Staff

Julia Roig, President, Partners for Democratic Change. Ms. Roig is responsible for the overall strategic direction of Partners for Democratic Change, an international organization committed to building sustainable capacity to advance civil society, democratic institutions and a culture of change and conflict management worldwide.  She is a team-oriented, collaborative manager who oversees the DC-based Partners team and provides technical and strategic leadership to the global network of 18 Partners affiliate Centers for Change and Conflict Management.

Ms. Roig is an attorney licensed in the state of Maryland with fifteen years of diverse international management experience. She is a substantive expert in Good Governance, Public Participation, Access to Justice and Conflict Resolution, and has provided systems design, strategic planning, cooperative advocacy, program management, community outreach and training throughout the world.  Prior to joining Partners, Julia served for two years as the Country Director for the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative in Belgrade Serbia.  She is also a recognized expert on community justice and dispute resolution in Colombia having spent five years living and working from Bogota, promoting a national expansion of the Equity Conciliation and Justice Houses programs.   Julia has specialized in the evaluation of international assistance programs and impact assessments, and has served as team leader for complex, multi-country evaluations in Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Peru and Senegal.

Prior to her international work, Julia served as the Alternative Dispute Resolution Coordinator for both the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, and the D.C. Courts, acting as the main architect and promoter of new workplace dispute resolution services in both institutions.  She previously served as the Chair of the International Section of the Association for Conflict Resolution and as a member of the Editorial Board of Conflict Resolution Quarterly. Ms. Roig received her J.D. from the George Washington School of Law and is fluent in Spanish and proficient in French.

Teresa Crawford, Director
Ms. Crawford has over 13 years of experience working with civil society organizations to help them make better use of information and information technology in their work. She has worked in over 30 countries on issues as diverse as eradicating violence against women in war, disability rights and minority civic participation. From 2006 to 2009 she was the Director of the Advocacy and Leadership Center at the Institute for Sustainable Communities and built a robust training and capacity building program for CSOs with a focus on collaborative advocacy and transformational leadership. An experienced trainer, manager and researcher Teresa is also the co-founder of IPKO, the first post-war Internet service provider in Kosovo. IPKO is now a multimillion dollar company and Teresa is on the board of IPKO Foundation, the first endowed local foundation in the region. Teresa has a degree in politics and peace & justice studies from the University of San Francisco and a Master's degree in nonprofit management and policy from NYU.

Ms. Dukhqan is responsible for managing Partners’ Middle East and North Africa portfolio. She has more than 15 years of experience in developing and managing innovative programming to promote democratic processes and civil society development across the entire MENA region, including: Jordan, the West Bank, Lebanon, Egypt, Iraq, Yemen and Mauritania. Ms. Dukhqan has extensive experience in developing new centers, as she was the founding director of Partners Jordan prior to joining Partners staff in Washington DC where guided the establishment of Partners-Yemen. Partners-Jordan and Partners-Yemen are part of the Partners for Democratic Change International Network.

As Director of Partners-Jordan Ms. Dukhqan led a coalition to reform Jordan’s law governing NGOs and managed to launch several mediation and youth advocacy programs. In the past, she worked for leading development organizations. Ms. Dukhqan has a strong background in project development and has built a reputation as an executive with strong leadership and interpersonal, team-building skills.

John Guzman, Controller
Mr. Guzman joined Partners for Democratic Change in January 2011.  As Financial Controller, Mr. Guzman is responsible for directing, coordinating, maintaining, and controlling the accounting system so that it properly reflects Partners’ financial position. In coordination with the President and Senior Management, he ensures that organizational policies and procedures are being followed. He assists in establishing major financial goals and objectives of the company and monitors their implementation as well as serves as a resource for all aspects of budgeting, accounting and auditing.  Mr. Guzman is originally from Colombia, holds a CPA degree and a postgraduate degree in Corporate Finance.  Prior to joining Partners, he worked for over 10 years in the field as a Financial Controller for some of USAID's largest contractors.

Lelia Mooney, Director
Ms. Mooney oversees Partners' programs in Latin America and works on governance, rule of law and gender programming. She has fifteen years of experience implementing and evaluating complex Governance, Rule of Law, Gender and Conflict Resolution programs across Latin America. She also worked in Africa and Asia. She has successfully lead multi-disciplinary teams in development, conflict and post-conflict contexts and facilitated capacity building projects with government institutions, civil society organizations and the private sector that achieved sustainability.

Ms. Mooney is a trained attorney from Argentina. She holds an LL.M. in Law in Development Studies from the University of Warwick Law School from the United Kingdom and an LL.M. from the Georgetown University Law Center in the US. She is a former International Research Fellow at the Kettering Foundation. She speaks native Spanish, fluent English with an intermediate command of Portuguese and French. She served as the Rule of Law Officer of the American Bar Association Section of International Law, is an active member of several academic and professional associations and writes extensively on the subjects of her expertise.
Laina Reynolds Levy, Ph.D., Senior Manager
Ms. Levy manages a global portfolio of programs from Kosovo to Indonesia, and leads efforts to improve network-wide learning and sharing of knowledge through information technology. Previously, she worked as a conflict management trainer with civil society organizations in Southeast Europe (particularly in Kosovo) to strengthen the capacity of their staff and volunteers in peaceful approaches to dealing with conflict. She previously managed training and outreach programs at the Centre for Conflict Resolution, Department of Peace Studies, University of Bradford in the UK, and has also worked with William Ury at the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School. She holds a PhD and an MA in Conflict Resolution from the University of Bradford and a BA in Political Science from Sonoma State University in California.

Monalisa Salib, Senior Manager
Ms. Salib has managed Partners' Yemen portfolio and has supported the organization development needs of Partners Yemen. In addition, she develops new partnerships and programs in the the Middle East and leads the women's empowerment community of practice.  Monalisa brings over six years of experience in international development, managing, monitoring, and designing community development, civil society, and conflict resolution initiatives in Liberia, Sudan, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Yemen. She holds a M.S. in Organizational Development and Knowledge Management from George Mason University and a B.A. in International Affairs and Political Science from Florida State University.

Nilanka Seneviratne, Senior Manager
Mr. Seneviratne joined Partners in October of 2007 as an Administration and Development Associate and has played an integral part in the organization’s growth and development. During his tenure at Partners he has contributed to numerous proposals, and managed diverse projects including Partners’ 20th Anniversary Innovations for Tomorrow Seminar Series and Conference, he has also assisted in the establishment of the Centers in Yemen and Senegal. Currently he works on the Africa team managing programs in Senegal and with Partners’ Africa Institute for Security Sector Transformation. Additionally, Mr. Seneviratne works on organization-wide initiatives and activities including: managing Partners’ Washington, DC office, external communications and organizational consolidation. Prior to joining Partners he worked with the Public Sector Services Unit of the Cardno Emerging Markets Group as well as worked for the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement in Sri Lanka. He holds a Masters in Public Administration with a concentration in International Budgeting and Analysis from the George Washington University, a BA in International Studies and a BS in Psychology.

Conner Purcell, Manager
Mr. Purcell supports the Business Development team, researching and identifying new funding opportunities and coordinating proposal efforts. Further, he assists program implementation for the Europe and Eurasia team. Prior to joining Partners, he managed international development projects and professional exchange programs for Heartland International in Chicago, IL. He holds an MA in International Development with a focus on Democracy and Governance from the School of International Service at American University and a BA from Loyola University Chicago.

Jessica Varat, Program Manager
Ms. Varat manages Partners projects in Colombia, Guatemala, and Belize and supports the development of new programming in Latin America with a focus on citizen security, good governance, and rule of law. Prior to joining Partners, Ms. Varat worked for the Latin American Program of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, where she edited the volume “Seguridad ciudadana en las Américas: Proyecto de investigación activa” (Citizen Security in the Americas: Action Research Project). She has consulted for the World Bank and USAID, and is trained in mediation. Ms. Varat holds an MA in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School, with concentrations in International Negotiation and Conflict Resolution, and Human Security.

Michele Deadwyler, Finance & Human Resources Assistant 
Michele is the Finance and Human Resources Assistant at Partners. Michele has experience in both the non –profit industry as well as the finance and accounting disciplines. Michele has wonderful record of successful financial management that even includes Property Management and Grants Management. Her work history is comprised of positions such as Principle Cashier, Office Manager/Bookkeeper, Staff Accountant and Grants Accountant. Outside of work, Michele is heavily involved in church where she plays a leadership role as the President of her usher board. Michele holds her BS degree in Accounting from Strayer University and she is continuing her education at Strayer for her Masters in Human Resources Management.

Eman Othman, Associate
Ms. Othman coordinates Partners' Middle East and North Africa initiatives and supports Partners-Yemen in program management and reporting. Eman is originally from Jordan, and is a fluent Arabic speaker. Prior to joining Partners team in DC, Eman worked with Partners-Jordan as Activities and Communication Coordinator in 2006. During her work there, she received a wealth of training and expertise in Partner’s worldwide methodologies such as Cooperative Advocacy, Mediation and Good Governance. Eman also worked with a leading business development organization in Jordan and has developed an accumulative experience in project management and business development.

Marlo Salaita, Associate

Ms. Salaita is responsible for research, writing, proposal development and program management for the Sustainable Leadership Program, as well as overall programmatic support for the President. Prior to this position, she worked at the Jordanian Embassy in Washington, DC for four years, focusing on congressional affairs and royal protocol duties. She received her Master of Arts degree from Georgetown University in Communication, Culture, and Technology with a focus on Media and Politics, as well as a graduate certificate in Arab Studies from Georgetown. She studied Development in the International Political Economy at the London School of Economics and graduated with dual Bachelor’s degrees in Communications and Arab Studies from the University of Michigan.