Danielle M. Reiff is no stranger to public speaking, and she is a great guest on radio and podcasts.
To celebrate World Radio Day in 2016, Danielle did a radio interview with South Sudan’s Eye Radio. In it, she discussed how radio can be used for constructive citizen engagement in political processes, as well as to foment violence. It is critical for media producers and consumers alike to be ethical. You can listen to Danielle’s interview below.
Gabriel, the South Sudanese journalist who interviewed Danielle that day, was working at his local radio station when violence erupted in his community. Rather than fleeing quickly to save his life, he showed incredible dedication by taking the essential radio equipment with him to safety. Gabriel and a colleague hid in a swamp for days before putting the equipment on a makeshift barge and floating it down the Nile River.
Gabriel, the South Sudanese journalist who interviewed Danielle that day, was working at his local radio station when violence erupted in his community. Rather than fleeing quickly to save his life, he showed incredible dedication by taking the essential radio equipment with him to safety. Gabriel and a colleague hid in a swamp for days before putting the equipment on a makeshift barge and floating it down the Nile River.
Danielle M. Reiff's Bio
Danielle M. Reiff is a peacebuilder, writer, and editor who specializes in supporting political transitions. She writes articles on nonviolence and unity in diversity as an opinion columnist with Newsweek. Her first book, an edited volume called Overcoming Information Disorder: A Guide to Cultivating Peaceful Communities in the Digital Age, will be released in July 2025.
In 2022, Danielle created the non-partisan Peacebuilders initiative to promote empathy, dialogue, and other forms of nonviolence as a means of building social cohesion and mitigating the risk of political violence in the U.S. She serves as a violence prevention and peacebuilding expert for the city of Washington D.C. and nonprofit organizations.
For two decades, Danielle promoted and supported democracy, human rights, and peace around the world as an American diplomat with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). She served as an official observer for elections on multiple continents. In Uganda, Colombia, and South Sudan, Danielle helped ensure citizens and civil society groups were officially engaged in national peace and reconciliation processes. When the Republic of Georgia experienced its first post-Soviet transition of power through the ballot box, she supported governmental and non-governmental actors to advance democratic reforms. Danielle also played a leadership role in helping Sri Lanka implement legislation that exponentially increased the percentage of elected women leaders across the country through the 2018 local government elections. Danielle is currently writing her memoirs, called Peace Unearthed, about this period of her life and career.
Danielle was an inaugural Rotary Peace Fellow as she earned a Masters degree in international relations and peace studies from the Institute of Political Studies (Sciences Po) in Paris, France. She is currently working toward an Executive Education Certificate in public leadership from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. Danielle earned a Bachelor’s degree in literature from the University of Wisconsin, where she also served as Director of the Distinguished Lecture Series at the student union. Danielle was a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in the West African country of Burkina Faso in the final years of the 20th Century. She speaks Spanish and understands French, in addition to her native English.
Danielle's Podcast Interviews
Ep. 78 Mom Danielle Reiff on Balancing a Career and Motherhood, & Celebrating All Our Neurodivergent Kids Have to Offer
According to the podcast host, “Danielle was such a wonderful, knowledgeable person to talk with.” This podcast on balancing a career and motherhood covers: challenges and triumphs of raising kids with neurodivergent demand avoidance; traveling and living abroad with neurodivergent kids; and the importance of stability and secure attachment.
