Jonathan Sandy is the Founder and Executive Director of the Regional Center for Governance and Security Policy Initiative ( RCGSPI), with headquarters based in Freetown, Sierra Leone,  www.rcgspi.org. Jonathan is an international practitioner, with over 25 years of a career path on democratic governance, conflict analysis and human rights-based approach to the design and implementation of programmes related to international crises management, stabilization and peace support operations, Recovery, Peacebuilding and Preventing Violent Extremism, transitional justice, local reconciliation and Alternative Dispute Resolutions, establishment of National Early Warning and Early Response ( NEWER) mechanisms as well as Community Resilience interventions in fragile and conflict-affected states( FCSs). Jonathan has a proven experience in facilitating Regional Multi-Donor Trust Funds on Peacebuilding, Security Sector Stabilization, Small Arms Control and Governance Programmes.  He is also experienced in peace and security related programme assessment, design, management, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of programmes; experienced in formulation of donor funded actions, having spent many years working for the Government of Sierra Leone, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)/UNDP, the African Union, UN/World Bank in numerous roles, providing high-level strategic and senior advisory support in the ECOWAS, Lake Chad Basin, Sahel, Horn/East Africa regions, and recently, in the South African Development Community (SADC) region. He brings extensive experience on understanding the risks, challenges and opportunities to Africa’s peace, security and stability, and long-term economic growth and sustainable development. He has a wide knowledge and practical-hands on experiences related to the operationalization of the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA), especially the European Union funded APSA 1V, facilitating conducive and interactive dialogue with policy and decision-makers such as  the African Union Peace and Security Council ( AU PSC) and the AU Department of Political Affairs, Peace and Security ( PAPs), having served as chairperson of the AU ECOSOCC Peace and Security Cluster, and as a Senior Stabilization Adviser to the African Union Peace and Security Department, particularly the Defence and Security Division in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (2013 to 2015). He has adequate professional skills in facilitating, managing and coordinating cross-functional interagency strategic teams and building synergies and effective partnerships involving the UN, EU, African Union, ECOWAS, IGAD, bilateral and other multilateral organizations, public-private sector institutions, civil society groups, NGOs and Community-Based Organizations( CBOs).  He is a confident, self-motivated professional, with strong inter-personal skills, and excellent drafting, presentation and report writing skills. He has overtime successfully led and delivered national, regional and continental Stabilization and Peacebuilding Programmes. Jonathan has an MA in Public Policy and Management from the Institute for Development Policy and Management (IDPM) at the University of Manchester, UK and B.Sc. (Hons) in Economics from the University of Sierra Leone. He is a Doctorate Scholar in strategic planning processes in response to crisis and Stabilization interventions in conflict and fragile states, with the Defense Academy in Cranfield University, United Kingdom.