Shadi Rouhshahbaz

Shadi Rouhshahbaz is an Associate Research Fellow at the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation (ADI) within Deakin University and a PhD student at the University of Melbourne. She holds a Double-Joint Master’s degree in International Development (specializing in Migration and Mediation) from Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and Paul Valéry University, Montpellier 3.

Her research interests span Peace and Security, Gender Studies, Youth, and Foresight, with a focus on intergenerational feminist leadership at the intersection of UN agendas such as Women, Peace and Security and Youth, Peace and Security. Using foresight methodologies, she collaborates with participants to explore future trajectories of peacebuilding under varying leadership frameworks.

Shadi has been recognized through fellowships including the Woman PeaceMaker Fellow and Next Generation Foresight Practitioner Fellow in Nuclear Disarmament. Beyond academia, she has extensive experience working with UN agencies and Youth Networks across Iran, the USA, and Europe, and has founded PeaceMentors, the first young-women-led peacebuilding initiative in Iran. She also serves as a mentor, trainer, public speaker, and consultant, contributing to strategy development and education in her field.

Her supervisors for the PhD are Lesley Pruitt and Dan Woodman, and she maintains connections to Middle East studies through her research and professional engagements.