Advancing Women, Peace, and Security Strategies

Violent conflict affects people in different ways based on the roles, access to resources, and security needs associated with their gender. Consider, for example, how a mother of five fleeing a country has different concerns and needs than an 18-year-old male, especially in a culture with strictly defined gender roles. Yet historically during war and the peace process, women and girls have been underrepresented and undervalued, both in terms of receiving help and being part of the solution.

Brooke Owens is working to change this situation for the better. She’s a gender advisor at Booz Allen, supporting organizations worldwide in their efforts to advance women, peace, and security.

“Identifying and removing barriers to women’s meaningful participation across the peace and conflict continuum is not just the right thing to do, it’s the smart thing to do,” Brooke said in a recent video for the United States Institute of Peace (USIP).

Here Brooke shares how she got involved in this field, what she’s been doing to support both policymakers and people on the ground, and how she balances work and life as a new parent. 

While studying for her bachelor’s degree in law and criminology, in the U.S., Brooke saw two of her interests converge. She had always been driven to justice, “protecting people born into a system that keeps them in a cycle of poverty and/or violence,” she says. Meanwhile, a fascination with conflict was emerging, including “understanding why conflicts start, the root causes, and instability factors so we can address them and prevent them moving forward.”

She postponed law school to work with USIP in Washington, DC. Here she further explored why women and girls are underrepresented and undervalued in the peace and conflict continuum.

A desire to focus on the practical application of the law led her to Utrecht University in the Netherlands. In The Hague, at the heart of international criminal law and human rights, Brooke studied for her law degree at night and put her knowledge to work during the day. This included serving as a legal officer for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Court with a focus on sub-Saharan Africa.

When she returned to Washington, DC, her work focused even more on women, peace, and security (WPS). This policy framework by the United Nations Security Council recognizes women as critical actors in all efforts to achieve sustainable international peace and security.

As Brooke became more connected in the peace and security community, she met people at Booz Allen working on WPS issues.

“I was intrigued with Booz Allen because of the variety of opportunities available at the firm: the ability to expand skillsets and knowledge areas and work on different things. It’s not one job for the rest of your life,” she says. 

As a gender advisor with Booz Allen, Brooke works on women, peace, and security issues at multiple levels.

At a policy level, she and her colleagues advise the Department of Defense (DOD) on how to implement WPS requirements, often creating guidelines and policies for the first time ever. They have trained nearly 900 people so far on WPS principles. 

“Now we have a workforce of people who are WPS experts and know how to apply a gender analysis in their day-to-day work in areas like intelligence, strategy, and operations,” she says.

On the ground, they’re “making the wheels turn” in situations such as the 2022 influx of evacuees from Afghanistan. With thousands of people representing a very diverse population, it was imperative to respond swiftly and appropriately. Brooke and her colleagues deployed gender advisors to locations where evacuees were temporarily staying.

“The security needs for women were different based on sociocultural norms,” Brooke explains. “We needed to rehouse evacuees and allocate services in a way that would protect them, and provided proper access to relief and recovery resources, including information about opportunities available to Afghan evacuees in the U.S.”

The gender advisors assessed the situation at DOD task force locations, crafted guidance on how to best address human security challenges, then trained female engagement teams to bring this knowledge to the community.

Brooke’s career advice? “Support others. Focus on commonalities, not differences. And remain open to new opportunities,” she says.

It’s guidance she follows in both her work and personal life. In addition to her travels for work, she’s made a tradition of birthday “bucket list” trips: hiking through Patagonia and Machu Picchu, riding the Trans-Siberian Railway, trekking through the Amazon, and sleeping under the stars in the Sahara Desert.

“Life is short. I’d like to see as much of the world as I can, and there’s a lot to see,” she says.

Over the past year, Brooke added a new adventure to her life: parenthood.

In recent years, she welcomed her first child, a daughter who’s accompanied her on everything from overseas trips to official receptions. “While I go out for trainings, she trains with me,” she says. “I don’t think anyone her age has met as many generals, nor has pulled as much jewelry off of them.”

“I really appreciate Booz Allen’s culture of flexibility and respect for that work/life balance,” Brooke says. “Work tasks will always be there, no matter what time I tackle them, whereas moments with my newborn are fleeting.”

“I definitely feel more inspired and driven in this work now that I have a daughter,” she says. “I want to make sure she has more opportunities and is able to go on and do whatever she wants to do.”