Trainer Biographies
Steven Hansch
Adjunct Faculty Instructor, American University
Steve Hansch is currently professor of complex emergencies at American University in Washington , DC . He was a technical consultant in health, food and nutrition for USAID, CARE, FAO, the Academy for Educational Development (AED), Marine Overseas Services, and Datex.
He has extensive experience in developing, managing and evaluating projects associated with humanitarian field operations, including health, nutrition, and economic analyses in Malawi , Kenya , Mozambique , Sudan , Somalia . He has authored articles in various journals and written analytical reports on nutrition needs in crises and evaluations of food aid programs of different NGOs and WFP. He led various projects and Refugee Policy Group missions to Rwanda, Zaire, Somalia, Burundi, Uganda, Tanzania, and Panama; coordinating all research and publications related to improving coordination among relief and development agencies with regard to food aid, nutrition, and food security.
Steve was President of Cuny Center for the Study of Societies in Crisis, the Director of International Humanitarian Programs for the Congressional Hunger Center, and a Consultant Analyst for InterWorks. He now serves as an ongoing advisor to various foundations and non-governmental relief organizations, including Relief International, ARC, IMC, Partners for Development and Project Concern. He regularly lectures at Johns Hopkins and various other universities and NGO training courses and has recently initiated, organized and co-chaired five conferences on different humanitarian aid issues, including food security, micronutrient deficiencies, psycho-social disabilities, early warning, human rights and basic education.
Margie Ferris-Morris
Margie Ferris-Morris has a Masters degree in nutritional sciences and has advanced studies in conflict mediation and transformation. She has twenty years experience in international development in designing, implementing and evaluating aid programs primarily in the food security, health and conflict resolution arena. She has extensive experience in performance monitoring and evaluation with the public and private sectors, and USAID.
Ms. Ferris-Morris' other areas of expertise include training and defining conflict performance strategies and indicators for youth, minerals, land conflicts and peace processes. She has experience in conflict mitigation and mediation in domestic and multicultural settings. Her publications include the Practical Guide for Standards and Indicators in UNCHR operations (2004); Preparing for the Next Drought: Case study on Ethiopia; the Monitoring and Evaluation sections of three USAID Conflict Mitigation and Management Toolkits (Youth, Gems and Land and Conflict), among other relevant documents. She is a part-time adjunct staff with American University ’s Peace-building and Development Institute. Her overseas experience includes both living in and short-term consultancies in 14 countries, primarily in SE Asia and Africa.
Sarah Cohen
Sarah Cohen is a Conflict Specialist with USAID, in the Office of Conflict Management and Mitigation and currently acts as the USAID liaison for the State Departments Office for the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization (S/CRS). She has worked in several countries in Africa, and specializes in the role of civil society in post conflict and transitioning environments. She currently manages the NGO Sector Strengthening Program, which is a program that works to enhance the institutional capacities of local NGOs and Civil Society organizations in fragile and post conflict countries. She is a specialist in Monitoring and Evaluation and designed the first workshop for local and international NGOs and USAID Mission staff on Conflict Sensitive Monitoring and Evaluation for USAID, which was held in West Africa and focused on the Mano River Region. She has worked extensively with participatory methods for program and planning design, and has applied these to several field settings to enhance the participation in planning with local groups and stakeholders. She recently worked on a Disaster Assistance and Response Team (DART) for the Office for Foreign Disaster Assistance in Darfur, Sudan and was stationed in both North and South Darfur.
