Empowering Frontline Negotiation Professionals
with AI-Assisted Collaborative Negotiation
Established in 2023, Frontline Associates is dedicated to transforming how negotiation professionals address the world’s most pressing challenges. By combining the power of AI with collaborative negotiation practices, we empower mediators, facilitators, and negotiators to navigate complex environments and foster innovative and impactful solutions.
Our mission is to equip frontline professionals with practical tools, actionable insights, and a supportive community to tackle issues like social divides, climate change, and humanitarian crises. Through the integration of cutting-edge AI technologies, we help practitioners analyze complexities, build trust, and develop strategies that drive impactful outcomes.
Frontline Associates plans to excel in using digital technologies to connect people, facilitate exchanges and share knowledge on negotiation practices, while meeting the increasing demand for effective AI-assisted planning tools and simulation platforms. It maintains a flexible and efficient structure, with dedicated associate partners, managers, and fellow practitioners. Several advanced courses have already been developed for academic institutions recognizing the role of the platform and its members as a valuable source of knowledge on complex negotiation.
Our Team
Claude Bruderlein
Claude Bruderlein has been teaching frontline humanitarian negotiation and crisis management for over 20 years at the Harvard School of Public Health and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Lately, he advised the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and led extended field research on ICRC negotiation practices. In October 2016, he founded the Centre of Competence on Humanitarian Negotiation (CCHN) with the support of the United Nations, MSF and the ICRC which fostered the creation of the first community of practice of frontline humanitarian negotiators. Over the last three decades, he conducted and contributed to frontline negotiations in over 15 countries, including North Korea, Afghanistan, Israel and Occupied Territories, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, South Sudan and Niger.
Founder & Lead Instructor
Dariha Erketaeva
Negotiation Specialist
Dariha Erketaeva is a humanitarian professional and a negotiation specialist. At present, she serves as the external relations lead at Amazi Water in Bujumbura, Burundi. Her previous work at the Centre of Competence on Humanitarian Negotiation (CCHN) in Geneva saw her innovating in the domain of negotiations, where she engaged humanitarian practitioners working in crisis contexts in peer workshops and labs, fostering the development of a community of practice. Prior to CCHN, Dariha led humanitarian operations of MSF and DanChurchAid in conflict and fragile contexts in Middle East, Africa, and Central Asia. Her negotiation role was pivotal in securing access, delivery of aid and safety of teams and patients in conflict-affected settings. Dariha holds a master’s degree in international relations from the University of Bremen, Germany. Her multilingual capabilities spanning English, French, Russian, and Kyrgyz enable her to bridge divides and build consensus across a myriad of cultural contexts.
Suzi Jazmati
Suzi Jazmati is a humanitarian and public health professional with over 10 years of experience, during which she has worked with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and the International Committee of the Red Cross. She holds a Master’s in Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Suzi has co-led establishing and developing health programs in conflict-affected areas, focusing on improving access to essential quality health services for vulnerable populations, building local capacity, and collaborating with diverse stakeholders to ensure a holistic approach to healthcare. She is also an experienced facilitator with the Centre of Competence on Humanitarian Negotiation, where she supports workshops and capacity-building efforts in humanitarian negotiation.
Community Manager
Negotiation Specialist
Mustafa Hatam
Mohammad Mustafa Hatam is a risk management, cyber politics, and negotiations specialist. He has more than a decade of experience in negotiation with various actors. He has worked with several national, international NGOs, and higher education institutions. He has an undergraduate degree in computer science, a diploma in risk management and fellowship in conflict resolution. Mustafa has developed risk management and access strategies for several organizations and has trained a significant number of professionals and practitioners on implementation of those strategies. Moreover, Mustafa has facilitated numerous negotiation workshops and trainings. He has experience of working in south Asia, middle east, and Africa. He is multilingual and can fluently speak English, Farsi, Pashto, and Urdu languages.
Negotiation Specialist
Mohammad Mustafa Hatam is a risk management, cyber politics, and negotiations specialist. He has more than a decade of experience in negotiation with various actors. He has worked with several national, international NGOs, and higher education institutions. He has an undergraduate degree in computer science, a diploma in risk management and fellowship in conflict resolution. Mustafa has developed risk management and access strategies for several organizations and has trained a significant number of professionals and practitioners on implementation of those strategies. Moreover, Mustafa has facilitated numerous negotiation workshops and trainings. He has experience of working in south Asia, middle east, and Africa. He is multilingual and can fluently speak English, Farsi, Pashto, and Urdu languages.
Mustafa Hatam
Linn Bieske is an interdisciplinary expert in machine learning, cybersecurity, and public policy. She has multiple years of professional experience working for McKinsey Digital & Analytics, for Google X, and in the Executive Office of the Secretary General of the United Nations. In these roles, she used machine learning to tackle pressing global challenges and solve tough business problems across industries. Linn is aspiring to be a truly interdisciplinary, cross-sector leader in cybersecurity and machine learning, which is why she pursued a Masters in Public Administration at Harvard, and is a Leaders for Global Operations Fellow at MIT. At MIT, Linn pursues an MS in Computer Science concurrently with an MBA.
Senior Researcher
Linn Bieske
Karlotta Garinet is an active-duty officer in the German Armed Forces with a psychology degree focused on Leadership, Human Resources, and Social Psychology. Currently pursuing a Master's in Civil-Military Interaction, she is passionate about applying psychological expertise to security and defense policy, particularly in institutional communication strategies. She actively participates in Women in International Security Germany and was selected for the UNOPS "30 below 30 to get 2030" Youth Platform, where she advises on sustainable development and the 2030 Agenda.
Core Group Member
Facilitator
Karlotta Garinet
Taha K. Sultan has over 15 years of experience in the humanitarian field, working with the Libyan Red Crescent and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). He has navigated complex emergencies in Libya, Iraq, South Sudan, Venezuela, Jordan, and addressed migration issues in the Mediterranean while with Centre for Cooperation in the Mediterranean CCM at the Spanish Red Cross. He is a facilitator at the Centre of Competence on Humanitarian Negotiation (CCHN) and holds degrees in Humanitarian Diplomacy, Negotiation in Humanitarian Settings, and Public Diplomacy
Core Group Member
Facilitator
Taha K. Sultan
Charles McJilton has lived in Japan for over 30 years, utilizing his extensive expertise in mediation and conflict resolution to tackle complex social issues. He pioneered food banking in Japan, founding the country’s first food bank, Second Harvest Japan (2002), along with three other organizations focused on food security in the region. His experience includes responding to natural disasters in Japan and the Philippines, where he has effectively navigated complex situations to drive systemic change. Charles holds a BA from the University of Minnesota (1994), an MA from Sophia University, Tokyo (2004), and an MPA from Harvard Kennedy School (2024). He is certified in mediation by the University of California, Riverside (1999) and the Harvard Law School Program on Negotiation (2024).
Core Group Member
Facilitator
Charles McJilton
