Our Team

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Nanako Tamaru serves as BNID's Executive Director. As a licensed attorney and peacebuilding practitioner, Nanako's areas of expertise include gender justice and social inclusion, preventing and countering violent extremism, constitution drafting, and inclusive approaches to statebuilding.

Nanako is also an Associate for Peacebuilding Effectiveness at CDA Collaborative Learning and a faculty member at Brandeis University's Heller School for Social Policy and Management. She also serves as the Principal and Founder of The Peace and Security Collaborative, where she provides research, training, and facilitation services to a range of NGO, governmental, and multilateral clients.  

Previously, Nanako worked for Inclusive Security where she led research and training programs examining why women's inclusion matters for peace and how it can be achieved. She has also managed peacebuilding programs in Syria and Somalia and has written on issues related to governance and conflict resolution for Mercy Corps, UN Women, United Nations Development Programme, International IDEA, and Conflict Dynamics International.

Nanako holds a Master's Degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and a Juris Doctor from the Boston University School of Law. 

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Amanda Tragert serves as a Programs Associate for BNID. She works with university partnerships, social media, event planning, and intern management. Amanda works as a Study Away and Exchange Advisor at UMass Boston, and previously worked at MIT and on-site with a study abroad program in Germany (returning to the country 10 years after a high school exchange near Dresden). She is passionate about languages, experiential learning, and social justice.

Amanda holds a Master’s Degree in International Higher Education and Intercultural Relations from Lesley University and an undergraduate degree from Ohio University.

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Nicole Scroggie serves as BNID’s Social Media & Marketing Intern. She is currently wrapping up her last semesters at Boston University. She majors in Communication, with a concentration in Advertising, and a minor in Fine Arts.  Nicky will  be engaging in social media content creation, blog content selection, editing, and publishing. She is passionate about sustainability, social justice, and animal rights. In her free time, Nicky likes to write and draw. She is also a youth lacrosse coach for 3D New England.