
Rashad Nimr
2024 Next Gen National Security Fellow
Rashad Nimr is an international affairs professional with a track record of engaging high-level stakeholders across governments, multilateral organizations, and civil society. He most recently was a Crisis, Stabilization and Governance Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
During his tenure as a USAID diplomat, Rashad led the U.S. government’s regional migration management portfolio across six Central American countries while based in El Salvador. Rashad also oversaw the design of conflict management programming in Ecuador, violence prevention programming in Mexico, and government transparency initiatives in the Dominican Republic. While based in D.C., Rashad held the role of USAID’s only Inclusive Peacebuilding Advisor where he focused on youth engagement, disability inclusion, and LGBTQI+ rights to address issues of fragility and conflict globally.
Before government service, Rashad held positions in various development and humanitarian organizations. Most notably, he founded and led the Gender and Inclusion team at Kaizen, a small international development firm, mainstreaming principles of inclusive development into the company’s programs and operations. He also has worked with Save the Children, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and Human Rights Watch.
Rashad was also selected as a member of Out in National Security’s 2022 New Voices List. He has a Masters in International Development and Humanitarian Emergencies from the London School of Economics and a Bachelors in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Pennsylvania.