Melinda Holmes is Program Director at the International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN) of the Women’s Alliance for Security Leadership (WASL), which brings together existing women’s networks, practitioners, and organizations with long-standing experience in addressing extremism and promoting peace, rights, and pluralism to improve practices in communities affected by violence; and informs and offers pragmatic policy solutions for the international community.

A peacebuilding specialist, writer, and strategist focusing on gender and political violence, Holmes is responsible for facilitating collaboration, analysis, advocacy, and outreach on gendered approaches for preventing and responding to violent extremism at ICAN. Previously, Holmes was a 2016-2017 Visiting Fellow at LSE’s Centre for Women, Peace & Security; and worked with The Carter Center, where she advised on the engagement of religious and traditional beliefs, actors, and communities in advancing peace and human rights. Holmes graduated with a Master’s in International Affairs from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, focusing on the gendered and religious dynamics of conflict and peacebuilding.