OUR TEAM
The individuals at the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security working to elevate and equip Afghan women leaders with opportunities to continue their advocacy on behalf of Afghan women and girls.

Allie Smith
Program director
Allie Smith is the Founder and Director of Onward for Afghan Women, and leads GIWPS’ work to advance inclusive policies on the current crisis in Afghanistan and broader peace process. She also directs all programming for GIWPS, serves as Senior Advisor to Ambassador Verveer and manages strategic partnerships with governments, multilateral organizations, and civil society. Previously, Allie worked on mediation and conflict resolution in Myanmar with the Kofi Annan-chaired Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, where she supported the development of policy solutions for resolving the Rohingya refugee crisis. She also worked with CARE Myanmar on gender-based violence programming and the Albright Stonebridge Group, a global strategic advisory firm, on Myanmar conflict analysis. Allie holds an M.A. in Security Studies from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, with a concentration in Sub-State Violence, and a B.A. in Politics with Honors from Whitman College.

Jess KellER
DEPUTY DIRECTOR

H.E. Roya Rahmani
Distinguished fellow
Roya Rahmani is a Distinguished Fellow at GIWPS. Roya is a former Afghan diplomat who served as Afghanistan’s first female ambassador to the United States and non-resident ambassador to Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, and the Dominican Republic from December 2018 to July 2021. Before entering government, she worked for several nonprofits that primarily focused on women’s rights and education. She received a bachelor’s degree in software engineering from McGill University in 2003 and a master’s degree in public administration and international law at Columbia University in 2009.

Palwasha Hassan
Senior fellow
Palwasha Hassan is a senior fellow at GWIPS. She holds a master’s degree in Post-war Recovery Studies from York University, UK, and is a former fellow at the United States Institute of Peace. Palwasha is a dedicated women’s rights activist pioneering many critical works to promote women’s rights and civil society in Afghanistan. Her achievements, among others, include the first women’s legal support organization Roazana (1997), Women and Street Children Center (1998), Women, Children Safe Home Network Manager (1999), Irfan Cultural Center. She co-founded a visionary women’s rights movement in Afghanistan by setting up the Afghan Women Network that has played a pivotal role in Women’s rights advocacy for the last 26 years.

Lina Tori Jan
POLICY ASSOCIATE
Lina Tori Jan is a social entrepreneur, public speaker, and leading advocate for equality and human rights, with a focus on the rights of women, girls, and refugees. She currently leads the implementation of Georgetown University’s new Afghanistan initiative, Onward for Afghan Women, elevating and supporting Afghan women leaders with opportunities to continue their advocacy on behalf of Afghan women and girls. Shaped by her experiences as an Afghan woman raised in Afghanistan, Lina has worked around the globe with companies, NGOs, and governments, assisting in their efforts to create a more just society. Most recently, she has held related roles with the Oxford Centre for Ethics, Law, and Armed Conflict (ELAC), the International Rescue Committee, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and Women for Women International. Lina graduated with a Master of Public Policy from the University of Oxford, and a B.A. in Leadership Studies and Political Science from the University of Richmond.