Michaela Rana
Michaela is a Program Associate at Hedayah where she supports the full program life cycle in various rehabilitation and reintegration programs across various regions, specifically in capacity-building programs and activities for government and non-government stakeholders at both the policy and frontline levels. Since joining in 2024, this has included a programmatic focus on Hedayah’s work in Morocco, which supports income-generation projects for women and children who are vulnerable to violent extremism, and their rehabilitation process.
Prior to joining Hedayah, Michaela worked for the Australian Federal Police (AFP), the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC), as well as other international organisations. This included supporting Australian federal criminal investigations in the counter-terrorism space, in addition to driving policy, legislative reform and other forms of project support with the Australian government in the countering extremism space. At UNODC, Michaela worked extensively on managing the coordination of the 1993 Mekong MoU framework and the Sub-Regional Action Plan, and supported UN activities across South Asia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific. In addition to these professional engagements, Michaela is a researcher specializing in countering right-wing extremism, having worked with numerous global institutions.
Michaela holds three Master's degrees. From Macquarie University (Australia) this includes a Masters specialising in Intelligence and Counter Terrorism; and a Masters in Research (Security Studies), as part of her PhD track. Michaela holds an additional Master's in Criminology from RMIT University (Australia), following on from a Bachelor of Criminal Justice.