Eric Ham

Eric Ham is the founder of the XII Project. He previously served as the Policy Director for the 3D Security Initiative, an academic project of the Center for Justice and Peace building based in Washington, DC. During his tenure at 3D he led the centers’ Washington office. He oversaw the legislative portfolio and strategically connected the center with key policymakers on both sides of Pennsylvania Avenue. He examined civilian-military capacity and broader issues surrounding the U.S. government inter-agency process. He has co-authored several publications including the Joint Experts’ Statement on Iran and Advancing Peace Mitigating Crisis, a report that offers a comprehensive blueprint for incorporating peace building into U.S. foreign policy. He also created and led the Israeli-Palestinian Congressional Initiative. This signature program brings together Members of Congress and their staff in an effort to educate and create awareness of the complexities surrounding the conflict.

Prior to joining the 3D Security Initiative, Mr. Ham served as director of congressional relations for the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). He created a number of influential programs elevating the debate on U.S. foreign policy within Congress. While at CSIS he elevated the profile of the institution through successful leadership of key programs that included: the Ambassadors’ Roundtable, the Congressional Dialogue Series, the Congressional Forum on Islam and Decision 2008.

Mr. Ham has also served as national security fellow to U.S. Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) where he focused primarily on military operations and defense appropriations. He also worked as a senior policy analyst for TransAfrica Forum for Public Policy focusing on a variety of major policy initiatives such as the Africa Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA) and human rights issues including the illicit conflict diamonds trade and child slavery.

Mr. Ham currently chairs the Security and Development Workgroup for the Society for International Development (SID) where he leads high-level discussions surrounding the Security-Development nexus. He is also a member of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and the Council on Emerging National Security Affairs. He holds a Masters Degree from the University of Chicago and a B.A. from the University of Michigan.

Mariam Nawabi

Mariam Nawabi is an attorney, social entrepreneur, journalist and philanthropist. She previously worked in private practice at Dechert LLP in Washington, D.C. from 1999 until 2003. Her focus was commercial litigation, intellectual property, and international business law. In February 2002, she was selected to serve as a member of the U.N’s Legal Affairs Working Group for Afghanistan. Mariam’s focus was women’s rights in the new constitution and her recommendations led to a stronger equality clause in the new Afghan Constitution.

Mariam is the host of PUL, a television show produced by America Abroad Media that broadcasts weekly in Afghanistan. She is also the host of the Global Challenges Series with the Center for Strategic & International Studies. Mariam is also a Founding Member of the Afghanistan Advocacy Group, a national network that provides recommendations to policymakers regarding development and security in Afghanistan.

Prior to these roles, Mariam served as Senior Advisor to the Afghan-American Chamber of Commerce and Afghanistan International Chamber of Commerce. Her focus was on policy issues and programs affecting private sector and economic development. From January 2004 to January 2006, she worked at the Embassy of Afghanistan, serving as Commercial & Trade Counsel. In that capacity, Mariam worked on policy issues, private sector development, women’s entrepreneurship, reform of commercial laws, and training and capacity building programs.

During her tenure, she established and expanded the first commercial service for Afghanistan in the United States. She organized the first U.S. Business and Trade Mission to Afghanistan, the first Investment Promotion Trip to the U.S. by the Government of Afghanistan, assisted with the first Afghan trade mission to the U.S. with the Afghan-American Chamber of Commerce, led a trade delegation of Afghan women entrepreneurs to the Global Summit of Women in Mexico, and launched a Business Incubator for Afghan Women Entrepreneurs project through the U.S.-Afghan Women’s Council.

Mariam has also taken part in international conferences and speaking engagements on issues related to Afghanistan’s economic development, legal reform, women’s rights, and civil society capacity building. She has participated in numerous international conferences, including a conference sponsored by the governments of the United States, Germany, Great Britain, Afghanistan, German Foreign Office, and the United Nations.

On the policy front, she was involved in recommendations that were utilized by USAID for the continuation of its Economic Governance Program, the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency’s Investment Facility Program, the World Bank’s Private Sector Development Program, and the Overseas Private Investment Agency’s first Middle Market Lending Facility for Afghanistan. She was also actively involved in promoting investment to Afghanistan and market development in Afghanistan. She launched the Afghanistan Business Gateway, an on-line source of information on business and investment in Afghanistan, the Afghanistan Business Dialogue, a series of ongoing seminars with the Afghan-American Chamber of Commerce, and facilitated numerous investments by U.S. companies in Afghanistan. Her work on economic development has been covered by the World Bank and PBS.

Mariam is a graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center (J.D., cum laude 1999), where she served on the editorial board of Law and Policy in International Business and of George Mason University (B.A., International Studies, summa cum laude, 1995), where she was a recipient of the Peat-Marwick, Datatel and John C. Wood scholarships and a White House intern.