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Coexistence International Advisory Board
The role of the Coexistence International Advisory Board is to advise CI on strategic questions and resources, and serve as a sounding board for CI’s programming. The Advisory Board is made up of thirteen outstanding contributors to the coexistence field.
Advisory Board Members
CI ADVISORY BOARD BIOS
Mari Fitzduff
Chair of the Advisory Board
Mari Fitzduff is currently Professor and Director of the MA program in Coexistence and Conflict at Brandeis University. The program is specifically designed for early and mid-career professionals who work, or aspire to work, within governments, international agencies, or NGOs, on issues of coexistence and conflict, and for professionals working in related fields such as security and diplomacy, aid and development, human rights, education, and the promotion of democracy and civil society. From 1997-2003, she held a Chair of Conflict Studies at the University of Ulster where she was Director of a United Nations University centre, UNU/INCORE, which is based in Northern Ireland and which addresses the management of ethnic, political and religious conflict through an integrated approach using research, training, policy, program and practice development. From 1990-1997 she was Chief Executive of the Northern Ireland Community Relations Council which works with government, statutory bodies, trade unions, churches, community groups, security groups, ex-prisoners, businesses and politicians, developing programs and training, and providing funding for organizations addressing issues of conflict resolution in Northern Ireland. Prof. Fitzduff has also worked on programs addressing conflict issues in the Basque Country, Sri Lanka, Middle East, Indonesia, the Caucasus, and Russia, and is utilized as an international expert by many governments and international organizations on issues of conflict and coexistence. Her publications include 'Beyond Violence' - Conflict Resolution Processes in Northern Ireland (2002) published by the United Nations University Press/Brookings which was winner of an American Library Notable Publications Award, Community Conflict Skills which was first published in 1988 and is now in its 4th edition, and the recently published. NGOs at the Table published by Rowan and Littlefield, Maryland (2004). Her next publication, The Psychology of Resolving Global Conflicts: From War to Peace which she is co-editing with Chris Stout, is a 3 volume series to be published by Praegar Press in the fall of 2005. Mari is also the Convener for CI's Strand Three: Strengthening Coexistence Policy.
Dekha Ibrahim Abdi
Dekha Ibrahim Abdi is currently based in Mombasa, Kenya as an independent consultant with CamelBell Ltd., working part time with Coalition for Peace in Africa (COPA) as Policy and Learning Advisor and the remaining time with Development Alternatives, Inc. as Regional Conflict Advisor for the cross-border conflict in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Somalia. She is an associate with Responding to Conflict, a UK-based international organization, where she was a Trainer and Learning Coordinator from 1999 to 2001. Ms. Abdi is a founding member of the Wajir Peace and Development Committee, Coalition for Peace in Africa, and ACTION for Conflict Transformation – a global coalition for peace. She has worked as a consultant trainer on peacebuilding and pastoralist development with many local and international agencies in Cambodia, Somalia, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Germany, Ethiopia, South Africa, Netherlands, Zimbabwe, the United Kingdom, Uganda, Ghana, and Kenya. Ms. Abdi is a Board Member of NOMADIC, as well as a patron of Peace Direct – a UK-based peace charity, and is also on the Advisory Board of INCORE University of Ulster. She participated in the Reflecting on Peace Practice project (RPP) in many capacities, including as steering committee member and author of case studies.
Mohammed Abu-Nimer
Mohammed Abu-Nimer is an Associate Professor in International Peace and Conflict Resolution at the American University's School of International Service in Washington, DC, and Director of Peacebuilding and Development Institute, American University. He is an expert on conflict resolution and dialogue for peace and has conducted research on Palestinians and Jews in Israel; Israeli-Palestinian conflict; application of conflict resolution models in Muslim communities; interreligious conflict resolution training; interfaith dialogue; and evaluation of conflict resolution programs. As a practitioner, he has been intervening and conducting conflict resolution training workshops in many conflict areas around the world, including: Palestine, Israel, Egypt, Northern Ireland, Philippines (Mindanao), Sri Lanka, U.S., and other areas. He has published articles on these subjects in the Journal of Peace Research; Journal of Peace and Changes, American Journal of Economics and Sociology, and in various edited books. Abu-Nimer is the co-founder and co-editor of the new Journal of Peacebuilding and Development.
Thais Corral
Thais Corral is the founding Director of the Network for Human Development (REDEH), an NGO dedicated to bringing women’s perspectives to environmental issues in Brazil. She is also founder and Vice President of the Women, Environment, and Development Organization (WEDO), a United States-based international NGO that advocates for women’s organizations working in the area of political advocacy, and the founder of Communication, Education, Information on Gender (CEMINA), a Brazil-based NGO. In the 1990s, Ms. Corral was one of the few women who represented civil society and gender-related issues at various United Nations Global Conferences. Trained as a journalist, Ms. Corral created a radio conglomerate of over four hundred radio stations in Brazil that promote grassroots activism. Ms. Corral coordinated the elaboration of the reports about the reduction of social inequalities and sustainable cities for the Brazilian Agenda 21, was involved in the process of the World Summit for Sustainable Development, and coordinated a worldwide consultation that resulted in the “Women’s Action Agenda 2015” that was launched in Johannesburg in 2002. She is a member of the Executive Council of the Commission on Globalization. In 2003, she coordinated the International Conference, Indicators on Quality of Life and Sustainable Development (ICONS), which represents a major initiative gathering a wide range of stakeholders interested in the debate in Brazil and internationally. She also was a faculty at the prestigious Salzburg Seminar on Environmental Policy and Public Dialogue. As a faculty she also teaches leadership at Fundacao Getulio Getlio Vargas in Rio de Janeiro. She received a B.A. in public administration and an M.A. in development and gender studies from University of Chicago, and a M.A. in public policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She has received several awards that acknowledge her leadership: the 100 Heroines Award, the Award Abril Mulher for her contribution to the improvement of the status of women in Brazil. She was also recognized as the Woman of the Year in 2001 by Brazilian National Council of Women. She also co-chaired the 30th Annual Conference of the Global Health Council in 2003 and is a member of the Commission on Globalisation. She is a LEAD (Leadership for Environment and Development) Fellow and a member of Prince of Wales Business and Environment Program of University of Cambridge, UK Network. She is fluent in Portuguese, English, Spanish, Italian and French.
Dr. Gaya Gamhewage
Vice Chair of the Advisory Board
Dr. Gaya Gamhewage is responsible for capacity building in the World Health Organization's (WHO) Department of Health Action in Crises in Geneva. She has been with WHO for the past 4 years and she currently leads a team that is responsible for a new global initiative to improve WHO's performance in crises, disasters and emergencies. Before taking up her present post, Dr. Gamhewage worked for Save the Children UK and Save the Children Norway in Sri Lanka where she was head of Advocacy and Communication. There she headed an award-winning national media campaign on the impact of armed conflict on children. She was also a key member of an inter-agency initiative: Children as Zones of Peace. Over the last four years she has helped pilot WHO's initiative on Health as a Bridge for Peace in both Sri Lanka and Indonesia. As Director of Community Health for Sri Lanka's largest NGO which works in over 10,000 communities and villages, Dr. Gamhewage has worked on psychosocial and peace promotion issues, human rights and community health with children affected by armed conflict, survivors of torture, the military, youth, elderly and other groups. Her interests and specialization are: children and conflict situations, human rights, community healing, coexistence, gender issues, conflict resolution, peace education, promotion of peacebuilding through health and rural development. Dr. Gamhewage is a medical graduate of the Beijing Medical University in the People's Republic of China and has received educational and professional training in the United Kingdom, the USA, Thailand, and Sri Lanka. Dr. Gamhewage has extensive experience developing and delivering education and learning programs for a wide range of target audiences including WHO and UN staff, public health practitioners, NGOs, military, judiciary, media, diplomats, children, community workers, and others. On average she trains between 300 – 500 WHO staff and partners per year. She is married with two young children and currently lives in Geneva, but travels extensively mainly to countries preparing for or experiencing emergencies and crises. Dr. Gamhewage speaks English, Sinhalese, and Chinese (Mandarin).
Dr. Meenakshi Gopinath
Dr. Meenakshi Gopinath is Principal of Lady Shri Ram College, New Delhi, where she also teaches at the Department of Politics. She is Founder and Honorary Director of WISCOMP (Women in Security, Conflict Management and Peace), an initiative that seeks to promote the leadership of South Asian women in the areas of peace, security and regional cooperation, and is Co-Chair of the Academic Advisory Committee at the University of Peace, Costa Rica. She is a member of various multi-track peace initiatives in Kashmir and between India and Pakistan, including the Neemrana Peace Initiative, Dostaana e’ Kashmir and the Pakistan India Peoples’ Forum for Peace and Democracy. She has authored the book Pakistan In Transition and has contributed chapters and articles to several books and journals on Gandhi, the politics of Pakistan et al. In recognition of her contribution to the field of women’s education and empowerment, she has received several awards including the Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi Award, the Shiromani Mahila Award, the Rajiv Gandhi Award for Excellence in Education and the Delhi Citizen Forum Award. Dr. Gopinath is a member of the International Research Committee at the Regional Centre for Strategic Studies, Sri Lanka and serves on the Governing Boards of several other research organizations, think tanks, CSOs and educational institutions. She is the first woman member on India’s National Security Advisory Board and currently serves on it. She has been a Fulbright scholar and has received several fellowships including the Australian International Education Foundation Fellowship for 1996-97 and the University Grants Commission Indo-Israel Exchange Program 1994-96. Her interests include issues of gender, conflict transformation and Buddhist and Gandhian philosophy.
Roberta Levitow
Roberta Levitow is a co-founder of Theatre Without Borders, an informal group supporting international theatre exchange. With TWB, she is working with Dr. Cynthia Cohen and Coexistence International as part of the "Theatre & Peace Building Initiative". Ms Levitow has directed over 50 productions in NYC, LA and nationally, with a particular emphasis on developing original writing and new American work. Recent international work includes: Fulbright Senior Specialist in the Department of Music, Dance and Drama, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda, September 2006; Participant with the Interdisciplinary Genocide Studies Center - CalArts Workshop, Rwanda, August 2006; Project Director for the Immigrants' Theatre Company workshop "After The Fall: Reality and the New Romanian Theatre" in New York City, July 5-15 2006; Workshop leader for the Sept 2005 "Training Trainers" Workshop in Bistritza, Romania; "African Playwrights Conference", University of Iowa, Sept 2004; "How to Write Something New" Workshop in Bistritza/Colibitza, Romania, Aug 2004; Fulbright Senior Specialist at The National University of Theatre & Film, Bucharest, Romania, March/April 2004; Fulbright Senior Specialist Artist-in-Residence at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, October 2003; the American Honoree at the 15th Cairo International Festival for Experimental Theatre, 2003; leader of the "East African Theatre Workshop" in Kenya, Uganda & Tanzania and "The Three Continents Workshop" at the Warsaw Theatre Academy, Poland (sponsored by the Center for International Theatre Development and IIE/Ford Foundation.) Accomplishments and writings featured in The New York Times, AMERICAN THEATRE Magazine, Theatre in Crisis: Performance Manifestos for a New Century, The South Atlantic Quarterly, and Writing the World: On Globalization. Participation in national service organizations includes Peer Panel for the N.E.A., the Executive Board of SSDC (The Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers) and the Executive Board of TCG (Theatre Communications Group). She was the recipient of TCG's Alan Schneider Award for directorial excellence in 1992. A Visiting Professor at Bennington College from 2000-2005, she taught from 1990-2000 as an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Theatre Department at U.C.L.A.
Barbara Merson
Barbara Merson has held senior management positions with many corporations and not-for-profit organizations. She is currently the Chief Financial Officer of the Jewish Community Center of Stamford. Barbara has been involved with The Coexistence Initiative since its founding, serving as Treasurer, Secretary and most recently on the Advisory Board. Barbara lives in Pound Ridge, NY with artist husband Marty Kremer and son Gabriel Kremer.
Tim Phillips
Timothy Phillips is a founding co-chair of the Project on Justice in Times of Transition at Tufts University, a project recognized globally for its significant contributions to the field of transitional justice, the Northern Ireland peace process, reconciliation in El Salvador and Nicaragua, and the establishment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa. Mr. Phillips has served as a consultant to non-governmental and governmental organizations in the United States and abroad, including USAID and the Council of Europe, on democratization, conflict resolution and human rights initiatives. Mr. Phillips is a member of the Board of Directors and Advisors of the Foundation for a Civil Society, the University of the Middle East, the International Rescue Committee, Club of Madrid, and the Institute for Global Leadership at Tufts University. Mr. Phillips is also co-founder of Energia Global, Ltd., a pioneering developer and owner of private renewable energy facilities in Central and South America. He served as an advisor to the Government of Sri Lanka in the design and implementation of its peace process and has worked closely with leaders in several countries on conflict resolution and reconciliation initiatives. He presently serves as an Advisor to the William J. Clinton Foundation.
Stella Sabiiti
Stella Sabiiti is an internationally recognized consultant from Uganda with extensive experience in conflict resolution and peacebuilding in Africa and numerous international forums. Her work includes facilitation, negotiation, mediation, reconciliation, training, research, program administration, and advocacy for the peace process and development. Ms. Sabiiti is founder and Executive Director of the Center for Conflict Resolution (CECORE) based in Uganda. She is also a past coordinator of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR) based in the Netherlands, where she established the Africa Desk in the 1980s to mid-1990s. She ran a peace-reporting program on the Foreign Service of the Netherlands radio broadcasting to Africa. Previous to that, Ms. Sabiiti worked as a News Editor for Radio and Television in Uganda in the late 1970s, at the All-Africa Conference of Churches in Nairobi, and at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in the Documentation Department in the 1980s. She has conducted training needs assessments and follow-up programs in all sub-regions of Africa and internationally for various government departments, pastoral communities, former rebels, armed groups, armed cattle-rustlers, community leaders, youth groups, police, former soldiers, the military, NGOs, women’s groups, teachers, environmentalists, journalists, and others. She also conducts analyses and evaluations, currently of the peace facility of the African Union. Ms. Sabiiti serves on the National Focal Point on Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) in Uganda following the Nairobi Declaration and Nairobi Protocol on SALW. She also sits on several regional and international boards. Ms. Sabiiti lectures at the European Peace University (EPU) in Austria.
Alan B. Slifka
Alan B. Slifka is a New York investment manager and philanthropist who is the Co-Chairman of Halcyon Asset Management LLC, an asset management firm specializing in corporate event investing. Currently, Halcyon Management LLC manages in excess of $4 billion in equity capital. For many years prior to forming Alan B. Slifka and Company (the predecessor firm of Halcyon Management Company LLC) in 1982, Mr. Slifka was a partner of L.F. Rothschild & Co., Inc. Long active in business, civic, and philanthropic affairs, Mr. Slifka has served on several corporate boards including The Pall Corporation. He has served as Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of GTS (Global TeleSystems Group, Inc.). Mr. Slifka is founding Chairman and member of the Board of Directors of the Big Apple Circus, a Director of the Abraham Joshua Heschel School, a member of the Executive Committee of the American Jewish Congress, and a founding board member of The Coexistence Initiative, Jewish Funder's Network, and The Interfaith Center of New York. Mr. Slfika is Chairman of The Abraham Fund Initiatives, which he co-founded in 1989 as the first and only public not-for-profit organization whose sole purpose is to further coexistence between Israel's Jewish and Arab citizens through support of programs and projects in Israel. It is his belief that legitimization and enhancement of coexistence and coexistence programs between majority and minority, whether ethnic, tribal, or religious, is currently the most essential yet under-supported need in the world. In May 2000, Mr. Slifka received on behalf of The Abraham Fund Initiatives a Certificate of Honor from the Knesset Chairman Avraham Burg and Rabbi Michael Melchior of the Prime Minister's Office for Diaspora and Social Affairs, for supporting and encouraging dialogue between Israel's Jewish and Arab citizens. Born in New York City in 1929, Mr. Slifka graduated from the Fieldston School, received his B.S. at Yale University in 1951 and his M.B.A. at Harvard in 1953 and 2003 Doctor of Human Letters, Honoris Causa, Brandeis University. Mr. Slifka has three sons.
Paul van Tongeren
Mr. Paul van Tongeren is Secretary-General, Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC). Paul van Tongeren (1942) worked many years as a programme manager for the Dutch National Committee for International Cooperation and Sustainable Development (NCDO). He has been involved in the activities of numerous Dutch NGOs in the field of development cooperation, peace and environmental organisations. He established the ECCP (European Centre for Conflict Prevention), based in the Netherlands, and the European Platform on Conflict Prevention in 1997. Under his leadership, the ECCP undertook several activities, including the “Searching for Peace” series, which documents analysis of conflicts and peacebuilders in different continents; the “People Building Peace” books, describing inspiring civil society stories worldwide; and the establishment of the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict, the first global network of peacebuilders. ECCP organized, in partnership with the UN Department for Political Affairs, the first civil society conference at the UN Headquarters in New York, in July 2005.
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