Lucy Kurtzer-Ellenbogen is the director of Arab-Israeli programs at the U.S. Institute of Peace. She joined USIP in 2010 as a doctoral candidate in Arabic linguistics, and having worked with the U.S. Department of State as an Arabic language specialist, focusing on bilateral treaties and agreements. Previously, as a program officer at the Kennedy School of Government’s Middle East Initiative, Kurtzer-Ellenbogen managed work on the Israeli, Palestinian, and Saudi Arabian portfolios. At USIP, Kurtzer-Ellenbogen focuses on the role of Israeli and Palestinian civil society in the context of the Arab-Israeli conflict and the interplay of grassroots and Track II efforts with official diplomacy. Trained in sociolinguistics, her graduate research focused on issues of social identity in Arabic media and political discourse, with an emphasis on the Arabic language press in Israel, and the Arab citizens of the country. Her professional and academic career has taken her throughout the Middle East, with considerable time spent in Egypt, Israel, the Palestinian Territories, and Yemen. She holds a bachelor's degree in Arabic and French from Georgetown University, and a master's degree from Georgetown's Arabic department with a dual concentration in linguistics and Arab area studies.