Sharon Morris

Sharon Morris is Director of Mercy Corps’ Youth & Conflict Management Office which provides support to more than 90 programs in many of the world’s most fragile states including Somalia, Yemen, Libya, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Previously, she worked at the State Department as Senior Advisor for Darfur to the President’s Special Envoy for Sudan. In 2006, she served as the Director of the Provincial Reconstruction Team Program in USAID/Afghanistan and as the Development Advisor to the Commanding General of Combined Joint Task Force-76, the headquarters for U.S. military operations in Afghanistan. From 2002-2005, she was Senior Advisor in the Office of Conflict Management and Mitigation at USAID where she headed the team that was responsible for support to conflict programs in USAID Missions. Prior to joining USAID, she worked in the Program on Global Security and sustainability at the John D. and Catherine MacArthur Foundation. Her assignments on conflict management have taken her to over 25 countries, including Sudan, Yemen, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Central Asian Republics, Haiti, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. She is on the board of the Alliance for Peacebuilding and a member of Women in International Security, and holds a Ph.D. and Masters from the University of Chicago.