Bank & Gaza office and for the UN Peacekeeping Mission in Sudan. Michelle also has a background in community organizing, having worked for several years with a coalition of Latina street vendors in New York. Michelle holds an MA in gender and conflict from The Fletcher School at Tufts University, and a BS in finance and philosophy from Boston College.