Laili Yazdani is a PhD candidate in Legal Studies with a Specialization in Law, Regulation and Governance and research interests in disinformation, online interventions and violence prevention. Her M.A. thesis research analyzed the concept of voluntary enlistment of adolescent youth in armed groups and the role of political ideology in Nepal; she completed a Justice for Children graduate internship with UNICEF Nepal’s Child Protection Section in the Regional Office for South Asia; and she received a Baha’í Award for studies in peace and conflict.
Laili has over twenty years of interdisciplinary experience in social services and criminal justice and has significant professional experience working with Indigenous and immigrant communities in community services, non-government organizations and the federal government across Canada, including experience with the Public Prosecution Service of Canada and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in the arctic and prairie regions. For the last ten years, Laili has developed and implemented innovative crime prevention strategies and programs to address street gangs, hate-motivated crime and violent extremism and has received several honours and awards, including an Excellence in Policing, Community Policing Award from the Saskatchewan Association of Chiefs of Police. She also has internship and volunteer experience in Canada, Nepal, India, and Ghana, and served as an Honour Guard for Nelson Mandela’s Honourary Canadian Citizenship Ceremony.
Supervisor
Dr. Michael Christensen
Education
Master of Arts in Conflict Studies, University of Ottawa and Saint Paul University
Thesis: Recruitment of Child Soldiers in Nepal: An Analysis of Child Recruitment in the People’s Liberation Army
Bachelor of Arts Honours in Criminology and Criminal Justice with Concentration in Law, Carleton University
Social Service Worker Diploma, Algonquin College