Enrico Carisch is co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of CCSI. He co-implemented on behalf of Australia, Belgium, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden the development of the Best Practices Guide for Chairs and Members of UN Sanctions Committees (2020) that followed the High Level Review of UN sanctions (HLR), and the Assessment of Achievements, Challenges, and Opportunities resulting from the Recommendations of the HLR Compendium. He has co-developed UN system-wide sanctions training programs sponsored by Canada and other states and international organizations. He co-authored “The Evolution of UN Sanctions: From a Tool of Warfare to a Tool of Peace, Security and Human Rights.

Carisch served the United Nations Security Council as a financial and natural resources sanctions monitor prior to co-founding CCSI. He continues to lead and conduct research and capacity-building projects in conflict-affected regions, and frequently authors and co-authors implementation manuals for non-proliferation sanctions, sanctions implementation studies, books and articles. He currently leads sanctions implementation trainings for governments and industries around the world.

Selected Publications

Carisch Enrico; 聯合國對北韓制裁實施手冊 – 2019 年 3 月

Carisch Enrico, Mwongozo wa Utekelezaji wa Vikwazo vya Umoja wa Mataifa vilivyowekewa Korea Kaskazini – Machi 2019

Carisch, Enrico; Manual de implementação para sanções da ONU na Coreia do Norte – Março de 2019

Carisch, Enrico; Manuel d’application des sanctions des Nations Unies contre la Corée du Nord – Les défis qui confrontent les États Africains francophones; January 2019;

Carisch, Enrico; በሰሜን ኮሪያ ላይ የተጣሉ የተባበሩት መንግስታት ማዕቀቦች ትግበራ መመሪያ መጽሐፍ – የአፍሪካ አገሮችን የሚገጥሙ ተግዳሮቶች – መስከረም 2018

Carisch, Enrico, Implementation Handbook for UN Sanctions on North Korea – The Challenges faced by African States, November 2018 (Amharic, English and Swahili)

Carisch, Enrico, Rickard-Martin, Loraine, Meister Shawna; The Evolution of UN Sanctions: Form a Tool of Warfare to a Tool of Peace, Security and Human Rights; Springer; November 2017

Carisch, Enrico and Rickard-Martin, Loraine; United Nations Non-Proliferation Regimes on Iran and DPRK Regime; CCSI Publishing (ISBN-13: 978-0996926331); November 2015.

Carisch, Enrico; Congo’s Golden Web – The people, companies and countries that profit from the illegal trade in Congolese gold;
Southern African Resource Watch, Johannesburg – South Africa; November 2014.
Carisch, Enrico and Rickard-Martin, Loraine; United Nations Sanctions on Iran and North Korea: An Implementation Manual; International Peace Institute, New York – USA; March 2014

Carisch Enrico;;= The High Cost of Congolese Gold – Poverty, Abuse and the Collapse of Family and Community Structures; Southern African Resource Watch, Johannesburg – South Africa; 2013

Carisch, Enrico and Rickard-Martin, Loraine; Sanctions and the Effort to Globalize Natural Resources Governance; Friedrich Ebert Foundation, New York – USA; 2013

Carisch, Enrico; Conflict Gold to Criminal Gold – The New Face of Artisanal Gold Mining in Congo; Southern African Resource Watch; Johannesburg – South Africa; 2012

<Carisch, Enrico and Rickard-Martin, Loraine; a href=”” target=”_blank”> Global Threats and the Role of United Nations Sanctions; Friedrich Ebert Foundation, New York – USA; 2011

Carisch, Enrico; Institutional Responses to 9/11 in Terrornomics edited by David Gold, and Sean S Costigan, Ashgate Publishing Limited, London – UK (ISBN-13: 978-0754649953); 2007

Alba P. Delgado, from Honduras, has a Master’s Degree in Corporate Finance from the University of Valencia, Spain. Currently working with CCSI’s bookkeeping, budgeting, accounts payable and financial reports, Alba is interested not only in the business side of the company, but plans to also join CCSI’s thematic work on UN and international sanctions. She is particularly interested and engaged in fighting gender violence and protecting human rights.

Thayanjana Fernando is a senior information security and business continuity management professional who guides enterprises’ efforts as they mitigate digital security exposures in the areas of governance, risk, and compliance. She advises companies on building preventive and protective information and cyber security systems, for example by gaining ISO 27001 certification for information security, ISO 22301 for business continuity management and NIST for cyber security framework. She is a certified lead auditor and a lead implementer for the aforementioned ISO standards.

Ms. Fernando is based in Sri Lanka and serves the private sector in Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. In her managerial and senior advisory positions, she has also worked with some of the world’s top four accounting and security advisory firms. She has a postgraduate degree in cybersecurity and is conducting research on a vulnerability prioritization analysis tool as part of the MSc program in cybersecurity that she’s currently pursuing.

Dr. Seema Gahlaut has over 20 years of experience in research and analysis on a range of issues related to technology security (dual-use and military export controls, sanctions, supply chain security, international treaties, UNSC Resolutions, multilateral agreements, and compliance). She has leveraged this expertise while conducting  training and outreach to government officials and corporate leaders  in 70+ countries. She is a Member of Export Controls Expert Group (2008 – present) at the Council for Security and Cooperation in the Asia Pacific (CSCAP), and of the Working Group on CBRN in Women of Color Advancing Peace and Security (WCAPS). She was also a Co-Chair (2021-22) of Proliferation Finance Workstream, Association of Certified Anti Money-laundering Specialists (ACAMS).
Seema’s prior experience includes Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory [Lab Lead for International Nonproliferation Export Control Program (INECP)]; the Henry L. Stimson Center [Director, Strategic Trade Management Initiative (STMI), and Senior Fellow, Trade, Technology and Security Program (TTS)]; and  Center for International Trade and Security (CITS) at the University of Georgia [Assistant Director, Training and Outreach].
Seema has conducted training and outreach for governments and industry around theworld, under numerous projects funded by Departments of State (EXBS, CTR) and Energy (INECP and national labs), United States Institute of Peace, and private foundations (Carnegie Corporation, Ford Foundation, Smith Richardson, Rockefeller Fund, and Japan Center for Global Partnership).
Her training and organizational experience has included over 25 sessions of the Security and Strategic Trade Management Academy (SSTMA) between 2007 and 2021, funded by EXBS and designed for foreign government officials who are tasked with establishing national strategic trade management systems and complying with UNSCR 1540. In April 2021, she organized the first ever virtual SSTMA. More than 2000 officials from 70+ countries, including numerous EXBS advisors, have gone through the SSTMA trainings, and provided near-unanimous positive evaluations about the quality of content. Seema has also designed and conducted customized training to government officials and industry from China, the Dominican Republic, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Pakistan, Panama, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, UAE and Vietnam on STC, CBRN security and international sanctions.
In addition, Seema helped draft a 1540-relevant STC law for CARICOM countries, to utilize as a base for their individual legal adaptations. She has recently concluded a survey of 1540 Points of Contact and a series of interactions with Indian bio-scientists and industry, exploring post-COVID bio-security challenges and opportunities. She has participated in numerous discussions on the importance of government-industry and government- academia partnerships in regulating dual-use materials and technologies, especially with reference to intangible technology transfers.

Her current research focus is on the feasibility of multilateral standards on implementing sanctions and related issues of technology transfers and supply chain security. She is exploring how e-tools and blockchain technology can be harnessed to strengthen national and regional responses to STC and sanctions compliance in this regard.

Mark Jansson is Director, Global Business Development, focusing on partnerships and growth. His experience spans nonprofit business development, strategic planning, and program management. He has also organized international conferences, co-authored studies for government and private sector stakeholders, and published articles on numerous issues related to peace and security. Most recently, Mark worked in Uber’s Global Planning and Strategy division where he supported the development of company security policy. Prior to that, he held senior positions with internationally-focused research and cacapacity-building rganizations, including CRDF Global, the Federation of American Scientists, and the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Mark received his MA in Conflict Resolution from Georgetown University, a Master’s Certificate in World Religions, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution from George Mason University, and a BA in Criminal Justice from Roanoke College

Ms. Lyngdorf is Deputy to the Permanent Representative of Iceland to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. She was the Sanctions Coordinator on Sweden’s Security Council team in New York (2017-2018). She was in charge of Sweden‘s chairmanship of the Libya and Mali Sanctions Committees as well as Sweden‘s engagement in the ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida and the Taliban Sanctions Committees, the technical sanctions aspects of the 1718 (DPRK) Committee and horizontal sanctions matters in all other sanctions committees. She assisted committee members and non-Council members in navigating the procedures of the committees, particularly in terms of listings, delistings, exemptions and exceptions to arms embargoes, export bans on natural resources, travel bans, asset freezes, etc. She was also involved in negotiating mandate renewals related to sanctions and counter-terrorism.

Ms. Lyngdorf previously served as Senior Advisor at the Permanent Mission of Sweden in Geneva, Human Rights Expert at the Permanent Mission of Iceland in Geneva and as Legal Advisor and Election Officer at the Permanent Mission of Sweden in New York during Sweden’s Security Council campaign. Prior to joining the Swedish Mission, she worked as a Legal Officer in the UN Office of Legal Affairs (Codification Division), as a research associate on the DOMAC project (Impact of International Courts on Domestic Criminal Procedures in Mass Atrocity Cases) and as a human rights specialist at the Icelandic Human Rights Centre.

Shawna Meister has over 20 years expertise in managing projects, conducting evidence-based research, designing training, and delivering meaningful impact to people and communities. She has a background in international peace and security with specializations in the United Nations (UN), UN sanctions, and Africa and the Middle East regions. Additionally, she is trained in various sex, gender, equity, diversity, and inclusion areas, and ensures research, projects, and implementation activities reflect these important lenses. Providing expert training and implementation also have been a core component of Shawna’s career.

She has been a contributor to CCSI’s work since its establishment, including analyzing the impact and effectiveness of UN sanctions, examining non- proliferation sanctions, contributing to country training teams, and as a co-author of CCSI’s 2017 publication, The Evolution of UN Sanctions. She envisions a more secure world rooted in respect for human rights for all, equity, and sustainable security.

Nikos Passas is Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Northeastern University, Distinguished Lecturer in Financial Integrity at Case Western Reserve Law School, Distinguished Visiting Professor at Beijing Normal University, and Chair of the Academic Council of the Anti-Corruption Academy in India. He serves on the International Advisory Board of the Center for the Study of Democracy’s Regional Good Governance Public–Private Partnership Platform, Sofia, on the Advisory Board of the Global Risk Profile in Geneva, on the University of Birmingham Centre for Crime, Justice and Policing, and on the International Panel of Advisors of the Institute for Australia India Engagement, Brisbane. He served as Team Leader for a European Union Commission project on financial vigilance and effective implementation of sanctions against proliferation and WMD finance. For 14 years, he served as editor-in-chief of the international journal Crime, Law and Social Change and is associate editor for a number of journals. He has published more than 240 articles, book chapters, reports and books in 15 languages. His current work focuses on illicit trade in falsified medical products, corruption, trade-based financial crime and illicit flows.

Selected Publications

Loraine Rickard-Martin is co-founder and Chair of the Board of Directors of Compliance and Capacity Skills International (CCSI) and Executive Director of CCSI Women. As Board Chair, she provides strategic support and oversight of CCSI’s training programs on compliance with sanctions, strategic trade control and other public and private sector security issues, with an emphasis on women’s leadership in international security. As CCSI Women’s Executive Director, she works to support women international security professionals, to increase their competence through training, and their impact on international peace and security and related economic growth.

As CCSI’s CEO, she co-managed the first United Nations system-wide training on sanctions compliance and implementation (2011-2012) funded by the Government of Canada; co-managed sanctions reform processes such as the High-Level Review of United Nations Sanctions (2915), the follow-on Assessment of the HLR (2017); and co-implemented of the Best Practices Guide for Chairs and Members of UN Sanctions Committees (2018 and 2020), that includes guidance and policy on Gender Equality and UN Sanctions, specifically the risks of limiting UN sanctions to Conflict Related Sexual Violence (CRSV), gender competence in the UN sanctions system; and improving UN sanctions to prevent gender-related threats and violence more effectively.

She implemented the “Workshop on Sanctions and Gender” held in Nairobi in 2019, funded by Global Affairs Canada(GAC) and the Government of the Netherlands. She advised the African Union’s Peace and Security Council on sanctions issues with the drafting of an AU sanctions manual (2012).

Prior to co-founding CCSI in 2011, she served the United Nations for over three decades, including 15 years as senior political affairs officer and sanctions committee secretary in the Security Council Affairs Division of the Department of Political Affairs, New York, advising sanctions committee chairs and members, supporting teams of sanctions monitors, and participating in reform processes to refine the sanctions tool.

She was Secretary of the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change (2003-2004). She lectured on United Nations sanctions at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) and taught an intensive ten-week course for diplomats at Columbia University (2010-2013). She is the co-author with Enrico Carisch and Shawna Meister of “The Evolution of UN Sanctions: From a Tool of Warfare to a Tool of Peace, Security and Human Rights” (2017), and has co-authored other articles and publications on international sanctions, including, most recently, “United Nations Sanctions – Through Gender Lens” in “Multilateral Sanctions Dissected: Lessons Learned from Margaret Doxey”, Andrea Charron and Clara Portela, eds., (McGill Queens UP, 2021).

Durra Sahtout is a digital strategy consultant and IT engineer with critical thinking, and multi-domain expertise. Durra is passionate about digital transformation, business processes digitization, emerging technologies, and the digital value chain. In her work with CCSI, she has participated as a cybersecurity and digital transformation expert in multiple capacity-building projects on compliance and security in different sectors, especially financial and maritime, addressing both private and public actors.

She provided training and training materials in over 50 countries around the world, on optimizing the transformation process, complying with digital-related international regulations and industrial standards, as well as analyzing risks and opportunities in cyber space.

Durra has participated with CCSI/CRDF in the following GAC sponsored efforts: Workshop for Southeast Asia Central Bank and Resilience against DPRK Office 39 in March 2022, Kuala Lumpur; Mongolia/Central Asia Workshop on DPRK sanctions delivered in late July 2022 in Ulanbator;Latin-America/Caribbean Financial Professionals Study Week in Washington, DC in August 2023

She is a native Arabic speaker and is fluent in French and English. She holds a BS in Information Technology Engineering from Damascus University (Damascus, Syria) and Master’s Degrees in Consulting in Organisation, Strategy and Information Systems and in Innovation, Enterprise &amp; Society from the Institut Polytechnique de Paris (Paris, France).

Francisca Simiyu is based in the Port of Mombasa and leads a team of Kenyan maritime border security detection specialists charged with deterring the illegal transportation of CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear) materials.  She recently joined a team of East African Community partner states as an instructor for Chemical Warfare Agents and Toxic Industrial Agents.

She works with the Kenya Nuclear and Regulatory Authority in performing radiological investigation, identification, and guidance concerning isotopes on flagged consignments and is a seasoned trainer and mentor on CBRN border security checks and compliance based on practical maritime border detection and deterrence.

She also collaborates with other local agencies responsible for border checks for chemical and biological shipments. In doing so, she provides the port community with biological materials sensitization  related to health and safety, communicates with health agencies about events and situations of potentially harmful conditions, observes safety rules and procedures during sample collection of shipments, and in cases of accidents, keeps the scene of the accident under control to minimize potential threats

As part of her role to strengthen the Kenya Megaports Initiative, Ms. Simiyu enjoys close working relationships with the US Department of Energy, its National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), and its Office of Nuclear Smuggling Detection and Deterrence (NSDD). The initiative aims to strengthen foreign countries’ capabilities to deter, detect, and interdict the illicit smuggling of nuclear and radioactive materials across international borders.

She is a graduate of the Technical University of Mombasa (Kenya) and has taken Radiological Detection and Monitoring Training of Trainers (TOT) at the  Nuclear Joint Research Center Karlsruhe (Germany) and has undergone training on bio-safety/ biosecurity by the Public Health Agency (Canada).

Cheryl H. Stoute, a national of Trinidad and Tobago, was a Staff Member of the United Nations for thirty-eight years, until she retired in 2006. In the last decade of her career, Ms. Stoute served as Chief of Office and Special Assistant of the Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs and subsequently as Chief of the Disarmament and Decolonization Affairs Branch in the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management. During this period, Ms. Stoute was also assigned to the posts of Secretary of the United Nations Disarmament Commission, and from 2004 as Secretary of the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security Committee) of the UN General Assembly.

During her career, Ms. Stoute has also served, inter alia, as: Secretary of several international conferences – in Berlin, Beijing, Bangkok, Geneva, Graz, Lima, Nairobi, Paris, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Stockholm, Vienna and Windhoek, as well as at UN Headquarters in New York – on Disarmament, Climate Change, Anti-Personnel Landmines, Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, Gender Mainstreaming in UN Peacekeeping Operations and Decolonization. She was the Secretary and Coordinator of the United Nations/People’s Republic of China Joint Conference on “A Disarmament Agenda for the 21st Century,” held in Beijing in 2002.

Ms. Stoute has represented the United Nations at international meetings in Washington, D.C., The Hague, at the “Appeal for Peace” Conference (the largest international peace conference in history – organized by Civil Society); and the “Women’s Empowerment in the Context of Human Security” Workshop, held in Bangkok. She served in Namibia for a year as the Deputy Head of an Electoral Centre and Deputy Director of a Regional Centre, during that country’s independence process in 1989/1990.

Over the years, she has been elected and/or nominated to the United Nations Staff Council, the Appointment and Promotion Committee, the Central Examination Board, the Specialized Board (Political) on External Examinations and the Staff/Management Joint Appeals Board, where she served as a Chairperson. She was selected by the Under-Secretary-General to be the Department for Disarmament Affairs’ Focal Point on Gender Mainstreaming in the United Nations. She initiated and coordinated the UN’s first Gender Mainstreaming Action Plan, which sought to identify ways and opportunities to simultaneously work for disarmament and gender equality. She was also the Department’s Liaison for both the Gender and the Disarmament NGO communities, as well as for its interaction with Civil Society.

Ms. Stoute was the President of the Group on Equal Rights for Women at the United Nations for three terms, the limit. She served as Senior Adviser to subsequent Presidents and hosted, at the annual conferences on International Women’s Day, dignitaries such as US First Ladies Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush, President Mary Robinson of Ireland and Ms. Bella Abzug, with whom she co-chaired one of the Conferences.

Following her retirement, Ms. Stoute returned to the United Nations and served for several years as Secretary of the Joint Appeals Board. She also served as a Member of the Board of Trustees and, subsequently, as Chairperson of the Board, of the Urban Resource Institute, a New York-based, multi-million dollar non-profit Organization dealing with battered women. She currently sits on several Boards in Trinidad and Tobago.

Ms. Stoute holds a BA and MA (Honors) in Economics.

Caterina Ventura is an international lawyer with extensive experience in a range of political, economic and human rights issues, at The Hague, in the United Nations, Human Rights and Economic Law Division, in the Canadian Human Rights Commission, and the Ontario Human Rights Commission. She served in Global Affairs Canada in a variety of positions from 1999 to 2021, recently as High Commissioner to Brunei, where she was responsible for country policy and programming coherence on trade, political and public affairs, consular and administration.

As Senior Adviser, Partnerships for Development Innovation Branch, she was engaged in the development of the Department’s Innovation for Development policy and led its implementation through connecting social impact entrepreneurs with investors in order to provide needed goods and services to countries in development.

While representing the Government of Canada at the United Nations, she formulated political strategies and advanced and promoted Canadian policies, priorities and interests on the Middle-East, Asia, counter-terrorism, and sanctions. She facilitated collaboration among the UN Secretariat, member states and stakeholders to advance common objectives, participated in and chaired negotiations and provided the Government with timely, quality reporting and analysis on high profile, often controversial Security Council and General Assembly issues including Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Iraq and Israel/Palestine.

She was instrumental in facilitating the Canadian Government’s sponsorship of the first UN system-wide training on sanctions monitoring and implementation,
implemented by CCSI in 2012-2013

Thomas W. Bifwoli is Chief Executive Officer of CCSI Africa. He is currently on unpaid sabbatical leave. A senior customs and border management expert who has served the Kenya Revenue Authority, as coordinator of UN sanctions monitoring groups, and as chief of the World Customs Organization’s Regional Intelligence Liaison Office for Eastern and Southern Africa (WCO – RILO ESA), Mr. Bifwoli is a seasoned trainer and mentor to law enforcement and border control organizations. As an experienced practitioner, his teaching and training are based on practical and effective customs control and management practices. He has also consulted for the IMF and the WCO, led training and field operations in, among others, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, and Tanzania, on behalf of the international funding agencies of the African Development Bank, Canada, the UK and the US . Mr. Bifwoli holds a Master’s degree in public policy from the Strathmore Business School (Kenya) and a Bachelor’s in Education and Mathematics from Kenyatta University (Kenya). In his spare time, he practices the duathlon, having qualified to represent his country in the world multisport championships.

Ambassador Danielsson served as Head of Secretariat of the Wassenaar Arrangement on Export Control for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies for ten years. He was elected unanimously to this post in June 2002 and re-elected in December 2005 and in December 2009. He resigned from that position in June 2012 after completing his last mandate.

He has occupied a number of functions in the Swedish Foreign Service. From 1992 to 1997 he was the first Swedish Ambassador to Croatia and he also de facto covered Bosnia and Hercegovina from 1992 to 1996. During this time his responsibilities included liaison with the UN operations in former Yugoslavia, refugees and humanitarian assistance. Before this, he served as Assistant Under-Secretary for Human Rights, Treaties and Public Law in the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. As Counsellor at the Swedish Mission to the UN in New York 1983 to 1987 he worked with matters relating to disarmament, arms control and international security. Before this he was responsible for outer space matters in the Swedish Foreign Ministry. His other postings include the Swedish Embassies in Ankara and London in the 1970s.

During the Swedish Presidency of the EU in 2001 he was appointed Ambassador in the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Special Negotiator on Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) with the task of coordinating and representing the European Union at the United Nations Conference on SALW and in the negotiations on the United Nations Firearms Protocol. From 1998 to 2000 he was seconded to the OSCE Secretariat in Vienna to develop a strategy for capacity-building and training. Before being elected to the post as Head of the Wassenaar Arrangement Secretariat he worked in the European Commission on issues relating to conflict prevention and crisis management in Directorate General RELEX.

Ambassador Danielsson works as an independent consultant with governments, international organisations and industry promoting strategic trade controls and non- proliferation of sensitive products. In this capacity he has provided expert advice in the framework of relevant bilateral and regional programs of the US and the EU, in particular in South East Asia and the Caribbean, relating to the control of exports of arms and dual-use goods and technology.

Dr. Saurabh Durra Chowdhury has a unique combination of professional and academic exposure in semiconductor manufacturing as well as in nonproliferation security studies. While pursuing first an MA in Nonproliferation studies at Monterey Institute of International Studies (Middlebury College), followed by a PhD in Defense Studies at King’s College London on India’s nuclear testing decisions, he served for the past 20 years in senior management positions with the semiconductor wafer fabrication and equipment industry.
Dr. Chowdhury is a seasoned manager with over twenty years of yield enhancement, technology development, operations, and business development experience in the semiconductor wafer fabrication and equipment industry. He served over the past ten years in management at leading IDMs across functional environments interacting with device, integration, module, packaging and equipment teams.                                                                                                                                                        Dr. Chowdhury has broad experience in emerging technologies of wide band gap Power MOSFETs based on Gallium Nitride and is currently working with Power Integrations (NASDAQ: POWI) after his employment at UCSB based startup Transphorm (now public NASDAQ: TGAN). He is involved in joint venture partnerships in Germany and Japan as well as managing leading US based wide bandgap foundry on behalf of his current employer.
He has prior experience for over a decade in mixed signal BiCMOS technologies based on Silicon for Power and RF application; heterogenous packaging experience using TSV (thru silicon Via) and RDL (Redistribution layers for Chip scale packaging) at Maxim Integrated Products (now part of Analog Devices); and CMOS technology development and transfer to manufacturing at 90 nm and 65nm based on 193nm DUV ArF Lithogrpahy in the context of SRAMs at Cypress (now part of Infineon).
He started career over twenty-five years ago at Applied Materials, a leading frontend semiconductor fabrication maker involving customers in Taiwan, South Korea, US and Japan.

He is currently a member of the Technical Committee at Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Conference (ASMC) hosted by SEMI

Technical education:

BS Physics/CS The University of the South-Sewanee (fully funded 3-year university scholarship)
MEng Microelectronics Eng Rochester Inst of Technology (fully funded SRC Fellowship)

MBA Santa Clara University funded by employer-Applied Materials

PLD at Harvard Business School funded by employer-Maxim Integrated Products

Nonproliferation education:

MA in Nonproliferation at Monterey Institute of International Studies (Middlebury College) part time
PhD Defense Studies at King’s College London, part time-thesis Indian nuclear testing decisions

Academic affiliations:

Honorary Visiting Fellow, The University of Leicester- Dept of International Relations

Honorary Adjunct Professor, Strategic Studies National Institute of Advanced Studies-IISc BangaloreBook publication:

Indian Nuclear Testing Decisions: A Foreign Policy Analysis Based Model –Under review with Routledge (passed review of four chapters). PhD thesis

Publications:

“India’s semiconductor mission might need a compass” (Published in The Hindu on April 1, 2023)

Fereshteh Forough was born a refugee in Iran after her family fled Afghanistan because of the Soviet invasion. Despite the family’s circumstances, her parents instilled in her and her siblings the value of education from an early age. Her mother sewed clothing to sell in order to earn money to buy school supplies for the children. When she was a teen, the Taliban regime collapsed and she and her family moved back to Herat, Afghanistan. After returning to Herat, she earned her Bachelor’s in Computer Science. She later earned her Master’s from Technical University of Berlin in Germany. She returned to Herat University to join the Computer Science faculty, where she taught for almost three years. In 2015, she established Code to Inspire, the first computer coding school for girls in Afghanistan. Leading all aspects of operations and fundraising remotely, CTI educated more than 250 students so far in coding and graphic design classes. Ms. Forough remains focused on a vision of a future for her homeland where young women play a prominent role in the economy and future success.

Code <to> Inspire

Success stories from our graduates:

Parima Faqiri

iOS and Android Mobile App Developer ( Class 2018-2020 )

There was something I could never imagine – getting a job from my technical skills. Lack of opportunities for women in my city and Afghanistan is a big pushback for women to join the tech sector.

When I enrolled at CTI to become a mobile application developer, I was excited to be in a safe place where I can express myself without being criticized and always encouraged.

I was able to develop a mobile app for the Afghanistan Traffic department. Many people downloaded the app and provided insightful feedback and also encouraged me to make more apps.

After I grated from CTI, with their support I got introduced to a startup in the US to help them with their upcoming mobile project. It is my first paid job and I am so proud of myself to be on the path of financial independence and supporting my family.

CTI is my home and I am so grateful for their support.

A documentary video of Parima

Farahnaz Osmani

Graphic Design Department ( Class 2017-2019 )

Farahnaz Osmani is one of our top graduates from Graphic Design class. Her dedication, creativity and hard work inspired us to hire her as Code to Inspire graphic design mentor and set an example to the other students to be a role model.

Farahnaz says: “Since I was a child I had a deep interest in art and creativity.
When I just enrolled in the university, I learned about CTI and its graphic design class.
During my studies at CTI I found it as an ideal place for any female student who wants to grow without hesitation and fear.

CTI provided any resources in their capacity to improve our skills. When I asked for a digital pen to do a digital art project, without hesitation school management provided me one. I managed to deliver several paid outsourcing projects for the first time in my life for clients in the US, Europe and Afghanistan.

A video of Farahnaz teaching in class

Arezo Akrami

Web Designer (Class 2015-2017)

Arezo Akrami knew very little about computers when she learned about Code to Inspire. The daughter of merchants and one of five children living in Afghanistan, the high school student enrolled in CTI’s Web Development/Web Design class and fell in love with programming and CTI’s safe and welcoming environment. Two years later, she graduated from the CTI program and launched a freelance web development business. The early days were tough, but Arzo landed a project to create a website for a nonprofit organization in Herat. The organization loved her work and hired her as an employee to provide web development services.

“The first ever salary I received through my coding skills was an unforgettable feeling. I was jumping around and wanted to fly,” Arzo said. “I am so happy that I can make money by myself and I am so grateful to CTI for helping to make this happen.”

Website she developed:

Mahtab Saffron Company
RESCUE THE AFGHANISTAN PEOPLE ORGANIZATION (RAPO)

Links to articles:

Inverse
Document Journal
Coinbase

Ms. Grejs Gjergji is an expert in the application of international law to multilateral and international frameworks for peace and security. As a native of Albania, Ms. Gjergji is engaged in civil society efforts and public policy developments for equitable governance capacities, human and gender rights in the Western Balkan countries. She has supported the preparation of legal and foreign policy advice to the President of the Assembly of Kosovo, assisted Albania’s utility company with compliance and regulatory applications, after she had served the Gender Alliance for Development of Albania, and supported Albania’s eventual integration into the European Union.

Coinciding with her interests in promoting human/gender rights and security, she is participating in and advising CCSI programs that support national legal implementation processes of relevant UN and other international instruments, sanctions, and strategic trade control frameworks that advance the collective security system.

Ms. Gjergji has a Masters of Arts in European Law and Human Rights Systems from the University of Panthéon-Sorbonne, France, and an Advanced Master of Arts in European Interdisciplinary Studies from the College  of  Europe,  Natolin,  Poland, and has also interned with the Energy Community Secretariat in Vienna, Austria and the Economic Intelligence Department of the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Agency (EADS).

Mr. Lutin serves as Chairman of The Shareholder Forum, which supports investor interests in the responsible corporate management of capital to produce goods and services. Prior to initiating the Forum programs in 1999, with the CFA Society of New York (then called the New York Society of Security Analysts), he had been the lead investor in acquisitions of companies with the management oversight of J. Keith Louden, a prominent business leader and advocate of responsible corporate management during the decades of global industrial development following World War II. Mr. Lutin founded what became the leading U.S. investment bank for growing industrial companies when he was 28 years old, after working at Manufacturers Hanover Trust, Weeden & Company, the Committee for Economic Development, and Salomon Bros. & Hutzler.

Ms. Olinda Mabunda is currently researching the security provisions at Africa’s major sea ports, especially how well public institutions are prepared to prevent or protect against attacks or sanctions violations by international proliferators of WMD.
As a Peace, Conflict, and Security professional with experience in peacebuilding, mediation, and conflict analysis and as a Legal Assistant at the Instituto do Patrocínio e Assistência Jurídica in Maputo, Mozambique, she has implemented human security programs, for example where she mediated local conflict parties while also organizing human rights education workshops in underserved communities. Her mediation and peace building experience extends internationally, for example to her role as a Neighborhood Revitalization Coordinator at Tri-County Community Action in Harrisburg, USA, where she worked on Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) projects through a Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) Grant
Her research interests range from general human security frameworks to counter-terrorism research in Mozambique’s Cabo Del Gado province and related peacebuilding strategies, and restorative justice management of regions with natural resource endowments with exposure to violence.
In addition to her BA in Peace and Conflict Studies, with a minor in Education and TESOL from Messiah University in Mechanicsburg, USA, she is currently also pursuing her Masters Degree in Global Leadership and Peacebuilding at King’s College London, African Leadership Center.

Eizabeth Okoth, or Liz, is a Public Health Specialist and a Senior Consultant. Liz has expertise, with over 20 years’ experience, in designing, implementing, managing, training, mentorship, and consulting in areas of sexual and gender-based violence, human rights, HIV programing and rights, sexual reproductive health and rights, youth and women empowerment, social-behavioral research, institutional systems strengthening, and grant management. Liz has presented papers focused on the above thematic areas in international forums to influence policy and practice including in forums held in Paris, Seattle, Nairobi, Amsterdam, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Dar-es-salaam and Lilongwe. Liz is talented in stakeholder engagement and has led national program adaptation initiatives working with the Ministries of Health and Education, UNICEF, US Government Agencies, communities and local partners.
Liz holds a Master of Public Health Degree from the University of Ghana, and Bachelor of Science Degree from Egerton University-Kenya. She’s a Project Management Trainer, with a Training of Trainers certificate in Project-DPro (a globally recognized project management certification for development professionals).
Elizabeth has consulted for the World Health Organization (WHO) in a Technical Assistance mechanism for Adolescent and Youth Sexual reproductive health and rights in Kenya. She has also consulted for American Jewish World Service and Citizen’s Advancement Initiative, as a principal investigator in a study for “Adolescents Girls with Disability (AGWD) Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR)” in Kenya. She also consulted for Plan International and the Ministry of Health in the Development of a comprehensive school health program. Liz currently consults for Grassroot Soccer-Adolescent Health Organization spearheading their programs and partnerships in the East Africa Region, and formerly in Malawi. She formerly worked for Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation where she served as a Senior Technical Advisor Pediatric and Adolescent Services in Kenya, and equally supported the programs in Malawi, Lesotho and Uganda. She also served in AMREF Health Africa as a Program Manager for Orphans and Vulnerable Children and Community Care services. And in the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) as Head of Programs, and as the YWCA Global Youth Champion in the Ecumenical HIV and AIDS Initiative in Africa. Liz loves community service and travelling in her free time.

Pilar is an International Weapons and Ammunition Research Expert with over twelve years of experience in this field. She has research, policy and field experience across several regions including West Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, the Caucasus and different parts of Asia, including China. Pilar has worked with governments, practitioners and numerous United Nations agencies and international organisations to address security risks posed by weapons and ammunition stockpiles.

Pilar recently led implementation of the African-China-Europe Project on Arms in Africa, successfully advocating for the return of conventional small arms and ammunition control to the agenda of FOCAC (Forum of China and Africa Cooperation) and its inclusion in the China-Africa Cooperation Vision 2035 agenda.
Pilar previously served at the Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC) as Technical Advisor on small arms and light weapons for West Africa and the Sahel, and worked together with national governments and sub-regional organisations to garner political commitment and coordinated efforts to work on implementing Physical Security and Stockpiles Management best practices on the ground.

Prior to that, Pilar worked for the Small Arms Survey where she developed and helped guide a research project on Unplanned Explosions and Munitions Sites. She co-authored the “UEMS: Stockpiles as Liabilities rather Assets” handbook and the UEMS database created through the project continues to serve as an important resource for governments and international organisations. The UEMS indicator helped galvanise international efforts to implement the International Ammunition Technical Guidelines (IATG) as well as efforts by the United Nations Office for Disarmament (UNOD) in creating a group of experts to create a comprehensive framework to prevent accidents at munition sites and munition diversions to unauthorized recipients.

Pilar has also worked as an independent consultant with governments and international organisations promoting conventional weapons and ammunition control management. As such, she has provided expert advice in the framework of relevant multilateral, bilateral and regional programs of the United Nations, as an Expert Member of the UN SaferGuard Strategic Coordination Group meeting which reviews the International Ammunition Technical Guidelines annually; and for the European Union, as a contributing member of the Arms Trade Treaty outreach project phase I and II.

A native of Colombia, Pilar’s upbringing was marked by witnessing the intensity of Colombia’s armed conflict of the 1990’s. In 1998, aged 17, she was successful in joining the Colombian Air Force as one of the first batch of women cadet officers and future pilot trainees. She went on to study Government and International Relations at the University of Externado, that she completed at Sciences Po, Bordeaux, France. Pilar has a Masters in Public Management (2010) and in Political Science (2013) from the University of Geneva, both with a focus on international security issues.

Pilar is a native Spanish speaker and is fluent in French and English. She also has knowledge of German and Italian.

Selected Publications

Martin Rioux-Lefebvre has 14 years of experience developing and implementing projects for government clients and international organizations, leading business development efforts, and advising policymakers. Martin previously worked at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in the Office of the Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Safeguards, and in the Division of Nuclear Security, where he managed the Incident and Trafficking Database program (ITDB) and worked on the development of the Nuclear Security Information Management System (NUSIMS).
He also worked as a Consultant at the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) and for consulting firms in Canada and in the U.S. Martin holds a Master of Arts from the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs at the University of British Columbia (2009). He also is certified Project Management Professional (PMP).

Dr. Schindler is the Senior Director of the Counter Extremism Project, co-chair of the Advisory Board of the Global Diplomatic Forum (GDF) in London and teaching fellow at the Academy for Security in the Economy (ASW Akademie AG) in Essen, Germany. Between 2013 and 2018 he served as the Coordinator and Expert of the ISIL (Da’esh)/ Al -Qaida/Taliban Sanctions Monitoring Team as mandated by the United Nations Security Council. From 2011 and 2013 he worked as Program Director of the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) in London (UK) and as Associate Partner for Political Risk at West Sands, London (UK). Prior to these engagements, Mr. Schindler served as First Secretary for Political Affairs and Liaison Officer to the Security Forces at the Germany Embassy in Tehran (Iran) between 2005 and 2011 and held other positions with the Federal Government of Germany related to conflict analysis and counter-terrorism since 2001. He has extensive experience in crisis management and in advisory roles to senior government and corporations, specifically on enhancing security policies, practices and implementation strategies for the UN and the German government. Having studied in Tübingen (Germany), Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Tel Aviv (Israel) and St Andrews (UK), he holds a Master’s and a PhD Degree from St Andrews University focused on international terrorism.

Selected Publications

Dr. Anupam Srivastava has varied experience spanning about 25 years, working at the intersection of advanced technology commerce and international security. He currently serves as a Non-Resident Fellow at the Henry L. Stimson Center in Washington, DC, with a focus on providing legal-regulatory assistance to government agencies and hi-tech industry on Strategic Trade Controls (STCs), including legal obligations stemming from UN Security Council Resolution 1540 and related UN & US sanctions. His research and consultative work also examines the impact of technology innovation on control lists and license determination, regulation of FDI and foreign acquisition of domestic hi-tech enterprises, as well as economic benefits of stronger compliance systems for governments and corporations.

This work draws upon his prior stint at the University of Georgia where, as Assistant Director at the Center for International Trade and Security, he directed or worked on multiple projects supported by the US Departments of State & Energy, United Nations (UNSCR 1540 Expert Committee & Office of Disarmament Affairs), and the International Atomic Energy Agency. As part of CITS/UGA and Stimson – he has provided trainings on STC and sanctions compliance topics to inter-agency officials from over 40 countries, and/or enterprise outreach programs for the hi-tech industry – majority of them on projects supported by EXBS/ISN/DOS (Export Control and Related Border Security Program, Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation, US Department of State) and INECP/NNSA/DOE (International Nonproliferation Export Control Program, National Nuclear Security Administration, US Department of Energy).

Dr. Srivastava is the Founder & CEO of INSTEP USA, LLC that provides consultancy services to government & corporate customers on enhancing strategic trade compliance. In addition, he serves as Vice President (International Strategy & Business Development) of Safe Zone Ltd., which provides software-based technical support for classification of dual-use and munitions items, customized for use by licensing & enforcement agencies in governments, and by compliance units within corporations globally.

He has organized and co-conducted well over 30 enterprise outreach programs in India since 2006, spanning industry from all dual-use categories (nuclear, chemical, biotechnology and aerospace). A distinctive aspect of these events has been that the relevant agencies from the IMWG (Inter-Ministerial Working Group) – that evaluates and issues export licenses – have consistently participated as speakers and supported its dissemination efforts.

Dr. Srivastava previously served as Managing Director of Invest India – the official investment facilitation agency of Government of India, and concurrently served as Assistant Secretary General at FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry). The Invest India team helped expedite regulatory approvals and facilitated implementation of multiple investment projects into India, totaling over $2 billion, as well as with setting up a multi-billion dollar infrastructure-dedicated sovereign wealth fund by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. Dr. Srivastava has long-standing professional ties in India. He has served on task forces established by the Govt of India, conducted training programs for the Defense Research & Development Organization (DRDO/MoD), Dept of Atomic Energy (DAE), Dept of Customs & Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), and conducts outreach programs for the dual-use industry with support from govt agencies, FICCI (India’s largest industry association) and other sector-specific chambers of commerce.

Dr. Srivastava has participated in multilateral forums in over 50 countries globally. Trained in Economics and International Security, he has published widely in academic & policy outlets and maintains an active media profile.

Maiko Takeuchi has 20 years of experience in national security. She specialized in WMD non-proliferation and security export control. She served the United Nations Security Council as a member of the Panel of Experts (UNSCR 1874 Panel of Experts) for North Korea for five years (2016-2021). While on the Panel, she investigated North Korea’s nuclear and other WMD programs and related procurements, and violations of embargos, overseas workers, and activities of UN- designated entities.

Before joining the United Nations, she served the Ministry of Defense for 15 years as a defense policy official. She worked on cyber security strategy and communication systems in the Ministry of Defense, and from 2008 to 2010, she worked on strategic trade control as the chief of the research and planning office at the Ministry of the Economy, Trade and Industry. During her career in government, she was also appointed to the Embassy of Japan in the Republic of Korea as First Secretary and Civilian Defense Attaché for four years. She was appointed to the Cabinet Secretariat for National Security and Crisis Management, where she worked for inter-agency policy coordination.

As a diplomat and strategic trade control officer as well as WMD expert, she has on the ground experience and legal expertise in non-proliferation and strategic trade control. She has had the opportunity to present on outreach and capacity building activities for both government practitioners, industries, and financial institutions.

She is a visiting scholar at the Center for Negotiation and Dispute Resolution Research, Waseda University. She holds a Master’s degree in Regional Studies East Asia from Harvard University, and a Bachelor of Law from the University of Tokyo. While contributing to the media to raise awareness on economic sanctions, she has written a number of articles on the effective implementation of sanctions.

Selected Publications

Formerly a Captain with 33 years’ service in the South African Navy, Neil specialized in surface warfare and weapons systems, serving nearly 20 years at sea onboard a frigate and fast attack missile boats. Neil has served as the Maritime Expert on the United Nations Security Council Panel of Experts (POE) for North Korea for five years until July 2018. He investigated sanctions evasion, illicit shipments and networks, tracking suspect vessels worldwide and boarded several North Korean vessels, starting with the Chong Chon Gang in 2013. Neil was also responsible for monitoring North Korea’s navy, which included the Sea Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM) program. He co-authored seven reports for the UN Security Council and authored the Maritime Sanctions Handbook for the DPRK. Neil has also contributed to many maritime sanctions articles and news broadcasts concerning North Korea’s illicit activities and sanctions evasion typologies.

Prior to joining the Panel, he served on the South African National Maritime Security Advisory Committee, the Priority Committee for Maritime Security, and as a member of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Counter-piracy Assessment Group. Until 2013, he was responsible for developing and executing the national counter piracy strategy in the Indian Ocean and maritime operations.

Neil has conducted extensive sanctions training for the Maritime industry, State departments and related agencies, and Flag State registries, on sanctions, best practices and effective due diligence. He advises on Maritime Security – including sanctions compliance and implementation, WMD interdiction, counter-proliferation, vessel tracking systems and databases, port security, vessel seizure, and counter-piracy.

Neil holds a master’s degree in international security and Global Justice from Brooklyn College, and is a graduate of Stellenbosch University (Nautical Science and Political Science), the South African Executive National Security Program (First place and best academic paper) and the Joint Senior Command and Staff Course. He is Senior Research Associate for Kings College London, United Kingdom – Project Alpha, and a member of the Institute for International Security Studies, and the Korea Society.

See the Maritime Security section (https://ccsi.global/maritime-security/) for further information and relevant articles