Bios: IPJ Staff

Laura Taylor, M.A., is a former Senior Program Officer at the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice and has worked on the IPJ Nepal Project and for the Women PeaceMakers Program.

Languages: Fluent in Spanish.

Regions and countries of interest: Cuba, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Nepal.

Topics of interest: Gender, Mental Health, Transitional Justice, Reconciliation, Peace and Justice, Democratic Transitions, Civil Society, Women, Youth.

Taylor has research and operational knowledge in conflict transformation, mental health and transitional justice. She has six years of field experience in rights-based empowerment with a focus on gender and community reconciliation in the Caribbean, Central America and Nepal. Taylor is experienced in designing and directing peacebuilding programs for rural, indigenous and displaced communities, as well as women, youth and policy makers. She has a number of scholarly publications and media appearances on gender inclusion and human rights, and is fluent in English/Spanish.

In San Diego, Taylor volunteers with Survivors of Torture International and the community of healing group of the Torture Abolition Survivor Support Coalition (TASSC) and serves on the board of Voices of Women, an organization with a commitment to education on international issues and U.S. foreign policy. Previously, Taylor has served as Director of Development at the Guatemala Human Rights Commission in Washington, DC, and Project Coordinator for Puentes de Paz, an indigenous women’s community mental health project located in the highlands of Guatemala. Taylor has also worked in a women’s center in Managua, Nicaragua, and conducted independent research in Cuba. Born and raised in Kwajalein, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Taylor later earned a B.A. in Psychology, a minor in Spanish, and a concentration in Latin American and Iberian Studies from Haverford College and a Masters in Peace and Justice Studies from the University of San Diego.

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