Alex Toma (she/her/hers) brings 20 years of leadership experience in politics, advocacy, and philanthropic organizations to her role as Peace & Security Funders Group’s Executive Director. In recognition of her leadership in the peace and security philanthropic sector, Inside Philanthropy recognized Alex as the “Affinity Group Head with the Most Hustle.” Listen to her take on philanthropy in this interview with the LBJ School’s RGK Center for Philanthropy and Community Service. Prior to joining PSFG in 2013, Alex was Executive Director of the Connect U.S. Fund, a donors’ collaborative focused on incentivizing collaboration as a tool to meet today’s global challenges. While a Director at the Ploughshares Fund, Alex founded the Fissile Materials Working Group, a coalition that she grew to 80 U.S. and international organizations providing action-oriented policy solutions to combat nuclear terrorism. Before her nonprofit experience, Alex served as a foreign policy and defense advisor to Congressman Stephen F. Lynch of Massachusetts.  Alex serves on the board of Welcoming America and the Compton Foundation, and is an advisor to the Colombe Foundation, Outrider Foundation, the Effective Institutions Project, and Orgs in Solidarity. She earned her M.S. in Foreign Policy and Security Studies from Georgetown University and a B.A. in International Affairs and Psychology, with a minor in French, from the University of Virginia. When not immersed in peace and security philanthropy, Alex enjoys Skype calls with her 100-y.o. grandmother, reading fiction, and traveling the world (she’s been to over 50 countries). Alex is also a proud refugee.