Dr. Joshua Z. Walker is a researcher and policy consultant with more than two decades of expertise in the politics, violent conflict, and political economy of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the Great Lakes region.
Until June 2026, he served as Director of Programs at the Congo Research Group (CRG) at NYU’s Center on International Cooperation (CIC), where he led field-based research and analysis with teams in New York and Kinshasa. He is also an Associate Fellow in the Africa Programme at Chatham House.
Throughout his career, he has advised and collaborated with organizations including the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO), the World Bank Group, the Carter Center, and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF). He has also briefed diplomats and senior officials at the UN Security Council and the United States Department of State, among others.
His research, analysis, and commentary have appeared in leading academic and policy outlets, including Foreign Affairs, American Ethnologist, and The Conversation.
He holds a PhD in Sociocultural Anthropology from the University of Chicago, a Master of Science in Anthropology and Development from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and International Development from McGill University. He speaks English, French, Tshiluba, and Lingala.