This month, START Director William Braniff accepted an invitation to become a member of the International Advisory Board (IAB) for Hedayah, The International Center of Excellence for Countering Violent Extremism.
“Many years ago, a group of individuals visited with me and others from various terrorism research institutions wielding an aspirational power point presentation to gather insights for this new initiative called Hedayah,” Braniff said. “Years later, START was thrilled to have Hedayah leadership participate in our annual research conference. Since then, Hedayah has become a leading resource in the P/CVE field and I am honored to serve on their advisory board as a student of their work and a huge fan of their empowering, capacity building mission.”
Hedayah was created in response to the growing desire from members of the Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF) and the wider international community for the establishment of an independent, multilateral think- and do tank devoted to dialogue and communications, capacity building programs, research and analysis to counter violent extremism in all of its forms and manifestations.
Based in Abu Dhabi and launched in December 2012, Hedayah aims to be the premier international center for expertise and experience to counter violent extremism by promoting understanding and sharing good practices.
The IAB is a group of international independent experts, practitioners and academia. The IAB functions as an advisory body of the International Steering Board (ISB) and Hedayah Senior Leadership on subjects and themes focusing on countering violent extremism, current good practices and new initiatives and developments.