Sherri Kraham Talabany

Sherri Kraham Talabany is the President and Executive Director of the Kurdistan -based SEED Foundation and U.S.-based SEED for Change, charitable organizations that promotes economic development, as well as social, educational, and economic development in Kurdistan.

Sherri was a senior official in the United States government in Washington, D.C. for almost 15 years, from 1998–2012, working on foreign policy, foreign assistance programming, and international development. She worked for the U.S. State Department from 1998–2003, starting her career working on Iraq and then in a variety of positions overseeing policies and programs worldwide. She then served as the Managing Director and later Deputy Vice President for Policy at the Millennium Challenge Corporation from 2004–2012, working with the poorest countries in the world to improve their policy environment to reduce poverty through economic growth.

Sherri is a lawyer who earned her degree in 1999 from George Mason University, in Virginia and currently resides in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan. She has been involved in volunteer activities throughout her life, serving on non-profit boards and advocating on behalf of the poor and underserved, including vulnerable minorities and displaced people. She was recognized by multiple awards from several Secretaries of State and was awarded as DevEx’s ‘Top 40 Under 40’ Leaders in International Development in 2010.

Sub-specialties:

• Human rights
• Gender equality
• Gender based violence
• Conflict related sexual violence
• Human trafficking
• Displacement, post conflict stabilization
• Development
• Kurdistan
• Mental Health and Psychosocial Support