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Marc Sommers is an internationally recognised youth, gender, conflict, education, and P/CVE specialist. Across his career, he has blended peacebuilding and diplomacy with field research and training. He was a member of the CVE Working Group at the US Department of State and was seconded to the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in Djibouti to work on violent extremism and CVE. He has also served with the US Department of Defence. Marc has published a book on trust-based field methods for researching violent extremism and a report on youth and CVE. He has written on violent extremism and governance for Just Security.
Marc is the author of ten books and the recipient of five book awards. His latest book, We the Young Fighters: Pop Culture, Terror, and War in Sierra Leone, tells the story of youth, war and peace through a pop culture lens. The book also highlights how terror-based warfare works and what to do about it. It was a #1 Amazon New Release (War and Peace category) and a 2024 Montaigne Medal Finalist.
Marc is an Affiliated Researcher with the African Studies Centre at Boston University. He is a former Associate Research Professor at The Fletcher School (Tufts University) and a former member of the UN Advisory Group of Experts for the Progress Study on Youth, Peace and Security. He was a Fellow at The Wilson Centre, USIP and The Bellagio Centre. He has consulted for six policy institutes, the OSCE, the World Bank, five UN agencies, and 20+ NGOs. He received his PhD in Anthropology from Boston University and currently works as an international consultant.