KATERINA SIIRA

Deputy Director, NYU Peace Research and Education Program

ABOUT
A scholar-practitioner with more than fifteen years of experience across Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America, Katerina designs and leads applied research that connects local knowledge with global policy. Her work integrates participatory methodologies, power-sensitive analysis, and institutional collaboration to generate evidence for more inclusive governance. She has led multi-country initiatives and policy research with partners including the U.S. Department of State, UNDP, GIZ, IREX, and the Future of Life Institute.

Before joining NYU, she worked with the UN Refugee Agency and the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program in Sub-Saharan Africa, leading refugee resettlement missions and child-protection programming. She also directs a coalition advancing legislative and social reform in New York State, applying the same participatory and locally grounded approach that defines her international work.

RESEARCH & FOCUS AREAS: Katerina’s work centers on participatory action research, localization, and institutional strengthening in peacebuilding and governance. She bridges academic, practitioner, and policy spaces through collaborations with governments, universities, and civil society in conflict-affected and fragile contexts. Her research advances equitable AI governance, community-led peacebuilding, and the role of higher education in sustaining peace.

CURRENT WORK:

• Katerina co-leads New Commons Challenge: Malawi Voice Data Commons, a GovLab and Microsoft-supported consortium with UNDP, the Government of Malawi, Ushahidi, and Mozilla. The initiative builds multilingual, locally governed data infrastructures that strengthen humanitarian response and responsible AI development.

• She is Co-Principal Investigator on Mitigating AI-Driven Power Concentration in Fragile Contexts, a Future of Life Institute–funded study developing participatory AI governance mechanisms and community-led oversight frameworks across Kenya, Malawi, and the Philippines.

• She also serves as Co-PI for Supporting Iraqi-Led Infrastructures for Peace and Thought Leadership on Peacebuilding through the Iraq Peace Studies Network, a UNDP-funded project strengthening research capacity and peace studies curricula across Iraqi universities.

COURSES TAUGHT:
Joint Research Seminar in Peacebuilding; Advanced Joint Research Seminar in Peacebuilding

EDUCATION:
M.S. in Global Affairs (Peacebuilding & Development, with Distinction), New York University
B.A. in Government & International Affairs, Skidmore College (Cum Laude)
Additional studies: American University of Paris; Universidad de Salamanca

LANGUAGES: English (native), Finnish (fluent), Spanish (advanced), French (basic)