Amy West, principal international technical advisor, provides strategic leadership for youth, workforce development, and communications programming. She serves on the business development team and is responsible for strategic partnership building. She has over 25 years of international protection, education, and livelihoods programming experience in complex environments and has worked with UN agencies to support research and evidence-based protection strategies.

Previously, West was a legal advocate and trauma-informed liaison collaborating with U.S.-based clinical psychologists, trauma counselors, and social workers serving the needs of child and adult torture survivors, orphans and vulnerable children, and refugees with post-traumatic stress disorder. She was a special advisor to 15 international beverage alcohol industry leaders on policies to mitigate correlations between risky drinking behaviors and interpersonal and conflict-related violence.

West contributed to ODI’s Operational Security Management in Violent Environments, Good Practice Review, on do no harm responses for survivors of sexual aggression and kidnapping.

West holds an MA in Law and Diplomacy and a Certificate in Human Security from The Fletcher School, Tufts University. She is fluent in French and English.