Susan Hayward serves as the interim director of the Religion and Peacebuilding Program at the United States Institute of Peace. Her research interests include interfaith engagement in the midst of political violence, political Buddhism, and the role of religion in hampering and propelling women s work for peace and justice. Hayward worked with the Academy of Educational Development s office in Colombo, Sri Lanka; as a fellow of the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School; and with the Conflict Resolution Program at the Carter Center in Atlanta. She is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ. She holds a bachelor s degree in comparative religions from Tufts University and master s degrees from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and Harvard Divinity School and is currently pursuing her PhD in theology and religious studies at Georgetown University.