Isabela Bernardo

Isabela Bernardo is a Senior Research Analyst at the Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism, where she serves as a subject matter expert on terrorist, extremist, and violent criminal networks. She is a specialist in detecting and investigating emerging threats in the areas of terrorism, extremism, targeted violence, organized crime, child safety, harassment, and hate. Furthermore, she holds expertise in malicious actors’ use of online platforms to propagandize, recruit, and fundraise.

In addition to her subject matter expertise, Isabela is a Trust & Safety practitioner with years of hands-on experience in identifying social platform vulnerabilities exploited by malicious actors and devising actionable mitigation strategies. Her work has directly contributed to the development of several platform policies for global social media companies.

Isabela holds an M.A. in Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies with a specialization in Financial Crime Management, as well as a B.A. in International Policy, from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies.