December issue of Gandhi Marg, a quarterly journal of the Gandhi Peace Foundation. Jae Young Lee, MA ‘03, Seoul, South Korea, founding director of the Korea Peacebuilding Institute and the Northeast Asia Regional Peacebuilding Institute, works as a peace educator, restorative justice practitioner, and mediation trainer. He is one of the first facilitators for the victim-offender reconciliation program in Korea, including at Seoul Family Court, and has conducted various trainings for school personnel, government officers, NGO activists, and organizations in Korea. In addition, Jae Young facilitates a mediation course at Mindanao Peacebuilding Institute in Philippines. Lam Oryem Cosmas, MA ‘04, Kampala, Uganda, led a training for county peace mobilizers from six counties of Jonlei in June 2012 with a project of the Sudan Council of Churches called “Peace from the Roots.” It was intended to organize church leaders, representatives of civil society groups, women leaders, and local administrators to form a cohesive group for engaging in transformative peacebuilding in their respective communities, between and among their neighbors. Rania Kharma, MA ‘04, Brussels, Belgium, is currently pursuing a master’s in European policies with the Institut d’études europeennes (Institute of European Studies) at the Université catholique de Louvain. The program provides skills and knowledge pertinent to the history and integration of the European Union and its system as a whole, especially with regard to economic integration. Seneviratne (Shyamika) Jayasundara-Smits, MA ‘04, PhD, Voorburg, the Netherlands, successfully defended her doctoral dissertation titled “In Pursuit of Hegemony: the Politics and State Building in Sri Lanka.” Susan Peacock, MA ‘04, Minneapolis, Minn., is the liaison for “sponsors coordinating travel seminars” in Bolivia, Cuba, Guatemala, and Mexico with the Center for Global Education. Prior to rejoining the staff in 2012, she worked at the National Academies’ Committee on Human Rights, the Washington Office on Latin America, the National Security Archive at George Washington University, and the Guatemala Human Rights Commission. Dianne Warren ‘94, MA ‘04, Buckeye, Ariz., earned her master’s in information resources and library science with a concentration in digital information management in 2012 and is now communication and training coordinator at the Family Involvement Center in Phoenix, Ariz. Among other tasks, Dianne coordinates communications outreach, trainings, and special events, including events to raise awareness
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about children’s mental health and family-professional conferences. She updates the company website, creates a monthly newsletter, and has created a digital library of resources accessible from the center’s website. Jay A. Wittmeyer, MA ‘04, Elgin, Ill., executive director for Global Mission and Service for the Church of the Brethren, is the Church’s representative to the Board of Directors of Heifer International. Heifer International began as the Church of the Brethren’s Heifer Project, but is now independent of the church. Ashok Gladston Xavier, MA ‘04, PhD, was appointed dean of the Faculty of Arts at Loyola College, Chennai, India. As dean, Ashok will be able to facilitate joint research, along with promoting student and faculty exchange. Katherine (Katie) Resendiz, MA ‘05, Phoenix, Ariz., is program director of Training and Resources United to Stop Trafficking, a multidisciplinary effort to coordinate anti-trafficking efforts in Arizona and ultimately increase public awareness about the crisis as it relates to Arizona’s children. The program works to identify and collaborate with stakeholders, including key lawmakers, law enforcement, medical providers, educators, local and state government officials, business leaders, faith-based community groups, and non-profit providers and funders. Megan Scott, MA ‘05, Alexandria, Va., is a reentry advisor for Offender Aid and Restoration in Arlington, Va. She provides pre-release counseling and conflict resolution and anger management classes for individuals at local jails and the Coffeewood Correctional Facility. She hopes to begin reentry circles for families out of Coffeewood before the end 2013. Rosario (Charito) Calvachi-Mateyko, MA ‘06, Lewes, Del., a restorative justice consultant and trainer with the Latino Initiative on Restorative Justice, Inc., was appointed a member of the Delaware Heritage Commission by Governor Jack A. Markell on January 29, 2013. Additionally, Charito led training sessions on restorative justice at the Judicial School and the Instituto de la Protección de la Ninez in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, provided a three-day training session on trauma healing and resilience at the Foro de la Mujer por la Vida, a presentation on restorative justice to the family court judges and staff in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, and gave a four-hour seminar to the youth in three juvenile detention centers in February 2013. Judah Oudshoorn, MA ‘06, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, is a professor of community and criminal justice at Conestoga College, a sessional lecturer in peace and conflict studies at the University of Waterloo, a restorative
justice mediator with the Correctional Service of Canada, and a PhD student in social work at the Wilfrid Laurier University. His work centers on making justice systems more trauma informed and finding meaningful ways to hold men accountable who have used violence toward partners and children. Judah also reports that he likes hot coffee, cold beer, warm sunshine, and comfortable chairs, but most importantly, that he is a proud dad and husband. Brian Bloch, MA ‘07, Washington, D.C. area, has been the ombudsman at the U.S. Department of the Interior since the summer of 2011. He currently serves on the Board of the International Ombudsman Association and volunteers with ISKCONResolve, the integrated conflict management system for the Hare Krishna community. Jeff From, MA ’07, Berea, Ky., is associated with the Horizon Program in Ohio, which has graduated more than 700 inmates, with 90% of those released not returning to prison. The program, currently supported by a $125,000 grant from the state attorney general’s office, teaches inmates everything from computer skills and how to write a resume to how to end an argument. Leymah Gbowee, MA '07, Accra, Ghana, was the keynote speaker for the 2013 Ware Lecture on Peacemaking hosted by Elizabethtown College, Elizabethtown, Pa. She additionally spoke at Lancaster Mennonite High School (LMH) to a packed auditorium, sharing her own dreams as a 17-year-old in Liberia. She had this to say about the experience: "It's truly an honor to be [at LMH], in a space where there's so many young people who will go on to be the next generation of leaders." Leymah was a co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011. Rina Kashyap, MA ‘07, Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, is pursuing a PhD in human security about the “responsibility to protect” initiative. Rina is also teaching political science (international relations and political theory) and conflict transformation and peacebuilding (gender, violence and human rights, and conflict analysis) at the University of Delhi, Lady Shri Ram College in India. Godfrey Ntim, Grad. Cert. ‘07, Maputo, Mozambique, program coordinator for Counterpart International, is currently using peacebuilding methods and strategies to execute food security and resiliency development program activities. Thaddeus (Thad) Hicks, MA ‘08, Marysville, Ohio, a faculty member at Ohio Christian University, was instrumental in developing and launching a new law enforcement program
oriented more toward restorative than the usual criminal justice. He attributed his success to CJP and thanked professor Howard Zehr for introducing him to “this way of doing justice work!” Thad also acts as the editor-in-chief of the quarterly academic journal Trauma Healing. The journal focuses on the primary and secondary trauma of those working in professions connected to suffering, death, and dying. Alan Marr, MA ‘08, Victoria, Australia, is one of the pastors at St Kilda Baptist Church, a relatively small, but courageous congregation in inner-city Melbourne. St Kilda has developed a reputation for its commitment to supporting people on the margins of society and “[they] have a good time doing it!” As well as his commitment to the church, Alan has a part time mediation consultancy, working mainly in the nonprofit sector. He also chairs the Peace Commission of the Baptist World Alliance. Keith Lyndaker Schlabach ‘91, Grad. Cert. ‘08, Mount Rainier, Md., is the co-founder of PeaceGrooves, a project centered around the creation of alternative media, stories, and games that reflect an Anabaptist nonviolent perspective. Additionally, Keith writes a monthy column for PeaceSigns, the newsletter of the Mennonite Chuch USA’s Peace and Justice Support Network. Jacqueline (Jackie) Shock, MA ‘08, Pittsburgh, Pa., a mental heatlh therapist at Associates in Behavioral Diagnostics and Treatment, is a licensed clinical social worker in the state of Pennsylvania. Annette Lantz-Simmons, MA ‘09, Kansas City, Mo., executive director of Community Mediation Center, focuses on a three-pronged approach to mediation: (1) Prevention – conflict resolution and restorative justice training and processes for children and youth in schools, churches, and neighborhoods. (2) Education – interpersonal conflict resolution training, mediation training, circle facilitation training, restorative discipline for teachers and parents training, and neighborhood accountability board training. (3) Restoration – transformative mediation for families, neighbors, court cases, students, and divorcing or separating parents, victim-offender dialogue, and neighborhood accountability board facilitation. Jennifer Lynne, MA ‘09, Austin, Tex., is the director of thecontractproject, a conduit of resources and information for leadership and community development. Through facilitation, training, consulting, and assessment, she serves individuals, communities, and organizations seeking sustainable relationships and solutions. Mack Capehart Mulbah, MA ‘09, St. Paul, Minn., works as an independent