Staff
Dr. Emma Belcher
President
Dr. Emma Belcher
President
Washington, DC
World-renowned expert on nuclear weapons policy, Dr. Emma Belcher is the President of Ploughshares. In leading the largest foundation singularly focused on reducing the threat of nuclear weapons, Dr. Belcher is an authority on the threat of nuclear weapons and the nuances of nuclear weapons policy. She has experience in a variety of media concerning the threat of nuclear weapons.
Although she’s spent the past 13 years working for foundations, her experience extends beyond philanthropy. She began her career as a Public Affairs Officer at the Australian Embassy in Washington, DC; served as a national security and international affairs advisor in Australia’s Department of the Prime Minister; and held multiple fellowships at prestigious organizations, including the Council on Foreign Relations and Harvard University’s Belfer Center during and after earning her doctorate degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.
Dr. Belcher is available to speak on nuclear weapons reduction, philanthropy, US foreign policy as it relates to nuclear weapons, the importance of intersectionality and inclusion in advocating for peace, and related topics.
To read, view, or listen to Dr. Belcher’s previous media appearances, visit the Ploughshares website. Her 2019 TED Talk on the importance of confronting, humanizing and ultimately solving the existential threat of nuclear weapons can be viewed here.
Please direct all media inquiries to Lauren Billet at lbillet@ploughshares.org.
Raul Araiza
Program Officer
Raul Araiza
Program Officer
San Francisco, CA
Raul is a Program Officer at Ploughshares, where he manages grantmaking portfolios focused on Iran nuclear nonproliferation and Middle East regional security. He also provides administrative support for our broader grantmaking efforts.
Raul has a Master’s in Science and Technology Policy from the Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU) at the University of Sussex. Interested in the intersection between science and security, his graduate dissertation examined previous cases of terrorist adoption of chemical and biological weapons, and the technological trajectories that led these groups to pursue them.
Prior to joining Ploughshares in March 2019, Raul was a Regulatory Compliance Assistant at the J.R. Simplot Company in Boise, Idaho. Raul has a degree in Biotechnology Engineering from Tecnologico de Monterrey (ITESM).
Daniela Avila-Macias
Development Associate
Daniela Avila-Macias
Development Associate
San Francisco, CA
Dr. John Carl Baker
Deputy Director of Programs
Dr. John Carl Baker
Deputy Director of Programs
Washington, DC
Dr. John Carl Baker is the Deputy Director of Programs at Ploughshares. He helps develop grantmaking strategy, oversees North Korea and China-related grants, and manages the Bold Futures portfolio.
John Carl holds a PhD in Cultural Studies from George Mason University and a Master’s in American Studies from the University of South Florida. His writing has been published by the United States Institute of Peace, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, NK News, and other outlets. He is based in DC.
Email:
jbaker@ploughshares.org(link sends e-mail)
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Habib Bako
Field Building Director
Habib Bako
Field Building Director
Washington, D.C.
Habib Bako serves as the Field Building Director at Ploughshares. In his role, Habib plays a crucial part in advancing the mission of creating a safer world. Additionally, as the Founder and Principal of Aligned Minds, LLC, Habib leads a consultancy focusing on strategic partnerships, network development, and community engagement.
Previously, Habib served as the Senior Director of Community Engagement at Independent Sector, a national membership organization that brings together leaders from impactful nonprofits, foundations, and corporate giving programs. During his tenure, he spearheaded efforts to integrate results, racial equity, community building, and bridging practices into the organization’s leadership and events programs. Habib played a key role in the launch of Upswell, a series of events centered around racial justice featuring prominent speakers and thought leaders.
He has a bachelor’s degree in marketing and international business from the University of Maryland, College Park and has been trained as a practitioner in Results Count, Facilitative Leadership, Lean Startup, and Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. He also spends time on his passion of bridging divides and building unity within the African diaspora.
Lauren Billet
Communications and Marketing Manager
Lauren Billet
Communications and Marketing Manager
Washington, DC
As Communications and Marketing Manager at Ploughshares, Lauren assists in managing the conceptualization and implementation of Ploughshares’s communications strategies with the goal of increasing the accessibility of the Fund’s unique work to the public.
Lauren holds a B.S. in Political Science and an M.A. in International Affairs. While earning these degrees, Lauren spent time living in Amman, Jordan as a Boren Fellow studying Arabic as well as representing the youth of the United States at Fulbright Canada’s Youth Summit on the role of Canada and United States in the World.
Prior to joining Ploughshares in 2021, Lauren served as the Communications Associate at the Center for International Policy, a progressive think tank which aims to make peace, justice and sustainability the central pursuit of US foreign Policy. She is committed to combining advocacy with domestic and foreign policy action in the interest of advancing justice and human rights.
Email:
lbillet@ploughshares.org(link sends e-mail)
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Lorely Bunoan
IT Manager
Lorely Bunoan
IT Manager
San Francisco, CA
With her 20+ years of experience in the technology field, her role includes the management and development of the organization’s overall technology strategy and implementing smart changes to the infrastructure to keep up with the changing demands of the field. Lorely is a member of the Technology Association of Grantmakers (TAG) since 2004 — an organization that promotes the power of technology to advance the goals of the philantrophic sector. She is also part of the Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN) and was previously part of the Asian American Pacific Islanders in Philantrophy (AAPIP) Steering Committee in the Northern California chapter. Currently, she serves as co-leader of the Women in Tech in TAG and a member of the planning committee for knowledge management impact, a project housed at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Prior to joining Ploughshares in 2001, she worked for Risk Management Technologies and Design Visual Communications.
Charles Crosby
Director of Communications & Marketing
Charles Crosby
Director of Communications & Marketing
San Francisco, CA
Charles Crosby is a 25-year veteran of the communications and marketing profession. He spent over a decade as a communications leader in higher education in his native Canada before relocating to California in 2014. Since that time, he has served as the MarCom lead for the Evergreen School District in East San Jose, and Catalyst Family Inc, a statewide organization that is the largest non-profit provider of family care in California, prior to joining the team at Ploughshares. He earned his Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) in 2009, and is a published novelist, produced playwright and former college instructor.
Chase Enright
Foundation Relations Officer
Chase Enright
Foundation Relations Officer
San Francisco, California
Chase is the Foundation Relations Officer at Ploughshares, where he works with the Development Team to support the growth and vitality of the organization.
Prior to joining Ploughshares in 2021, Chase was a research assistant with the Nuclear Security Program at the Stimson Center where he focused on international cooperation on fissile material security, and insider threats. In addition, he was a Future First Fellow with Ploughshares grantee, Beyond the Bomb; and a volunteer researcher with the national office of Physicians for Social Responsibility in Washington DC where he examined the ties between higher education and the nuclear industrial complex. Chase also serves on the board of directors for the Washington DC-based nonprofit, the Nuclear Fusion Project.
Chase holds a BA from the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver where he specialized in international organizations, security, and human rights. He has a passion for imagery analysis, and nuclear history.
Bonnie Fisk
Director of Development
Bonnie Fisk
Director of Development
San Francisco, CA
Director of Development Bonnie Fisk works directly with Ploughshares’s generous and loyal donors to support the growth and vitality of the organization and to ensure that our donors know the profound difference they are making. She comes to Ploughshares by way of the Exploratorium and San Francisco Ballet, where she gained experience working closely with major donors, nonprofit board members, volunteer leaders, and executive leadership. Bonnie has a master’s degree in arts development and program management from the University of Denver and served as the Major Gift Intern at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 2013.
While Bonnie has spent the majority of her career supporting the arts, she has come to understand that the first step in sustaining what is beautiful in the world is to provide a safe and secure future for all people. This is why she supports Ploughshares’s mission to reduce and eliminate nuclear weapons – so that generations to come will have the opportunity to express themselves, free from this global threat.
James Faani
Finance Director/Controller
James Faani
Finance Director/Controller
San Francisco, CA
Terry Greenblatt
Senior Advisor
Terry Greenblatt
Senior Advisor
San Francisco, CA
Terry is the Senior Advisor at Ploughshares, focused on developing donor engagement, education and strategies that grow new hubs of regional multi-generational major donor support to promote the elimination of nuclear weapons.
She is a long-time women’s peace and justice activist and a seasoned professional with extensive experience leading and raising funds for international foundations and organizations. Prior to joining Ploughshares in 2016, Terry co-founded a new international fund, Rawa: Creative Palestinian Communities Fund, served as the executive director of Urgent Action Fund for Women’s Human Rights, was Global Fund for Women’s first Activist in Residence, and was the executive director of Bat Shalom, Israel’s national women’s peace organization.
Email:
tgreenblatt@ploughshares.org
Alex Hall
Field Building Manager
Alex Hall
Field Building Manager
Washington, DC
Alex is the Field Building Manager at Ploughshares.
Prior to working at Ploughshares, Alex worked for the Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide where she conducted open-source research on US policy tools used for the prevention of mass atrocities and related conflicts. She has also worked as a consultant for the Aspen Institute and was co-chair of the Women in International Security New England chapter. In her volunteer capacity, Alex stood up and ran a DC grassroot team for the Friends Committee on National Legislation.
Alex holds a Masters of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University and a BA from Brandeis University in Politics. Her studies focused on conflict resolution, security studies, and international humanitarian law.
Veela He
Multimedia Specialist
Veela He
Multimedia Specialist
Angela Kellett
Executive Producer of the Podcast and Development Officer
Angela Kellett
Executive Producer of the Podcast and Development Officer
Washington, D.C.
Angela is the Executive Producer of the Podcast and Development Officer at Ploughshares.
Before joining Ploughshares, Angela was a communications intern with the Nuclear Threat Initative. During this time, she worked on social media and the Cranes For Our Future campaign. Angela holds an MA in International Relations from St. John’s University where she specialized in conflicts in the Middle East, terrorism, and nuclear weapons. Angela holds a BS in Journalism also from St. John’s University.
Email:
akellett@ploughshares.org(link sends e-mail)
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Shafaq Khan
Roger L. Hale Fellow at Ploughshares
Shafaq Khan
Roger L. Hale Fellow at Ploughshares
Prior to joining Ploughshares, Shafaq was a Herbert Scoville Jr. Peace Fellow at the Stimson Center’s South Asia Program. She has also held roles at the U.S. House of Representatives and worked as a research analyst for a nonprofit overseeing rehabilitative justice programs in New York City. Shafaq has presented her research and spoken about her career on panels hosted by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (Project on Nuclear Issues), and the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, among others. Shafaq received her bachelor’s degree from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs, where she wrote her senior thesis on the abrogation of Article 370 and its implications for Kashmir. She is pursuing an M.A. in Security Studies at Georgetown University.
Kaite Lower
Program Associate
Kaite Lower
Program Associate
Washington, D.C.
Kaite is the Program Associate at Ploughshares, where she works with the Program team to support our broader grantmaking efforts.
Prior to joining Ploughshares, Kaite was the Development Associate at Just Vision, an organization that fills a media gap on Israel-Palestine through independent storytelling and strategic audience engagement. She has worked in various grants management and development spaces across San Francisco, DC, and the American South.
She graduated from Samford University with a B.A. in International Relations and a concentration in Region & Culture. Kaite has studied language, religion, and politics in Jordan and settled in DC after studying under a scholarship for international development and women’s security.
Alex Singer
Special Assistant to the President and Operations Associate
Alex Singer
Special Assistant to the President and Operations Associate
San Francisco, CA
Alex singer is the Special Assistant to the President and Operations Associate at Ploughshares.
Elizabeth Warner
Executive Director
Elizabeth Warner
Executive Director
San Francisco, CA
Elizabeth Warner is Executive Director of Ploughshares, where she provides oversight and administration of the foundation’s San Francisco headquarters, and helps ensure organizational alignment between the San Francisco and Washington, DC offices and across multiple departments. Liz works directly with the president and board of directors, and is responsible for leading the organization’s resource development efforts to advance the mission.
Liz’s inspiration for the mission is fueled by her commitment to leaving the world a better place, for her children and for generations to come, and by connecting with the many individuals who share this passion for creating a safe and secure future.
Elizabeth has more than 20 years of experience in non-profit management and fundraising. Prior to joining Ploughshares in 2012, Elizabeth served as the Major Gifts Officer at Paul Newman’s Camp Boggy Creek, a summer camp for children with life-threatening and chronic illnesses. She held previous positions at Partners in Ending Hunger, Planned Parenthood, the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, and the University of Maine’s Tangelwood 4H Camp. Elizabeth has a degree in International Development from the University of California, Berkeley and a Master’s-level Certificate in Nonprofit Management from the Muskie School of Public Service at the University of Southern Maine.