Rachel is Co-Director of the South Caucasus Programme. For over twenty years she has played a key role in developing Conciliation Resources’ work in the region, and she currently leads our work in the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict context.

She has extensive experience of practice and research in the South Caucasus, working alongside local partners and in informal and formal partnerships with a focus on conflict transformation, human rights and inclusion. She has facilitated different forms of cross-conflict and ‘single-community’ dialogue for over two decades, and currently leads the Limehouse Discussion Platform aimed at generating creative ideas and practical solutions to address the needs of populations affected by ongoing Georgian-Abkhaz conflict. Other current areas of focus include engaging with local and international policymakers and mediators, supporting local partners in their advocacy for concrete areas of policy change, and overseeing work on a range of media, public outreach and education initiatives.

She initiated and leads Conciliation Resources’ longstanding work on dealing with the past, narratives and historical memory in the Georgian-Abkhaz and Armenian-Azerbaijani contexts. Her practical experience in dealing with the past and peacebuilding work has informed recent co-authored publications on Reconciliation and Futures Thinking.

Before joining Conciliation Resources as staff in 2000 she held the Max Hayward Research Fellowship at St. Anthony's College, Oxford, worked as a lecturer in Russian, and as a consultant in conflict transformation with a range of organisations. She holds a doctorate (DPhil) from the University of Oxford on identity politics in Abkhazia and speaks German, Spanish and Russian.