Shauna Aron Caria

Shauna Aron Caria is a global development practitioner, researcher, and educator with over 13 years of experience advancing gender equality, disability inclusion, and social justice in complex and transitional environments. She currently serves as a Senior Advisor at Chemonics International, where she leads strategy and technical implementation for social development across government, multilateral, and privately funded development programs. Her work spans participatory research, trauma-informed assessment design, safeguarding, and inclusive policy development, with field experience in the Philippines, Iraq, Libya, Colombia, Myanmar, and Ukraine. As the former Global Practice Lead for Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI), she built and mentored a network of over 200 global experts and co-authored frameworks that have shaped sector-wide approaches to holistic inclusion in stabilization and development contexts. Prior to Chemonics, she led program development at the YWCA and served in the U.S. Peace Corps in the Philippines, where she taught deaf youth and led safeguarding initiatives. Shauna holds an M.A. in International Relations and Economics from Johns Hopkins SAIS, where she now teaches as an adjunct professor, and a B.A. in International Human Rights and Law from the University of Washington. As the proud child of a Deaf adult, American Sign Language is her first language and continues to shape her lifelong commitment to accessibility, equity, and inclusive practice.