Emma DeSouza is a writer, campaigner and peacebuilder. She took forward a high profile court case against the UK government in relation to the Good Friday Agreement that resulted in significant changes to UK immigration law, bringing legislation in line with the Agreement and providing access to EU family reunion rights. Following this Emma led in the creation of the first All-island Women’s forum, acting as Chair and facilitator 2021-22. She is the Founder and Co-facilitator of Northern Ireland’s Civic Initiative, a new civic-led participatory structure launched in 2023, Vice-Chair of Votingrights.ie, and sits on the Board of Directors at 50:50NI.
Emma works in the area of constitutional law and human rights. As a journalist, she is a regular contributor to the Irish Times and several other publications including the Irish Examiner, Byline Times, and Open Democracy. She is currently working on her first book about Northern Ireland’s ‘Peace Babies’.
Emily Sparkman is the Senior Program Manager for the Forum on Asia-Pacific Security at the National Committee on American Foreign Policy, where she manages the organization’s Track I 1/2 and Track II dialogues on security issues in the Asia-Pacific, including U.S.-China Relations and alliance relations.
Before joining NCAFP, Emily was a Project Manager with the National Bureau of Asian Research in Washington, DC, where she oversaw major events for President’s Circle and research teams. Emily is a member of the National Committee on US-China Relations and a 2024 Kim Koo Fellow. She received her M.A. in Asian Studies from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and her B.A. in Humanities and Chinese Language from the University of Texas at Austin.
Nia Williams is a Program Manager for the Forum on Asia-Pacific Security at the National Committee on American Foreign Policy, where she manages the FAPS’ Emerging Leaders Program and supports the organization’s public events, programs, conferences, and Track I ½ and Track II dialogues.
Before joining the National Committee, she interned at the Pew Research Center. She earned her B.A. in International Politics and Economics from Middlebury College.
Amanda Ghanooni is a Senior Program Manager at the National Committee on American Foreign Policy. She supports public programming, donor relations and communications, and serves as the liaison for the Board of Trustees.
Before joining NCAFP, Amanda was a program associate at Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, where she managed operations, program engagement, and international fellows conferences for Carnegie New Leaders and the Asia Dialogues program (2015-2020). Her additional work experiences include event coordination and research at The New School, NYC Department of Education, and a private geopolitical risk analysis firm.
Amanda participated as a Kim Koo Fellow at The Korea Society, served on the Young Patrons Council for Off-The-Record foreign policy forum, and was an Aspen Institute Socrates scholarship recipient. She holds an M.A. in International Affairs from The New School and a B.A. from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Her research has focused on U.S. media, political polarization, and climate change.
Shaina Katz is the Program Development Officer at NCAFP, where she supports the Northern Ireland Emerging Leaders program, annual gala, public programs, Board of Trustees and donor relations, as well as communications.
Shaina was the Managing Editor for Communications at The Washington Institute from 2020-2023. Previously, she was a 2019-2020 Research Assistant with the Institute’s Fikra Forum.
Shaina graduated from Appalachian State University where she participated in the Critical Language Scholarship in Morocco and studied abroad at the University of Haifa and Kingston University London. While at the University of Haifa, Shaina interned at the first rehabilitation facility for prisoners in Israel. More recently, Shaina interned at the Jordanian Information Bureau at the Embassy of Jordan and the Middle East Institute.
