Rachel led the development of Conciliation Resources' work in the Caucasus for over 15 years as Programme Director, working alongside local partners to achieve change. She now supports the team and partners in an advisory capacity.  She initiated and leads Conciliation Resources’ work on dealing with the past in the Georgian-Abkhaz and Armenian-Azerbaijani contexts. She is experienced in facilitating different types of cross-conflict dialogue, including the current Limehouse Discussion Platform. She engages extensively with policy audiences and advises on conflict analysis, strategic planning and programme design and development.

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. She holds a doctorate (DPhil) from the University of Oxford on the politics of literature and identity in Abkhazia and speaks German, Spanish and Russian.