Salih Booker is senior program officer for International Programs. He is responsible for launching the foundation’s efforts to inform and convene global institutions and actors that are instrumental in addressing inequality and working to foster dialogues and strategic alliances among non-governmental organizations and governments around the world, with a specific focus on American foreign policy. He has over 30 years of experience in international affairs and U.S. foreign policy, including leadership of several American and international research and advocacy organizations.

Before joining the foundation, Salih was president and CEO of the Center for International Policy (CIP), a leading progressive and independent nonprofit founded to reorient US foreign policy to advance international cooperation as the primary vehicle for solving global challenges and promoting human rights. In addition to leading and managing CIP’s overall strategy and operations, Salih raised CIP’s public profile and cultivated relationships with organizations and leaders in the advocacy, foreign policy, and research communities. In particular, he promoted relationships between CIP program staff and social movements, non-governmental organizations, and advocacy organizations working to end racism and militarism in U.S. foreign policy.

Prior to CIP, he worked at a range of organizations focused on international relations and American foreign policy, serving as vice president of external relations at the US Institute of Peace; executive director of Africa Action, which focuses on U.S. policy toward Africa; senior fellow and director of the Africa Studies Program at the Council on Foreign Relations; and legislative assistant at TransAfrica. He also was a staff member of the U.S. Congress’s Committee on Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Africa.

Additionally, Salih has extensive global experience as a human rights advocate and organizer. He served as executive director of the Center on Housing Rights and Evictions, implementing programs in 10 countries to promote adequate housing and advocate on economic and social rights. Earlier, he was executive director of Global Rights, which works globally to build the capacity of local partners to undertake human rights research, litigation, and advocacy work. He also served as an advisor to the executive secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission on Africa on urbanization in Africa; associate director of Catholic Relief Services’ Southern Africa Regional Office; and a program officer for Ford’s Eastern and Southern Africa offices.
Salih has a bachelor of arts in African studies and government from Wesleyan University and has completed graduate-level coursework at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He has traveled for work to nearly 50 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America.