Carla Koppell is a Distinguished Fellow at the Georgetown University Institute for Women, Peace and Security. She was previously the Vice President for the Center for Applied Conflict Transformation at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP). Before joining USIP, Koppell served as Chief Strategy Officer for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) where she focused on increasing Agency-wide transparency, accountability, collaboration and communications. Prior to serving as CSO, Koppell served as USAID’s first senior coordinator for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment and as a senior advisor to the USAID Administrator.
 
Koppell brings to the position twenty-five years of experience working in a wide range of sectors for public, private and non-governmental organizations internationally. Prior to joining USAID, Koppell directed The Institute for Inclusive Security and the Washington, D.C. office of Hunt Alternatives Fund. She also was a senior advisor and, prior to that, interim director of the Conflict Prevention Project at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Earlier in her career, she worked for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
 
Koppell received her M.A. in public policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and her B.S. from Cornell University.