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Staff

rayRay Acheson (they/them) is the Director of Reaching Critical Will, for which they provide analysis, research, and advocacy across a range of disarmament and demilitarisation issues including from feminist and queer perspectives. Ray represents WILPF on the steering committee of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, which won the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize, and is a member of the Forum on the Arms Trade. They are author of Banning the Bomb, Smashing the Patriarchy and Abolishing State Violence: A World Beyond Bombs, Borders, and Cages, along with many other articles, reports, and book chapters. Ray has an Honours BA in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of Toronto and an MA in Politics from The New School for Social Research, and is currently affiliated with Princeton University's Program on Science and Global Security.

Emma Bjertén (she/her) is the Manager of Reaching Critical Will. She contributes to the organisation's monitoring and analysis of disarmament processes and liaises with UN and civil society colleagues. Prior to this, Emma worked as a consultant on gender-responsive small arms control at the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) and the UN Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR). She also worked as a researcher at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), where she wrote publications related to the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda, disarmament, peace processes, and militarisation. She has a background working with gender mainstreaming strategies and ethical guidelines in the Swedish Central Administration. Emma has an MA in Peace and Conflict Studies from Uppsala University.

LauraLaura Varella (she/her) is the Coordinator of Reaching Critical Will. She supports WILPF’s advocacy and research on a wide range of disarmament issues, in addition to monitoring and reporting on multilateral disarmament fora. Prior to this, Laura worked with RCW as a consultant, contributing mainly with a project about explosive weapons in populated areas. She has a background in human rights law, having worked with NGOs in Brazil. She holds a Bachelor of Laws from the State University of São Paulo and a LL.M in International Law at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva.