Valerie is an international development practitioner and Project Manager at SIMLab. She is passionate about advancing peace and social equality with a commitment to reflective practice and continuous learning. Prior to joining SIMLab, she worked with Search for Common Ground, where she helped set-up SFCG Nigeria’s Port Harcourt office and supported design, monitoring, and evaluation of a peacebuilding project. Upon returning to DC, she continued to work with SFCG’s Institutional Learning Team to develop an early warning system using FrontlineSMS to prevent conflict in Nigeria, as well as collaborate on several papers on innovative evaluation methodology in peacebuilding, justice, and security fields for the UK’s Department for International Development. She has also worked as an independent evaluation consultant for Partners for Democratic Change in Senegal and the Niger Delta Professionals for Development, as well as a Program Assistant for the Peace and Collaborative Development Network. Valerie received her MA in Conflict Resolution from Georgetown University and her BA in International Development from the University of Arizona.