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Longtime United Nations executive, international development expert, and educator joins the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership as a Leader-in-Residence on April 1.

As a Leader-in-Residence, Javan will mentor and advise students enrolled in the master’s degree program in international relations, and teach a course on “Leadership in Global Justice.” Javan will also work closely with Colin Powell School leadership on the , which he conceived and helped to launch during his tenure as director of the United Nations Systems Staff College.

“Jafar and I came to know each other last year, when the Colin Powell School became the higher ed anchor for the UNSSC’s Nelson Mandela Project for Social Change, an innovative and timely endeavor to bridge societal polarization,” said Andrew Rich, the Richard J. Henley and Susan L. Davis Dean of the Colin Powell School. “Jafar conceived this program for the United Nations, and he has been directing its launch there. We are thrilled that he will be joining us as a Leader-in-Residence.”

The Colin Powell School-based U.S. component of the Mandela Project is led by Richard Stengel, who served as undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs during the Obama Administration, and is a former editor of TIME magazine. Stengel collaborated on Mandela’s bestselling 1995 autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, which became the basis for his own 2010 New York Times bestseller, Mandela's Way: Lessons on Life, Love, and Courage.

“The Nelson Mandela Program for Social Change, which launched under Jafar’s leadership at the UNSSC, has developed into an active network of universities across the world to develop learning offerings in leadership inspired by the values and achievements of Mandela,” said Stengel. “As a member of this network, CCNY’s Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership welcomes Jafar Javan’s new contribution to this important initiative.”

“One of the thrills of working in the Colin Powell School is the ability to work with world-leading professionals like Jafar,” said Associate Professor of Political Science Nicholas Rush Smith, the director of the M.I.A. program. “Having him teach a leadership course for our students will help the master's program in international affairs achieve our mission of fostering the next generation of global leaders.”

During his more than three-decade career in the United Nations system, Javan specialized in policy formulation for community development, empowerment and social participation, training, and education, as well as post-conflict reconstruction and recovery.

He retired earlier this year as director of UNSSC, where he was previously deputy director and head of programs. He also served as director of policy support and program development for the Bratislava, Slovakia-based United Nations Development Programme’s Regional Development Centre for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States.

“I am looking forward to being a member of the Colin Powell School community, and to contributing to building a cadre of young leaders who are committed to change through social and political engagement and activism,” said Javan.

Launched in 2023, the Leaders-in-Residence program brings together leaders in their fields who impart their wisdom and experience to Colin Powell students through teaching and mentoring.