Emma DeSouza
Emma DeSouza is a journalist, award-winning campaigner, and peace activist who changed UK law in a landmark human rights case relating to the Good Friday Agreement.
She is the founder and co-facilitator of Irish deliberative democracy platform The Civic Initiative, Director of the Northern Ireland Emerging Leaders Program at the National Committee on American Foreign Policy in New York, and a transatlantic adviser on peace processes and civic innovation. Emma is the former women's leadership coordinator at the National Women's Council of Ireland and led in the creation of the first All-island Women’s Forum, serving as Chair and Facilitator (2021-23). As a journalist, she writes for several publications including the Guardian, Irish Times, Irish News, Journal.ie, Euronews and Byline Times. In 2023, she hosted a limited podcast series on the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement titled 'Lost in Implementation'. Emma regularly tours US universities to lecture on issues related to global security, peace processes, and civic engagement strategies and has shared the stage at global conferences with world leaders as a key figure in a new generation of peacebuilders.