Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security Names News Leader and Scholar Dr. Xanthe Scharff Senior Fellow

Breadcrumbs

WASHINGTON, DC | June 3, 2024 –  The Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security announced today that Dr. Xanthe Scharff will join the Institute as a Senior Fellow.

Scharff is an award-winning news leader, writer, and scholar focused on gender and foreign policy. She co-founded The Fuller Project—a global newsroom dedicated to groundbreaking journalism about women—while reporting in Turkey and on the Syrian border in 2014. 

“Xanthe’s incisive reporting and leadership of The Fuller Project has raised awareness, exposed injustice, and spurred accountability for violations against women globally. She has demonstrably moved the needle on Women, Peace and Security–a field that deserves greater attention,” said Ambassador Melanne Verveer, Executive Director of the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security. “We are delighted to work more closely with Xanthe as a Senior Fellow at GIWPS.”

Scharff regularly contributes to Foreign Policy and other magazines on topics related to women and international affairs. She received a Genius Grant from The Helen Gurley Brown Trust for visionary climate journalism, as well as the Women’s Leadership Award from The Fletcher School. Tufts University named her a Distinguished Alumni and the Leadership Center for Excellence named her among the top 40 under 40 for public service. 

For the first reporting to call out the gender impacts of COVID, Scharff’s article in TIME was nominated for the Society of Professional Journalists DC Dateline Award. Her recent cover story for the Christian Science Monitor about girls’ education in Malawi was nominated for the ‘24 National Association of Black Journalists Salute to Excellence Award. She is currently writing about Israeli and Palestinian women peacebuilders and Turkish women fighting against femicide. 

Scharff is an Advisor to the Board of PhilanthPro, a B Corp that brings the power of financial planning to philanthropy. She is the Founder of Advancing Girls’ Education in Africa, which reaches millions of girls in Malawi. Scharff is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a former scholar at the United States Institute of Peace and The Brookings Institute. 

“For years, GIWPS’s data and analysis has shown that women’s empowerment is the key to better societies in almost every measurable dimension. I’m honored to contribute to this great institute’s work through deeply reported stories about the women who fight illiberal regimes and build bridges across divides,” said Scharff.

Connect with Dr. Scharff on LinkedIn.

###

About Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace, and Security (GIWPS)


Georgetown University’s Institute for Women, Peace and Security seeks to promote a more stable, peaceful, and just world by focusing on the important role women play in preventing conflict and building peace, growing economies, and addressing global threats like climate change and violent extremism. We engage in rigorous research, host global convenings, advance strategic partnerships, and nurture the next generation of leaders. Housed within the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown, the Institute is headed by the former U.S. Ambassador for Global Women’s Issues, Melanne Verveer. For more information, sign up for our newsletter at giwps.georgetown.edu and follow us on Twitter and Facebook @giwps and Instagram @georgetown_wps.

Media Contact
Sarah Rutherford
sarah.rutherford@georgetown.edu