Cecilia Polizzi

Cecilia Polizzi is a senior professional in international security policy with over 15 years of experience at the intersection of counterterrorism, preventing and countering violent extremism, rule of law, and the military and defense sector. Polizzi is internationally recognized as a leading expert on the modus operandi of terrorist and violent extremist organizations, with a specialized focus on the recruitment and radicalization of minors. By exposing the spectrum of implications within the youth threat ecosystem, she has broadened the frame of insight into terrorism and extremism and directly shaped actionable frameworks, policies, and strategies across governments, international organizations, and the private sector. Throughout her career, she has collaborated with national governments and multilateral organizations, including NATO, OSCE, the Council of Europe, the European Commission, and various United Nations departments and agencies, and has addressed the United States Institute of Peace, the Italian Ministry of Defense, the Italian Parliament Chamber of Deputies, and other high-level institutions as an expert. Her research has been published in several academic journals and outlets and has contributed to the drafting of the 2020 Annual Report on Terrorism and Human Rights by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (A/HRC/45/27). In 2018, she founded Next Wave – The International Center for Children and Global Security and shaped it into the world’s leading organization dedicated to disrupting the recruitment and radicalization pipeline and halting the spread of ideological violence. Polizzi is also the owner of a private corporation that enhances the operational effectiveness of security sector actors in confronting complex terrorism threats across diverse operational environments.