MidEast Citizen Diplomacy

MECD Board of Directors (scroll down for the advisory board)

Victor N. Azar is a Palestinian-Lebanese-American lecturer and businessman. He graduated from Carnegie Mellon's School of Urban & Public Affairs with a Masters of Science degree in Management Sciences. His undergraduate degrees are in business administration, math, and political science. During his entrepreneurial career, while he was living in Jordan, he was responsible for initiating contact and creating agreements with Israeli companies when Jordan and Israel were still negotiating a peace treaty. As a result, he and an Israeli counterpart announced the first joint business agreement between the two countries in a press conference that they held hours after the signing of the peace treaty between the two countries in 1994. His passion is the possibility of world peace in our lifetime.

Gabriel Cohen is a Jewish Educator and former Executive Director of the Jewish Education Council of Greater Seattle. Gabe received an Ed.D degree in Educational Gerontology from the University of Rochester, N.Y. and has an abiding interest in Intergenerational programs. Currently, he serves as co-chair of Seattle/King County's Generations United and is on the Advisory board of Intergenerational Innovations. He is a King County appointee to Seattle's Advisory Council for the Elderly and Disabled where he chairs its Advocacy committee. He is co-convener of Seattle's Gray Panthers and a member of the Gray Panthers National Board. He is a member of the Retired Executive Volunteers (REV), a member of the Washington State Holocaust Education Council and a member of the African American Jewish Coalition for Justice. Having a deep love for Israel he served in Israel's 1948 War of Independence. He is on the board of Seattle's Pursue The Peace and was on the MidEast Citizen Diplomacy Advisory Board. His primary vision is Tikkun Olam - perfecting the world, and helping bring shalom-peace to Israel/Palestine through compassionate listening.

Leah Green is Founder and Director of MECD and the Compassionate Listening Project. Leah holds a masters degrees in Public Policy and completed her coursework for a masters degree in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Washington. Since 1990 she has directed Mid-East Citizen Diplomacy, leading 17 citizen delegations, including Jordan, Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, Syria and Lebanon. Leah produced and edited two documentaries: Speaking of Peace, and Children of Abraham. She lived for two years in Israel, where she began her training in Jewish-Palestinian reconciliation in 1982 at Neve Shalom/Wahat as Salaam's School for Peace. Leah writes on the topic of Israeli-Palestinian peace and is considered an inspirational speaker who models commitment to reconciliation and love for the Middle East.

Peter Hwoschinsky is owner of Hwosch Productions, a recording studio and production company where he composes, produces and records for film, video, television, radio, multimedia and CD roms. With a recent expansion, the studio now includes video production and editing. Peter has worked as a composer/performer for over twenty years, graduating from Musician's Institute in Los Angeles. Peter's involvement as co-producer, audio post director and music composer was indispensable in creating Children of Abraham, MECD's promotional video and dialogue tool. Peter is currently in post-production for MECD's second video - a travel journal from the last two listening delegations.

Eryn Kalish, Board President, is a partner in Reynolds-Kalish, organizational consultants specializing in mediation, collaboration and conflict resolution. She brings 20 years of experience in quickly assessing, and effectively working with the dynamics that block individual, team and organizational or community performance. Eryn holds a Master's degree in Counseling Psychology with a business emphasis from Arizona State University as well as a BA in Psychology from the University of Denver. One of her greatest strengths is being able to facilitate partnerships and collaborations between hotly conflicted individuals, teams, departments and community groups. Eryn was the Founding Chair of the Violence Prevention Committee for the American Society for Training and Development/Boston Chapter, has presented training for trainers in the area of violence prevention and conflict resolution in the United States and Russia, and is the founder of The Blessings Hands Project which raises money to help the children of war in Sierra Leone.

Susan Partnow founded Partnow Communications in 1986 to provide organizational development and training services within in the public and non-profit sectors. She is dedicated to teaching communication skills and working with clients to release and transform the energy locked in conflict to creative change, wise outcomes and enhanced relationships. Susan received her M. A. in Communication Disorders from Northwestern University where she was a Rearwin Fellow, and B.A. with honors from University of California at Berkeley. Susan is also a dedicated community activist, from the founding of Families for Peace to the development of the Seattle Local Peoples Assembly and the People Web. She has served as Board President of Kadima Community School and the Earthstewards Network, and on the board of numerous organizations, including Global Peoples Assembly, African American Jewish Coalition for Justice, MAVIA, and Fellowship of Reconciliation.

John Reinke is a software engineer. He has a BA degree in mathematics from Brooklyn College and did graduate study in international relations at San Francisco State University. His career has included stints at IBM Research, UCLA, UC Berkeley and the University of Washington, as well as assignments at aerospace and medical electronics companies. John served twice in the Peace Corps in the Philippines and Nigeria, and worked at the International Labor Organization in Geneva Switzerland for several years. John is an active environmentalist and was co-leader of a mangrove reforestation project in coastal Ecuador and a participant in a project in Southern Thailand. He is case manager for his local Amnesty International chapter in Kirkland, Washington. Since the early 90's, John has been involved with various organizations concerned with the Middle East.

Munteha Shukralla, Board Vice President, is an MECD Project Director and delegation leader for our Syria/Lebanon track. She holds a BA in International Relations from Portland State University, with a focus on the Middle East. Munteha has over five years experience in facilitation, personal coaching and counseling, and has been deeply involved in the Compassionate Listening Project since 1999, including facilitating and hosting Compassionate Listening sessions in her native Portland, Oregon. In addition, Munteha works as the Production and Finance Manager for Landmark Education, where she also leads transformational seminars. Muntehas' Kuwaiti/American background gives her a multi-faceted and unique view into the human side of conflict.

Linda Wolf, co-founder and Director of the Daughters/Sisters Project, a Washington State non-profit organization whose mission is to educate, inspire and empower girls and support partnerships between the genders and generations. She is co-author of the award-winning book, Daughters of the Moon, Sisters of the Sun: Young Women and Mentors on the Transition to Womanhood, and co-author of Global Uprising: Stories from a new generation of activists. She speaks on the issues teenaged girls are dealing with and on gender reconciliation through group process. Linda lives on Bainbridge Island, in Washington State. (www.daughters-sisters.org)

Advisory Board

Virginia Baron, former director, International Fellowship of Reconciliation; writes frequently on Middle East issues. Guilford, Connecticut.
Rabbi Phil Bentley, past President, Jewish Peace Fellowship, NY.
Helen Bruner, Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Berkeley, California.
Jerilyn Brusseau, Founder/Director, PeaceTrees Vietnam. Bainbridge Island, Washington.
Rabbi Steven Carr Reuben, Temple Kehillath Israel, Pacific Palisades, CA.
Richard Deats, Ph.D., Editor, Fellowship Magazine and past Executive Secretary and Director of Interfaith Relations, Fellowship of Reconciliation. Nyack, NY.
Jill Derby, Ph.D., Regent, University and Community College System of Nevada.
Maha El-Taji, Lawyer and Ph.D. student in Near and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Washington.
Claire Ellis, Organizational Consultant, Little River, California.
Jane Fellman, Co-founder, American Rabbinic Network for Ethiopian Jewry.
Rabbi Marc Gopin, Ph.D., Professor, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, Medford, MA.
Iftekhar Hai, Director, Interfaith Relations, United Muslims of America. San Francisco, California.
Larissa Keet, Psychotherapist, Trainer/Facilitator of Conflict-Resolution, Compassionate Listening, Inter-Racial Dialogue. Los Altos, CA.
Gene Knudsen Hoffman, Quaker, International Peacemaker, founder of Compassionate Listening as a tool for conflict resolution. Santa Barbara, California.
Yehezkel Landau, Administrative Director, Open House; past Director, Oz Ve Shalom religious peace movement in Israel. Jerusalem, Israel.
Rabbi Sheldon Lewis, Congregation Kol Emet, Palo Alto, California.
Heena Reiter, Director of Music and Bat/Bar Mitzvah programs, Congregation Beth Israel Religious School, Charlottesville, Virginia.
Harold Rooks, Of Counsel, Helsell Fetterman, Seattle, Washington.
Cantor Robert Scherr, Temple Israel of Natick, Massachusetts.
Ed Setchko, Ph.D., Retired Professor of Theology, Graduate Theological Union; Founder, Project for Peace and Reconciliation in the Middle East. Berkeley, California.
Hisham Sharabati, Journalist, Hebron, West Bank.
Cantor David Shneyer, Director, Am Kolel, Washington D.C.
William Thomson, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology and Conflict Resolution, University of Michigan, Dearborn.
Libby Traubman and Dr. Len Traubman, Jewish-Palestinian Living Room Dialogue Group, and Foundation for Global Community, San Mateo, California.
Elana Wesley, Israeli Coordinator, Compassionate Listening Project, Jaffa, Israel.
Bracha Yanoov, past Israeli coordinator for the Institute for Multitrack Diplomacy and Mila: Israeli Center for Nonviolent Communication. Rosh Pina, Israel.
Rabbi David Zaslow, Havurah Shir Hadash, Ashland, Oregon.
Jamie Zimron, Psychologist, Wholistic Healer. San Diego, California.
Zoughbi al-Zoughbi, Director, WI'AM, Palestinian Conflict Resolution Center. Bethlehem, West Bank.