The Peace it Together Team

Our board, staff and volunteers are made up of people from a variety of backgrounds who are all passionate about finding solutions for peace.  Click on a name to display their bio.  Our new website is still under construction, so you may experience some glitches while browsing through this page.

 

  • Full Time Staff

    • Reena Lazar

      Reena Lazar

      Reena Lazar
      Executive Director

      Reena Lazar is one of the Founders and the Executive Director of the Peace it Together Society. Reena's work stems from her background in creativity and international studies and her personal connection to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Reena's academic background is in architecture (McGill University) and international affairs (Columbia University).

      Reena was born and raised in Montreal where she attended Jewish elementary and high schools and attended Jewish summer camps. Although she spent two summers in Israel-once when she was nine and again with a youth group as a teenager-Reena did not interact with Palestinians nor learn about their narrative and history until much later.

      It was not until Reena attended a Compassionate Listening Delegation in 1999 that Reena learned first-hand about the lives of Palestinians. During that journey to Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza, Reena had the opportunity to listen to people with many different perspectives talk about the conflict, how it impacts their lives, and their hopes for the future. It was one of the most intense and transformative two-weeks of her life and it inspired her to change the focus of her career to peace work.

      Upon her return home, Reena joined Vancouver's Palestinian and Jewish Women's Dialogue Group for Peace, and began studying conflict resolution at the Justice Institute of British Columbia. In the summer of 2003, Reena co-facilitated compassionate listening and dialogue sessions at "Creativity for Peace," a summer program for Israeli and Palestinian girls in New Mexico. The experience was so fulfilling and inspiring that Reena was determined to create a similar program in Canada.

      In the year that followed, Reena completed the advanced training in Compassionate Listening in Washington State while enrolling over fifty local volunteers to plan and organize the first Peace it Together program. It was in this context that Reena met Palestinian Adri Hamael and discovered their similar objectives to create understanding between people impacted by the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Reena and Adri later founded the Peace it Together Society. Reena also taught conflict resolution as part of the Peace and Conflict Studies at Langara College in Vancouver for four years.

      Before moving into peace work, Reena's career and volunteer work focused around international and sustainable urban development. Between 2000 and 2004, Reena sat on and chaired the Vancouver City Planning Commission and was a member of the City's Urban Design Panel.

    • Metha Brown

      Metha Brown

      Metha Brown
      Program Manager

    • Emily Parsons Dickau

      Emily Parsons Dickau

      Emily Parsons Dickau
      Communications and Program Assistant

      Emily Parsons Dickau is an SFU graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Latin American Studies, Spanish, and International studies. After travelling to Colombia and El Salvador (two lands that continue to live through the devastating effects of violence) and learning more about  the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Emily began to better understand our world's desperate need for a way through conflict that does not take life or perpetuate the cycle of violence. Emily began volunteering for Peace it Together in early 2010, and is overjoyed to be part of the team empowering youth to create lasting peace through creative, non-violent collaboration.

  • 2011 Regional Coordinators

    • Shelley Hermon

      Shelley Hermon

      Shelley Hermon
      Israeli Regional Coordinator

      Shelley Hermon grew up in both Israel and England, and comes from a multicultural heritage. She began working in media in 1997 as an Art-Director at the world renowned advertising agency ‘Ogilvy & Mather’ Hong Kong.  Since 2000, Shelley has worked in the film/TV industry, as a freelance Producer/Director/Cameraman on a broad range of international productions including: Home Fronts for Channel4 UK, The Trial of Sadam Hussein for Esteban Uyarra BBC, 77 Steps for Ibtisam Mara’ana and a short animation Two Boys produced with Lobo Brazil, for Leonard Cohen's peace initiative 'The fund for Reconciliation, Tolerance  and Peace'.

       

      Her multicultural background infused her with a commitment to film projects specializing in giving voice to minority groups and shifting paradigms. She has produced and directed over 20 films with ‘at risk’ youth, teenage mothers and conflicted communities. She is about to premier with her debut feature documentary Within The Eye of The Storm.

    • Rasha Mukbil

      Rasha Mukbil

      Rasha Mukbil
      Palestinian Regional Coordinator

      Rasha Mukbil currently works as a part-time coordinator for the Keeping Children Safe Online Project at World Vision International. She previously worked as a consultant forDiakonia/ NAD Rehabilitation Program in the occupied Palestinian territory on a project that advocated the rights of people with disabilities through art and music.  Rasha also worked as a Program Manager for Stars of Hope and as the Campaign Coordinator forRight to Enter (a campaign for the right to enter the occupied Palestinian Territories) for almost two years. 

      Rasha was granted a Certificate of Recognition for "Dedication and Determination in Promoting Livelihoods in Conflict Situations" by the Women’s Commission for Women and Children, USA. She also received the Emerson International Internship Scholarship for the best research in International Settings and Politics in 2006 for her research on Arab American women's attitudes towards the US and US foreign policy.

      Rasha organized an international conference for Alquds University, Jerusalem to propose solutions to the status of Palestinian refugees in Iraq following the 2008 war. This was the first international conference encouraging international civil society to rescue Palestinians in Iraq. 

      At age 17, Rasha represented the Palestinian Delegation of Seeds of Peace in an International Youth Conference “Uprooting Hatred and Terror Conference, New York” where delegates from 22 countries, completed a 28-page Youth Charter addressing the root causes of terrorism and focusing on education, media, pop culture, economic disparity, religion, security, and principles of governing.  The Charter was formally presented to the former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

      Rasha has a B.S. in Biochemistry from Hartwick College, USA and currently lives in Ramallah, Palestine.

  • 2011 Summer Staff

    • Atef Abdelkefi

      Atef Abdelkefi

      Atef Abdelkefi
      Technical Director

      Atef Abdelkefi was born and raised in Tunisia, and moved to Canada in late 1993. He has a Bachelors Degree in computer science from the University of Quebec in Montreal. Since 2002, Atef has thrived in the capacity of Information Technology Director, Video Editing Mentor, and Webmaster at the Gulf Islands Film & Television School (GIFTS) in British Columbia. He is also certified as a level I gymnastics coach by the National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP), and has trained young athletes from the ages of 6 to 12 years old. He is fluent in English, Arabic and French.

    • Catherine Bargen

      Catherine Bargen

      Catherine Bargen
      Dialogue Facilitator

      Catherine Bargen has been working with community Restorative Justice (RJ) programs since 1999. She is recognized across BC and Canada as an expert consultant, trainer and practitioner for RJ programs. Since 2002, she has provided training to over 1500 youth and adults on RJ in various settings including schools, faith groups, government and non-government organizations.

      From 2001-2008, Catherine was on staff with Langley's Fraser Region Community Justice Initiatives Association (CJI) as their senior trainer, facilitator, and mediator. She also worked with CJI in partnership with the Langley School District as the Restorative Justice School Program Coordinator and co-authored the internationally sought-after resources "Conversation Peace" and "Talking Peace" in this capacity. Prior to her work in BC, she served as the Victim Offender Mediation Program Coordinator in Edmonton and as a Restorative Justice Educator for Mennonite Central Committee in Alberta and B.C.

      She received her Master's degree in Conflict Transformation in the Spring of 2008 having studied with Dr. Howard Zehr. In November 2008, Catherine was appointed the Restorative Justice Coordinator for the Provincial Government of British Columbia, housed within the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General. This is a new position created to help achieve a connected and coordinated vision and strategy of RJ in B.C.
      IN the summer of 2008, Catherine was one of the facilitators for the Peace it Together Camp. Catherine loves camping, meeting new people, laughing and dreaming with her loved ones, and dancing whenever she can.

    • Metha Brown

      Metha Brown

      Metha Brown
      Social Media Mentor

    • Laura Crompton

      Laura Crompton

      Laura Crompton
      Support Facilitator

    • Gloria Davies

      Gloria Davies

      Gloria Davies
      Producer/Director Behind-The-Scenes and Media Relations Director

    • Shehneen Dhamani

      Shehneen Dhamani

      Shehneen Dhamani
      Volunteer Coordinator & Asst. Program Manager

    • Paolo Di Persico

      Paolo Di Persico

      Paolo Di Persico
      Behind-the-Scenes Camera/Sound

    • Jessica Hallenbeck

      Jessica Hallenbeck

      Jessica Hallenbeck
      Behind-the-Scenes Camera/Editor

    • Aaron Lyons

      Aaron Lyons

      Aaron Lyons
      Dialogue Facilitator

      Aaron Lyons is a Canadian youth worker, facilitator, trainer, and wilderness guide with a passion for music and the arts. He has lived and traveled in the Middle East, both studying political and religious studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and working toward the development of the Peace it Together Program. For the past 10 years he has led outdoor leadership programs for young people, and worked with young offenders in various capacities in Canada, the United States and New Zealand. Aaron has worked with Peace it Together as a facilitator since its inception and served on the organization's first Board of Directors. He holds an MA in Conflict Transformation, specializing in restorative justice, from Eastern Mennonite University, Virginia; a BA in Communication, and a Certificate in Community Economic Development, from Simon Fraser University in British Columbia.

    • Pia Massie

      Pia Massie

      Pia Massie
      Film Mentor

    • Claudia Medina

      Claudia Medina

      Claudia Medina
      Film Mentor

      Claudia Medina-Culos is a filmmaker, writer, and educator from the West Coast of BC. Her filmmaking deals with the stories and influences of her tri-national background (Mexico, Italy, Canada) and how they are transposed onto the Canadian cultural landscape. She also dedicates herself to filmmaking and facilitating youth to tell their own stories through this medium, and has developed curriculum and taught filmmaking workshops for many years now. She also works as a camera operator, editor, and field producer for documentaries and collaborates with artists of different disciplines on performance/installation events in which she does live video mixing. Claudia currently lives on Galiano Island, BC.

    • Bryan Nykon

      Bryan Nykon

      Bryan Nykon
      Film Mentor

    • Nilesh Patel

      Nilesh Patel

      Nilesh Patel
      Film Mentor

    • Sarah Van Borek

      Sarah Van Borek

      Sarah Van Borek
      Program and Production Manager

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    • Aerlyn Weissman

      Aerlyn Weissman

      Aerlyn Weissman
      Film Mentor

  • 2011 Summer Volunteers

    • Alexandra DeBoer

      Alexandra DeBoer

      Alexandra DeBoer

    • Arien Ocean

      Arien Ocean

      Arien Ocean

    • Cheryl Milner

      Cheryl Milner

      Cheryl Milner

    • Coral Kasirer

      Coral Kasirer

      Coral Kasirer

    • Dima AlAnsari

      Dima AlAnsari

      Dima AlAnsari

    • Eris Lam

      Eris Lam

      Eris Lam

    • Gall Levit

      Gall Levit

      Gall Levit

    • Josephine Anderson

      Josephine Anderson

      Josephine Anderson

    • Kyle Farquharsen

      Kyle Farquharsen

      Kyle Farquharsen

    • Linda Bakaiouche

      Linda Bakaiouche

      Linda Bakaiouche

    • Mariam Demain

      Mariam Demain

      Mariam Demain

    • Natasha Wehn

      Natasha Wehn

      Natasha Wehn

    • Nicole Lewis

      Nicole Lewis

      Nicole Lewis

    • Omar Chu

      Omar Chu

      Omar Chu

    • Patricia Marococcia

      Patricia Marococcia

      Patricia Marococcia

    • Reem Morsi

      Reem Morsi

      Reem Morsi

    • Sandy Manj

      Sandy Manj

      Sandy Manj

  • Volunteer Board of Directors

    • Jeffrey Balin

      Jeffrey Balin

      Jeffrey Balin
      Director

      Jeff is an accomplished leadership facilitator, instructor, coach and consultant based in Vancouver, Canada with clients that include some of North America's most successful social entrepreneurs and mission-based organizations. Jeff has worked with over 100 coaching clients, mostly in management and leadership roles, and facilitated dozens of team meetings, management retreats, strategic-planning sessions, conflict-resolution dialogues, and leadership-development workshops. Jeff is also an online tutor for the University of British Columbia's course entitled Teamwork in the Project Environment and a career coach and facilitator for an employment and community development program.

      Jeff's work is infused with the business lessons acquired from earning a top-tier MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and the practical insights of 20-plus years of business and management experience. Key clients have included Room to Read, BC Hydro, Communicopia, Microsoft, American Express, Covenant House, and Tides Canada, where coaching, instruction and facilitation skills have positively impacted business operations, strategic objectives and personal growth and development.

    • Catherine Bargen

      Catherine Bargen

      Catherine Bargen
      Director

      Catherine Bargen has been working with community Restorative Justice (RJ) programs since 1999. She is recognized across BC and Canada as an expert consultant, trainer and practitioner for RJ programs. Since 2002, she has provided training to over 1500 youth and adults on RJ in various settings including schools, faith groups, government and non-government organizations.

      From 2001-2008, Catherine was on staff with Langley's Fraser Region Community Justice Initiatives Association (CJI) as their senior trainer, facilitator, and mediator. She also worked with CJI in partnership with the Langley School District as the Restorative Justice School Program Coordinator and co-authored the internationally sought-after resources "Conversation Peace" and "Talking Peace" in this capacity. Prior to her work in BC, she served as the Victim Offender Mediation Program Coordinator in Edmonton and as a Restorative Justice Educator for Mennonite Central Committee in Alberta and B.C.

      She received her Master's degree in Conflict Transformation in the Spring of 2008 having studied with Dr. Howard Zehr. In November 2008, Catherine was appointed the Restorative Justice Coordinator for the Provincial Government of British Columbia, housed within the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General. This is a new position created to help achieve a connected and coordinated vision and strategy of RJ in B.C.
      IN the summer of 2008, Catherine was one of the facilitators for the Peace it Together Camp. Catherine loves camping, meeting new people, laughing and dreaming with her loved ones, and dancing whenever she can.

    • Ramona Chu

      Ramona Chu

      Ramona Chu
      Director

      Ramona Chu is a true multi-cultural Canadian. She is Lebanese-Jamaican and has a Chinese husband with whom she has three sons. After receiving a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics degree from the University of British Columbia, she was trained as a Chartered Accountant. She currently uses her skills mostly in the voluntary sector. In addition to being the Treasurer of the Peace it Together Board of Directors, she is heavily involved in the middle and high schools where her three sons attend. She is the on the School Planning Council at both schools, is the Treasurer of the Parent Advisory Council (PAC) at the highschool, and on the advisory board of the Kateslem After School Program. Ramona got involved with Peace it Together after her eldest son participated in the program in 2008. She was impressed by how Peace it Together opened up horizons for him, and made him interested in the world around him. She continues to be inspired by how the program cultivates leadership qualities in young people.

    • Beth Freeman

      Beth Freeman

      Beth Freeman
      Director

      Beth Freeman is a filmmaker and has over 15 years' experience in event and program management, sponsorship, and business development. Beth's experience spans a wide range of industries including being part of the team that produced Vancouver's winning bid for the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. As the Manager of Cultural Programs, she played a key role in the development of youth, education, and arts programs and budgets. Beth has written and produced a short film, "Threads" in partnership with Bravo!FACT and is currently developing a feature length documentary, exploring the experiences of women in combat arms in the conflict in Afghanistan. Her interest in the education of women inspired her to establish a scholarship fund for girls in Nepal in 2000. Beth was recently a director on the board of the Vancouver International Jewish Film Festival.

    • Erin Hobday

      Erin Hobday

      Erin Hobday
      Director

    • Kathi Irvine

      Kathi Irvine

      Kathi Irvine
      Director

      Kathi, principal of KLI Associates (an organizational development consulting firm) has partnered with clients since 2003 to support business growth and employee development in organizations. Kathi's approach involves system wide improvement and planning along with what she believes is the most important aspect of the process: organizational and individual self-analysis and reflection. Primarily, Kathi focuses on organizational change, team and leadership development and knowledge transfer. In addition to working with individual clients and organizations, Kathi is an instructor at Langara College (Continuing Studies) and the Justice Institute of B.C. (Centre for Leadership).

      As an advocate for community involvement, Kathi is involved with many different organizations throughout Greater Vancouver. In addition to being a Board Member of Peace it Together, Kathi is a Board Member of Big Brothers Greater Vancouver, a member of: Forum for Women Entrepreneurs, the Sustainability Committee of the Vancouver Board of Trade, and the B.C. Organizational Development Network and volunteers with Vantage Point Vancouver.

      Kathi's work is influenced by the lessons learned when she attended Royal Roads University to obtain a Masters Degree of Social and Applied Sciences (Leadership) and her years of experience as an Organizational Development Specialist. Some of Kathi's key clients include BC Hydro, Thrifty Foods, TELUS, Westminster Savings and RBC Financial Group, where Kathi's insights have brought clarity and direction.

    • David Paperny

      David Paperny

      David Paperny
      Director

      David Paperny is an Academy Award® nominated and Gemini-award winning documentary filmmaker and head of the Vancouver-based television production company, Paperny Films. David received his B.A. from the University of Toronto and his M.A. from the Annenberg School of Communications, University of Pennsylvania. He began his career in broadcast journalism in 1983 at the CBC in Toronto where he worked as a field producer on several national current affairs programs.

      In 1994, David received an Academy Award® nomination for "The Broadcast Tapes of Dr. Peter" (CBC/HBO), a film that documents the two-year odyssey of a young man dying of AIDS. David was a founding Board Member of the Dr. Peter AIDS Foundation. The Foundation established the Dr. Peter Centre in Vancouver, which provides a globally recognized integrated model of healthcare for people with HIV/AIDS.

      Shortly after receiving his Oscar nomination, David and his wife Audrey Mehler formed their own independent production company. Paperny Films specializes in non-fiction programming and has produced over 30 original documentary specials and 20 long-running series. The company's popular programming includes the hit CBC series The Week the Women Went and Glutton for Punishment on The Food Network. The company has been selected as one of the top non-fiction production companies in the world.

      Most recently, David received the top honour in the Canadian television industry by winning a Gemini Award (Canada's Emmy) for 'Best Biography Documentary' for the feature film "Confessions of an Innocent Man", which he directed. He also received the City of Vancouver Arts Award in 2008 and the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2009.

    • Joanne Pulis

      Joanne Pulis

      Joanne Pulis
      Director

  • Volunteer Board of Advisors

    • Sami Adwan

      Sami Adwan

      Sami Adwan
      Advisor

      Dr. Adwan is a Palestinian educator whose work has won him international recognition. He was born in 1954 in Sourif, a small town northwest of Hebron, Palestine. After graduating with a B.A. in elementary education from Jordan University in 1976, he received an M.A. in educational administration from San Francisco State University in 1982 and a Ph.D. in educational administration from the University of San Francisco in 1987. He taught and was chair of the education program at Hebron University, where he also headed the employee's union and became active in politics. Since 1993, he has been a member of the Faculty of Education at Bethlehem University.

      Dr. Adwan's research focuses on Palestinian education and the role of education in building peace. His publications include Learn to Live Together, with Dr. Ruth Firer; Comparative Analysis of the Israeli and Palestinian Conflict in History and Civic Education; Two Conflicts, Four Countries (Greece, Turkey, Israel, and Palestine); and The Historical Perception of Israeli and Palestinian Youth, with Dr. Shifra Sagy. He is also co-editor, with Dr. Dan Bar-On, of three works The Role of Palestinian and Israeli NGOs in Peace Building, Victimhood and Beyond, and Learning Each Other's Historical Narrative: Palestinians and Israelis (Part I, 2003; Part II, 2006). Adwan is a member of To Reflect and Trust (TRT), and, with Dr. Bar-On, co-director of the Peace Research Institute in the Middle East (PRIME).

      In 2001, Dr. Adwan and Dr. Bar-On were awarded the Alexander Langer Foundation Prize for their work and their dedication to peace as co-directors of PRIME. Similar honors were bestowed on them in 2005 when they received the Victor J. Goldberg IIE Prize for Peace and the European Association for Education of Adults Prize. Dr. Adwan was awarded the joint Legislative Resolution of the Senate and the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey in March 2007, and a Fulbright Grant in Spring 2007.

    • Ronit Avni

      Ronit Avni

      Ronit Avni
      Advisor

      Ronit Avni is the Founder and Executive Director of Just Vision, a non-profit that informs local and international audiences about under-documented Palestinian and Israeli joint civilian efforts to resolve the conflict nonviolently. Ronit directed and produced the documentary film, Encounter Point, which received the Audience Award for Best Documentary from the San Francisco International Film Festival and the Rencontres Film Festival, as well as the Docupolis award for Best First Documentary. Encounter Point screened at the Tribeca Film Festival, Hot Docs, the Dubai and Jerusalem International Film Festivals as well as the Al Jazeera International Film Festival. Encounter Point has screened at the World Bank, the UN, and in 150 cities worldwide. It was broadcast on Al Arabiya and on CBC in Canada. As result of her work, Ronit received the 2005 Auburn Seminary's 'Lives of Commitment' Award and appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show in 2005 with her colleague, Joline Makhlouf.

      From 2000-2003, Ronit co-produced short videos and online video advocacy features in collaboration with filmmakers in Senegal, Afghanistan, the United States and Brazil while working for Peter Gabriel's human rights organization, WITNESS. Ronit has trained non-governmental organizations from Honduras to the Gambia to produce videos as a tool for public education and grassroots mobilizing, as a deterrent to further abuse and as evidence before courts and tribunals. She co-edited the book, Video for Change: A Guide for Advocacy and Activism (Pluto Press, UK), with staff from WITNESS. Ronit's essay, "Inverting the Shame-Based Human Rights Documentation Model in the Context of the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict," was published in the spring 2006 edition of American Anthropologist. Ronit received the Joshua Venture Fellowship for young Jewish social entrepreneurs.

      Ronit graduated with honors with a BA in Political Science from Vassar College. She received a Burnam Fellowship to intern at B'Tselem: the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories. While abroad, Ronit volunteered for the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI). Ronit acquired a DEC in Professional Theatre Studies from Dawson College.

    • Victor Chan

      Victor Chan

      Victor Chan
      Advisor

      Victor Chan first met the Dalai Lama in India in 1972. Many years later, after forging a close relationship, Chan co-authored The Wisdom of Forgiveness (Riverhead, 2004) with the Dalai Lama. The book was nominated for the Nautilus award for best spiritual book in 2005. Chan is also the author of The Tibet Handbook: A Pilgrimage Guide (Moon Publications, 1994). Together with the Dalai Lama, Chan recently co-founded the Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education in Vancouver, Canada.

    • Patsy George

      Patsy George

      Patsy George
      Advisor

      Patsy George is a retired public servant and Social Worker. Born in Kerala, India she immigrated to Canada in 1960. After graduating from University of Windsor, she received Masters degree in Social work from University of Ottawa.


      Patsy worked as community worker in Ontario, medical social worker in Quebec and as the Director of a Family Service agency in Nova Scotia before her arrival in BC in 1975. She was employed in a variety of middle management positions in Child Welfare, Public assistance, and Community development .She retired in 2001having served as a Director in the Provincial Ministry of Multiculturalism and Immigration.
      Patsy was appointed to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada in 1989 to 1992 and coordinated the backlog division for BC and Alberta. BC government appointed her to the Panel reviewing the child welfare legislation using a public consultation process .The resulting report led to a new Child, Family, and Community Services Act of BC.

      In her volunteer community service, Patsy has served as the President of BC Association of Social workers-the first visible minority person to hold that position. She is the founding member and Vice President of Immigrant and Visible Minority women of Canada. Patsy helped to start the Pacific Immigrant Resources Society and served as its President. She was a Trustee of the Vancouver Public Library, Director of the United Way of Vancouver and Lower Mainland, and Director of Legal Services Society of BC. Patsy served as the President of the international Council on Social Welfare Canada and as the President of the North American Region of its World body that promote social development globally. She is the past President of the Boys and Girls Clubs of BC and a past vice president of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada.

      Currently She is the President of the United Nations Association in Canada, Vancouver Branch, and Director of Stephen Lewis Foundation, Director of Canadian Cross roads International, Co Chair of Margaret Mitchell Fund for women and Chair of Parents together Society of BC.
      Patsy has spoken at numerous conferences locally and internationally on social development, human rights, women's issues, and sustainable development. She has represented Canada and Canadian Non governmental organizations at the UN meetings.

      Patsy has been the recipient of many awards and recognitions including the Order of British Columbia. And the Order of Canada.

    • Michelle Le Baron

      Michelle Le Baron

      Michelle Le Baron
      Advisor

      Michelle Le Baron serves as Professor of Law and Director of the Program on Dispute Resolution at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. She has done seminal work in many areas of conflict resolution including intercultural, international, family, and commercial law. Professor LeBaron's recent scholarship focuses on the creative arts as they facilitate intercultural conflict transformation. She offers short courses internationally, and has given keynote speeches in Ireland, New Zealand, Switzerland and across the US and Canada. Professor LeBaron is the author of Bridging Troubled Waters: Conflict Resolution from the Heart and Bridging Cultural Conflicts: A New Approach for a Changing World, both from Jossey Bass, and Conflict Across Cultures: A Unique Experience of Bridging Differences with Venashri Pillay. Previously, Michelle was a tenured professor of conflict analysis and resolution and women's studies at George Mason University in Virginia after practicing law and psychotherapy.

    • Elizabeth "Libby" Traubman

      Elizabeth "Libby" Traubman

      Elizabeth "Libby" Traubman
      Advisor

      Elizabeth "Libby" Traubman is a retired clinical social worker. In 1982, in response to the threat of global nuclear war, Libby was a founding member of the Beyond War Movement, now Foundation for Global Community. In 1991, she helped organize the Beyond War conference for Israeli and Palestinian citizen-leaders which resulted in a historic signed document, FRAMEWORK FOR A PUBLIC PEACE PROCESS. Libby then co-founded the Jewish-Palestinian Living Room Dialogue Group of San Mateo, 15 year-years-old in early 2008 and preparing for its 189th meeting, having inspired dozens of other Dialogues to begin and continue. Libby is a Trustee of the Foundation for Global Community, and in 1994 was inducted into the San Mateo County Women's Hall of Fame.

      In 2005, Libby and Len convened in Kalamazoo, Michigan, for the first time leadership from the dozen North American camps for the Middle East public peace process. There they gathered new social intelligence about the process of social change which they have made universally available to download on the Internet.

      Libby helped conceive, plan, and lead all five years of the Oseh Shalom ~ Sanea al-Salaam Palestinian Jewish Family Peacemakers Camp in California. During 2003-2007, over 500 Muslim, Jewish and Christian youth and adults from North America, and from over 40 towns in Israel, Palestine (West Bank and Gaza) and Jordan gathered to experience a new quality of listening, relationship, recreation and creativity at Camp Tawonga near Yosemite National Park in California.

    • Lionel "Len" Traubman

      Lionel "Len" Traubman

      Lionel "Len" Traubman
      Advisor

      Lionel "Len" Traubman retired in 2000 from his practice of Dentistry for Children in San Francisco. He is a former Director of the San Francisco Dental Society, and was Editor of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry and of the California Society of Dentistry for Children. Len was regional alumni President of Alpha Omega Jewish dental fraternity, and received the 1998 Distingushed Alumnus Award of the University of California School of Dentistry, for whom he gave the 2006 Commencement Address.

      He wrote and published THE ORECKOVSKY FAMILY: FROM RUSSIA TO AMERICA, depicting his pioneer ancestors' immigration following the first pogroms of the early 1880s. The book resides in 100 libraries in North America and Europe. For 25 years, Len has published on war and peace from personal experience with Russians and Americans, Armenians and Azerbaijanis, and Jews and Palestinians.

      Len, with his wife, Libby, conceived and co-produced two 2007 documentary films -- PEACEMAKERS: Palestinians & Jews Together at Camp, and DIALOGUE AT WASHINGTON HIGH, and created the accompanying TEACHER'S GUIDE freely downloaded on the Internet. The DVD sets have gone to over 4,500 individuals representing 1,384 institutions in 948 cities, all 50 states, and 59 countries on every continent.

    • Catherine Winckler

      Catherine Winckler

      Catherine Winckler
      Advisor

      An unflagging entrepreneurial spirit, combined with a passion for the communications possibilities presented by emerging new media, have brought Catherine Winckler enthusiastically to where she is today. As Partner in Vancouver-based Fleming Creative Group and Creative Director of the 30-person firm's interactive division, Switch Interactive, Catherine has concentrated on providing multi-platform marketing solutions to international clients predominantly in the movie, TV, videogame, and luxury real estate markets. Clients of the award-winning company include Nintendo of Canada, Haddock Entertainment, Microsoft USA, Propaganda Games, A&E, and Brightlight Pictures.

      Catherine is a graduate of the University of British Columbia (Political Science), and has her Certified Internet Marketing and Business Strategist (CIMBS) designation from the same institution. She is a member of the prestigious International Women's Forum (IWF), most recently attending the organization's international conference hosted in Amman, Jordan, bringing together 500 women from 47 countries around a theme of 'Building Bridges, Breaking Down Walls.' She is a longstanding member of the Forum of Women Entrepreneurs (FWE), is on the Advisory Board of Kwantlen College, is a former Board member of BC Spaces for Nature, acts on the Advisory to the Acute Care Geriatric Nurses' Network of BC (ACGNN) around issues concerning family participation in continuity of care, and is an active letter writer for Amnesty International.

      Catherine Winckler shares her expertise and enthusiasm through participation in new media industry events and association memberships and through mentoring young people entering the tech and communications fields. Most recently she was listed among PROFIT magazine's 'Canada's Top 100 Women Entrepreneurs.'