Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Affiliations
Publications
References
Timeline
Generic

Erica Barbarossa

Washington

Summary

Subject matter expert on militant accelerationism, online radicalization, and violent extremist movements with a background in serving technology companies and government agencies to mitigate online harms by bad actors.

Overview

7
7
years of professional experience

Work History

Associate Director, Technology

Institute for Countering Digital Extremism
Washington
02.2025 - Current
  • Lead the execution and strategic oversight of trust and safety-focused tech contracts, ensuring investigative rigor, operational quality, and client satisfaction across deliverables.
  • Direct OSINT investigations targeting high-risk online ecosystems (e.g., 764, TCC, school shooter fandoms), identifying emerging VE threats and informing client action.
  • Author and disseminate intelligence bulletins on extremist actors, trends, and tactics, tailored to law enforcement, technology clients, and interagency stakeholders.
  • Serve as a liaison to tech platforms, intelligence agencies, law enforcement, and academic institutions, delivering briefings and analysis to aid in harm mitigation and cross-sector coordination.
  • Advise senior leadership on strategic direction, research priorities, and partnership development, contributing to organizational growth and mission alignment.
  • Represent the organization at national and international working groups, conferences, and panel discussions on violent extremism, online radicalization, and digital safety.
  • Forecast emergent threat landscapes and advise clients on proactive monitoring and intervention strategies.
  • Manage and mentor intelligence analysts, providing performance evaluations, regular feedback, and professional development to ensure excellence in investigative output.
  • Analyze qualitative and quantitative data to identify actionable trends and inform both internal prioritization and external recommendations.
  • Contribute to the negotiation and structuring of client contracts, ensuring scope alignment, deliverability, and value creation.
  • Develop and implement internal strategies to improve analytical workflows, research efficiency, and organizational effectiveness.

Research Fellow

Accelerationism Research Consortium
12.2021 - Current
  • Provides intelligence memos to stakeholders, partner organizations, and government agencies on various extremist and terrorist developments.
  • Briefs ARC's external stakeholders such as government agencies, public policy officials, and journalists.
  • Represents the Consortium at conferences and panel events.

Senior Research Lead

Center on Terrorism, Extremism, & Counterterrorism
Washington
08.2023 - 02.2025
  • Led CTEC’s work with major social media platforms, partnering with intelligence, investigative, and policy teams across Trust & Safety to support policy development, enforcement, and the identification of emerging extremist trends, tactics, and actors.
  • Oversaw daily tasking and professional development of analysts and graduate researchers on both client-facing deliverables and independent research projects.
  • Spearheaded the development of the Accelerationism Wiki Database in collaboration with Public Safety Canada, managing content curation, contributor coordination, and quality control.
  • Briefed U.S. and international government agencies, law enforcement, and tech companies on terrorism and violent extremism developments, delivering timely, actionable intelligence.
  • Wrote, edited, and disseminated intelligence bulletins and long-form reports to a global audience of practitioners, agencies, and technology firms.
  • Directed a grant-funded research initiative exploring the ideological motivations of mass and school shooters, managing a small team and coordinating with Middlebury Institute staff on outputs and promotion.
  • Produced short-, medium-, and long-term plans for staffing, partnerships, and research priorities to guide organizational growth and operational efficiency.
  • Represented CTEC at conferences, panels, and community events, presenting research findings and strengthening external partnerships.

Research Lead

Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism
Washington
07.2021 - 08.2023
  • Oversaw the research, analysis, and writing of Senior Research Analysts and student researchers, providing quality assurance, editing, and research direction.
  • Ensured quality success for one of CTEC's social media clients, predominantly working with Hate Speech and Intelligence teams on gaps in existing policies and providing analysis on emerging actors and trends.
  • Conducted OSINT investigations in support to client products and internal research goals.
  • Built CTEC's Dangerous Organizations and Bad Actors series, tasked with determining actors, organizations, and networks to be written on, authors to contribute, and serving as primary editor of each publication.
  • Conducted original research and published timely work on a broad range of terrorism and extremism issues.
  • Trained graduate and undergraduate students and entry-level staff on memo writing and OSINT analysis.
  • Drove development of long-term CTEC strategic vision by supporting leadership as CTEC's staff grew from four full-time staff to a team of fifteen full-time staff with various departments and client engagement.
  • Assisted CTEC leadership with administration tasks, including budget management, hiring, and intra-institutional outreach.

Consultant

Duco Experts
03.2022 - 07.2023
  • Consulted for a large social media company on drafting and implementing a first-of-its-kind accelerationism policy to be operationalized globally.
  • Worked with a small team to provide educational materials on how to understand and identify accelerationism online.

Graduate Research Assistant

Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism
Monterey
05.2020 - 05.2021
  • Worked collaboratively with a small team to provide qualitative analysis on far-right and far-left online extremist content.
  • Conducted open-source research to provide current statuses of extremist groups.
  • Identified risks for client and proposed policy recommendations to mitigate threats.
  • Synthesized large amounts of data to draft into extremist trends.
  • Provided English translations and analysis of Russian content found on the client's platform.

English Teaching Assistant-Russia

Fulbright U.S. Student Program
Voronezh
09.2018 - 06.2019
  • Prepared and taught lessons for students at graduate and undergraduate levels at Voronezh State University's International Relations department.
  • Critical Language Enhancement Award Recipient
  • Engaged in local culture with the overarching goal of promoting mutual understanding between Russian and American people and culture.
  • Served as the selected representative for Russia at the Fulbright Pre-Departure Orientation 2019.
  • Volunteered with the U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Russia Access Program to teach English language classes to underprivileged youth in Kursk, Vladivostok, and Irkutsk.

Education

Master of Arts - Nonproliferation And Terrorism Studies

Middlebury Institute of International Studies
Monterey, CA
05-2021

Master of Arts - International Relations – Global Security, Nuclear

Moscow State Institute of International Studies
Moscow, Russia
05-2021

Bachelor of Arts - Russian And Slavic Studies

New York University
New York, NY
05-2018

Affiliations

U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Russia Access Program Volunteer

Volunteer

  • Taught English language classes to underprivileged youth in Kursk, Vladivostok, and Irkutsk.

Organizer of the Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Conference

  • Attended by 40 Fulbright English Teaching Assistants and Researchers based in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
  • Planned the agenda and served as liaison to the International Institute of Education.
  • Coordinated visit from representatives of the U.S. Embassy of Tbilisi.
  • Coordinated the speaker series and facilitated discussions.

Yale University

Summer Student

  • Completed an eight-week program that included a year’s worth ofRussian language and cultural studies.
  • Received class instruction by professors from Yale University, Vassar College, and the University of Saint Petersburg.

Publications

Barbarossa, Erica, and Isabela Bernardo. “Cranking out Violence: Conspiracies Are Driving More Politically-Motivated Attacks.” GNET, 23 Nov. 2022, gnet-research.org/2022/11/23/cranking-out-violence-conspiracies-are-driving-more-politically-motivated-attacks/.

Jason, Blazakis, Matthew Kriner, Erica Barbarossa, and Eli Drachman. “The Weaponization of Conspiracy Theories: A Growing National Security Threat.” Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism, 25 July 2022. https://www.middlebury.edu/institute/academics/centers-initiatives/ctec/ctec-publications/weaponization-conspiracy-theories-growing.

Kriner, Matthew, Erica Barbarossa, and Isabela Bernardo. “The Buffalo Terrorist Attack: Situating Lone Actor Violence into the Militant Accelerationism Landscape.” Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism, 19 July 2022. https://www.middlebury.edu/institute/academics/centers-initiatives/ctec/ctec-publications/buffalo-terrorist-attack-situating-lone-actor.

Barbarossa, Erica. “The Proud Boys' Fabricated Expedition to Ukraine.” Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism, 3 Mar. 2022, https://www.middlebury.edu/institute/academics/centers-initiatives/ctec/ctec-publications/proud-boys-fabricated-expedition-ukraine.

Barbarossa, Erica. “Understanding Accelerationist Narratives: Involuntary Celibacy.” GNET, 2 Feb. 2022, https://gnet-research.org/2022/01/27/understanding-accelerationist-narratives-involuntary-celibacy/.

Barbarossa, Erica. “The United States’ Withdrawal from Afghanistan and The Rise of the Taliban: How This Affects Russia and the Future of US-Russian Relations.” The CTEC Newsletter, 31 Jul. 2021, https://www.ctec-middlebury.org/p/ctec-newsletter-4-junejuly-2021.

Barbarossa, Erica. “Russia and the Central Asian Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone.” PIR Center, 23 Dec. 2019, www.pircenter.org/en/blog/view/id/378.

References

References available upon request.

Timeline

Associate Director, Technology

Institute for Countering Digital Extremism
02.2025 - Current

Senior Research Lead

Center on Terrorism, Extremism, & Counterterrorism
08.2023 - 02.2025

Consultant

Duco Experts
03.2022 - 07.2023

Research Fellow

Accelerationism Research Consortium
12.2021 - Current

Research Lead

Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism
07.2021 - 08.2023

Graduate Research Assistant

Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism
05.2020 - 05.2021

English Teaching Assistant-Russia

Fulbright U.S. Student Program
09.2018 - 06.2019

Master of Arts - Nonproliferation And Terrorism Studies

Middlebury Institute of International Studies

Master of Arts - International Relations – Global Security, Nuclear

Moscow State Institute of International Studies

Bachelor of Arts - Russian And Slavic Studies

New York University

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