Elizabeth Powley is an independent consultant in gender and post-conflict reconstruction, with more than fifteen years of experience in non-profit leadership and program development. She has worked extensively on issues of governance and political participation in sub-Saharan Africa. Elizabeth lived in Rwanda for two years as director of the Institute for Inclusive Security’s Rwanda Project, which provided technical and financial support to Rwanda’s women parliamentarians. An experienced educator, she has designed curricula and conducted leadership training for civil society activists in more than a dozen developing countries.  Elizabeth is an adjunct professor at several institutions, including DePaul University in Chicago, where she teaches a graduate-level course in gender, cross-cultural  communication, and post-conflict development. She is also the founder and executive director of a non-profit organization, Every Child is My Child, which funds scholarships for students in Burundi and Rwanda. Elizabeth earned her Bachelor’s degree at Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa and holds a Master’s degree from American University’s School of International Service in Washington, DC.