Communities First Hub
Communities First Hub is an alliance of CSOs from the Western Balkans whose establishment started in 2018 with the implementation of the project “Communities First: Creation of a civil society hub to address issue of violent extremism – from prevention to reintegration”, funded by the European Union and co-funded by the Ministry of Public Administration of Montenegro. The organisations gathered in order to support regional and country-specific local cooperation and interventions to prevent and counter violent extremism.
Honorable Mentions
Eric Rosand
Eric Rosand has been working on international counterterrorism and P/CVE issues for nearly two decades, working with governments, multilateral organizations, civil society, and researchers. He is the author of two recent OSCE P/CVE guides focused on the Western Balkans and is currently the President of PVE Solutions and Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in London. He is also a former senior counterterrorism and CVE official at the US State Department, where he spearheaded the development and launch of a number international initiatives, including the Global Counterterrorism Forum, GCERF, and the Strong Cities Network. His writing have appeared in a range of publications, including Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Lawfare, Just Security, Brookings Institution’s Order from Chaos, and Time.
Franziska Praxl-Tabuchi
Franziska Praxl-Tabuchi is currently a Senior Programs Officer for the Global Center. She contributes to the multilateral security pillar by developing programming, conducting research, and supporting its overall strategic direction. Previously she worked for the Department of Peacekeeping Operations at the United Nations and the New York City Council. She holds an MA in Transnational Security from New York University, an MA in Contemporary Warfare from King’s College London, and a BA in Social- and Cultural Anthropology from Freie Universität Berlin.
Matthew Schwartz
Matthew Schwartz is currently a Director of Monitoring, Evaluation, & Learning for the Global Center. He focuses on supporting evaluative thinking and organizational learning across the Global Center’s diverse program agendas, and the Global Center’s broader research and programming related to criminal justice, governance, human rights, and the rule of law. He has extensive experience designing, managing, and evaluating international cooperation programs in the greater Horn of Africa, the Sahel, North Africa and the Middle East. Before joining the Global Center, he worked with the UN Security Council’s 1267 Al-Qaida Sanctions Monitoring Team providing research and analytical support, and served as a congressional staffer focusing on constituent services and national policy. He holds an MA in international affairs from the New School University in New York, where he specialized in critical security studies. He holds a BA in political science and history from the State University of New York at Albany.