Mahmood Attal

I am a twenty-eight-year-old Jordanian who has dedicated and invested the last 10 years of my life to become a successful licensed Tour and Adventure Guide in Jordan.   It all started when I was inspired to better my circumstances by a stranger who befriended me when I was working in a restaurant in Amman. It was Mike Niconchuk, your former student, something we learned in casual conversation. Sherman, you described this as Serendipity. 

I decided to study Tourism Management at The Hashemite University and graduated with a 3.33 GPA, placing me among the top 10 highest GPAs that year. 

To date, my academic background has concentrated on history, geology, politics, tourism development, sustainable tourism, and the natural world. A little bit about everything! But I’m very proud to say that I am the person today that I am because of all the self-education I’ve done to gain the proper knowledge and skills so I can prosper in my career, especially when it comes to my English language. It’s all self-taught.  

My passion for the natural world and the outdoors pushed me to take the extra mile, So I started to deepen my knowledge about the environment and geology, which led me eventually to have the urge and the motivation to join the forces mobilized against the negative impact of climate change.  

I am particularly very concerned about the critical water crisis in my country, Jordan. We have to be part of regional and global sustainability.  

I might not yet be a formally educated environmentalist, but I have the will and the motivation to commit to taking that curve in my career. 

I’ve begun by doing research about the academic organizations and experts in Jordan who are trying to make a change related to hydrology, sustainable development or climate change. 

Dr. Hussam Hussein is” Executive Director of partnerships for development at the Royal Scientific Society; a researcher and lecturer in water diplomacy, hydroponics, and management of water resources. The Royal Scientific Society works on many projects that are associated with renewable energy, climate change, and water sustainability in Jordan. 

WANA Institute is one of RSS's partners, they do excellent workshops and training in social justice, sustainable development, and human security. 

 Safa’ Al Jayoussi: She is a climate change expert, campaign adviser and Environmental Advocate, she also does some workshops and training for the public about climate change in the Arab World.  

I met Mahmood in Jordan. He was my assigned guide to explore Petra and Wadi Rum. He impressed me with his thorough knowledge of the region and the politics and society of Jordan. I had just crossed over from Israel, and it occasioned a number of candid conversations with him about the region and existing conflicts. When serendipity works, it really works. In one of my dinner conversations with him, I learned that he had been inspired, as he has written, by one of my wonderful former students to enroll in university as he did. That student was Mike Nikonchuk. Both of us in different periods of Mahmoods life were impressed by this young man, and what I learned of his real passion was to help his country solve its critical water dilemma, in pursuit of a sustainable future for his country, I checked with Peter Droege to confirm my desire to have him enter as a LEAP fellow to begin to pursue his investigations and further education on the matter. 

He is a thoughtful, non-polemical thinker whoI have agreed to directly mentor and will be introducing him to other members of Convisero’s network, including Boaz Wachtel, they both have common passions and interests about the future of the dead sea and regional water collaboration. I informed him of the work we have done previously with LISD and the Arava institute on alternative energy. 

Ron Rubin

Ron Rubin, Ph.D., has two driving philosophies that underlie his social and business efforts: first, to  help those underserved and “left-behind” by local and global governments and economies second to utilize technology to benefit as many people as possible. Dr. Rubin has founded or co-founded several companies and organizations, including the University of the Middle East Project, Rubin Anders Scientific, Boston Manufacturing Group, Therapy Gardens, and SeniorU. When he has time, he adjunct teaches graduate physics and math courses at universities in the Boston area. Formerly full-time on the mathematics faculty at MIT, Dr. Rubin received his PhD in physics from Harvard and his BA with highest honors in physics from Princeton. His work in science and education has been published in leading science journals and covered in The New York Times, the Boston Globe, Die Zeit, and El Pais. He is former Massachusetts State Squash Champion, and is now head coach of the Brookline High School Varsity Boys Squash Team, which won its division national championship in 2023.

I have begun a unique relationship with Ron. I had met him decades ago when he was a graduate student in physics at Harvard, when he was a founding member of the University of the Middle East- a truly innovative and unique concept of education that was disturbed by 9/11. 

Decades later, I have the privilege of working with one of his wonderful sons, David Rubin, and have begun to create a familiar familial relationship with the Rubins- fun interactions ranging from Shabbat dinner to watching David and Ron compete in the Parent-Child Massachusetts squash state championships. Ron played at Princeton. David now captains the squash team at Dartmouth. It is a nascent, intellectually stimulating conversation that has begun, ranging from middle eastern politics to an invitation to review Ron’s work of fiction, Unification, an epistolary correspondence between Einstein and his long-lost daughter. Ron has intriguingly offered the possibility to co-author a doomed romance embedded in contemporary Israeli and Iranian nuclear history intrigue. 

In Convisero fashion, I have asked Ron to potentially collaborate with Amir Grinstein on his 50:50 project given Ron’s entrepreneurial instinct and his prior initiatives.

The more we talk, the more we have found common ground. We both knew, admired, and cared deeply about Henry Rosovsky, and I have asked Ron to help me write his memoriam in the Trebuchet.

JJ Zhou

Zhuangchen Zhou, better known as "JJ", is a Community Manager at Ledger, a French cryptocurrency hardware wallet company. Prior to his venture into the world of technology, JJ was a rowing coach at the Chinese Olympic Rowing team, working with Western coaches such as Steve Redgrave and Paul Thompson to help Chinese rowers win Olympic gold medals.

JJ received his Certificate of Rowing Leadership from Community Rowing Inc. in 2017 after receiving his BA in International Relations from Tufts University in 2013. At Tufts, JJ was part of the Tufts University Rowing Team and joked that his full-time degree was in rowing, and his university major was his minor. 

JJ's intellectual interest is twofold - to connect with people and understand how the world works. His first curiosity brought him around the world - Russia, Kenya, Brazil, and Northwestern China to work on documentary photography projects under the guidance of Gary Knight,

 Samuel James, Heather Barry, and Sherman Teichman from the Institute of Global Leadership at Tufts University. His second curiosity pushed him to dive nose deep into political philosophy and studied the traditions of western political philosophy under professor

 Robert Devine. It was in this intense period that JJ sharpened his skill to understand complex ideas, see the world in thousand shades of gray, and formed a post-Christian, anti-nihilistic worldview heavily influenced by Friedrich Nietzsche. 

The combination of his interest and skills in storytelling and philosophy (and political economy to a certain extent) led JJ to Bitcoin, which he considers to be the soundest money in the world and could be part of the solution to economic issues caused by the domination of Keynesian Economics of the 20th century. 

I met JJ as a freshman who wanted to do a video documentary on the veterans of the Great March, uniquely both the Communists and the Nationalists.  I was struck by his intelligence, determination, and began a four year mentorship which culminated in his strong collaborations with the programs of The Program on Narrative Documentary Practice.  My last encounter with him at Tufts was a fun one, as we had many conversations as he helped me pack up the greater portion of the 10,000 volumes of my “Labyrinth,” dominantly my collection of personal books within the Institute Library. 

Then I came across this stunning and unusual accomplishment of endurance, which shocked me, but given his tenacity and powerful persona, did not surprise me. It's been my pleasure to introduce him to Convisero member, Alex Gladstein, who given his interest in Bitcoin, Alex had sent on this provoking article. 

Tamar Miller

Tamar Miller holds the distinction of creating and operating Out-of-the-Box portfolios for  social benefit organizations and institutions of higher learning. She is Project Lead for curriculum development for the Abdelkader Education Project and Project Lead for the Goldziher Prize for Journalists.. She teaches civic engagement and the politics of diversity. Her consulting practice ranges from working with the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society, introducing Harvard and MIT faculty to meditation as a pedagogic practice; to crafting a parliamentary campaign in Kuwait; to strategic evaluations for the Fetzer Institute’s science and spirituality unit. Tamar was VP Education and one of three founders of American Higher Education, Inc. based in Cambridge, MA. She was also a Partner in Middle East Holdings, a business development firm in Boston and Dubai.

Beginning as Director of Leadership Development at Harvard’s Kennedy School, she then held the position of Executive Director of the Institute for Social and Economic Policy in the Middle East.  Tamar is advisor to Track Two: An Institute for Citizen Diplomacy; on the board of directors of Combatants for Peace, the Parents’ Circle for Bereaved Israeli and Palestinian Families;  President of an organization dedicated to public art campaigns called “I Am Your Protector” and was on the founding board of the Alliance for Middle East Peace.  Tamar holds a B.A. in Philosophy and Judaic Studies, Master of Social Work from Yeshiva University, and a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University.  Just today, she found  inspiration from activists, academics, and peacemakers, thanks to Tova Hartman, Marshall Ganz, Malcolm Sparrow, Louise and Yahya Michot, Ari Goldman, Amitai Abouzaglo, Huda Abu Arqoub, Dulce and Michael Murphy, Baker Roshi, Dani Varadi, Aziz Abu Sarah, her three daughters and of course, Sherman Teichman.  

Mladen Mrdalj

Mladen Mrdalj received his PhD in Political Science at Northeastern University in 2015. He

taught Comparative Politics, International Relations, and Research Methods. His dissertation investigated significance of external factors in the dynamics of domestic political violence in the Yugoslav civil wars. The dissertation also attempted to deal with more theoretical questions, such as: how domestic actors differentiate between the official and actual positions of international actors, how are they trying to manipulate international actors, and what can we learn about conflict management by answering these questions.

Mladen earned his LLB and MA in Security Studies from the University of Belgrade, Serbia. He is an alumnus of The Fund for American Studies and Georgetown University’s summer programs in Prague as well as in Washington D.C., where he also interned at the Institute of World Politics.

Since 2010, Mladen has been actively involved in designing and leading the Dialogue of Civilizations program which introduces Northeastern students to the Western Balkans. In this Balkans Dialogue, students visit important institutions, sites, politicians and activists in the former Yugoslavia, and learn firsthand about ethno-nationalism, post-conflict reconstruction and EU accession. In addition to these activities, Mladen lectures on various aspects of conflict and politics in the post-Yugoslav space. In 2022, Mladen expanded his Dialogue of Civilizations work to Central Asia, taking Northeastern students to Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. Upon returning to Serbia in 2016, he worked at the Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development, a think-tank ran by the former Serbian foreign affairs minister who

also served as the president of the UN General Assembly. In this capacity Mladen worked on studying Syrian migrants to Europe along the Balkan Route. Later on, he also worked on campaigns for the UN Secretary General and in presidential elections in Serbia.

Mladen returned to full time teaching in 2019, when he joined the International Burch University in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, but already in the fall of 2020 he moved to Tashkent, Uzbekistan, where he joined Webster University. In parallel, Mladen is developing a full year study abroad opportunity in Belgrade (Serbia) for international students interested in Balkan politics and societies (www.balkansemester.org).

Since 2020 Mladen has regularly appeared in Serbian and regional TV and printed media, commenting on Serbian, regional, and international politics. You can find him on twitter @mladen_mrdalj

Join RefugePoint in celebrating World Refugee Day 2023 with a virtual 5K fundraiser!

Join RefugePoint in celebrating World Refugee Day 2023 with a virtual 5K fundraiser! Walk, run, swim, row, or bike—you can choose your own adventure while supporting refugees.

This event will take place between June 19 - 25, 2023, and you can participate from anywhere. By signing up today and starting a personal fundraiser, you can help us expand access to resettlement and self-reliance for refugees around the world.

Since 2005, RefugePoint has assisted over 120,000 refugees with a focus on those that are chronically underserved by traditional humanitarian responses. In the last year alone, we've advanced programs for unaccompanied children, those stuck indefinitely in limbo, and launched a Traineeship Program to train new experts in refugee resettlement casework around the world. 

Register for our virtual 5K today to support the necessary programs that assist refugees facing extreme vulnerabilities and amplify their stories. Want to donate instead? You can still do so by clicking below!

Register Today

Are you interested in gaining complimentary entry? Donate or fundraise $250 or more, and we'll waive your entrance fee! All U.S. participants who register by May 25th will also receive a RefugePoint T-shirt. Rock your awesome new gear and tag us on social media while doing so.

Sincerely,
Sarah Hidey
Chief Development Officer

The VII Foundation has acquired VII Photo Agency

The VII Foundation has acquired VII Photo Agency, making it one of the pillars of the foundation instead of being a separate entity. In addition to VII Photo, The VII Foundation comprises VII Academy, VII Insider, and VII Community. Our new website now hosts the entire non-profit VII ecosystem.
 
With The VII Foundation becoming the guardian of VII Photo’s rich legacy, the veracity and authenticity inherent in the work of the VII photographers will have broader reach, accessibility, and impact through the foundation’s advocacy and educational programming. As we confront a new age of image artifice when the line between fiction and non-fiction is being eroded, this need has never been greater. 
 
The VII Foundation’s mission is to transform visual journalism by empowering new voices and creating stories that advocate change. In a world where beliefs and actions are increasingly out-of-sync with facts and realities, transforming visual journalism is an urgent task. Our work begins with the programs of VII Academy, the educational wing of the foundation that provides tuition-free courses in visual journalism to practitioners in the Majority World and underrepresented communities in G20 countries. VII Academy aims to democratize the information narrative and give communities the tools to narrate their own stories in regions where media education is poorly resourced.
 
Complementing our core educational programs are two platforms: VII Insider, a free online space for public debate and discussion of visual journalism, and VII Community, designed to further tuition-free media education and foster exciting opportunities for our VII Academy alumni. 
 
The VII name is synonymous with courageous and impactful photojournalism. In 2001 the dawn of the digital era enabled the creation of VII. It allowed it to innovate and thrive during the aftermath of 9/11, the war in Afghanistan, the invasion of Iraq, and the chaos that followed as the narrative of a new century was written.
 
VII was created to enhance the careers of its members, to allow them to work on stories that mattered, have an impact in partnership with the world’s leading press, and create new opportunities they could not imagine alone. 
 
The digital revolution that enabled the photographers to build VII Photo also precipitated an undeniable loss in revenue for their media clients. Out of this anticipation, the VII Foundation was created at the same time to innovate and lead in the non-profit space. With its inception came more opportunities for the VII Photo photographers to work on ambitious stories in partnership with writers, filmmakers, and other leading practitioners and advance their efforts to mentor and educate younger photographers. 

Photo agencies and the press have less impact and influence on the production of visual journalism and a decreasing capacity to support the ambition of photographers than they used to. Photojournalism means taking risks; it requires initiative, resourcefulness, empathy, and courage. It also requires collaboration, trust, imagination, and partnership. Independent photo agencies and editors in the leading press were once essential to the life of a photojournalist. Today, the press has fewer resources to deploy independent photographers, and photo agencies survive by selling photographs by the kilogram.  

Through this acquisition, The VII Foundation will preserve the values the VII Photo founders laid out twenty years ago. Collectively and unanimously, the VII photographers believe the work of The VII Foundation and its ecosystem embodies what VII Photo set out to achieve – focusing on stories that matter and training and mentoring the next generation - and is now the appropriate structure for the future. We will continue to innovate, educate, and transform visual journalism as we embrace the next chapter in our development. 
 
Arles, France,
3rd May, 2023

The VII Foundation

Refugee Point Bulletin - April

A monthly bulletin featuring RefugePoint news, client and staff updates, and events.

New Look: Same RefugePoint

You might have noticed that RefugePoint looks a little different. While there were a variety of reasons that we wanted to update our logo and branding, the driving force was that our previous logo featured an image shaped like a life preserver, which aligned with our former tagline, “A Lifeline For Forgotten Refugees.”

RefugePoint recognizes that colonialism and systemic racism are embedded in the field of refugee response, and in recent years we have recommitted to active anti-racist and anti-colonialist practices and efforts. Over time, it became clear that this tagline no longer accurately represented RefugePoint. In an effort to fully respect the dignity, autonomy, and agency of the refugees we serve, we phased out the old tagline in 2021. With our updated logo, we have now eliminated that visual representation of the former tagline. Visit our website to see more.

Client Story: Mohamed

At the age of two, Mohamed’s family was forced to flee their home in Somalia due to political instability and famine. Mohamed grew up in Dadaab Ifo Refugee Camp in Kenya, where he went to school and began dreaming of a career in health care. After years of studying, he became a Clinical Officer, working in private hospitals throughout Kenya. 

In 2019, Mohamed learned about the Economic Mobility Pathways Project through RefugePoint, which connects refugees with the right skills, education, and language abilities with employers looking to fill job vacancies in Canada. Last year, he was offered a job through the program, and in September, Mohamed traveled to Canada to begin working in a long-term care facility in Nova Scotia. Read the rest of Mohamed’s story here.

Mohamed at RefugePoint’s Nairobi office before departing for Canada.

Conversations: Discussing Refugee Issues with Senator Cory Booker

From Sasha Chanoff, RefugePoint CEO: It was great to spend time with Senator Cory Booker on Friday and his Chief of Staff Veronica Duron and State Director Hanna Mori and talk to them about refugee issues. I appreciated hearing Senator Booker's thoughts on how to build bridges in America.

He has visited Afghan evacuees on military bases in the U.S., and also called on President Biden to increase the refugee resettlement ceiling from 15K during the Trump administration to 125K. He was interested in hearing about refugee issues broadly, including the new Welcome Corps private sponsorship program that enables Americans to form groups and sponsor refugees from overseas to resettle in the U.S.

I shared that private sponsorship of refugees increases Democratic and Republican interest in refugee resettlement significantly and helps to reaffirm a badly eroded sense of common purpose in America. I came away from the meeting feeling grateful for Senator Booker's support for refugees and inspired by his ideas around unifying messages.

Senator Cory Booker (left) with RefugePoint CEO Sasha Chanoff (right).

Spin the Globe: RP Staff in Bangladesh 

Last month, RefugePoint staff visited Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh with ICMC and Danish Refugee Council to learn more about the work our Experts are doing to support Rohingya refugees.

There are about one million Rohingya refugees and persons of concern living in Cox’s Bazar, many of whom have been there for decades. As Myanmar’s political situation remains tumultuous, and Rohingyas continue to be persecuted in Myanmar, there continues to be a need for long-term solutions. Our staff there are working to identify refugees and submit their cases for resettlement. See where else we're working across the globe.

Staff from RefugePoint, Danish Refugee Council, and ICMC in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.

Recommended Reading: The roots of the refugee protection system are colonial and racist

“We need a movement where refugees lead the way, while true allies ensure that they are not taking power and agency away from people in the name of empowering them.”

Sana Mustafa, CEO of Asylum Access, has experienced colonialism and white supremacy firrst-hand, both as a displaced person in the U.S. and as a leading executive in our field. In her powerful article, Sana explains how colonialism and white supremacy are deeply embedded in the global refugee protection system and steps those working in the system must take to move forward. Read Sana's piece here.

Graphic: Ramiro Zardoya / Cartoon Movement

Recent Events: Skoll World Forum

Over $30 billion/year is spent on humanitarian aid, yet recipients have virtually no say in its use— a fact that perpetuates inequality. Last week, RefugePoint’s CEO Sasha Chanoff led a conversation at the Skoll World Forum, which explored how we can build systems of support that are more equitable, informed and led by people with lived experience. 

Each year, the Forum brings together thought leaders, development practitioners, and philanthropists to address major challenges confronting the world. As forced displacement increases globally, centering refugee and community voices is vital, and we must ensure these conversations lead to action.

We’re Hiring!

RefugePoint is seeking experienced and passionate individuals for a number of positions across the globe. Take a look at our open positions:

Deputy Country Director, Kenya

Locum Community Navigator, Kenya

Technical Consultant - Market Systems Development Task Team, Boston

See our full list of open positions here.

Webinar for Ocean and Climate Policy Innovators, Researchers and Media

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Vincent Manno

Vincent P. Manno is an engineer, engineering educator and academic leader. Currently a  full-time grandfather and a part-time consultant, Vin dedicates his time to family and to assisting institutions developing programs to enhance student success and advance human-centered engineering. 

Vin received a BS from Columbia University and MS and Sc.D. degrees from M.I.T. in nuclear/mechanical engineering. His fields of interest are engineering education, power generation, electronics thermal management and semiconductor manufacturing processes. His research has been supported by the government agencies and industry including the DOE, NSF, and U.S. Navy. He has authored numerous journal articles, conference papers, book chapters and technical reports. He is a frequent keynote speaker and has served on several advisory boards including the that of the Tufts University Institute for Global Leadership. 

Vin worked in the private sector, served as a U.S. Navy Senior Summer Faculty Fellow, and holds a US patent. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and the recipient of Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award, the Harvey Rosten Award for Excellence in the Thermal Analysis of Electronic Equipment, the ASME Curriculum Innovation Award, the Tufts University Engineering Teacher of the Year, and the Seymour Simches Award for Distinguished Teaching and Advising.

From 1984 through 2011, Vin was on the faculty of Tufts University and held the rank of Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the time of his departure. At Tufts, he also held a number of leadership positions including Department Chair, Associate Dean of Engineering for Graduate Education, Dean of Engineering ad interim, and Associate Provost. In the latter role, he was responsible for cross-disciplinary initiatives at Tufts including the Institute for Global Leadership during Sherman Techiman’s directorship. From 2004-2011,  Sherman and Vin worked together to advance IGL’s role as a cross campus catalyst for student growth and interdisciplinarity, as well as enhance the resilience of the Institute’s infrastructure. Among their numerous collaborations, co-organization of the symposium The Genie Travels On: The Challenge on Emerging Nuclear States, stands out as prescient of the evolving world order. 

From 2011-2019, Vin was Provost and Dean of Faculty as well as Professor of Engineering at the Olin College of Engineering in Needham, MA. At Olin, he led efforts to redefine faculty assessment and development, encourage systemic curricular innovation, and develop sustainable collaboration partnerships with other institutions. In 2020, he was named Provost Emeritus and Professor of Engineering Emeritus by the Olin Board of Trustees.

Truly, without Vin as our adviser and guide, we would not have been able to drive the Institute forward wisely. We were grateful for his astute questions, for his advice on governance, and for his sagacious sense of interactions with our faculty and the Tufts administration. I am ever thankful for his trust and extensive consultative time. 

Vin found a unique formula for management and human oversight, one of equanimity, co-joined with passion. As one of the most open-minded and fairest of people I have ever had the pleasure of working with, Vin created an atmosphere of trust. He understood our role as an innovative center and encouraged the Institute’s development, specifically helping us to develop Engineers Without Borders, nurturing the Tufts Energy Initiative into the far broader onging Tufts Fletcher Energy Forum, supporting my creating Tufts's first formal adoption of Scholars at Risk, and the Institute's Synaptic Scholars program that I tasked with invigorating intellectual life at Tufts, with now such enduring campus programs as Tufts TED-X.

My introduction to this NIMEP "Beyond the Politics of Fear" Insight journal, speaks to the controversies Vin helped the Institute manage, especially regarding the sensitive security and political concerns of our NIMEP research groups' visit to Lebanon  

I sincerely doubt that such efforts would be supported in this educational era, as they were then by Vin, and then Tufts President Larry Bacow, who praised our efforts as "prudent risk-taking."

Together with the professional nuclear workshop that Vin mentions, he and I created the Vannevar Bush Award recognizing Bush’s accomplishments, as science adviser to presidents and the Director of the US Office of Scientific Research and Development, which we brought forward to the School of Engineering. Vin reminded me at the time of the value of allowing its cautious Dean to think of it as her own idea.  

Its first recipient was Dick Meserve, the brother of Bill Meserve, a long-standing wonderful member of the Institute's External Advisory Board. We also co-sponsored the Vannevar Bush Forum on Science, Ethics and Public Policy. Bush was a brilliant and fascinating man and It was part of my desire to create programming in the spirit of the Nobel Prize for Peace-winning Pugwash initiatives, as an exploration of science as morally neutral, with such questions as what were the ethical issues that confronted scientists in successfully completing the atomic bomb? What are the ongoing ethical dilemmas and social responsibilities scientists face in the nuclear arena and beyond?

 At his formal Tufts University goodby party Vin spoke of his involvement overseeing the Institute as encouraging and reinforcing his desire to enter Olin Engineering as its Provost for as he described it,  "being engaged in the programmatic and personal dimensions of IGL afforded me the opportunity to navigate the colliding constraints of student safety, education in the broadest terms, and prudent institutional risk-taking. The role of Provost, especially at an idiosyncratic and mission-driven place like Olin, required an analogous set of navigation skills.

Vin surprised me when he spoke at the gathering of Tufts faculty and administration with a reference to myself as a "Six Sigma". It is a lovely moment to think that I had any impact on his life, as surely, he did on mine.

When I spoke I found the word that I think characterizes Vin best, “Decency.” Such a rare quality in an all too often indecent world. A superb teacher and mentor, greatly respected by all, I am proud that he will remain involved with the Trebuchet into the future. 

Richard (Dick) Lanza

On New Year's Day, 2023, Richard Lanza had an extra reason to celebrate. Lanza, a Senior Research Scientist in the MIT Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, had just become an IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Fellow - an honor annually bestowed on just one-tenth of one percent of the members of what's called "the world's largest technical professional organization." His fellowship appointment was "for developing novel imagers and radiation detectors applied to medicine and security problems." That, however, is an abbreviated version of a much longer, and more involved, story.

Lanza earned a PhD in Physics from the University of Pennsylvania in 1966 and came to MIT later that year as a postdoctoral fellow. He soon took part in investigations into the structure of the proton-work that ultimately validated the quark model of particle physics. Lanza's primary role was in designing and building the radiation detectors used in experiments carried out in the late-60s and 70s at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC).

About 15 scientists collaborated in the last experiment Lanza worked on at SLAC, which took place around 1975. But the trends in particle physics were clear to him: the next experiment would likely have more than 100 scientists, and before long there'd be thousands. It would become harder to try out new ideas, and the enterprise would allow less room for creativity — a prospect he was not enthused about.

Upon returning to MIT from Stanford, he spoke with a friend, a radiologist at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), who asked him what he'd been up to. When Lanza mentioned the proton's structure, his friend quickly changed subjects. "With all your cleverness in detectors," he asked, "why not help us out in medicine and radiology?"

An unexpected tilt from quarks to medicine

Intrigued by that proposition, Lanza soon joined a group, based jointly at MIT and MGH, which was building one of the first computed tomography (CT) scanners that could rotate fully around a patient. He got started in this work in 1975 and spent more than 20 years as a radiology associate at the Harvard Medical School, though his primary affiliation has always been with MIT.

Lanza and colleagues set out to improve single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), an imaging technique that used gamma rays. One challenge is that gamma rays can't be focused with lenses or mirrors. "You could use a pinhole, but then you'd end up throwing away almost the entire signal," Lanza explains. One way around that was to utilize a so-called coded aperture-a sheet of tungsten with dozens, hundreds, or thousands of holes-and then rely on a computer to combine the separate, overlapping images into a single composite view. Coded apertures had been important in x-ray astronomy since 1965, and Lanza felt that medical imaging could benefit from them as well. "A big advantage is that you can get 3D images with no moving parts," he says.His career took a dramatic turn in December 1988, when a bomb that had been concealed aboard a Pan Am aircraft exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, destroying the plane and killing everyone in it — all 259 passengers and crew members - plus 11 people on the ground. "A complete panic set in after that plane blew up," Lanza says. He was immediately approached by his colleague, MIT physicist Lee Grodzins, who asked, "Do you have any idea how we can detect explosives in luggage?"

Security concerns come blazing to the fore

Lanza turned his attention to that problem. Conventional explosives (like TNT), he reasoned, contain dense clusters of nitrogen, in particular, as well as oxygen and carbon. One could send a beam of neutrons through the materials inside a suitcase. If gamma rays of a particular energy were produced through this interaction, he says, "that would tell you if large quantities of nitrogen were concentrated." The detection system he devised again incorporated coded apertures.

There was a catch: Although military explosives contained a lot of nitrogen, he says, "we discovered that there is a whole world of homemade explosives that terrorists might use that don't have any nitrogen at all, making it a very complicated business." Lanza also explored ways of finding improvised explosive devices (IEDs), such as those planted in cars during the Iraq war, which posed similar imaging and detection challenges.

In the late-1990s, Lanza got involved in humanitarian demining. Landmines can be made for less than $2 apiece - one reason why millions of them are still left in former or current war zones, waiting to go off if anyone ventures close enough. He designed a simple device, consisting of portable neutron sources and gamma ray detectors, which could effectively survey small areas. He determined that additional approaches - including magnetic detectors and ground-penetrating radar - could be helpful in clearing larger regions, such as the border zones between nations.

Lanza also applied his expertise to the matter of nuclear materials proliferation, finding ways to detect faint radioactivity signals from uranium and plutonium that terrorists might try to smuggle into the country. In a project with Raytheon, he developed a system that could detect radioactive materials at a distance while carried in a moving vehicle.

"Just about everything I've done involves imaging of some sort, which is basically a tool that enables you to pick out objects in a background," Lanza says. He even figured out a method, utilizing neutron imaging, that enabled the De Beers company to find diamonds more efficiently in rock.

In his lengthy career, Lanza has contributed to many other areas (one could almost fill an article just listing them), and he still has a few projects underway, even though he's now in his 80s and semi-retired. He credits the wide range of work he's undertaken to MIT itself, "which makes it very easy for people to cross borders. It really is a remarkable place" - remarkable enough that he extended his original two-year appointment into one that's going on six decades, and still going strong.

I am tremendously grateful for my adopted Brookline neighborhood of my last five years, located off Harvard Street, significantly marked and centered by Coolidge Park, its Sumner children's playground, and its designation as an off-leash dog park which my goldendoodle Remi, considers her domain and front yard.

It is inhabited by an extraordinary, eclectic and accomplished set of folks. Dick is assuredly one of its most remarkable characters, a very thoughtful,  never querulous, and independent thinker, with whom I enjoy many wonderful and fun conversations, always sharing anecdotes with a twinkle in his eye.

We share book reviews, banter across a full spectrum of issues and topics, be it U.S. politics, Israel/Palestine, climate change, risk analysis, the future of hypersonic weapons, arms control, inequality, university politics, wokedom, race relations, our families, even the architectural future of our community

I always look forward to encountering him as I wander our park with Remi, as I do his wife Sylvia.  He is unfailingly a gentleman.

I think our first conversations began when we both knew we had enjoyed conferences on nuclear concerns in Erice, Sicily, that we had old common friends at MIT, including Kosta Tsipis, and Phil Morrison, and that we both admired the work of his friend and colleague, Dick Garwin, and others of our generation,

A warm-hearted and humble man, he has generously allowed me to nudge him to consult with the graduate students of MIT, and the undergraduate students starting Pugwash chapters at Dartmouth. Sharing his depth of extraordinary experiences, and those of his formidable generation of scientists, is so invaluable to our younger generation of citizens.

Shoshana Grossman

Shoshana Grossman-Crist is a consultant helping impact champions move the world forward. What does that actually look like? It looks like helping NGOs fundraise without headaches and helping companies achieve profit + purpose without spending their entire budget on a consultant. Find out the details here.  

With 15 years of experience, her superpowers are in project design, communications and fundraising, and she is obsessed with figuring out how to ensure impact for communities. As someone who has worked with the Inter-American Development Bank, the Danone Ecosystem Fund, Chemonics, TechnoServe, and local NGOs across the world, though particularly in Latin America, Shoshana brings a unique set of tools to the table, as well as a ton of respect for the challenges of implementing projects with impact. Recently, she has been building a gender inclusion lens into her work more and more.   

When Shoshana is not chugging away with her clients, you can find her volunteering in the fields harvesting for the Vermont food bank. She holds a Bachelor's in Community Health and Latin American studies from Tufts University, she got a Master’s in Public Policy and Management from Carnegie Mellon University. 

Shoshanna was one of the more mature and engaged of the students I had the privilege to attract to the Institute and its intellectual and activist pursuits. She exuded a strong, independent, yet sensitive leadership sensibility. and powerful determination. She was exuberant and infectious. Her smile radiated. 

As one of the student founders and co chairs of Pangea whose mantra was "global awareness, advocacy, and action,” it was not surprising to learn of her leadership role in inspiring scores of students to engage in a three-day “sleep -out,” staying overnight in small tents on the main quadrangle of the University to simulate a symbolic refugee camp.    

They programmed to promote consciousness of the plight of refugees, not only those who migrated beyond their country’s borders, protected by international law, however fragile, but the even more severe reality of IDPs. internally displaced peoples, fleeing violence, ethnic cleansing, and severe discrimination.  

They also raised thousands of dollars to support Mapendo International, the first organization created by Convisero's Sasha Chanoff, who then founded RefugePoint.   

Another of the Pangea organizations Shoshana supported was STAND, originally Students Taking Action Now: Dafur, an anti-genocide initiative then also concerned with violence in the Congo.   

“Shosh,” had already come to Tufts with a finely honed sensibility about the struggles of marginalized peoples, but also their determination and agency.    

In January 2007, under Institute sponsorship she returned to Herradura, Costa Rica where she had lived and taught English before studying at Tufts, this time to study the high levels of out-migration to the United States and the effects this migration was having on the town.   

She learned about the confluence of international coffee prices, socio-economic levels of residents in the canton, interpersonal relationships, and the immigration laws of the United States that create the high level of out-migration that distinguishes the region from most other cantons in Costa Rica. 

Not surprising for me to see what she is currently doing. 

2023 Joint Memorial Day Ceremony

Olga Gavrina

My name is Olga Gavrina (also transliterated from Ukrainian as Olha Havrina). I am a Ukrainian musicologist, research-scientist in music, lecturer, and music teacher. My home town is Chernivtsi in Western Ukraine. 

I graduated with a master’s degree from the Ukrainian National Tchaikovsky Academy of Music in 2018. Among the disciplines I studied at the Academy, my favorites were Contemporary Issues and Methods of Ethnomusicology, Fundamentals of Management in Culture and Arts, Psychology of Creativity, Modern History of World Music and the Fundaments of Electroacoustic Composition.  I particularly enjoyed lecturing on the history of music for undergraduate students in the vocal department of our music academy.  

Beyond the required curriculum for my Bachelor of Arts degree program, I chose to acquire bibliographic and archival skills. I researched and wrote articles about Ukrainian, American, German and Latvian composers, and presented at musicologist conferences, 

From 2017 to 2021 I taught Solfeggio and the History of Music in a specialized school of art and music for children aged six to fifteen in Kyiv. During that period, I also organized concerts and lectures and participated in pedagogic conferences. 

In the summer of 2019, I worked as the Social Media Manager of the international project “Musical Bridges”. As part of that project, I helped organize a charity concert by the Austrian percussionist Christoph Sietzen who performed with the Ukrainian New Era Orchestra. 

I have actively participated as a volunteer in several international arts festivals since 2015, including Gogol-Fest, Kyiv Contemporary Music Days, and the international cinema festival Molodist. 

As part of my citizen activism, I participated in several environmental and animal protection rallies in Kyiv. 

My hobbies are playing piano, singing traditional Ukrainian folk songs, painting, piano and hiking.   

I arrived in Boston in January 2022 with my husband, an IT Engineer, where I hope to pursue my music career. 

I met Olga walking our dogs. I was immediately drawn to her story and status as a new resident of my town at a time when the war in Ukraine had just broken out. Olga is an impressive young woman, whose warmth, intelligence, and gentleness affected me and impressed a circle of my good friends, who initially banded together to help her support one of her friends, a cellist, who suddenly found himself as a leader of a territorial defense group in Kyiv called The Defender. We coalesced to begin to support this group, and I am continuing to appeal to friends to find ways to support various Ukrainian organizations. I had the pleasure of meeting Olga's husband attending a benefit concert for Ukraine at Harvard.

Tomer Cohen

Tomer Cohen, Co-Founder & Chairman of Tech2Peace, is a social impact entrepreneur who was selected lately to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in Israel.

Tech2Peace connects Palestinian and Israeli young leaders through hi-tech, dialogue, and entrepreneurship training (partners with Google, Microsoft, MIT, McKinsey, U.S. Dep. of State, etc.)

Last year, before starting his MBA studies in the U.S., Tomer was in the leading team of an Impact Fund from CA and started his journey in the climate & impact tech investing arena. Additionally, he plans to launch an international organization that will promote partnerships and investments in the climate-tech field between Israel and its neighboring countries.

Pursuing Justice: The RWCHR Newsletter

Hello!

As the Centre’s new Director of Communications, I’m delighted to share our most recent newsletter - Pursuing Justice - with you.

In my short time on the team, I’ve witnessed not only bright legal minds in action, but passionate hearts willing to take on some of the biggest human rights issues facing our world - both at the systems level and person by person.

I’m humbled to be in this role, and look forward to showcasing our talented team’s vision, leadership, and results with you.

The convergence of a global rise in authoritarianism and climate and ecological breakdown mean that what we do now - and what (and who!) we choose to stand for - has the potential to affect the course of history. 

As a partner, supporter, or friend of the Centre, thank you for standing with us as we advocate for justice, freedom, and democracy.

This issue holds some special updates, including an invitation to meet the man who issued Vladimir Putin’s arrest warrant and a teaser from our new podcast, The Price of Conviction.

Happy reading!

Warmly,

Simone
(Pronouns: she/her)

Our Work

ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan to Deliver 2023 Elie Wiesel Distinguished Lectureship in Human Rights

The International Criminal Court (ICC), under the direction of Chief Prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan KC, has just issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for crimes committed against children in Ukraine, as outlined in our landmark report on Russia’s breaches of the Genocide Convention.

By taking this step, the ICC has affirmed that nobody - not even a sitting head of state - is above the law. And, as our Canadian Co-Chair Professor Payam Akhavan (Special Advisor to the Prosecutor of the ICC) said in a recent interview “the arrest warrant is only the beginning.”

We are delighted to invite you to join us in Ottawa in early May for an unforgettable evening with the ICC’s Chief Prosecutor. He will share his vision for the future of global justice under the Rome Statute, and will invite us to consider the opportunity that this painful moment in our collective experience offers: an opportunity to create a more just world for all, anchored in the rule of law.

The RWCHR’s Elie Wiesel Lectureship in Human Rights convenes leading members of bench, bar, and academe — along with parliamentarians, students, media, and civil society representatives to learn from and engage with a distinguished lecturer and role model in the pursuit of justice. Anchored in the horrors of the Holocaust and its lessons for humanity, the pursuit of international justice and accountability for the world’s worst crimes are at the heart of the Lectureship, just as they were central to the life of its namesake, our distinguished co-founder, Professor Elie Wiesel.

We are delighted to co-host this event in partnership with the University of Ottawa's Faculty of Law and its Human Rights Research and Education Centre.

Registration will open soon, so please stay tuned for your invitation!

Podcast: The Price of Conviction

Our podcast will be launching soon!

The Price of Conviction takes you behind prison bars to hear the stories of some of the world’s most courageous individuals: political prisoners who are risking it all for freedom, justice, and our shared future.

It is more than a podcast.

It is a platform for international action and solidarity.

Listen to the trailer now.

Learn more here.

Sign up here to be among the first to know when we launch.

DEFENDING POLITICAL PRISONERS

We defend political prisoners, wherever they are. We provide legal counsel and advocate for their release. Each prisoner’s case is about their individual rights as well as about the just causes for which they stand, and for which they have been incarcerated - often in illegal and inhumane conditions, and often for decades.

Raoul Wallenberg, hero of the Holocaust and political prisoner of the Soviet Union until his death, taught us that one person with the compassion to care and the courage to act can transform history. We aim to keep political prisoners - each one an agent of change - in the public conscience until they are free.

One Year of Detention: International Advocacy for Vladimir Kara-Murza

Vladimir Kara-Murza, Russian opposition leader and political prisoner (and RWCHR Senior Fellow) has now been behind bars for a year.

In support of his case, we are co-organizing A Year of Injustice: The One-year Anniversary of Vladimir Kara-Murza’s Wrongful, Unlawful, and Arbitrary Detention - a high profile event in Washington, D.C., alongside other pro-democracy groups.

We have just submitted a joint letter to United States Secretary of State Antony Blinkenasking that he be declared unlawfully or wrongfully detained and that responsibility for his case be transferred to the U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs. The letter is co-signed with Vladimir’s wife, Evgenia Kara-Murza, the McCain Institute, Free Russia Foundation, Human Rights First, and the Human Rights Foundation.

We have also supported a major joint international statement calling on the Russian government and Vladimir Putin to release Kara-Murza and acquit him of all charges. Signatories include a coalition of scholars, advocates, and officials from Forum 2000, Freedom House, Women’s Peace Network, Abdorrahman Boroumand Center, International Partnership for Human Rights, National Endowment for Democracy, World Uyghur Congress, Human Rights Foundation, and the European Parliament, among others.

“The only court that matters is the court of global public opinion… The best hope, the best defence, for political prisoners in our country is international attention.” – Vladimir Kara-Murza in 2019 (prior to his arrest in 2022)

Huseyin Celil’s Birthday Behind Bars

This month, Uyghur-Canadian citizen Huseyin Celil turned 54 years old in a Chinese prison. He has been illegally detained since 2006 after speaking up for Uyghur Rights, and has spent much of these past 17 years in solitary confinement.

Let’s not let this Canadian citizen spend another birthday behind bars!

Alexey Pichugin Marks 18 Years Behind Bars

Alexey Pichugin (Russian federation) was arrested on March 30, 2005, and has now spent 18 years behind bars for his refusal to bear false witness. He is being held incommunicado at the notorious Lefortovo prison. Alexey holds the awful distinction of being the longest serving political prisoner in Putin’s Russia.

Learn their names. Be their voice. Share their stories, and don’t let the international community forget them!

RAISI’S IRAN

Human rights abuses in Iran have been a long-standing priority for the Centre, and we proudly stand with the Iranian people during these especially potent and perilous times.

Celebrating Iran’s Expulsion from the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women

This March, we partnered with UN Watch to host a celebration in New York of the successful campaign to expel Iran from the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.

Electing Iran - a regime that severely restricts women’s freedom and beats, blinds, tortures, and kills women protesters - to protect women’s rights on the global stage was always a terrible idea. We are proud of the role we played in supporting this successful campaign.

“The UN’s unprecedented expulsion of Ayatollah Khamenei’s murderous and misogynistic regime sends the right message. But let us be clear: this is only the beginning. The free world must now move forward to sanction the killers, expel their diplomats, and do everything possible to remove the Ayatollah’s brutal and barbaric regime from Iran.” – Hillel Neuer, UN Watch Director

At the event, we paid tribute to those who contributed to this achievement, and heard from leading voices on how to show solidarity with Iranian women - and all Iranians. These included Canada’s representative to the United Nations (and RWCHR Senior Fellow) Bob Rae, and our friend and collaborator Masih Alinejad, author, journalist and women’s rights activist, who was recently named among TIME’s Women of the Year.

“What happens in the Middle East does not stay in the Middle East… The Islamic republic is more deadly than Coronavirus, and they will infect the rest of the world.” – Masih Alinejad

Our own Director of Policy and Projects, Brandon Silver, used the opportunity to appeal for further concrete action to hold the Iranian regime to account.

“If there's no punishment for the crimes, the crimes will continue – it's time to be proactive, and not reactive”  – Brandon Silver

PUTIN'S RUSSIA

Our team advocates for the rights and freedom of victims of the Kremlin’s human rights violations, both inside and outside Russia.

Russian Breaches of the Genocide Convention

In an interview with TIME magazine, RWCHR Legal Counsel Yonah Diamond argued that the forcible transfer of Ukrainian children by Russian officials amounts to a particularly grave violation of the Genocide Convention.

“Beyond working to stop and prevent continued genocide during the war, states will also be responsible for finding ways to hold Russia accountable for the crimes into the future.” – Yonah Diamond

Yonah also testified this month as part of a briefing at the Italian Senate on Russia’s breaches of the Genocide Convention in Ukraine. The Senate briefing also included Azeem Ibrahim (Newlines Institute for Strategy and Policy), Matteo Angioli (Global Committee for the Rule of Law), Professor Vittorio Pagliaro, Sergio Germani (Instituto G. Germani), and Italy’s former Minister of Foreign Affairs Giulio Terzi.
Read our full groundbreaking legal analysis on Russia’s state responsibility for incitement to genocide in its invasion of Ukraine.
 

TARGETED SANCTIONS ADVOCACY

Targeted Sanctions allow democratic nations to respond to human rights abuses and corruption happening anywhere in a way that curtails abusers and corrupt actors while also supporting - both symbolically and materially - victims and survivors.

Our team played a lead role in Canada’s adoption of the Magnitsky law and now advocates for its effective implementation. We also advise other democracies on how to use targeted sanctions to ensure that their countries are no longer safe-havens for perpetrators, and are proud to have become the go-to-organisation for dissidents and human rights defenders around the world seeking to implement sanctions.

Asset Repurposing to Support Ukraine Reconstruction

This March, Irwin Cotler and Brandon Silver led a discussion with the Parliament of Canada’s Social Innovation Caucus on the legal aspects of asset repurposing, and how new laws can be used to help support reconstruction in Ukraine.

Hosted by MP Ryan Turnbull and Senator Ratna Omidvar, their enlightening discussion on seizing and repurposing frozen Russian assets featured leading Canadian and Ukrainian parliamentarians.

Improving the Magnitsky Sanctions Framework

As RWCHR Senior Fellow Suzanne Berger points out in her recent article, this relatively new human rights sanctions regime holds great promise, but still faces many obstacles.

In a recent article for Policy Magazine, Irwin Cotler and Brandon Silver propose ten concrete ways Canada can strengthen its Magnitsky Sanctions framework.

“Canada can be a global leader in protecting dignity and democracy by strengthening the use of targeted sanctions. These ten recommendations provide a pathway. In acting upon them, Canada can rise to the occasion at a moment in history that so urgently needs it. The safeguarding of peace, order and good government at home and internationally demands no less.”
- Irwin Cotler and Brandon Silver

COMBATTING ANTISEMETISM, GENOCIDE, AND ALL FORMS OF HATE

Never again. Not for Jews, and not for anyone.