Our Story
We came to this work from different places, but with the same conviction: when women lead—and when they lead together— peace and democracy thrive.
Our careers began in partnership with women on the frontlines of conflict and democratic decline: researching, designing programming, and advancing the Women, Peace, and Security framework alongside those living its urgency every day. That work led us into public service, where WPS moved from theory to action.
We served across the U.S. government at the State Department and USAID helping shape national policy, turn law into practice, and ensure women’s leadership was treated as essential to U.S. national security. Working across agencies, we saw firsthand the power of coordination, shared purpose, and collective effort.
Then the backlash came.
Gender inequality was weaponized. Institutions were dismantled. The same authoritarian tactics we had spent years confronting abroad appeared at home. Many of us were pushed out of government but not out of this work.
We have seen this moment before. Around the world, women facing violence and democratic collapse have shown that progress is possible only through collective action—by organizing across movements, communities, and differences. As the U.S. enters its own period of democratic decline, that lesson has never been more urgent.
The WPS Collective exists to bring those lessons home—to build connection, strengthen collective action, and apply the power of Women, Peace, and Security to the fight for democracy, peace, and security in the United States.
They tried to burn down our work.
Instead, they lit a flame to champion a movement.
Our Team
Tazreen Hussain
Tazreen Hussain is a gender equality leader with 15 years of experience advancing Women, Peace, and Security (WPS), inclusive governance, and women’s leadership worldwide. She most recently served as WPS Advisor at USAID, where she led the Agency’s implementation of the WPS Act of 2017, authored USAID’s 2024 WPS Implementation Plan, and guided global programs on women’s leadership and protection in conflict. Previously, as Director of Leadership & Social Impact at Vital Voices, she built flagship programs, forged public-private partnerships, and mobilized a network of 20,000 women leaders. She also shaped foundational frameworks on violence against women in elections, technology-facilitated gender-based violence, and gender-informed civilian protection during her tenure at the International Foundation for Electoral Systems and the Center for Civilians in Conflict. Tazreen’s leadership has influenced U.S. foreign policy, development strategies, and global advocacy efforts.
Kayla McGill
Kayla McGill is a national and international security practitioner, Women, Peace and Security (WPS) expert, and analytical researcher specializing in how norms—such as gender, race, identities, ideologies, and religion—shape cycles of conflict and decision-making. She most recently served as a WPS Policy Advisor in the U.S. Department of State’s Secretary’s Office of Global Women’s Issues, where she advanced WPS perspectives in U.S. foreign policy through multilateral engagement, cross-sector partnerships, and inclusive policy design and implementation. Previously she was the Program Director for Women In International Security (WIIS) and a coder and senior researcher at the WomanStats Project. Kayla has led international networks, organized high-level convenings, built and analyzed databases, and consistently championed diverse expertise in political and social life for over a decade. She holds a Masters of International Affairs from Texas A&M’s Bush School of Government and Public Service with concentrations in Diplomacy, Intelligence, and WPS, and a Bachelors of Science in Political Science and Civic Engagement from Brigham Young University. She speaks French, has lived across Europe and Asia and traveled extensively, and is currently based in Washington, D.C. with her dog, Kiba Mozzarella.
Rachel Wein
Rachel Wein is a gender equality leader and Women, Peace and Security expert with nearly a decade in U.S. national security and foreign policy. She most recently served at the State Department's Office of Global Women's Issues, where she worked to integrate gender equality into U.S. foreign policy. She has dedicated her career to advancing women's meaningful participation in politics and public life, recognizing that lasting peace and stability requires acknowledging and dismantling the patriarchal systems and structures embedded into our daily lives. Rachel holds a Master's in Foreign Policy and National Security with a concentration in Global Gender Policy from George Washington University and a BA in Political Science and History from James Madison University. In her free time, she can be found watching women's sports, riding her bike, or embracing her role as a fun aunt.
Hannah Proctor
Hannah Proctor is a Women, Peace and Security expert with experience in both civil society and in the U.S. government. Hannah has dedicated her career to the advancement of gender equality through effective and feminist policymaking, and genuinely enjoys finding the ways in which gender informs every facet of our lives. As the co-founder of the WPS Collective, she is dedicated to using the tenets of WPS to tackle the complex challenges we face today. Hannah holds a Master’s of Science in Women, Peace and Security from the London School of Economics, and a dual Bachelor’s of Arts in International Affairs and Women’s Studies from the University of Georgia. She is an avid fiction reader, a lover of walking anywhere and everywhere, and a big fan of discoballs. Originally from Southern California, she now lives in Washington, DC with her husband and their many plants.