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Coexistence International Staff
As Program Director for Coexistence International Jessica Berns provides programmatic leadership to the initiative. She is responsible for the conceptualization and design of CI’s programs, including work with civil society actors on issues of transitional justice and democratization/governance in the West African region. She also oversees the development of coexistence resources and their strategic dissemination, including a focus paper series that addresses the links between the coexistence field and related fields (human rights, democratization, natural resource management, the arts, etc.) She is responsible for developing CI’s strategic partnership with intergovernmental institutions and with international, regional and local non-governmental organizations. At the start of her tenure, Jessica led the participatory strategic planning process that created the framework for CI. She is responsible for fundraising and coordinating collaboration with CI’s board of advisors.
As a member of the staff of the Slifka Program in Intercommunal Coexistence and the International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life, Jessica is responsible for the design and implementation of cross-disciplinary events, on issues such as gender, human rights and immigration policy.
Before coming to CI, Jessica spent five years in Berlin, Germany at Transparency International, the international anti-corruption non-governmental organization. While there, she worked closely with the Latin American civil society network and in the production of communication and advocacy tools. Her areas of expertise include international affairs, matters of good governance, including human rights and coexistence and intercultural communication.
Jessica holds a Master's Degree in Law and Diplomacy from The Fletcher School at Tufts University and a B.A. in Spanish from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She speaks fluent Spanish and German and has lived and worked in Latin America and Europe. Jessica is a Board Member of the Alliance for Peacebuilding and sits on the Advisory Board of the 3D Security Initiative.
John joined CI in September 2008 as Program Manager. In this capacity John is responsible for the implementation of CI’s programs, especially those in the West Africa sub-region which focus on facilitating a network of coexistence allies. John also contributes to the development of CI’s publications and workshop programs.
John’s experience includes researching the intersection of traditional dispute resolution mechanisms and human rights in the context of refugee camp management; analyzing the role of youth in the wave of democratization in sub-Saharan Africa; serving as support staff during Track II peace negotiations related to intra-state warfare in Iraq; and completing an internship at “CDA Collaborative Learning Projects” promoting strategic thinking for international development programming in conflict and post-conflict environments.
John holds an M.A. in Dispute Resolution from the University of Massachusetts, Boston and a B.A. in Economics from Boston College. John is also qualified as a mediator in the state of Massachusetts. He has traveled or lived in 18 countries on four continents.
Shannon joined the Coexistence International team as Program Coordinator in August 2008. She is responsible for maintaining administrative and financial systems, managing logistics for events, and contributing to CI’s array of publications. Prior to working for CI, she spent four years in Namibia developing and implementing youth and education programs for a local NGO that focuses on urban youth. In addition, she worked as an education consultant for local schools, the Ministry of Education, and the Namibian Training Authority. She holds a BA in Biology from Reed College in Portland, OR and is currently a candidate for a Master of Sustainable International Development at the Heller School of Social Policy and Management.
Cynthia E. Cohen
Executive Director - Slifka Program in Intercommunal Coexistence, Brandeis University
At Brandeis since 1997, Cindy manages the development of research and action partnerships with coexistence organizations around the world and the involvement of Brandeis students and faculty in those partnerships. In this capacity she oversees the work of Coexistence International. Cindy also teaches at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Cindy was the founding director of the Oral History Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and has facilitated coexistence efforts involving participants from the Middle East, the United States, Central America, and Sri Lanka. She holds a Ph.D. in education from the University of New Hampshire, and a Masters in City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is the director of an international fellowship program Recasting Reconciliation Through Culture and the Arts. Cindy is the author of Working with Integrity: A Guidebook for Peacebuilders Asking Ethical Questions. She writes on the ethical and aesthetic dimensions of reconciliation, and has published related chapters and articles in conflict resolution, women's studies, and education. Cindy is the Co-Convener for CI's Strand Five: Strengthening the Contributions of Theatre to the Coexistence Field, and serves as a consultant on other aspects of the program.
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