Senior conflict prevention and stabilization specialist with expertise in community engagement, strengthening women’s roles in peace and security, and countering violent extremism.

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Mehreen Farooq (“She, her”) specializes in inclusive community development through designing and implementing collective impact initiatives that apply gender and social inclusion, religious and faith-based engagement, and positive youth development that result in resilient and vibrant communities.

Through Community Development Insights, LLC, Mehreen brings more than 15 years of technical expertise providing governmental and non-governmental actors with needs assessments, community engagement, strategic guidance for project implementation, and training to improve public policy and programming.

As a Part-Time Faculty at George Washington University and previously an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, she offers graduate and undergraduate courses on “Conflict and Conflict Resolution,” “Community-Based Terrorism Prevention,” and “Women and Violent Extremism.”

Previously, from 2018-2025, Ms. Farooq served as the Governance Technical Expert at Counterpart International, a non-profit international development organization, where she supported multiple work streams across a diverse and wide-ranging portfolio of governance, food security and women’s empowerment programs worth over $200M. She led learning and knowledge management efforts for the organization, along with product development — establishing, for example, a comprehensive gender analysis toolkit for work in fragile and conflict affected environments. She has also supported proposal development, and successfully led the design and supported implementation of Women, Peace, and Security programs in the Sahel, and exchanged learning through actively participating in the U.S. Civil Society Working Group on Women Peace and Security - a longstanding community of practice hosted by the United States Institute of Peace (USIP).

As a thought leader, Ms. Farooq has presented lessons learned through numerous convenings and conferences hosted by the U.S. Department of State’s Global Women’s Initiatives office (S/GWI), United States Agency for International Development, USIP, the Alliance for Peacebuilding, the Society for International Development, International Stabilization Operations Association.

From 2010-2018, Ms. Farooq served as the Vice President and Senior Fellow of the World Organization for Resource Development and Education (WORDE), where she led policy analysis, research, and programming to enhance the capacity of civil society organizations to promote peace and security. She led field-based research across South and Central Asia to identify drivers of conflict and opportunities for building strong, resilient communities. Applying international best practices, she helped establish the first evidence-based community-led program in the United States to build resilience against radicalization.

Ms. Farooq has advised and conducted briefings at the United Nations (Geneva) and with US Embassies in Macedonia, Tunisia, Slovenia, and Germany. Domestic engagements included briefings for the Department of Defense, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Defense Intelligence Agency, National Defense University, National Counterterrorism Center, Foreign Service Institute, State Department’s Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications / Global Engagement Center, Af-Pak Interagency Task Force, and policymakers in the Congressional Anti-Terror Caucus.

Ms. Farooq has also worked with the University of Maryland’s Center for Health and Homeland Security and McGill University’s Institute for Health and Social Policy.

She received her Master of Arts in International Affairs (magna cum laude) from American University, Washington, D.C., and her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science (cum laude) from Christopher Newport University, Virginia.