Dr. Alexandra Abello ColaK
Founder and Executive Director
Alexandra founded Security 4 Peace as a hub that brings together diverse stakeholders with different kinds of knowledge and capacities to collaborate and co-develop security solutions that not only reduce violences but help build more peaceful societies.
Over the last decades she has studied dynamics of violence, insecurity and crime in cities and co-produced methodologies to help communities, civil society organizations, researchers and local governments work together to address urban insecurity.
Using participatory methodologies, peace research and complex systems thinking she has influenced academic and policy debates on urban security. Alexandra worked at the Department of Peace Studies at Bradford University in the United Kingdom, Universidad del Rosario in Colombia and the Centre for Conflict Studies at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. She has been based at the London School of Economics and Political Science since 2016, contributed as expert adviser and lead consultant on human security to UN-Habitat’s Safer Cities Programme and led and coordinated projects in 10 cities in Colombia, Mexico, Jamaica and South Africa.
advisory board
Prof. Jenny Pearce
Dr. Markus Gottsbacher
Dr. Markus Gottsbacher
Jenny is a political scientist and peace scholar with decades of experience in researching violence. Recognized as an outstanding scholar and academic change-maker Jenny has made important contributions to understandings of dynamics of violence, state formation, participation and social change by using anthropological and participatory research methods in many violent contexts in Latin America. She is currently Visiting Professor at the International Inequalities Institute of the London School of Economics, UK.
Dr. Markus Gottsbacher
Dr. Markus Gottsbacher
Dr. Markus Gottsbacher
Markus is a political scientist with three decades of experience in projects on access to justice, crime prevention, as well as violence reduction and peacebuilding. He has worked with various programs, funds and specialized agencies of the United Nations, as well as with civil society and multilateral organizations. Currently he is in charge of projects on climate justice, civic space, forced displacement, and digital governance as Senior Program Officer at the International Development Research Center (IDRC), Canada
Dr. Jorge Ramirez
Mariann Sarquis-Sepúlveda
Mariann Sarquis-Sepúlveda
Jorge is an applied mathematician, researcher, and educator with extensive experience on the mathematical modelling and understanding of complex systems in the natural, engineered and social sciences. He taught mathematics as associate professor in Colombia's National University and the University of Arizona. He currently works at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory of the US Department of Energy where he conducts interdisciplinary research in the theory, modeling and computation of stochastic processes.
Mariann Sarquis-Sepúlveda
Mariann Sarquis-Sepúlveda
Mariann Sarquis-Sepúlveda
Mariann is a Human Rights lawyer who has built a career in strategic planning, project, and research management. She has extensive experience designing and leading complex projects within the higher education, international cooperation, and civil society sectors. Her passion lies in supporting organisations that promote inclusive and equitable societies. She is currently responsible for managing the Academic Skills Development initiative at the Centre for Teaching and Learning of the University of Oxford.