Key Personnel
Managing Board
Dr. Paul R. Williams, President & Founder, Washington, DC
Dr. Williams is the President of PILPG and the Director of PILPG’s Peace Negotiations and Post-Conflict Constitutions Practice Areas. He is also the Rebecca I. Grazier Professor of Law and International Relations at American University. Dr. Williams formerly served as an Attorney-Advisor with the U.S. Department of State and as a Senior Associate with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Michael P. Scharf, Managing Director, Cleveland, OH
Professor Scharf is one of PILPG’s Managing Directors and the Director of PILPG’s War Crimes Practice Area. Professor Scharf also directs the Frederick K. Cox Center for International Law at Case Western Reserve School of Law and is a former Attorney-Advisor with the U.S. Department of State.
James R. Hooper, Managing Director, Washington, DC
Mr. Hooper is one of PILPG’s Managing Directors and the Director of PILPG’s Policy Planning Practice Area. He is a former Foreign Service Officer with over twenty-five years of experience in the Middle East and the Balkans. He is also the former Director of the Washington office of the International Crisis Group and was a founder and General Manager of Radio Sawa.
Legal Counsel
Meghan E. Stewart, Vice President, Senior Counsel, Washington, DC
Ms. Stewart is the Director of PILPG’s Burma and Zimbabwe programs and is the Co-Director of PILPG’s Water Diplomacy Practice Area. She formerly served with the ABA CEELI in Almaty, Kazakhstan and with the international humanitarian organization CARE.
Megan E. Corrado, Counsel, Washington, DC
Ms. Corrado is the Director of PILPG’s Yemen program. She previously served as a legal fellow with Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, and has experience working in the Office of the Secretary at the United States Department of Defense, the United States Congress, and the British Parliament.
Brett Ashley Edwards, Director of Pro Bono, Pro Bono Counsel, San Francisco, CA
Ms. Edwards directs PILPG’s $9 million pro bono program with PILPG’s law firm partners. She previously worked with the United Nations in its Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
Marieke de Hoon, Senior Counsel, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Ms. De Hoon, a Dutch national, is the Co-Director of PILPG’s Netherlands Office. She also holds a research position at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
Vanessa Jiménez, Senior Counsel, Washington, DC
Ms. Jiménez is the Director of PILPG’s South Sudan program. She was formerly with Human Rights Watch, the Indian Law Resource Center, and the law firm of Skadden Arps.
Michael Kovaka, Senior Counsel at PILPG and Chief of Party, Prishtina, Kosovo
Mr. Kovaka is Senior Counsel at PILPG and the Chief of Party for PILPG’s Kosovo program. He also serves as PILPG’s Legal Editor. Prior to joining PILPG he practiced for many years with Dow Lohnes PLLC, one of the nation’s preeminent communications law firms, where he served as a partner in the firm’s First Amendment practice.
Dr. Brianne McGonigle Leyh, Senior Counsel, Utrecht, Netherlands
Dr. McGonigle Leyh is the Co-Director of PILPG’s Netherlands Office. She also holds a research position with Utrecht University’s Netherlands Institute of Human Rights.
Bridget Rutherford, Senior Counsel, Washington, DC
Ms. Rutherford is the Director of PILPG’s Tanzania program. Ms. Rutherford was formerly with Shearman & Sterling LLP and has previous experience with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Vienna, Austria, and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training.
Matthew T. Simpson, Darfur Project Director, Doha, Qatar
Mr. Simpson, a Canadian national, directs PILPG’s Darfur program and is an accredited legal advisor to the Darfuri delegation at the Doha peace talks. He was formerly an attorney with Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP.
Anna Triponel, Senior Counsel, New York, NY
Ms. Triponel, a dual British/French national, is the Director of PILPG’s New York Office, and the Director of PILPG’s Kenya and Libya programs. She formerly served as an attorney with Jones Day and as a Legal Advisor for the World Bank.
Chiefs of Party
Lauren C. Baillie, Chief of Party, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Ms. Baillie is the Chief of Party for PILPG’s Tanzania program. She was formerly with the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC.
Dr. Valery Perry, Chief of Party, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Dr. Perry is the Chief of Party of PILPG’s program in Bosnia and Herzegovina. She previously worked with the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, the European Centre for Minority Issues, the NATO Stabilization Force, and a number of NGOs.
Staff
Rachel Jordan Gottfried, Special Assistant to the President, Washington, DC
Ms. Gottfried is the Special Assistant to PILPG’s President, Dr. Paul Williams. She previously worked with the University of Virginia Alumni Association and Driven Technologies.
Miya Nazzaro-Grampp, Development Director, Dallas, TX
Ms. Nazzaro-Grampp directs PILPG’s development initiatives and advises on operations. She also is a consultant with Our Voice! Consulting, which assists non-profit organizations in developing and refining their financial and growth strategies.
Peace Fellows
Nina Bang-Jensen, Senior Peace Fellow, Washington, DC
Ms. Nina Bang-Jensen is the founder and former Executive Director of the Coalition for International Justice.
Dr. Bruce Hitchner, Senior Peace Fellow, Boston, MA
Dr. Hitchner is the Chair of the Department of Classics at Tufts University and the Chairman of the Dayton Peace Accords Project.
Frederick Michael Lorenz, Senior Counsel, Seattle, WA
Mr. Lorenz is the Director of PILPG West, and the Co-Director of PILPG’s Water Diplomacy Practice Area. Mr. Lorenz is a former U.S. Marine Corps lawyer. He currently serves as a Senior Lecturer at the Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington, Seattle.
Vladimir Matic, Senior Peace Fellow, Clemson, SC
Mr. Matic is a Senior Lecturer and Visiting Professor at Clemson University. He is the former Deputy Foreign Minister of Yugoslavia.
Michael Newton, Senior Peace Fellow, Nashville, TN
Mr. Newton is the Director of PILPG’s Vanderbilt Program. He is a Professor of Law at Vanderbilt Law School. He previously served as an Associate Professor in the Department of Law, U.S. Military Academy, and in the Office of War Crimes Issues, U.S. Department of State.
Principal Affiliated Experts
Cynthia L. Ebbs, Affiliated Expert, New York, NY
Ms. Ebbs is an attorney with Dornbush Schaeffer Strongin & Venaglia, LLP. Previously, Ms. Ebbs served as an attorney with McDermott, Will & Emery LLP.
Chris Goebel, Affiliated Expert, Paris, France
Mr. Goebel is an attorney based in Paris, France, with Salans. He was previously with Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle LLP.
Jennifer P. Harris, Affiliated Expert, New York, NY
Ms. Harris is an attorney in the Global Finance Group at Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP.
Francesca Pecci, Affiliated Expert, New York, NY
Ms. Pecci, an Italian national, is a Political Affairs Officer at the Security Council Affairs division of the United Nations. Ms. Pecci also works with the UN Sanctions Committees on Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Louis D. Sell, Senior Peace Fellow, Washington, DC
Mr. Sell is a former Foreign Service Officer with over twenty-five years experience in the Balkans, the Caucasus, and Soviet/Russian relations. Mr. Sell also headed the Kosovo office of the International Crisis Group.
