Melissa Nozell is the senior program officer for religion and inclusive societies at USIP, where she leads initiatives to research and support the effective engagement of religious actors in conflict prevention and resolution.

Prior to joining USIP, Nozell lived in Jordan where she supported humanitarian aid efforts for Syrian refugees through several organizations, including NuDay Syria and Mercy Corps. Nozell conducted research on religious trends in the United States through the Pluralism Project at Harvard University and in the Middle East through the Jordanian Interfaith Coexistence Research Center. She also worked as an educator in Abu Dhabi.

At USIP, Nozell oversees several key program initiatives in research and practice on strategic religious engagement, including on interreligious and intergenerational dialogue, religiously sensitive psychosocial support for displaced survivors of conflict, and religious actors’ roles in formal peace processes. She also develops training tools and resources, including for USIP’s Global Campus and for U.S. military chaplains.

Nozell was a 2021-2022 Penn Kemble Fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy and a KAICIID International Fellow in 2019. She earned a bachelor’s degree in religion and South Asian studies from Colgate University and a master’s in theological studies from Harvard University.