Sarah Taylor

For more than twenty years, I have worked at the intersection of women's rights and international peace and security as an advocate, researcher, policy advisor, and practitioner. That work has taken me from UN Headquarters in New York to conflict-affected communities in Myanmar, Central African Republic, Mexico, and beyond. The through-line has been supporting women building peace, and working to change institutions that exclude these women.

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I came to this field through academic research. My doctoral dissertation examined women negotiators in the Track 1 peace processes of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Mexico — a project that convinced me that the challenge to building inclusive peace is at its core political.

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I have recently developed the Asterism Initiative, a collaborative effort to build solidarity at the intersection of women's rights, conflict transformation, and geopolitical change. The core of the work is threefold: rigorous analysis of who holds influence in a changing peace and security decision-making landscape; deliberate solidarity infrastructure for women peacebuilders to share information and develop strategy across regions and contexts; and policy and strategy work that translates the above intelligence into discussions with decision-makers through publications, private briefings, and advisory relationships. 

 

Asterism provides connective tissue: it exists to support networks, strengthen connections, and translate field intelligence into policy that serves the people doing the work.

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In my years leading the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security, I worked to hold the UN Security Council accountable to its obligations on women's rights. At Human Rights Watch, I brought field research on women in conflict to bear on international advocacy. At the International Peace Institute, I built and led  the organization’s WPS program. At Inclusive Peace, I worked on the organizational and strategic dimensions of inclusive peacemaking. At UN Women, I contributed to global strategy, supported field operations in Ukraine, and worked on policy for Afghanistan.

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I now work as an independent consultant. I bring to that work subject matter expertise and a track record of creating change inside complex institutions — building coalitions, securing funding, producing research that prompts change, and helping organizations translate good intentions into concrete policy.