Rashad Nimr is a Crisis, Stabilization and Governance Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). He has experience in peacebuilding, violence prevention, social inclusion, and human rights. Most recently, he was the Inclusive Peacebuilding Advisor in USAID’s Center for Conflict and Violence Prevention where he focused on youth engagement, disability inclusion, and LGBTQI+ rights to address issues of fragility and conflict. Prior to his work with USAID, Rashad worked in various development and humanitarian organizations. Most notably, he founded and led Kaizen’s Gender and Inclusion Practice, which worked both programmatically and internally to mainstream principles of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility into its operations. Rashad also worked with Save the Children US to conduct its first baseline assessment of gender and inclusion integration across its entire portfolio. He has also supported the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in understanding effective approaches to conflict analysis for rapid response in emergency contexts, and worked with a Philadelphia-based refugee resettlement organization.

He has a Masters in International Development and Humanitarian Emergencies from the London School of Economics and a Bachelors in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Pennsylvania with certificates in civic engagement, global human rights, and LGBT health. He identifies as a Palestinian-American, a member of the LGBTQI+ community, and a proud stutterer.