Meet the Board

  • Co-Founder and Executive Director, Diverting Hate

    Kaitlyn Tierney is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Diverting Hate. A marketing strategist with more than a decade of experience, she specializes in using data and storytelling to shift behaviors and build movements. She has led research and campaigns across industries, with a focus on how technology shapes human decision-making. Kaitlyn holds a B.A. in Marketing from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and a Master of Arts in International Policy Development, with a specialization in countering violent extremism, from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies.

  • Professor, Middlebury Institute of International Studies; Founding Director, Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism

    Jason Blazakis is a professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies (MIIS) where he focuses on threat financing, sanctions, violent extremism, and special operations related research. He is also the founding Executive Director of MIIS’s Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism.

    From 2008 to 2018, he served as the Director of the Counterterrorism Finance and Designations Office, Bureau of Counterterrorism, U.S. Department of State. In this role, Jason was responsible for directing efforts to designate countries, organizations, and individuals as terrorists, also known as State Sponsors of Terrorism, Foreign Terrorist Organizations, and Specially Designated Global Terrorists. He previously held positions in the Department of State’s Political-Military Affairs, International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, and Intelligence and Research Bureaus, and at U.S. Embassy Kabul.

    Prior to working at the Department of State, Jason served as a domestic intelligence analyst at the Congressional Research Service. He was also the national security adviser to a United States Congressional Representative and worked at the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Technology Administration.

    Jason is an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland. He has published articles in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Time Magazine, Foreign Affairs, The Hill, Philadelphia Inquirer, Lawfare, and many other outlets. He is regularly quoted by the media, including Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Reuters, ABC, CBS, and NBC, on a wide range of terrorism and sanctions related matters.

    He holds degrees from the University of Mississippi, Columbia University, and Johns Hopkins University.


  • Co-Founder and Head of Policy, Diverting Hate

    Courtney Cano is the Co-Founder and Head of Policy at Diverting Hate. She helped grow the organization from its earliest concept into a DHS-funded and award-winning nonprofit, shaping its research agenda, partnerships, and policy portfolio. Her work focuses on online ecosystems, protecting democracy, and addressing the root causes of digital harm.

    Courtney’s career spans international development and advocacy, including advancing economic programs in Zambia and designing strategies that strengthen community resilience and support the well-being of men and boys. At Diverting Hate, she leads engagement with government, nonprofit, and research partners to ensure prevention solutions are evidence-based and scalable.

    She holds a B.A. in Political Science from Middlebury College and a Master of Arts in International Policy and Development, with a double specialization in countering violent extremism, from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies.


  • Founding Partner, GeoFusion

    Michael Rawding is the Founding Partner of GeoFusion, a cross-border advisory firm which helps technology companies scale globally. The firm has worked with over 30 companies at varying stages of development to enhance their global execution capability and has a particular focus on Asia.

    Rawding is a 30+ year veteran in the technology industry. During his 16 years at Microsoft, he served in a variety of leadership roles, including President of Microsoft Greater China, President of Microsoft Japan, and President of Microsoft Asia. Upon his return to the United States, Rawding held several global leadership roles, including Vice President in the Unlimited Potential Group, a business unit dedicated to enabling social and economic impact through technology in middle- and lower-income countries.

    Rawding is currently a member of the Advisory Board at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies and a member of the U.S.-Japan Council. Previously he served as the Board Chair of the Washington State China Relations Council, a Board Member of the Microsoft Alumni Network, and a Board Member at Town Hall Seattle.

    Rawding is a graduate of Middlebury College, with dual degrees in political science and German.


  • Chartered Accountant and Senior Financial Executive

    Lawrence Graham is a Chartered Accountant with more than 40 years of international management experience in senior financial and operational roles across for-profit and nonprofit organizations in the UK and USA.

    His past positions include serving as CFO and Vice President of Finance in divisions of Bayer AG and Kelley Blue Book, before moving into the nonprofit, mission-oriented sector with Groves Learning Organization in Minnesota.


  • Professor, American University; Founding Director, PERIL Lab

    Dr. Cynthia Miller-Idriss is a Professor in the School of Public Affairs and in the School of Education at the American University in Washington, DC, where she is also the founding director and chief vision officer in the Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab (PERIL). She is a Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation Entrepreneur and recently served as the inaugural creative lead for the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation’s residency program on social cohesion in Berlin, Germany. Dr. Miller-Idriss regularly testifies before the U.S. Congress and briefs policy, security, education, and intelligence agencies in the U.S., the United Nations, and other countries on trends in domestic violent extremism and strategies for prevention and disengagement.

    She is the author, co-author, or co-editor of seven books, including her most recent books, Man Up: The New Misogyny and the Rise of Violent Extremism (Princeton University Press, 2025) and Hate in the Homeland: The New Global Far Right (Princeton University Press, 2022), and is writing a new joint book on evidence-based prevention tools with Pasha Dashtgard, under contract with Harvard Education Press. Dr. Miller-Idriss writes frequently for mainstream audiences, as an opinion columnist for MSNBC and in other recent by-lines in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Foreign Affairs, The Washington Post, Politico, USA Today, The Boston Globe, and more.