Dr. Corinne Graff is a senior advisor at USIP, where her work focuses on long-term strategies and policies to prevent the outbreak or escalation of conflict in fragile states. From 2018-2019, she was a senior policy advisor to and member of the staff of the Task Force on Violent Extremism in Fragile States.

Prior to joining USIP, she served as a deputy assistant administrator for Africa at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). In this capacity, she oversaw Sudan and South Sudan programs and Africa Bureau efforts on countering violent extremism and security governance.

Prior to joining USAID, she was director for development and democracy at the National Security Council, where she coordinated U.S. global development policy priorities, as well as the establishment of an interagency policy planning process to anticipate and respond earlier to crises and violent extremism. From 2010-2013, she was a senior advisor to the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations (USUN), where her portfolio included sub-Saharan Africa and global development policy.

Before joining government, Dr. Graff was a fellow at the Brookings Institution where she co-edited a book on Confronting Poverty: Weak States and U.S. National Security (Brookings Press, 2010), co-directed a project leading to a report on education and extremism, and helped develop the Brookings Index of State Weakness in the Developing World.

Dr. Graff received her doctoral degree in international relations from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (Switzerland), and her bachelor's from Smith College. She lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband and three children.