NEFA Foundation

The NEFA Foundation (or Nine/Eleven Finding Answers Foundation)'is a non-profit organization created after the attacks of September 11, 2001. The Foundation strives to help prevent future tragedies in the U.S. and abroad by exposing those responsible for planning, funding, and executing terrorist activities, with a particular emphasis on Islamic militant organizations.'

The Foundation plays its role through what it calls 'cohesive and comprehensive efforts to research, analyze, and disseminate information pertaining to past and current terrorist activities'. The Foundation 'shares it findings with law enforcement agencies and the intelligence community where appropriate' The NEFA team is aslleged to comprise 'experienced investigators, researchers, analysts, and partners in the U.S. and abroad' who are 'multi-lingual'

People

• M. T. Hayes President M.T. Hayes, a founder of the NEFA Foundation, is the President and CEO of the NEFA Foundation. Her noteworthy successes over the past two decades, in numerous areas of non-profit leadership, made her the ideal person to shape and lead this unique organization. Her expertise in the areas of strategic planning; communications; board development; and philanthropy has helped numerous non-profits reach their organizational and financial goals. Hayes is an experienced researcher, writer, and editor, and is a creative professional whose strategic perspective and enthusiastic commitment to the work of the Foundation have proven to be an invaluable resource. Hayes has served on numerous boards and as both president and international delegate of professional organizations. An effective speaker, Hayes speaks regularly to audiences on the subjects of non-profit board recruitment and development.
• Jeff BreinholtContributor, Counterterrorism and Education Programs Jeff Breinholt is a NEFA Foundation Contributor, Counterterrorism and Education Programs, and is on a one year sabbatical from the Department of Justice, National Security Division. Until June 2007, Mr. Breinholt served as Deputy Chief of the Counterterrorism Section at the U.S. Department of Justice. Shortly after 9/11, Mr. Breinholt was appointed head of the Department of Justice’s terrorist financing enforcement program, and helped found a special FBI unit devoted to U.S.-based fundraising by international terrorist organizations and managed a team of financial prosecutors within the Counterterrorism Section dedicated to prosecuting material support crimes. In 2003, he was honored with the Attorney General’s Award for Excellence in Furthering the Interests of U.S. National Security, for his work in crafting creative legal theories that resulted in the initiation of several important prosecutions in the aftermath of 9/11. A white-collar fraud specialist, Mr. Breinholt joined the Justice Department in 1990 with the Tax Division, and spent six years as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in the District of Utah before joining the Counterterrorism Section in 1997. He is a frequent lecturer on law enforcement and intelligence topics. He is the author of several articles and two books, Counterterrorism Enforcement: A Lawyer’s Guide (DOJ Office of Legal Education 2004), and Taxing Terrorism, From Al Capone to Al Qaida: Fighting Violence Through Financial Regulation (2007). Jeff also serves as the Senior Fellow and Director of National Security Law at the International Assessment and Strategy Center. Mr. Breinholt is a graduate of Yale University (B.A., 1985) and the UCLA School of Law (J.D., 1988), and a member of the State Bar of California.
• David draper Director of Strategic Operations David Draper, a founder of the NEFA Foundation, serves as the Director of Strategic Operations. His chief responsibility is the planning and oversight of research, analysis, and investigations with a particular focus on terrorist finance and support worldwide. Mr. Draper’s diverse financial and business expertise coupled with a proven track record of success quickly earned him a reputation as a tenacious and adept terrorism finance investigator. He has assisted various organizations and government entities in the acquisition and analysis of documents, artifacts, and other materials relating to past and current terrorist activities for the purpose of identifying individuals and entities connected to these activities. In addition to his valuable experience as a financial executive over the past two decades, Mr. Draper also has expertise in international banking; commercial and residential construction; land acquisition and development; and hotel and commercial retail operations.
• Ronald Sandee Director of Analysis and Research Born in 1970 in the Netherlands, Mr. Sandee studied History and Middle Eastern studies at the University of Nijmegen and received his MA in History in 1995. Over the past decade, he held a variety of positions within the Dutch Ministry of Defense, most recently acting as Senior Analyst in the Counter Terrorism branch of the Dutch Defense Intelligence Service's Counter Intelligence Department. In 2006, Ron moved to the U.S. and joined the NEFA Foundation as Director of Analysis and Research. He has delivered numerous lectures at conferences, including at the American Enterprise Institute, the Hudson Institute, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and the Transatlantic Institute. Ron specializes in analyzing terrorism in Africa and the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, as well as studying the radicalization process in Europe and the U.S.

• Douglas Farah Senior Investigator In 1990, on contract with The Washington Post, Mr. Farah moved to Bogota, Colombia, to cover the exploding drug war in the Andean region. Working in Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Bolivia he chronicled the rise and fall of the Medellin cartel and its leader, Pablo Escobar. He also wrote extensively about the rise of Cali cartel, the move by Colombian drug traffickers into heroin and the growing alliance between Colombian and Mexican drug mafias. In 1997, Farah returned to Washington as the international investigative reporter covering drug trafficking and organized crime. He covered the emergence of Russian organized crime groups in Latin America and the Caribbean, the growth of Mexican drug cartels within the United States and drug-related banks in the Caribbean. In March 2000, Farah was named West Africa bureau chief for The Washington Post. Based in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, he traveled and wrote extensively about the brutal civil wars in Sierra Leone and Liberia. He also wrote about the interlocking networks of agents, under the protection of governments across the region, which profited from those conflicts and the diamonds-for-weapons trade. In November 2001 Farah broke the story of al Qaeda's ties to those diamond and weapons networks. Despite threats against his life, Farah has continued to travel around the world to report on the financial network of Usama Bin Laden.
• Evan F. Kohlmann Senior Investigator Evan Kohlmann is an International Terrorism Consultant who has spent a decade tracking Al-Qaida and other terrorist groups. In the course of his research, he has traveled overseas to interview prominent Al-Qaida spokesmen and has amassed one of the largest databases in the world of terrorist communiqués and multimedia. He currently works as a senior investigator on behalf of the Nine Eleven Finding Answers (NEFA) Foundation and has served at various times as a private consultant in terrorism matters for the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Office of the High Representative (OHR) in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Australian Federal Police (AFP), the U.K. Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), and Scotland Yard's SO-15 Counter Terrorism Command. Mr. Kohlmann holds a degree in International Politics from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service (Georgetown University), and a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He is also the recipient of a certificate in Islamic studies from the Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding (CMCU) at Georgetown University. Mr. Kohlmann has been a frequent expert guest on nationally televised news programs and is featured as an exclusive on-air terrorism analyst for NBC News.
• Claudio Franco Senior Investigator Italian by origin, Claudio Franco works as a consultant to the NEFA Foundation, conducting in-depth, investigative research for as much as half the year in the regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan--where has has been a regular visitor since approximately 1999. Mr. Franco has an academic background in the Philosophy of Language and Logic, and in the past has worked as a consultant and journalist for several European, American, and British organizations--including The Times of London, La Repubblica, L'Espresso, The Independent, ISN, Eurasianet, The San Francisco Chronicle, Sanogin Sanomat (Finland), Sky News 24 (Italy), and the BBC (as a senior consultant on terrorism and as an associate producer). Mr. Franco is currently working on a book concerning the logic behind suicide operations by terrorist organizations.
• Josh Lefkowitz Senior Analyst As the former Assistant Director of Terrorism Research at The Investigative Project and as an Intelligence Analyst in the New York City office of New York State Homeland Security, Josh Lefkowitz has worked extensively with federal, state, and local authorities to track and analyze terrorist groups. Mr. Lefkowitz has published on a number of subjects, including terrorist recruitment, financing, and strategies, in publications such as The Wall Street Journal Europe. He has also assisted in preparing testimony delivered before The 9/11 Commission and various Congressional committees. His focus is on terrorist networks within the United States, particularly the exploitation of charitable front groups, and he has compiled a groundbreaking summary page of the exhibits released in U.S. v. Holy Land Foundation. He graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Williams College and is currently pursuing a Masters in Business Administration at Harvard University.