Staff

Silbi Stainton
President & Executive Director

Silbi Kelly Stainton is a graduate of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy where she earned a Master’s degree in Law and Diplomacy focusing on International Security Studies and International Negotiation and Conflict Management. Her areas of focus include counter-terrorism, Middle Eastern studies, and Southwest Asia. She cross-enrolled at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government where she studied non-state threats to international security and leadership. Her thesis, which began prior to 9/11, focused on the U.S. management of the war on terror. She also holds a B.A. from the University of Colorado where she majored in International Affairs and graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Summa Cum Laude in 1998, also focusing on counter-terrorism.

Her work background includes recent volunteer work and fellowship with the Aspen Institute, a position in business development for Bechtel Corporation, and several other involvements in local, charitable causes. Ms. Stainton is mother to two small children.

Jodi Fischer
Program Director

Jodi has been working with MDF since February of 2009 and is a graduate of the Joseph Korbel School of International Studies from the University of Denver where she earned a Masters degree in International Development. Her areas of focus included global health, youth livelihood, and economic development. Her masters studies included a three month child labor reduction project in Bolivia and an independent study within microfinance. She has worked and lived in the Middle East, South America, and Southeast Asia.

Jodi’s background includes work in the public and private education sector, and extensive experience with nonprofits, foundations, government contractors and USAID on international and community development issues. Jodi is a former teacher, volunteer of Aspen Institute, and also a mom.

Sacha Hinderberger
Marketing Director

Jane Harris
Program Coordinator Intern

Jane Harris is a student of International Affairs at the University of Colorado at Boulder with a regional focus on Europe as well as the Middle East and North Africa. Jane has a working knowledge of French and is familiar with the Persian language. Her studies center on international development, human security, and public policy.

Jane’s interest in policy is not limited to the international arena. Her research and experience focuses on bringing a global perspective to the local level; both domestic and internatnational. She served as a legislative assistant in the Colorado State House during the 2011 spring legislative session. Jane is committed to the tenet that education and health-care are the foundations for long-lasting and sustainable development. She is looking forward to her first visit to Pakistan.

Liaqet Ali
Interim Director & Program Manager in Pakistan

Agha Ali Raza
Program Manager in Pakistan