Lara Petricevic-Williams is the Director for Strong Cities programming in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region, managing regional senior staff and partners to ensure that the Network’s activities address the needs of cities and local governments on preventing and responding to hate, extremism and polarisation and related resilience and security challenges. She previously served as a Senior Operations Manager at ISD, working primarily on East Africa programmes, and providing support to ISD’s growth and business development efforts. Her earlier positions have included Resident Regional Director for the Great Lakes and Southern Africa at the International Republican Institute, managing multi-million and multi-donor projects in the region and spearheading business development efforts. She is an experienced democracy and governance professional with more than 20 years of experience in the Balkans, Middle East, South East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. She holds a Master of Science in International Economics from John Naisbitt University and a BA in International Business from the Grenoble School of Management. She is fluent in Croatian/Serbian and English, and has conversational French.