Sandra is an internationally trained specialist for structured movement analysis (Laban Movement Analysis, Kestenberg Movement Profile ®) and the analysis of video footage in a forensic context. After a professional career in dance and pedagogy, she started her academic dive into psychology, dance and movement therapy and the behavioural sciences.

Currently, Sandra is enrolled as a PhD candidate at the Tactical Research Unit in Health Sciences and Medicine with Bond University, Australia. She investigates the practices of behaviour observation and threat assessment via human observers. Her research and lectures apply interdisciplinary and mixed-method approaches for the training of security, law enforcement and military personnel with the aim of supporting trainees and professionals in healthcare and security management through practice-based and field-oriented research.

Nadia graduated in 2007 with a BSc in Biology from the University of Toronto, Canada. She gained Advanced Specialty Certificates in Forensic Investigation and in Crime Scene Analysis from the British Columbia Institute of Technology in 2010. In 2018 Nadia was awarded an MSc in Forensic Science from the University of Strathclyde, her research project being entitled ‘The identification of individuals by observational gait analysis using closed circuit television footage: comparing expert and non-expert ability and confidence levels’.

Nadia is a Professional Member of the Chartered Society of Forensic Science, holds the Society’s certificates of professional competence in both Forensic Gait Analysis and Barefoot/Foot in Shoe Analysis. She is a member of the International Association of Identification, both the parent body and the European Division. She is a founding member of the Forensic Gait Analysis International organisation as well as a member of the Forensic Podiatry Special Advisory Group.

Dr. Arabel Bernecker-Thiel is a political scientist with more than 20 years of experience working as a migration / border management specialist for International Organisations (UNODC, IOM, ICMPD, INTERPOL, OSCE, and Frontex) focussing on the topics of Integrated Border Management, fighting irregular migration and do-no-harm assessments.

Christian Cory is a veteran law-enforcement leader and national instructor specialising in science-based interviewing and investigative decision-making. He recently retired after more than 26 years with the Wichita Police Department, where he served in homicide, sex crimes, crisis negotiations, and as Captain overseeing the Crimes Against Persons Bureau.

Under Cory’s leadership, Wichita adopted Science-Based Interviewing (SBI) as departmental curriculum. After adoption, investigative teams saw improved case outcomes in both fatal and non-fatal shooting investigations through the use of research-driven interviewing practices.

Cory is the Co-Director of Project Aletheia, a national research-practitioner initiative advancing ethical, evidence-based interviewing and helping bridge the gap between academic research and real-world investigations. Additionally, he is a National Institute of Justice LEADS Scholar and an Executive Fellow at the National Policing Institute.

Kelly Dore is the Executive Director of Sierra Cares Foundation which serves to repatriate, educate and serve vulnerable women and children in Sierra Leone and West Africa. Her mental health programme, the first of its kind, helps African and Middle Eastern lawmakers understand sex and labour trafficking as it relates to their countries. She is an expert in trauma for conflict regions and trains NATO governments and first responders on how to navigate the challenges of refugee populations and trauma in vulnerable communities.

As a formerly elected Commissioner, she has worked with the past four US administrations and officials to help them understand the implications and impacts of legislation on multiple frameworks. Kelly is published in the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine, titled, Estimating the Prevalence of Human Trafficking in the United States and is also a TedX speaker; her video is entitled “The Intersection of Vulnerability and Trauma.”

Dr. Carmen Feijoo is a First Corporal (in reserve) with 35 years of experience working for the Guardia Civil in the Madrid Airport Unit (Guardia Civil Border and Customs Police Unit).

For the past 11 years, Carmen has served as the Head of the Guardia Civil’s behaviour detection group in the Airport Unit and is responsible for the ICARO (Identification of Anomalous Behaviour and Operative Response) behaviour detection programme. She chaired the Behaviour Detection Study Group of ECAC for six years (2018-2024). Internationally, she supports training courses for CEPOL, FRONTEX and UNODC.

Carmen is a crisis negotiator as well as an AVSEC trainer certified by Civil Aviation Authority (AESA).

Darcy Fletcher is a Learning and Development Manager within the security industry with a decade of experience spanning healthcare, emergency services and security operations. A qualified paramedic with a BSc Hons, she has worked across the UK and the Middle East, bringing operational insight from high pressure/complex environments.

Holding a MSc in Disaster Management and Resilience, Chartered Manager Status and an active TRiM Practitioner, Darcy combines clinical and operational expertise with leadership and development. In her current role, she focuses on strengthening workforce wellbeing, resilience, and capabilities with security.

With a keen interest in mental health and wellbeing, Darcy is enthusiastic about building cultures that support staff, supporting the first company in the world to achieve the BS 30480 for suicide prevention in the workplace.

An Gaiser is a behavioural analyst, investigative interviewer and author of the book Hidden Signals – The Art of Timing and Influence in Conversations. She is the founder of the GIN-method (Behavioural Analysis, Interaction Skills and Non-verbal Intelligence), a framework used to analyse behaviour, interaction dynamics and decision-making in high-stakes communication.

An previously worked in investigative and behavioural contexts, including with the Dutch Probation Service, and has collaborated with organisations connected to national security and public safety, including the AIVD. Internationally, she provides training and advisory work on investigative interviewing and behavioural analysis for professionals in law enforcement, intelligence and security, including programmes delivered for the National Center for Credibility Assessment (NCCA) in the United States and for international armed forces.

Simon Carl Hardegger, M.Sc. is a psychologist who studied Psychology (I&O-Profile), educational sciences and criminology at the University of Zurich and completed various continuing education programmes (e.g. management, law, strategic HR-management, crisis communication, mediation).

He has worked as a management consultant for various companies and, since 2009, has headed the Center Aptitude Testing, Management Diagnostics & Risk Assessment at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences where important practice partners come from industries such as aviation, energy, nuclear power, police, railways and public authorities.

A core part of Simon’s work involves identifying disloyal and destructive employees and managers. Before 2009, he also worked as a private security operator, instructor and mission leader, and headed the instructor’s team of private security company for 10 years. He was also a member of the Swiss Army for 30 years and was honourably discharged with the rank of Major (OF-3).

Aleksandra Kapela is an occupational and aviation psychologist, author, speaker and consultant based in Poland. She specialises in human factors, behavioural assessment, safety culture and performance in high-stakes operational environments. She works with airlines, flight schools, as well as other safety-critical organisations, supporting selection, training and wellbeing initiatives.

Aleksandra is the founder of MyWingman and translates psychological science into practical tools for decision-making, communication and risk awareness. Her work focuses particularly on how people interpret behaviour under pressure, uncertainty and stress. She explores how behavioural patterns can be misread in real-world situations, and how more accurate interpretation can improve both safety and judgement. She speaks internationally on human factors, assessment and modern approaches to behavioural risk.

After completing his undergraduate and graduate studies, Murat Kaplan earned his Doctorate in Pedagogy in 2001. His academic work centres on understanding human behaviour. He completed a Psychology diploma programme in English with honours and gained expertise in forensic psychology and forensic document examination.

To further strengthen his competence in human behaviour, Murat completed advanced training programmes in Criminal Psychology, Criminal Profiling, Applied Behaviour Analysis, Mental Health, Child Psychology, Handwriting Analysis, Body Language, and Neuropsychology.

Murat received the ‘Best Research Paper’ award twice at international conferences (November 2020 and April 2021). He has delivered three TEDx conferences talks and been invited as a guest speaker to numerous prestigious national and international events.

He is the author of more than 30 books and speaks five languages in addition to Turkish and English.

Prof. David Keatley is an international cold case and major crimes consultant, working with law enforcement organisations around the world. He is also Chair of Crime Science at Murdoch University, Australia.

Dave has published over 100 peer reviewed journal articles, authored five books (Read My Lips, Mark My Words: The Deception Detection Handbook; Why The Lie?; Keatley’s Winthropping; The Timeline Toolkit: temporal methods for crime research; and, Pathways in Crime: an introduction to Behaviour Sequence Analysis), and given keynote seminars, lectures, and training in multiple countries. He specialises in forensic linguistics, behavioural forensics, and mapping complex sequences of criminal behaviour.

Amber King is an Industrial-Organisational Psychology Ph.D. student at Florida Institute of Technology with a background in forensic psychology. Her research includes topics on interoperability, human-AI agent teaming, and decision making in high-stakes environments.

Her current research explores how people develop trust in AI, the effects of AI outputs on decision-making, and the role of interoperability in facilitating collaboration in emergency response and other high-stakes domains.

Amber’s work applies both forensic and industrial-organisational psychology to bridge the gap between psychological theory and practice, and is actively engaged in research, under the supervision of Dr. Brandon May on projects with international police networks, decision-making and artificial intelligence.

Aaron has been involved in aviation security, corporate security, executive protection, and investigations for nearly three decades since leaving the UK Police in 1997. He has designed and delivered security and academic programs worldwide and continues to train corporate teams, police, and special forces in defensive tactics and self-preservation skills.

Based in Southeast Asia for 30 years, Aaron serves as an outsourced security and crisis management advisor to major multinational corporations and has led high-profile executive protection details. Fluent in Thai, he was awarded honorary wings by the Thai Special Forces for his work during 2018, when he served as head of security for a prominent figure during the Chiang Rai cave rescue. Aaron holds Master’s degrees in criminology and applied neuroscience, is a published author of three books, a motivational speaker, and is currently a PhD student at Rangsit University.

Martin Lynch is the Head of Security for Manchester’s AO Arena. The Arena has seen a paradigm shift in its security operations during his stewardship, including comprehensive changes in the use of technology. Martin holds a Master’s degree in counter terrorism.

Solving real-world security problems brought Martin to the University of Portsmouth, where he is in the final year of a doctorate in security risk management. Martin’s work explores how human security officers react to and understand artificial intelligence in security operational technology.

Diana Lubandy-Nowek is an international consultant and trainer specialising in behavioural analysis, nonverbal communication, and forensic linguistics. She is the founder and director of the Institute of Nonverbal Communication in Austria and the Centre for Behavioural Analysis in Poland.

As a strategic advisor and behavioural analysis trainer, she has worked with international organisations including the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (FRONTEX) in Poland, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in the Balkans, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Iraq, and the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) in Qatar.

In cooperation with European security agencies, she has developed and delivered specialised training programmes on predictive profiling and the detection of high-risk behaviours at airports and border crossings. In 2023, she lectured at the first United Nations Behavioural Science Academy for government representatives in Qatar.

Diana also prepares expert reports assessing the credibility of statements and testimonies commissioned by law firms, foundations, and corporate clients. Her work focuses on implementing behavioural science to improve security, standardising behavioural analysis methods, applying forensic linguistics within the justice system, and evaluating the credibility of witness statements. She is a member of the Scientific Committee of the Polish Conference on Forensic Linguistics.

Dr Peter Lund is a former police officer and intelligence officer with more than three decades’ experience from the Swedish Police, Security Service, Folke Bernadotte Academy (the Swedish agency for peace, security and development) and the European Action Service. Nowadays offering operational support and training for individuals, government authorities and corporate companies, Peter focuses on human behaviour and human intelligence in recruiting assets as well as the countermeasures necessary for insider threat prevention.

Peter has written several books about insiders, outsiders, spies, relationships, and rhetoric and will launch his latest book The Pace –  which he has co-written with the author and counsellor Sara Olsson – the same week as Behavioural Analysis 2026 takes place in Krakow.

Paulo Barbosa Marques is an Inspector at Polícia Judiciária (Portuguese Criminal Investigation Police), a licensed clinical and forensic psychologist, an Invited Professor in Police Psychology, a researcher at BSAFE LAB – Law Enforcement, Justice and Public Safety Research and Technology Transfer Laboratory (Universidade da Beira Interior), a member of the Center of Forensic Interviewing (CoFI), and a PhD student in Legal Psychology at Universidade de Santiago de Compostela.

Paulo has been involved in several capacity building projects in the field of police psychology and criminal investigation with other law enforcement agencies in European and Portuguese-language speaking countries. Passionate about communication in policing, especially police interviewing, Paulo is involved in various research projects in the field, namely as a member of the Management Committee of the COST action “Establishing Networks to Implement the Principles on Effective Interviewing for Investigations (IMPLEMENDEZ)” and of the Scientific Committee of “BEJUST – Breaking Barriers to Enhance Criminal Justice Interactions and Safeguards for ASD Individuals in Portugal “.

Paulo Barbosa Marques is the Editor-in-Chief of “Police Psychology: New Trends in Forensic Psychological Science” and “Psychopathy and Criminal Behaviour: Current Trends and Challenges”.

Malcolm McGuire is a 23-year law enforcement veteran currently serving as the Police Captain at Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, Texas.

Malcolm serves as the coordinator of the SMU Behavioral Threat Assessment & Management Team and has conducted training nationally and internationally on conflict resolution, diversity, effective communication, and threat assessment. He has played a pivotal role in training faculty, staff, and students to recognise warning signs of concerning behaviour and understand the processes for reporting potential threats. This proactive educational initiative has empowered the campus community, creating a culture of vigilance and support.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Wiley University, a Master of Arts in Dispute Resolution & Conflict Management from Southern Methodist University and is currently a Liberal Studies Doctoral student with a concentration on Human Rights at Southern Methodist University.

Abdibasid Ali Mohamed is the founder and lead trainer of Nuance Intel, an Oslo-based consultancy specialising in applied behavioural analysis for high-stakes environments. He holds an MSc in Communication, Behaviour and Credibility Analysis from Manchester Metropolitan University, is certified in Psychological First Aid by Johns Hopkins University, and has completed psychotherapeutic training in CBT, ACT and self-compassion – a combination that places practitioner health at the centre of his work rather than at its edges.

He returns to Behavioural Analysis having presented in London in 2024, where he addressed stress and mental health among intensive-care personnel. He delivers training and advisory work across the Nordics, the GCC, and East Africa. His 2026 session asks what chronic stress does to the person doing the reading.

Rt Hon Dame Penny Mordaunt DBE PC was a British Parliamentarian for 14 years, holding nine ministerial roles, four in Cabinet.

She was Secretary of State for Defence, for International Development and Minister for the Armed Forces and sat on the UK’s National Security Council. As Paymaster General she was the UK’s first defensive cyber lead. She headed the UK’s civil contingencies and rewrote the UK’s resilience strategy post-Covid. As a local Government Minister, she had responsibility for the fire service.

Her experience spans disaster and humanitarian relief, disease outbreaks, terrorist attacks and all UK defence operations and force generation. She has chaired COBRA, NATO and the EU Battle Group exercises. She was a Royal Navy Reservist for 10 years and an honorary officer for six, affiliated to our Mine Hunters and bomb disposal divers.

She was the UK Governor at the World Bank. Today she works in investment, philanthropy, development and defence. Pro bono she is the Chair of the Coalition for Global Prosperity and co-chairs of the commission on antisemitism with Lord John Mann.

As Leader of the Commons and Lord President of the Council, she came to international public attention given her role presiding over the Accession Council following the death of Queen Elizabeth II and at the coronation of King Charles III.

Figen Murray OBE is a counter terrorism expert, internationally recognised speaker, and the driving force behind Martyn’s Law, the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025. After losing her son, Martyn Hett, in the Manchester Arena attack, she channelled profound grief into a national movement for stronger public protection, securing cross‑party and industry support that led to the legislation receiving Royal Assent in April 2025.

Figen holds a master’s degree in counter terrorism with distinction and was awarded an OBE for her contribution to public safety. She serves in senior and honorary roles across the security sector, including Chair of the International Security Exhibition.

As a motivational speaker, she inspires audiences in the UK and internationally with her lived experience, resilience, and hope. She also works closely with young people to raise awareness of online radicalisation, having reached more than 33,000 students to date.

Catherine is the spokesperson of the private security industry to the EU and international institutions and stakeholders. She covers a wide range of subjects, including transport security, AI, insider threat, the protection of critical infrastructure and public spaces. Catherine was the coordinator of the EU-funded project AITRAP on the Insider Threat – with DHL and Securitas – that led to the creation of the e-learning platform Help2Protect.

A European lobbyist by profession, Catherine has been in a trade association leadership role since 1997. Influence, and understanding how human beings function and communicate, is her passion and subject of research.

Catherine has a Masters in Translation (Italian, English, French), Certificates in Counterterrorism, Neurolinguistics (MP NLP), Coaching, Hypnosis, and she is a certified trainer. She has delivered training in negotiation, charisma, leadership skills and is a guest speaker at Nancy University, France, and at Buckinghamshire New University’s School of Aviation and Security, UK. Catherine can communicate in six languages (French, English, Italian, Spanish, Dutch and German).

Saeid Samimi is Head of Innovation at TEAM LEWIS, working at the intersection of creativity, technology, AI and commercial impact. Over more than a decade, he has developed creative technologies, digital workflows and visual communication programmes designed to improve performance, engagement and efficiency.

At TEAM LEWIS, Saeid has been developing SideKick, an AI-driven platform that makes brand, data and organisational context accessible in a structured way. It enables content, messaging and presentations to be generated, tested and improved against strategy, consistency and performance signals.

Saeid’s current work focuses on how AI can support better communication by analysing behavioural cues, audience perception, message alignment and creative effectiveness. His experience spans motion design, animation, video production, AR/VR and digital transformation, including work for Omron, Rivian, BioCatch, American Express, VMware and IG. He is also the creator of Training for Trust, an AI-enabled presenting tool designed to help people understand and improve how they are perceived by an audience.

Paweł Sawicki serves as the Deputy Spokesman and educator at the Auschwitz Memorial. He is also the Editor-in-Chief of the monthly online magazine ‘Memoria’.

Paweł oversees the Memorial’s social media activities, which are followed by over three million individuals across various platforms and is the author of the photographic commemorative album entitled ‘Auschwitz-Birkenau. The Place Where You Are Standing…’, which juxtaposes photographs from 1944 of the Auschwitz II-Birkenau camp with the current state of the site.

Cristina Schimbov is a senior law enforcement professional with over 27 years of experience dedicated to investigating human trafficking cases. She has held key leadership roles in the Police of the Republic of Moldova, including Deputy Head of the Center for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings and Head of the Child Trafficking Investigation Unit, leading complex national and cross-border investigations. She has collaborated with international partners such as Interpol and Europol, represented Moldova as a national expert in global operations, and contributed to improving the national legal framework on trafficking.

Cristina’s commitment to a victim-centred approach was strengthened through her role as Victim Protection Coordinator with IOM. She is a certified trainer in leadership, gender equality, and anti-discrimination, whilst also has a leading role with the Women Police Association.

Cristina became the first female police officer from Moldova to graduate from the FBI National Academy, where she completed specialised Behavioural Analysis Course led by FBI profilers. She has also successfully completed Advanced Interview Techniques Training in USA, further enhancing her investigative expertise in human trafficking cases.

Dr. Keith Silika is a lecturer in Policing at Salford University and has previously worked for the Police both in the UK and in Zimbabwe.

Keith’s research interests’ are on artificial intelligence, policing and harmful practices. He is currently writing a monograph on Harmful Practices and Forensic Science (Liverpool University Press, circa. 2027).

Anne Speckhard, Ph.D., is Director of the International Center for the Study of Violent Extremism (ICSVE) and served for over two decades as Adjunct Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Georgetown University School of Medicine and also served as an Affiliate in the Center for Security Studies, Georgetown University.

She has interviewed over 800 terrorists, violent extremists, their family members and supporters around the world, including in Western Europe, the Balkans, Central Asia, the former Soviet Union and the Middle East. Over the past five years, she has conducted in-depth psychological interviews with 275 ISIS defectors, returnees and prisoners, as well as 16 al Shabaab cadres (as well as their family members and leaders,) studying their trajectories into and out of terrorism, and their experiences inside ISIS and al Shabaab.

Dr. Speckhard developed the ICSVE Breaking the ISIS Brand Counter Narrative Project from these interviews, which includes over 250 short counter-narrative videos that mimic ISIS recruitment videos but contain actual terrorists strongly denouncing ISIS as un-Islamic, corrupt and brutal. These videos have been utilised in over 200 Facebook and Instagram campaigns globally. Beginning in 2020, she launched the ICSVE Escape Hate Counter Narrative Project, interviewing 54 white supremacists and members of hate groups, developing counter-narratives from their interviews, and creating anti-recruitment videos. She has also conducted rare interviews with five Antifa activists.

Dr. Speckhard is also an expert in rehabilitation and repatriation of terrorists and their families. In 2007, she designed the psychological and Islamic aspects of the Detainee Rehabilitation Program in Iraq to be applied to 20,000+ detainees and 800 juveniles. This work led to consulting with foreign governments on issues of terrorist prevention, interventions and repatriation; and the rehabilitation and reintegration of ISIS foreign fighters, wives and children. She has worked individually with former terrorists from Belgium, Australia, Sweden and elsewhere.  She has also worked on these issues with NATO, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), UN Women, United Nations Countering Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (UNCTED), United Nations Office of Drug and Crime (UNODC), the EU Commission and EU Parliament, and to the U.S. Senate & House, Departments of State, Defense, Justice, Homeland Security, Health & Human Services, and the FBI.

Dr. Speckhard actively trains key stakeholders in law enforcement, intelligence, elite hostage negotiation teams, educators, and other professionals in countering violent extremism, locally and internationally. Her focus is on the psychology of terrorism, the effective use of counter-narrative messaging materials produced by ICSVE, as well as studying the use of children as violent actors by groups such as ISIS. Her consultations and trainings include U.S., Australian, Canadian, German, British, Dutch, Austrian, Swiss, Belgian, Danish, Iraqi, Syrian, Jordanian and Thai national police and security officials, among others. She also serves as an expert witness, testifying both internationally and nationally on a variety of topics pertaining to trauma, loss, dissociation, violent extremism and terrorism.

Dr. Speckhard is the author of five books: Homegrown Hate, Talking to Terrorists, Bride of ISIS, Undercover Jihadi, and ISIS Defectors: Inside Stories of the Terrorist Caliphate. She has appeared on multiple news channels around the globe and written articles for newspapers and professional journals. Her academic publications are found at https://georgetown.academia.edu/AnneSpeckhard and www.icsve.org.

ICSVE’s Breaking the ISIS Brand and Escape Hate Counternarrative videos and training seminars can be watched on ICSVE’s YouTube channel.

David Stephens is one of Australia’s leading body language and nonverbal communication experts. With years of experience working in the fields of national security and international relations, David has developed and applied his skills in nonverbal communication and credibility analysis in a range of different high stakes negotiations.

David now teaches nonverbal communication and credibility analysis in Australia and abroad. As a former Paul Ekman trainer and more recently as the Program Manager and Senior Mentor at the Joe Navarro Body Language Academy, David has learnt from the best and continues to share his knowledge and skills with students from around the world. In particular, his research into the cross-cultural aspects of deception detection provide a valuable contribution to the growing body of research in this important area.

Tina Wallace KPM is a serving UK law enforcement officer, with over 28 years of operational policing experience, specialising in covert surveillance, counter-terrorism and proactive investigations.

As a former surveillance manager and nationally recognised practitioner in behavioural detection and crime prevention, Tina has developed innovative approaches to identifying emerging risk of sexual predatory offending, through observation, behavioural assessment and intelligence-led policing. Her work focuses on understanding how behaviour can reveal intent, vulnerability and risk before serious harm occurs. Tina combines the disciplines of covert observation, offender-focused prevention and behavioural analysis to explore how proactive policing can move beyond responding to public space sexual offending, towards predicting and preventing it. She has advised both nationally and internationally on the application of behavioural indicators, risk assessment and proactive intervention strategies across a range of public safety environments.

Hon. Shandra Woworuntu is a global expert, advocate, and leader dedicated to ending human trafficking and protecting the rights and dignity of vulnerable communities. Drawing from her lived experience and deep engagement with victims and survivors, she has developed a profound understanding of trafficking dynamics and survivor behaviours. Her work informs ethical, compassionate, and effective responses that prioritise healing and empowerment.

A powerful voice in policy and advocacy, Shandra addresses demand and impunity while advancing the non-punishment principle and promoting meaningful survivor inclusion through ethical engagement. She champions holistic, trauma-informed approaches that honour tradition and culture as part of recovery.

Previously, she served as a New Jersey State Commissioner and was appointed by President Barack Obama to the first U.S. Advisory Council on Human Trafficking, reflecting her leadership at the highest levels. A passionate educator, speaker, and author, she contributes articles, op-eds, chapters, papers, and books, shaping global conversations on justice, accountability, and survivor leadership.

Maya Yamout is a qualified social worker in both the UK and Lebanon. She is pursuing a PhD in Sociology, Criminology, and Social Policy at Swansea University.

She has over 15 years of experience in forensic social work, countering violent extremism, prison work, and psychosocial interventions in conflict zones. Maya serves as Vice President and as a board member of Rescue Me, an NGO focused on rehabilitation, crime prevention, and trauma-informed care.

Her research and consultancy mainly centres on Lebanon, the UK, and international settings, particularly on extremism, prisons, gender issues, trauma, and social justice.

Dr. Sagit Yehoshua is a criminologist, specialising in criminal and terrorist profiling, utilising, amongst other techniques, the psychology of the insider threat, violent actors and terrorists, to provide accurate and actionable risk assessments. Sagit was awarded her PhD, by Kings College in London, UK; her thesis was entitled ‘The Social-Psychological Profile of Terrorist Leaders in Israeli Prisons’.

Sagit is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Counter-Terrorism (I.C.T.), Reichman University, Herzliya, Israel, and an Atkin Research Fellow at ICSR – International Centre for the Study of De-radicalisation at King’s College London. She is also a member of Forum Dvora, an NGO for women in foreign policy and national security. Currently, Sagit lectures at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, the Reichman University, Herzliya, and the College for Security and Arabic in Tel Aviv.

Sagit has extensive experience as a consultant for official intelligence agencies, multi-national corporations and private sector risk management companies and is a recognised profiler and risk assessor of extremists both in Israel and internationally. She is a qualified NLP therapist, specialising in trauma and difficult life circumstances, and is also a published author of the academic book, ‘Terrorist Minds: From Social-Psychological Profiling to Assessing the Risk’.