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WHO WE ARE
The Women in Science and Security Initiative is an internal CRDF Global working group focused on promoting the active involvement and leadership of women in STEM and CBRN security fields by opening access to professional development opportunities, creating regional peer networks, and linking women with regional and international role models to serve as mentors. We leverage regional partners, expertise, and experience to strengthen opportunities for women in science and security, while fostering mutual support through growing alumni networks and bolstered funder relationships.
CRDF Global is an independent nonprofit organization founded in 1995 in response to the collapse of the Soviet Union and the threat of large-scale proliferation of weapons technology from the region. In the past 25 years, our work has expanded to address ever-changing global concerns, but our commitment to ensuring the success of our partners remains the same. We are a leading provider of flexible logistical support, program design and management, and strategic capacity building programs in the areas of higher education, CBRNE security and nonproliferation, border security, cybersecurity, global health, technology entrepreneurship, and international professional exchanges.
WHAT TO EXPECT
Breaking Barriers 2023 will host 6 women speakers covering a variety of topic areas, including:
- The Breaking Barriers 2023 Keynote Address presented by Ms. Izumi Nakamitsu
- Women Scientists as Agents of Change in Environmental Communication presented by Allison Agsten
- Advancing Women's Role in Science and Security presented by Gunay Kazimzade
- Women in War: Nonproliferation Efforts of Women Across the World presented by Asha Castleberry-Hernandez
- Building an Inclusive Future of Scientific Progress presented by Helen Mearns
- Women in Innovation and Entrepreneurship presented by Shahed Atieh
Biographies for all of our speakers are at the bottom of this page.
Keynote Speaker
Ms. Izumi Nakamitsu
Ms. Izumi Nakamitsu assumed her position as Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs on 1 May 2017. Prior to taking on this post, Ms. Nakamitsu served as Assistant Administrator of the Crisis Response Unit at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) since 2014.
She has many years of experience within and outside the United Nations system, most recently as Special Adviser Ad Interim on Follow-up to the Summit on Addressing Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants between 2016 and 2017. She was previously Director of the Asia and the Middle East Division of the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations between 2012 and 2014, and Director of the Department’s Division of Policy, Evaluation and Training, from 2008 to 2012.
Between 2005 and 2008, Ms. Nakamitsu was Professor of International Relations at Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo, where she also served as a member of the Foreign Exchange Council to Japan’s Foreign Minister, and as a visiting senior adviser on peacebuilding at the Japan International Cooperation Agency. Between 1998 and 2004, she was the Chef de Cabinet and Director of Planning and Coordination at the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, based in Stockholm, Sweden.
Born in 1963, Ms. Nakamitsu holds a Master of Science degree in Foreign Service from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and a Bachelor of Law degree from Waseda University in Tokyo.
2023 Breaking Barriers Speakers
Gunay Kazimzade
Gunay Kazimzade is a PhD Researcher on Artificial Intelligence at the Technical University of Berlin and Senior Consultant at Mercedes-Benz Consulting. She is a TEDx speaker, Google scholar, AI Newcomer in Germany, and a Presidential award winner in Azerbaijan, highlighted as a speaker in more than 100 events in 20+ countries.
She has founded two social enterprises focusing on the education of underrepresented communities in AI and Data Science Fields. In the past two years, she also served as an Executive Consultant to advise governmental agencies on AI adoption in public service delivery.
Asha Castleberry-Hernandez
Asha Castleberry is a distinguished national security/foreign policy expert. She served as a Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary, member of the Senior Executive Service at the Department of State. She is a former adjunct faculty professor at Fordham University, where she has taught U.S. Foreign Policy and U.N. Peacekeeping Operations.
A U.S. Army veteran, Asha has completed a 30-month deployment in the Middle East. Since the 2014 ISIL incursion in Iraq, she served as part of the Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq and Kuwait. From December 2012 to June 2014, Asha served as the Kuwait Desk Officer for International Military Affairs, U.S. Army Central.
Allison Agsten
Allison Agsten is the inaugural director of USC Annenberg’s Center for Climate Journalism and Communication. In her role, she develops the Center’s strategic priorities and guides program and partnership development. Previously, she has worked in journalism, communications, and public engagement capacities including as a producer at CNN, Director of Communications at LACMA, and Curator of Public Engagement at the Hammer Museum.
In addition to her appointment at the Annenberg School, Agsten serves as the USC Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies’ first curator. In that position, she organizes exhibitions and other arts programs that focus on climate change.
Agsten holds a BA from UCLA and an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School.
Shahed Atieh
Shahed Atieh is the Jordan Country Manager at Correlation One. She is responsible for expanding the company’s services into the Jordanian and Palestinian markets. Shahed is a learning experience design expert and a leader in the skills development industry. She has a track record of working in educational project management and developing online and blended learning environments with a focus on STEM through diverse channels like the Queen Rania Foundation for Education and Development / Edraak, Luminus Education, Think Unlimited, Sowt Podcasts, and many more.
She also worked at a government level and was the youngest manager to lead a government portfolio at the Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship focused on digital skills development, a $100 million component financed by the World Bank. Shahed has a B.A. in English Language & Its Literature from the University of Jordan and is currently undertaking her M.Sc. in Applied Neuroscience at the IoPPN of King’s College London.
Helen Mearns
Helen Mearns is the Deputy Director of the Chemical Security Analysis Center (CSAC), a government owned and government-operated laboratory of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T).
Prior to joining CSAC in 2017, Ms. Mearns worked for the Joint Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) Defense Program Analysis Integration Office, where she served as the Principal Advisor to the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (DASD) for Chemical and Biological Defense on matters of CBRN survivability. Drawing from over 25 years of experience in Chemical, Biological, Radiological contamination survivability, Ms. Mearns, in coordination with the office of the DASD for Nuclear Matters, managed the Department of Defense CBRN Survivability Program.
A member of the Defense Acquisition Workforce, Ms. Mearns has been involved with the American Society of Mechanical Engineers on the Committee on Nuclear Air and Gas Treatment since 1995, generating and maintaining codes and standards for filtration technologies. In her community, Ms. Mearns is active tutoring the next generation of scientists and engineers through her engagement with Harford Community College and her church outreach to disadvantaged elementary schools.