Shauna Aron Caria

Shauna Aron Caria is a Senior Advisor at Chemonics International, where she leads strategy and technical implementation for social development, gender equality, and safeguarding across government, multilateral, and privately funded development programs. She is a recognized expert in gender and social inclusion (GESI), disability rights, and trauma-informed development, with over 13 years of experience designing and implementing inclusive strategies in conflict-affected and stabilization contexts. Her work has shaped sector-wide approaches to safeguarding and holistic inclusion, and she has led technical assessments and capacity-strengthening initiatives in countries including Iraq, Libya, Colombia, Myanmar, and Ukraine.

Caria is co-author of several widely used toolkits and frameworks, including Trauma-Informed Approaches: An Actionable Toolkit for International Development Practitioners, Implementing a Holistic Inclusion Approach in Stabilization Programs, and the Sexual Harassment, Exploitation, and Abuse (SHEA) Prevention and Response Program Toolkit. Her research and publications focus on participatory methodologies, inclusive policy design, and the intersection of protection, equity, and development. She has presented her work to global donors and policy audiences and has mentored over 200 gender, social inclusion, and safeguarding professionals worldwide.

She is a certified UN ILO Participatory Gender Auditor and holds Adult and Youth Mental Health First Aid certifications, which inform her trauma-responsive and inclusive practice. She is a member of the Advisory Council for Women Leading International and previously supported and expanded programs such as GirlsFirst and GenRising at the YWCA. Earlier in her career, she served in the U.S. Peace Corps in the Philippines, where she taught deaf youth and led safeguarding advocacy. Caria holds an M.A. in International Relations and Economics from Johns Hopkins SAIS, where she now teaches the SAIS Women Lead practicum 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 and inclusive practice.