Lovely Umayam manages the nuclear security portfolio at the Stimson Center, a non-profit, non-partisan think-tank based in Washington, DC. At Stimson, Lovely leads projects that bring governments, industry representatives, and civil society together to discuss how to better secure nuclear materials around the world to deter and prevent their misuse. Prior to her role at Stimson, Lovely worked at the U.S. Department of Energy – National Nuclear Security Administration, where she assisted  countries in Southeast Asia and Latin America establish strong nuclear safeguards infrastructure to ensure that nuclear material and technologies are exclusively used for peaceful purposes.

She also is the founder of  Bombshelltoe, a creative hub linking artists, community organizers, and nuclear experts together to present nuclear policy in a compelling and impactful way to the greater public. Bombshelltoe is the first-prize winner of the U.S. Department of State’s Innovation in Arms Control Challenge in 2013, and is currently developing Ways of Knowing, a project in partnership with Navajo community members that aims to showcase hope and resilience after decades of uranium mining – for energy  and nuclear weapons — in the Southwest United States.

Lovely’s policy research and creative work in the nuclear policy field has been featured in Fast Company, SXSW, Bulletin of Atomic Scientist, The Atlantic, Vice, PopTech, among others. While she is currently based in Washington, DC, Lovely  also calls Manila, Philippines and Los Angeles, California her other homes — two richly multicultural cities that deeply inform her personality and her outlook on intersectionality.

Fun fact: Lovely is obsessed with bouldering (intense climbing on short rock formations without rope) and spends an absurd amount of time in the rock gym or outdoors to climbing and falling.  She loves defying the notion that strength is an exclusive characteristic of tall, burly men – short women are strong (and arguably better) climbers too!