Melissa Nozell

Program Officer, Religion & Inclusive Societies, United States Institute of Peace

Melissa Nozell is the program officer for religion and inclusive societies at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), where she works on initiatives to research and support the effective engagement of religious actors in conflict prevention and resolution. Prior to joining USIP in 2014, Melissa lived in Amman, Jordan, where she volunteered to help Syrian refugees through humanitarian aid efforts and mediation with several organizations, including NuDay Syria and Mercy Corps. Nozell has led research on religious trends in the U.S. and Middle East through the Jordanian Interfaith Coexistence Research Center, where she focused on Arab Christian-Muslim relations and faith-based diplomacy, and the Pluralism Project at Harvard University, where she authored and edited reports for the online edition of On Common Ground: World Religions in America. She also worked as an educator in Abu Dhabi. Nozell is an alumna of the KAICIID International Fellows Program and serves on the Jammu & Kashmir Policy Institute’s Board of International Mentors. She earned a bachelor’s degree in religion and South Asian studies from Colgate University, and a master of theological studies from Harvard University.