Afeefa Syeed

Afeefa is a cultural anthropologist who served as Senior Advisor at the US Agency for International Development (USAID) where she worked with Washington-based and field staff to develop policy, define best practices, highlight success stories, and otherwise build internal capacity and tools to frame country strategies that reflect greater expertise in engaging in dynamic cultural contexts. 

Afeefa has advised the White House, NSC, Dept. of State, UN Democracy Fund, World Bank and various in-country government and non-governmental institutions on the same issues for communities in Europe, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Central Asia and Middle East and North Africa.  

She has been a Scholar Consultant for the Carter Center and is presently Research Associate with Cambridge University’s Institute on Religion & Global Affairs, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Global Engagement, Advisory Council Member for the Center for Women, Faith and Leadership and serves as a Board member for the UN Association of the National Capital Area where she focuses on bringing the Sustainable Development Goals home to the US. 

Her work includes religion and development, gender inclusion, countering extremism and integrating cultural context into development and diplomacy.

You can learn more about Afeefa here.