Emerita Torres is the Director of Programs and Research at The

Soufan Center.  She has over a decade of experience as a U.S.

Foreign Service Officer, where she developed and coordinated

U.S. foreign policy on counterterrorism, conflict prevention,

human rights and transnational organized crime.  

Her diplomatic tours include Brazil, Pakistan, Colombia,

Washington D.C. and most recently the  United Nations, 

where she led efforts to draft and negotiate key UN resolutions

on counterterrorism and sanctions, including addressing returning

and relocating foreign terrorist fighters.  Emerita’s proudest

achievements over her diplomatic career were lifting up

marginalized voices during Colombia’s peace process,

advocating for international workers rights, supporting

Afghanistan’s peace process, and promoting rehabilitation

and reintegration efforts for terrorists and victims at the

United Nations.  Emerita has received numerous State Department

awards for her service.  She has a Master in Public Policy from

the Harvard Kennedy School and a Bachelor of Arts from New York University.  Emerita is also an Aspen Security Fellow and a Term Member on the Council on Foreign Relations, and gives her spare time to several community development organizations and causes in her native New York City.