Bios

Presenters' Bios

Keynote Panel:

Mohammed Abu-Nimer
Mohammed Abu-Nimer is a Professor in the International Peace and Conflict Resolution program at the School of International Service. He is also Director of the Peacebuilding and Development Institute at American University. An expert on conflict resolution and dialogue for peace, Dr. Abu-Nimer has conducted research on conflict resolution and dialogue for peace among Palestinians and Jews in Israel. His work has focused on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and on application of conflict resolution models in Muslim communities. Dr. Abu-Nimer has also conducted interreligious conflict resolution training, and interfaith dialogue. In the last decade, Dr. Abu-Nimer has completed many evaluation projects and reports of peacebuilding and development programs. As a scholar/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 and other areas. In addition to his numerous articles and publications, Abu-Nimer is the co-founder and co-editor of the Journal of Peacebuilding and Development.

Diana L. Eck
Diana L. Eck is Professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Studies and Frederic Wertham Professor of Law and Psychiatry in Society at Harvard University. She serves on the Committee on the Study of Religion in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Since 1991, Professor Eck has been heading a research team at Harvard University to explore the new religious diversity of the United States and its meaning for the American pluralist experiment. The Pluralism Project, funded by the Lilly Endowment, the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Ford Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation has been documenting the growing presence of the Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Pagan, Sikh, Jain, and Zoroastrian communities in the U.S. Professor Eck has written numerous books including Banaras, City of Light (Knopf 1982), Darsan: Seeing the Divine Image in India. (Anima 1981; Columbia University Press 1996), Encountering God: A Spiritual Journey from Bozeman to Banaras (Beacon Press, 1993), and most recently A New Religious America: How a "Christian Country" Has Become the World's Most Religiously Diverse Nation. (Harper SanFrancisco, 2001).

Marc Gopin
Marc Gopin is the James H. Laue Professor of Religion, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution, and the Director of the Center on Religion, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University's Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution. Professor Gopin has lectured on conflict resolution in Switzerland, Ireland, India, Italy, and Israel, as well as at Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Princeton, and numerous other academic institutions. He has trained thousands of people worldwide in peacemaking strategies for complex conflicts in which religion and culture play a role. He conducts research on values dilemmas as they apply to international problems of globalization, clash of cultures, development, social justice and conflict. In addition, Professor Gopin has engaged in back channel diplomacy with religious, political and military figures on both sides of conflicts, especially in the Arab/Israeli conflict. He has appeared on numerous media outlets, including CNN, CNN International, Court TV, The Jim Lehrer News Hour, Israel Radio, National Public Radio, The Connection, Voice of America, and the national public radios of Sweden, Ireland, and Northern Ireland. His books include Between Eden and Armageddon: The Future of World Religions, Violence, and Peacemaking (Oxford University Press, 2000), Holy War, Holy Peace: How Religion Can Bring Peace to the Middle East (Oxford University Press, 2002), and Healing the Heart of Conflict (Rodale Press, 2004).

Workshop Presenters:

Shaffique Adam
Shaffique Adam did his undergraduate at Stanford University where he served on the leadership of the International Undergraduate Community, the Stanford African Students Association, the Islamic Society of Stanford University and the Muslim Student Awareness Network. He went on to do his PhD in theoretical physics at Cornell University where he was the Secretary of the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly, on the Shura Council of the Muslim Educational and Cultural Association and on the advisory board of the Cornell United Religious Work that comprised 25 different religious communities.

Gershon Baskin and Hanna Siniora
Gershon Baskin is the founder and Israeli Co-CEO of IPCRI. Hanna Siniora is the Palestinian Co-CEO of IPCRI and longtime peace activist.

Brandeis University Interfaith Leadership Development (BUILD) Fellows
Adwoa Atta-Krah is a current Brandeis student and BUILD fellow. She is originally from Ghana and has lived in various African and European countries prior to coming here. Dustin Smith hails from Holyoke, MA, is Lutheran by birth, and is presently completing his degree in computer science. Adam Ross is a sophomore at Brandeis and a BUILD fellow. He is studying Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies and Legal Studies. Babatu Adam is a Ghanian Muslim, studying Sustainable International Development at Brandeis University. He is a BUILD fellow and is interested in international politics and the dynamics of faith and conflict.

Imad Damaj
Dr. Damaj is currently a Professor of Pharmacology at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) School of Medicine.He is a 2007 graduate of the Sorensen Institute for Political leadership. Dr. Damaj serves on the Board of ACLU Virginia, Habitat for Humanity and the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy. Dr. Damaj is also the faculty advisor for the Muslim Students Association at VCU, and Vice President of the Muslim American Society (MAS).

Greg M. Epstein
Greg M. Epstein serves as Humanist Chaplain of Harvard University, and sits on the Executive Committee of the 38-member interfaith corps of Harvard Chaplains. He blogs for Newsweek/The Washington Post’s “On Faith”, and has discussed Humanism and atheism as a positive, pluralistic tradition on NPR & BBC. His book, Good Without God, will be published by HarperCollins in 2009.

Ora Gladstone
Ora Gladstone is the coordinator for the Addir Fellows Interfaith program at the Massacuhsetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and teaches music, K-5 in the Framingham Public Schools. She has spent over 20 years working with students on college campuses.

Mary Beth Griggs and Erin Taylor, Pathways, Tufts University
Mary Beth Griggs is a sophomore geology major. Episcopalian in faith, she became involved with the Pathways project as a freshman, and believes in the importance of talking about interfaith work to anyone who will listen. Erin, a sophomore international relations and community health major, started her interfaith involvement in high school at the Interfaith Center of Philadelphia. She joined the Pathways steering committee last year and is currently co-president of the Tufts Multifaith Council and an Interfaith Youth Core Fellow. Both Mary Beth and Erin have played leadership roles in the formation of Pathways, the new interfaith initiative at Tufts University.

Reverend Hurmon Hamilton
Reverend Hurmon Hamilton is the pastor of Roxbury Presbyterian Church, and President of the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization (GBIO). GBIO is a broad-based organization that works to coalesce, train, and organize the communities of Greater Boston across all religious, racial, ethnic, class and neighborhood lines for the public good. Its primary goal is to develop local leadership and organized power to fight for social justice. It strives to hold both public and private power holders accountable for their public responsibilities, as well as to initiate actions and programs to solve community and economic problems.

Interfaith Action’s Youth Leadership Program
Interfaith Action’s Youth Leadership Program is a high school group that meets twice a month to learn about and discuss the diversity of religions present in the region. The group also runs many community service projects and has facilitated in conferences at Harvard, Chicago, and India. The Youth Leadership Program is affiliated with Interfaith Action, Inc., whose mission is to develop a healthy pluralistic culture in the town of Sharon, MA and to be a resource to other cities and towns interested in collaborating to strengthen the bonds of civil society.

Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC): Meghan Hughes, Jenan Mohajir, and Lauren Parnell

Megan Hughes
Prior to joining the IFYC team in February 2006, Megan spent four years working for the conflict resolution organization Seeds of Peace, both in New York and in Jerusalem. Megan graduated with a B.S. in Foreign Service from Georgetown University in May 2000, where she earned a certificate in Muslim-Christian Understanding.

Jenan Mohajir
Jenan Mohajir has been extensively involved with the Muslim community through several grassroots initiatives in Chicago. She currently serves as the program associate for the Outreach Education & Training program at the Interfaith Youth Core, where her primary focus is on building relationships between the Muslim community and the Interfaith Youth Movement.

Lauren Parnell
Lauren, originally from St. Paul, Minnesota, comes to IFYC as a part of the Northwestern University Public Interest Program. She graduated with a B.S. in Social Policy from Northwestern in June 2007. While at Northwestern, Lauren co-chaired the Northwestern Community Development Corps for two years; helped found the International Youth Volunteerism Summit; and co-founded and coordinated the Northwestern Public Interest Program.

Bilal Kaleem
Bilal Kaleem is the Executive Director of the Muslim American Society, Boston Chapter (MAS Boston). He received his B.S. and M.S. from MIT, and is currently pursuing graduate study in sociology and religion at Boston University, with a focus on the American Muslim community and their civic engagement. He also serves on the board of the Massachusetts Immigration and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA) and the Center for Jewish Muslim Relations (CJMR).

Edward (Edy) Kaufman
Prof. Edward (Edy) Kaufman, Senior Research Associate and former Director at Center for International Development and Conflict Management at the University of Maryland, has served as the Center's director from 1994- 1996. He has also been a Senior Research and the Executive Director of the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem from 1983 - 2004. He has authored and co-authored 12 books including two books with Walid Salem; and with John Davies on “Second Track/Citizens Diplomacy: Concepts and Techniques of Conflict Transformation”

Nancy Kaufman
Since 1990, Nancy K. Kaufman has been the Executive Director of The Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) of Greater Boston, an umbrella for 42 Jewish organizations. JCRC also serves as the public affairs arm of Boston's Jewish Federation, Combined Jewish Philanthropies (CJP). Ms. Kaufman is the recipient of the "Littauer Award for Excellence", from the Kennedy School of Government, and the Massachusetts NASW chapter award for "Greatest Contribution to Social Policy and Social Change" as well as the Ten-Point Coalition's community leadership award.

Victor Kazanjian
Victor Kazanjian is an educator and activist whose work focuses on the relationship between the "inner dialogue" in each of us and the "outer dialogue" between and among us. As Dean of Religious and Spiritual Life, co-director of the Peace and Justice Studies Program, and President of Education as Transformation Project at Wellesley College, Victor explores the worlds of human difference, inviting students into places of encounter and dialogue in which their differences are resources rather than barriers to relationship and community.

Peter Laurence and Diana Denton
Peter Laurence, Ed.D., is the executive director of the Education as Transformation project at Wellesley College. Diana Denton, Ph. D., is the director of the Speech Communication Program at the University of Waterloo, Ontario. Both presenters have had extensive experience in group facilitation and the exploration of religious diversity.

Kathryn Lohre
Kathryn Lohre is the assistant director of the Pluralism Project, a research organization at Harvard University that documents the changing religious landscape of the United States. Kathryn received her B.A. in psychology, religion, and women's studies from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota (1999) and her Master of Divinity degree from Harvard Divinity School (2003). She also serves on the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches.

Megan Lynes
Megan Lynes has been a graduate student mentor at the Inter-faith Youth Initiative for four years, and is currently a Program Administrator for I-FYI at Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries. She has worked extensively with youth and young adults and is an interfaith chaplain at Brigham and Woman’s Hospital while studying theology at Andover Newton Theological School. She plans to graduate in May and will seek ordination as a Unitarian Universalist minister in the fall of 2008.

New Initiative for Middle East Peace (NIMEP)
Tufts University’s New Initiative for Middle East Peace (NIMEP) is a non-polemical student think-tank and outreach initiative aimed at finding progressive solutions to the historic conflicts in the Middle East conflict. The group publishes a journal each year, and conducts fact-finding missions, including a trip to Syria in January 2008.

Our Voices Together: Vicente Garcia, Cecilia Snyder, and Daniel Tutt

Vicente Garcia
Vicente Garcia is the Program Director for Americans for Informed Democracy's Global Peace and Security Program and Hope Not Hate initiative. Vicente organizes summits and gives trainings on awareness, advocacy, and activism on issues from US-Muslim relations to cross-cultural dialogue across the United States, Middle East, and North Africa. Before AID, he was a Program Associate at the European Peacebuilding Liaison Office in Brussels, Belgium, and focused on European Union-Muslim World relations.

Omar Sacirbey
Omar Sacirbey is a Boston-based journalist who writes about religion, politics, business and culture. As a former Bosnian diplomat, he maintains a deep interest in human rights, development, and conflict resolution. He placed third in the 2007 American Academy of Religion news writing contest for outlets with 100,000+ circulations, for stories that appeared in the Washington Post, via the Religion News Service, and the Boston Globe. He writes frequently about Islam and Muslims in America.

Cecilia Snyder
Cecilia Snyder, Director of Communications and e-initiatives for Our Voices Together, has worked for 15 years in the field of international development focusing on education and outreach through new technologies. Cecilia was executive editor of several online reproductive health news services for journalists, and has worked at Bread for the World Institute, the Panos Institute, the Centre for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA), and the Population Council.

Daniel Tutt
Daniel Tutt is Outreach Coordinator for Unity Productions Foundation, an educational foundation dedicated to the mission of working through the media to enhance peace. He serves as co-director of the 9/11 Unity Walk, an interfaith movement that brings together faith communities for dialogue and reconciliation in commemoration of 9/11. Daniel is also an M.A. candidate at the School for International Service at American University, studying Ethics, Peace and Global Affairs.

Tim Wedig
Dr. Wedig is the lead simulation developer for the ICONS Project. He has worked on a variety of projects for professional and educational audiences in the United States as well as internationally. Areas of expertise include negotiation, conflict resolution, simulation pedagogy, African political economy, Internet usage by political organizations, and instructional technology.

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Conference Home Registration Directions Schedule Workshops Presenter Bios Opening Night Concert Flyer	Presenters' Bios Keynote Panel: Mohammed Abu-Nimer Mohammed Abu-Nimer is a Professor in the International Peace and Conflict Resolution program at the School of International Service. He is also Director of the Peacebuilding and Development Institute at American University. An expert on conflict resolution and dialogue for peace, Dr. Abu-Nimer has conducted research on conflict resolution and dialogue for peace among Palestinians and Jews in Israel. His work has focused on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and on application of conflict resolution models in Muslim communities. Dr. Abu-Nimer has also conducted interreligious conflict resolution training, and interfaith dialogue. In the last decade, Dr. Abu-Nimer has completed many evaluation projects and reports of peacebuilding and development programs. As a scholar/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 and other areas. In addition to his numerous articles and publications, Abu-Nimer is the co-founder and co-editor of the Journal of Peacebuilding and Development. Diana L. Eck Diana L. Eck is Professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Studies and Frederic Wertham Professor of Law and Psychiatry in Society at Harvard University. She serves on the Committee on the Study of Religion in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Since 1991, Professor Eck has been heading a research team at Harvard University to explore the new religious diversity of the United States and its meaning for the American pluralist experiment. The Pluralism Project, funded by the Lilly Endowment, the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Ford Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation has been documenting the growing presence of the Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Pagan, Sikh, Jain, and Zoroastrian communities in the U.S. Professor Eck has written numerous books including Banaras, City of Light (Knopf 1982), Darsan: Seeing the Divine Image in India. (Anima 1981; Columbia University Press 1996), Encountering God: A Spiritual Journey from Bozeman to Banaras (Beacon Press, 1993), and most recently A New Religious America: How a "Christian Country" Has Become the World's Most Religiously Diverse Nation. (Harper SanFrancisco, 2001). Marc Gopin Marc Gopin is the James H. Laue Professor of Religion, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution, and the Director of the Center on Religion, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University's Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution. Professor Gopin has lectured on conflict resolution in Switzerland, Ireland, India, Italy, and Israel, as well as at Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Princeton, and numerous other academic institutions. He has trained thousands of people worldwide in peacemaking strategies for complex conflicts in which religion and culture play a role. He conducts research on values dilemmas as they apply to international problems of globalization, clash of cultures, development, social justice and conflict. In addition, Professor Gopin has engaged in back channel diplomacy with religious, political and military figures on both sides of conflicts, especially in the Arab/Israeli conflict. He has appeared on numerous media outlets, including CNN, CNN International, Court TV, The Jim Lehrer News Hour, Israel Radio, National Public Radio, The Connection, Voice of America, and the national public radios of Sweden, Ireland, and Northern Ireland. His books include Between Eden and Armageddon: The Future of World Religions, Violence, and Peacemaking (Oxford University Press, 2000), Holy War, Holy Peace: How Religion Can Bring Peace to the Middle East (Oxford University Press, 2002), and Healing the Heart of Conflict (Rodale Press, 2004). Workshop Presenters: Shaffique Adam Shaffique Adam did his undergraduate at Stanford University where he served on the leadership of the International Undergraduate Community, the Stanford African Students Association, the Islamic Society of Stanford University and the Muslim Student Awareness Network. He went on to do his PhD in theoretical physics at Cornell University where he was the Secretary of the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly, on the Shura Council of the Muslim Educational and Cultural Association and on the advisory board of the Cornell United Religious Work that comprised 25 different religious communities. Gershon Baskin and Hanna Siniora Gershon Baskin is the founder and Israeli Co-CEO of IPCRI. Hanna Siniora is the Palestinian Co-CEO of IPCRI and longtime peace activist. Brandeis University Interfaith Leadership Development (BUILD) Fellows Adwoa Atta-Krah is a current Brandeis student and BUILD fellow. She is originally from Ghana and has lived in various African and European countries prior to coming here. Dustin Smith hails from Holyoke, MA, is Lutheran by birth, and is presently completing his degree in computer science. Adam Ross is a sophomore at Brandeis and a BUILD fellow. He is studying Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies and Legal Studies. Babatu Adam is a Ghanian Muslim, studying Sustainable International Development at Brandeis University. He is a BUILD fellow and is interested in international politics and the dynamics of faith and conflict. Imad Damaj Dr. Damaj is currently a Professor of Pharmacology at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) School of Medicine.He is a 2007 graduate of the Sorensen Institute for Political leadership. Dr. Damaj serves on the Board of ACLU Virginia, Habitat for Humanity and the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy. Dr. Damaj is also the faculty advisor for the Muslim Students Association at VCU, and Vice President of the Muslim American Society (MAS). Greg M. Epstein Greg M. Epstein serves as Humanist Chaplain of Harvard University, and sits on the Executive Committee of the 38-member interfaith corps of Harvard Chaplains. He blogs for Newsweek/The Washington Post’s “On Faith”, and has discussed Humanism and atheism as a positive, pluralistic tradition on NPR & BBC. His book, Good Without God, will be published by HarperCollins in 2009. Ora Gladstone Ora Gladstone is the coordinator for the Addir Fellows Interfaith program at the Massacuhsetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and teaches music, K-5 in the Framingham Public Schools. She has spent over 20 years working with students on college campuses. *Mary Beth Griggs and Erin Taylor, Pathways, Tufts University* Mary Beth Griggs is a sophomore geology major. Episcopalian in faith, she became involved with the Pathways project as a freshman, and believes in the importance of talking about interfaith work to anyone who will listen. Erin, a sophomore international relations and community health major, started her interfaith involvement in high school at the Interfaith Center of Philadelphia. She joined the Pathways steering committee last year and is currently co-president of the Tufts Multifaith Council and an Interfaith Youth Core Fellow. Both Mary Beth and Erin have played leadership roles in the formation of Pathways, the new interfaith initiative at Tufts University. Reverend Hurmon Hamilton Reverend Hurmon Hamilton is the pastor of Roxbury Presbyterian Church, and President of the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization (GBIO). GBIO is a broad-based organization that works to coalesce, train, and organize the communities of Greater Boston across all religious, racial, ethnic, class and neighborhood lines for the public good. Its primary goal is to develop local leadership and organized power to fight for social justice. It strives to hold both public and private power holders accountable for their public responsibilities, as well as to initiate actions and programs to solve community and economic problems. Interfaith Action’s Youth Leadership Program Interfaith Action’s Youth Leadership Program is a high school group that meets twice a month to learn about and discuss the diversity of religions present in the region. The group also runs many community service projects and has facilitated in conferences at Harvard, Chicago, and India. The Youth Leadership Program is affiliated with Interfaith Action, Inc., whose mission is to develop a healthy pluralistic culture in the town of Sharon, MA and to be a resource to other cities and towns interested in collaborating to strengthen the bonds of civil society. Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC): Meghan Hughes, Jenan Mohajir, and Lauren Parnell Megan Hughes Prior to joining the IFYC team in February 2006, Megan spent four years working for the conflict resolution organization Seeds of Peace, both in New York and in Jerusalem. Megan graduated with a B.S. in Foreign Service from Georgetown University in May 2000, where she earned a certificate in Muslim-Christian Understanding. Jenan Mohajir Jenan Mohajir has been extensively involved with the Muslim community through several grassroots initiatives in Chicago. She currently serves as the program associate for the Outreach Education & Training program at the Interfaith Youth Core, where her primary focus is on building relationships between the Muslim community and the Interfaith Youth Movement. Lauren Parnell Lauren, originally from St. Paul, Minnesota, comes to IFYC as a part of the Northwestern University Public Interest Program. She graduated with a B.S. in Social Policy from Northwestern in June 2007. While at Northwestern, Lauren co-chaired the Northwestern Community Development Corps for two years; helped found the International Youth Volunteerism Summit; and co-founded and coordinated the Northwestern Public Interest Program. Bilal Kaleem Bilal Kaleem is the Executive Director of the Muslim American Society, Boston Chapter (MAS Boston). He received his B.S. and M.S. from MIT, and is currently pursuing graduate study in sociology and religion at Boston University, with a focus on the American Muslim community and their civic engagement. He also serves on the board of the Massachusetts Immigration and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA) and the Center for Jewish Muslim Relations (CJMR). Edward (Edy) Kaufman Prof. Edward (Edy) Kaufman, Senior Research Associate and former Director at Center for International Development and Conflict Management at the University of Maryland, has served as the Center's director from 1994- 1996. He has also been a Senior Research and the Executive Director of the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem from 1983 - 2004. He has authored and co-authored 12 books including two books with Walid Salem; and with John Davies on “Second Track/Citizens Diplomacy: Concepts and Techniques of Conflict Transformation” Nancy Kaufman Since 1990, Nancy K. Kaufman has been the Executive Director of The Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) of Greater Boston, an umbrella for 42 Jewish organizations. JCRC also serves as the public affairs arm of Boston's Jewish Federation, Combined Jewish Philanthropies (CJP). Ms. Kaufman is the recipient of the "Littauer Award for Excellence", from the Kennedy School of Government, and the Massachusetts NASW chapter award for "Greatest Contribution to Social Policy and Social Change" as well as the Ten-Point Coalition's community leadership award. Victor Kazanjian Victor Kazanjian is an educator and activist whose work focuses on the relationship between the "inner dialogue" in each of us and the "outer dialogue" between and among us. As Dean of Religious and Spiritual Life, co-director of the Peace and Justice Studies Program, and President of Education as Transformation Project at Wellesley College, Victor explores the worlds of human difference, inviting students into places of encounter and dialogue in which their differences are resources rather than barriers to relationship and community. Peter Laurence and Diana Denton Peter Laurence, Ed.D., is the executive director of the Education as Transformation project at Wellesley College. Diana Denton, Ph. D., is the director of the Speech Communication Program at the University of Waterloo, Ontario. Both presenters have had extensive experience in group facilitation and the exploration of religious diversity. Kathryn Lohre Kathryn Lohre is the assistant director of the Pluralism Project, a research organization at Harvard University that documents the changing religious landscape of the United States. Kathryn received her B.A. in psychology, religion, and women's studies from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota (1999) and her Master of Divinity degree from Harvard Divinity School (2003). She also serves on the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches. Megan Lynes Megan Lynes has been a graduate student mentor at the Inter-faith Youth Initiative for four years, and is currently a Program Administrator for I-FYI at Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries. She has worked extensively with youth and young adults and is an interfaith chaplain at Brigham and Woman’s Hospital while studying theology at Andover Newton Theological School. She plans to graduate in May and will seek ordination as a Unitarian Universalist minister in the fall of 2008. New Initiative for Middle East Peace (NIMEP) Tufts University’s New Initiative for Middle East Peace (NIMEP) is a non-polemical student think-tank and outreach initiative aimed at finding progressive solutions to the historic conflicts in the Middle East conflict. The group publishes a journal each year, and conducts fact-finding missions, including a trip to Syria in January 2008. Our Voices Together: Vicente Garcia, Cecilia Snyder, and Daniel Tutt Vicente Garcia Vicente Garcia is the Program Director for Americans for Informed Democracy's Global Peace and Security Program and Hope Not Hate initiative. Vicente organizes summits and gives trainings on awareness, advocacy, and activism on issues from US-Muslim relations to cross-cultural dialogue across the United States, Middle East, and North Africa. Before AID, he was a Program Associate at the European Peacebuilding Liaison Office in Brussels, Belgium, and focused on European Union-Muslim World relations. Omar Sacirbey Omar Sacirbey is a Boston-based journalist who writes about religion, politics, business and culture. As a former Bosnian diplomat, he maintains a deep interest in human rights, development, and conflict resolution. He placed third in the 2007 American Academy of Religion news writing contest for outlets with 100,000+ circulations, for stories that appeared in the Washington Post, via the Religion News Service, and the Boston Globe. He writes frequently about Islam and Muslims in America. Cecilia Snyder Cecilia Snyder, Director of Communications and e-initiatives for Our Voices Together, has worked for 15 years in the field of international development focusing on education and outreach through new technologies. Cecilia was executive editor of several online reproductive health news services for journalists, and has worked at Bread for the World Institute, the Panos Institute, the Centre for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA), and the Population Council. Daniel Tutt Daniel Tutt is Outreach Coordinator for Unity Productions Foundation, an educational foundation dedicated to the mission of working through the media to enhance peace. He serves as co-director of the 9/11 Unity Walk, an interfaith movement that brings together faith communities for dialogue and reconciliation in commemoration of 9/11. Daniel is also an M.A. candidate at the School for International Service at American University, studying Ethics, Peace and Global Affairs. Tim Wedig Dr. Wedig is the lead simulation developer for the ICONS Project. He has worked on a variety of projects for professional and educational audiences in the United States as well as internationally. Areas of expertise include negotiation, conflict resolution, simulation pedagogy, African political economy, Internet usage by political organizations, and instructional technology. Register now! Click here for Online Registration Form