Anita Ernstorfer

Anita Ernstorfer serves as the Director of International Peacebuilding at the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). Prior to this role she worked independently through her own advisory and research firm Untangle (LLC), based in the US and working globally. As a senior associate with Interpeace’s Advisory Team (IPAT) she was the course director of the effective advising in complex contexts course 2020-2025. Anita brings more than 20 years of international experience to these roles, working in a range of contexts across the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. She specialises in peacebuilding, dialogue and mediation work, conflict sensitivity and systems and complexity approaches. She has worked with multi-mandate organizations and individuals on portfolio and collective impact strategies, and facilitates change processes at organizational, systems, and personal levels. Anita has also advised organizations working on political violence prevention, democracy promotion, and polarization in the United States. Previously, Anita was the Director of the Peacebuilding Effectiveness Practice at Collaborative Learning (CDA), and led various collaborative learning initiatives. She has worked as a conflict prevention and conflict sensitivity adviser with UNDP and UNICEF, and as a program manager with GIZ on Latin America. Anita holds a Master of Arts degree in Political Science and Spanish philology.