Light in Gaza Webinar: A Rose Shoulders Up: Poetry and Culture in Gaza

Here is the link to register for the webinar:

https://afsc.org/events/rose-shoulders-poetry-and-culture-gaza

Light in Gaza Webinar: A Rose Shoulders Up: Poetry and Culture in Gaza

Register for our next “Light in Gaza” webinar, A Rose Shoulders Up: Poetry and Culture in Gaza (June 27, 12 p.m. ET/ 9 a.m. PT). Professor and Middle East expert Ann Lesch will talk with “Light in Gaza” contributor Mosab Abu Toha about his life and work in Gaza. Mosab is a poet, essayist, short story writer, and the founder of the Edward Said Library in Gaza.

In August 2022, AFSC and Haymarket Books published Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire. This distinctive anthology imagines what the future of Gaza could be, while reaffirming the critical role of Gaza in Palestinian identity, history, and struggle for liberation. Ann Lesch is a member of the editorial team for Light in Gaza, and Mosab Abu Toha contributed poetry and an essay on cultural struggle in Gaza. Click here for more information about the anthology.

The 15th Annual Oslo Freedom Forum

This week, our community of human rights defenders and democracy advocates reunited in Oslo, Norway, for the 15th annual Oslo Freedom Forum. Over three days, attendees heard talks from leading activists and industry leaders, explored interactive art and tech installations, and discussed the struggle for freedom through exciting panels and workshops.

You can re-watch all theater talks at oslofreedomforum.com and on our YouTube page. Share these links with your family and friends so they can hear these incredible stories for themselves.

WATCH THEATER TALKS

edWe encourage you to celebrate and support activists beyond the Oslo Freedom Forum. This year’s theme, Celebrating Solidarity, represented a call to action for our community, inviting you to unite with the brave dissidents and human rights defenders challenging authoritarianism worldwide.

We hope you can join us in Oslo for the next Oslo Freedom Forum. Register with the code 2024OFFbefore December 31, 2023, for a 25% discount.

And mark your calendars for the next five years!

2024: June 3 to June 5

2025: May 26 to May 28

2026: June 1 to June 3

2027: May 31 to June 2

2028: June 12 to June 14

Amal-Tikva Midyear Check-in 2023

Dear Friends,

It has proven an important year in Amal-Tikva, as we solidify our strategy, reputation, and program curricula. I'm proud to say that quantitatively, qualitatively and anecdotally--our method is working. The NGOs and the leaders we engage are more strategic, more sustainable, and are starting to scale.  

Coming back from maternity leave, I was a bit nervous to see what had changed. I knew that my co-founder Basheer was holding it all together-- and that each team member reached and pushed the programs to new limits. But honestly I could not be more impressed by the results. Their work is awe inspiring:

Fieldbuilding360

Ghadeer Sabat took the lead on Fieldbuilding360, our intensive strategic planning program for peacebuilding organizations. Bringing in more Palestinian NGOs, we now offer the program and all materials fully in Arabic (and also in Hebrew!). In total we have served 22 NGOs to date with more on the way--and love bringing them all together. One quote from a CEO in the program:

"We worked with a private consultant for 6 months, yet made more progress toward a clear theory of change here in 3 hours!"

­More about Fieldbuilding360­

Amal-Tikva Leadership Institute (ATLI)

Adi Nassar and Ariel Markose lead the second cohort of ATLI, offering professional development and peer support to local activists and program leaders. Cohort Two's 14 professionals recently returned from Belfast where they met peacemakers and peers, in partnership with ReThinking Conflict. We are so thankful to the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington for supporting this project, as the field has seen nothing like it. One participant shared with us: 
"It's true that the skills we learned will help me be a better professional, and I do appreciate it. But the most important piece is that I feel we are really a community. I don't feel alone in this work anymore, and I can't thank you enough for that."

­More about ATLI­

Embodying Peace

This time last year, Adi Nassar suggested that the way we run Embodying Peace does not serve the field as well as it could. We reevaluated our model and decided to move from international interns to local, from virtual education and internships to in-person. Adi led the first cohort of the new model this year and the results are intense. Each of the 13 Israeli and Palestinian participants reported in their exit interviews that the program was too short and that they wish to continue to engage the group more, to learn more, and to intern more. (My favorite kind of problem...) We look forward to following up with their leadership development plans, mentorship and opportunities to continue to grow individually and together.

­More about Embodying Peace­

Bringing it all together...

Holding it all together is our brilliant Ariel Markose, who meets with NGO leaders, activists, donors, and external partners at all levels.

 It was Ariel who noticed that we need to build the Fieldbuilding 2.0 program, a one-month intensive consulting program for NGOs who have graduated from Fieldbuilding360 to focus on specific capacity issues such as marketing, fundraising, organizational structure, or program design. She and Ghadeer piloted this with 6 of our NGOs and more will be joining in the coming months.

Ariel and Ghadeer have also organized monthly gatherings for the NGO leaders to share their experiences and learn new skills together. Whether it's meeting the political tension of the moment or how to use ChatGPT, the community is enjoying learning, growing, laughing, crying and eating together.

­Connect with Ariel­

In other news...

We have deepened our partnership with the Swiss-based foundation B8 of Hope and now manage their grants process.We also serve as their local presence on the ground. It is an absolute honor and privilege to work with Mehra, David, Leila and Arun from B8 of Hope and to bring their grantees and our NGOs into one network.

I'll be in Washington, DC next month to address the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and speak at a round table at the United States Institute of Peace. We have become a leading voice from the ground to speak about MEPPA's potential implications at the grassroots and policy levels locally. Let me know if you'll be in DC the week of July 17 and would like to come to the roundtable at USIP or get together for coffee!

­Contact me by email here­

That was a lot. Thank you for reading this far!

We could not do this work without your trust and confidence. 

THANK YOU to our donors, NGOs, activists, and partners for believing in our ability to help peacebuilding efforts scale and become sustainable. We're all in this together.

Thank you again,

Meredith Rothbart

Amal-Tikva CEO

Support Amal-Tikva Today

VII Foundation - Upcoming exhibition at the Arles campus

Taylor Smith

Taylor Smith is a Political Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State. Prior to joining the Foreign Service, Taylor spent 8 years as a nonprofit leader, spearheading programs for gender equality, human rights, and youth development in conflict-affected areas. She spent more than 5 years as Free to Run’s inaugural Executive Director, where she grew the organization to serve 7 regions of operation in Afghanistan and Iraq. Additionally, she’s worked with a number of grassroot organizations in Africa, Central Asia, the Caribbean, and the Middle East on humanitarian initiatives. 

Prior to her NGO experience, Taylor worked as a freelance journalist covering human rights issues during the war with ISIS in Iraq. Her work has been published in the Washington Post and Al Jazeera English among other outlets. Taylor holds a MA in International Relations from Tufts University’s Fletcher School and two bachelor’s degrees in Journalism and Political Communication from Emerson College. Beyond her professional pursuits, Taylor enjoys trail running and mountaineering— especially alongside her Alaskan Malamute pup, Alu. 

Amit Paz

Amit Paz received his MA in National Security, Counter-Terrorism and Cyber Security from the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya (re-named Reichman University) and his BA in International Relations and Political Science from Tufts University in 2011. Throughout his time at Tufts, Amit engaged with the Institute for Global Leadership primarily through his membership in the New Initiative for Middle East Peace (NIMEP), where he participated in annual research trips to the region and contributed to the group’s annual publication, Insights. In 2009, Amit was part of a student research group to visit Israel / Palestine, where he conducted research on the development of Israeli settlements and their effect on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process over the years. In 2011, Amit co-led the first-ever American student research group to Iraqi Kurdistan, where he conducted research into the Kurdish oil & gas industry and its impact on relations between the autonomous Kurdish government and the central Iraqi government in Baghdad. After graduating, Amit served as a Teaching Assistant at Tufts' Department of Political Science and continued his affiliation with the IGL, working as a Teaching Assistant for the 2012 EPIIC Colloquium: Conflict in the 21st Century and helping organize the 2014 EPIIC Symposium: The Future of the Middle East and North Africa.

Later, Amit worked as a strategy consultant for Baker Tilly, where he led a valuation project related to aspects of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Today, Amit works in Corporate Development at Verbit, an AI-powered transcription and captioning company, as part of its M&A group.

I remembered Amit as one of the most engaging and challenging of my students. Perpetually intellectually curious, an avid reader, and unfailingly thoughtful, I always looked forward to our conversations. As a teaching assistant, Amit was assiduous and caring, and I never remember a student challenging his evaluation or assigned grades. When I myself questioned him about an opinion or attitude, he usually won me over. There is no doubt that his presence enhanced the colloquium, and subsequent symposium. He was a critical member of NIMEP. His research met a very high standard. His editorial contributions were highly valued by his peers, and I was loathe to loose him, as inevitably students must graduate. I was fortunate that he stayed an extra year, perhaps two if I remember correctly, as he loved intellectual life at Tufts. I might have been his student at Herzilya if our paths had met in a different set of circumstances, as I was once offered a lectureship and associate deanship position in Israel by a good friend and colleague from the Hebrew University, Ehud Sprinzak, who sadly passed far too early. However, I was able to use Ehud’s insights on the origins of Jewish fundamentalist radicalism in my instruction, and he illumened the way I sought to help create and advise NIMEP. Ehud and I had a special bond, as I was his fencing instructor. 

I had the pleasure of welcoming Amit to my home, and he once again proved himself to be a wonderful mentor, offering potential research opportunities for my Wellesley students years later. I remember vividly our conversations over Israel’s future. We both intensely share a passion for strengthening Israel’s democracy. Amit wondered whether he ought to return to Israel, which I surely encouraged, and we smiled at the possibility of Amit’s dream of opening a cafe and bookstore on Dizengoff street in Tel Aviv. 

I had the pleasure of renewing with Amit, in the midst of Israels massive mobilization of civil society. He once again was insightful and passionate, a citizen any democratic country would value. 

We believe Amit is pictured on the Western flank of St Topez’s Marina, and not the West Bank of Palestine :)

Admiral Dhowan

Admiral RK Dhowan is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy,  the Defence Services Staff College and the Naval War College, Newport,  Rhode Island, USA. 

His illustrious career began with being adjudged the ‘Best Cadet’  and winning of the coveted ‘Telescope’ during his sea training onboard  INS Delhi. He was commissioned in the Navy on 01 Jan 75 and went on to  bag the ‘Sword of Honour’ for his course. He was baptised in the art of  navigation when, as a young Lieutenant armed with a sextant and the  keen eyes of an enthusiastic navigator , he sailed from the port of Riga in  the Baltic Sea to the shores of Mumbai. With the induction of the Sea  Harrier jump-jets into the Navy, he was selected to undergo the Sea  Harrier Direction Course at Yeovilton, UK. His tenures at Indian Naval Air  Squadron 300 and the aircraft carrier Vikrant shaped the future of  direction specialisation in the Navy. 

Important staff assignments held by the Admiral at Naval  Headquarters during his distinguished career include Deputy Director  Naval Operations, Joint Director Naval Plans, Assistant Chief of the Naval  Staff (Policy and Plans) and Deputy Chief of Naval Staff. 

The Admiral has commanded three frontline warships of the  Western Fleet -the missile corvette Khukri, the guided missile destroyer  Ranjit and the indigenous guided missile destroyer Delhi. He also had the  proud privilege of commanding the Eastern Fleet as Flag Officer  Commanding Eastern Fleet.

Besides serving as Indian Naval Advisor at the High Commission of  India, London, he has also served as Chief Staff Officer (Operations) of  the Western Naval Command (based at Mumbai) and the Chief of Staff at  Headquarters Eastern Naval Command (based at Visakhapatnam) and  subsequently had the distinction of commanding his alma mater, the  National Defence Academy, as the Commandant. The Admiral assumed  charge as the Vice Chief of the Naval Staff in Aug 11 and was  subsequently promoted as the 22nd Chief of the Naval Staff of the Indian  Navy on 17 Apr 14. He retired from the Navy on 31 May 16 after a  distinguished career of 42 years in uniform.  

On 25 Nov 16, Admiral RK Dhowan (Retd) took over as the fifth Chairman of the National Maritime Foundation (NMF), New Delhi, which is  India’s premier maritime think tank. The Foundation has benefited  immensely from his vast experience in the Indian Navy in general and in  specific, formulation of a wide range of maritime strategic publications. Such as IN Maritime Cooperation Roadmap (2014), IN Space Vision (2014),  Indian Navy in the 21st Century: Maritime Security for National Prosperity  (2014), IN Maritime Capability Perspective Plan (2015), IN Maritime  Infrastructure Perspective Plan (2015), IN Indigenisation Plan (2015),  Science and Technology Roadmap (2015), Ensuring Secure Seas: Indian  Maritime Security Strategy (2015), Indian Maritime Doctrine (updated  2015), Maritime Heritage of India (2016) and United Through Oceans:  International Fleet Review 2016. In his new role as both the practitioner  and promoter of broader maritime thinking and fresh strategic  perspectives, the Admiral has been lecturing extensively at all leading  military colleges, think-tanks and academia in India, as well as at various apex-level institutions abroad, articulating his views on how the maritime  strategic landscape has been changing in the world and the leading role  India as a resurgent maritime nation would play in the Indo-Pacific  region. Under his visionary articulation, the National Maritime Foundation  is presently embarked on the mission for the development of strategies  for the promotion and protection of India’s maritime interests, ranging  from development of ports, shipping and shipbuilding to island  development and renewable sources of ocean energy. In addition various  aspects of harnessing the ‘Blue Economy’ and their advocacy to all stake holders, both Governmental and Non-Governmental.

I first met the distinguished Admiral through our common friend, the vice chancellor of Sai U, Jamshed Bharucha, who informed me of his pivotal role in creating the Global Maritime Accord, an initiative the Trebuchet has joined. He has been a wonderful participant in my Sai U academic colloquia, and has been a wonderful mentor to my students. I greatly respect his extraordinary military career, and admire his intellect, and his expansive knowledge that extends far beyond the core expectations of a commander and strategic thinker into the interdisciplinary embrace of environmental security. He is a prescient, thoughtful person who has brought together tremendous cadre of Admiralty colleagues and environmentalists and others to address a critical concern, the governance and preservation of the oceans. 

Peter Mazoff

Peter Mazoff was a co-founder and President of Thinking Capital. A leading Canadian Fin tech which he grew to have 2 successful private equity exits. He also served as the CEO of Golo Inc a publicly traded  company focused on last mile delivery, Currently he is the Managing Director of Mitelman Properties Inc., a Montreal based family office. 

Peter has served on a number of corporate boards and continues to mentor and coach entrepreneurs on scaling up, leadership and management issues.

Peter received his Bachelor of Commerce (Hon. Economics and Finance) from McGill University (1996) and MBA (Magna Cum Laude) from Babson College (2001)

I have known

Chris Lydon

Christopher Lydon thinks of himself as the slow-reading child of a big family of Boston Irish autodidacts, and also as a sort of incurable Yale History major. In journalism, he is credited with the original podcast (2003), and known for his wide-screen, long-view conversations with leading lights in the arts, ideas, and politics -- over five decades, from many parts of the world, including India, Pakistan, Egypt, China, and West Africa. His political reporting began with the Boston Globe, covering Mayor Kevin White’s rescue of Boston politics in 1967, and then with the Washington bureau of the New York Times, covering presidential campaigns in the seasons of Nixon, McGovern, Carter, and Reagan. And then he'd tell you he learned almost everything he knows boning up for his public TV and radio interviews over the last 35 years from WGBH and WBUR. He writes:

"I celebrate Emerson's line in the Divinity School Address: 'We mark with light in the memory the few interviews we have had, in the dreary years of routine and of sin, with souls that made our souls wiser; that spoke what we thought; that told us what we knew; that gave us leave to be what we only were.' What I only am, it turns out, is a reader after all -- in love and in debt, especially to the Russian line from Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, and Chekhov to Nabokov; to the Victorians from Thackeray to George Eliot; to the American Transcendentalists from Emerson to William and Henry James, Whitman, Melville, and Wallace Stevens.” Next time round he wants to be a pianist.

Chris with myself and David Rubin

Chris Lydon has been the keeper of the conversation in Boston for 40-plus years, the journalist at large, and the interlocutor among the great minds in the liveliest big college town in America.  He is credited with the first podcast (with Dave Winer) in 2003; before that, he was a radio broadcaster with a continuous forum of the widest range of arts, ideas, and politics.  He’s our constant reader who also ran for the Boston mayor’s office on a pledge of major school reform.  Here’s how he sees himself, in a paragraph:  

Christopher Lydon thinks of himself as the slow-reading child of a big family of Boston Irish autodidacts and as a sort of incurable Yale History major. In journalism, he is credited with the original podcast (2003), and known for his wide-screen, long-view conversations with leading lights in the arts, ideas, and politics -- over five decades, from many parts of the world, including India, Pakistan, Egypt, China, and West Africa.  His political reporting began with the Boston Globe, covering Mayor Kevin White’s rescue of Boston politics in 1967, and then with the Washington Bureau of the New York Times, covering presidential campaigns in the seasons of Nixon, McGovern, Carter, and Reagan. And then he'd tell you he learned almost everything he knows in the course of boning up for his public TV and radio interviews over the last 40 years from WGBH and WBUR. 

I have known Chris as a colleague and friend for decades from perhaps our days together at National Public Radio-WBUR in Boston, where I was their foreign policy analyst.

To me, Chris is one of the most incisive brilliant interviewers and a polymath of extraordinary dimensions. I love the breadth and depth of his knowledge. He participated in several institute programs and symposia, always with credibility and wit. I remember one funny moment when he invited me together with Professor Henry Rosovsky to participate in one of his The Connection Hours on traditional versus experimental education with Chris not realizing we knew one another well.

After I explained what I was doing with the EPIIC program and immersive education, Chris asked Henry what he thought of what I was doing, and Henry replied, “Anything Sherman does is OK with me,” which left the great remainder of the hour with me as a bystander as Chris and Henry eruditely discussing the virtues of Latin and classical education. 

Chris and I are thinking about how we can collaborate to discuss issues of the day. For me, what is in the works now is involving Chris in a forum on Truth, stimulated by a mutual friend, and one of his Squash buddies, Ron Rubin.  

Paul Hohenberger

Paul Hohenberger is a dynamic and visionary leader, currently serving as the Director of Special Initiatives at TerraPraxis, a nonprofit organization dedicated to incubating scalable solutions for a sustainable planet and human prosperity. With a keen focus on addressing climate change, TerraPraxis aims to repower coal-fired power plants by replacing coal burners with non-carbon-emitting heat sources. Leveraging existing infrastructure, transmission lines, industry knowledge, and workforces, the organization is uniquely positioned to drive change at an unprecedented speed and scale, aiming to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

In his role as Director of Special Initiatives, Paul is entrusted with advancing TerraPraxis' philanthropic strategy and outreach. He plays a vital role in developing interest and securing program support for innovative and equitable solutions that have been overlooked in the decarbonization challenge. With his extensive experience, Paul has successfully cultivated relationships within the philanthropic community, garnering support for programs and priorities spanning nuclear engineering, global health, climate science/energy, and demographic and survey research.

Prior to joining TerraPraxis, Paul served as the Principal Gift Officer at the Pew Charitable Trusts, where he played a pivotal role in securing philanthropic support for a diverse range of programs. These initiatives encompassed areas such as religion, politics, policy, race and ethnicity, immigration, healthcare, and environmental and conservation science. He led fundraising efforts for the Pew Research Center's comprehensive survey on Asian Americans, contributing to a deeper understanding of this vital demographic.

Paul's commitment to philanthropy is reflected in his previous role as the Director of Development at the T.H. Chan Harvard School of Public Health. During his tenure, he actively fostered a philanthropic interest in global health and school priorities, successfully raising funds to establish the Harvard T.H. Chan School's India Research Centre in Mumbai, India.

Moreover, Paul made significant contributions as a Development Officer at the MIT School of Engineering. He focused on securing philanthropic support for the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, resulting in essential funding for professorships, fellowships, and departmental initiatives. Additionally, he provided leadership in identifying philanthropic needs to support MIT's Plasma Science and Fusion Center (PSFC).

Paul's educational background includes a bachelor’s degree in political science and history from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He remains actively engaged with his alma mater, serving as a member of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst Department of Political Science Advisory Board and as a former board member of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst Alumni Association. He has also pursued professional certificate programs at renowned institutions such as Harvard T.H. Chan School and MIT, further enhancing his expertise in policy, politics, and innovation in various sectors.

Growing up in Holyoke, Massachusetts, a town that has experienced economic decline for several decades, holds a deep personal significance for Paul. He treasures the memories of receiving a quality public education in a city that embraced economic and racial diversity, representing the true essence of the American melting pot. This transformative experience fueled his dedication to a career focused on effecting positive change and creating a just society. As part of his commitment to supporting Holyoke, Paul provides financial assistance to residents in need, enabling them to pursue studies in Political Science at the University of Massachusetts.

With his exceptional leadership, unwavering commitment to philanthropy, and relentless pursuit of transformative solutions, Paul Hohenberger emerges as a catalyst for meaningful change in the global fight against climate change. Through his work at TerraPraxis and his ongoing dedication to creating a sustainable future, Paul strives to ensure a prosperous and thriving planet for generations to come.

I first met Paul at an MIT screening of Oliver Stone’s Nuclear Now documentary, a subsequently at my home at the instigation of my wonderful alum Kristina. 

Paul and I developed a chemistry over some common roots in his background in Holyoke and my youth in the Queensbridge housing projects.

His eclectic background, breadth of knowledge, passion and intelligence are quickly evident. His quick grasp of technical details and ability to discern and describe complexity is impressive. 

Dennis Sullivan

Denis J. Sullivan (PhD, Political Science, University of Michigan) is a Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at Northeastern. Prof. Sullivan is the founding Director of BCARS, the Boston Consortium for Arab Region Studies, supported by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.  From 2020 through 2022, while on leave from Northeastern, Professor Sullivan joined Zayed University (Abu Dhabi & Dubai) to serve as Dean of the College of Humanities & Social Sciences (CHSS).

Sullivan is founding Director of the International Affairs Program, one of the most popular majors at Northeastern University. He also is the founding Director of the Dialogue of Civilizations program at Northeastern. Dialogues are faculty-led, intensive experiential learning programs (5-6 weeks in length). For over 25 years, Dr. Sullivan has led students and professionals on intensive study and professional development Dialogues to Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Turkey, Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Spain, Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia, Kosovo, and Greece.

Dr. Sullivan is the author of a number of books and dozens of journal articles, book chapters, policy briefs, and encyclopedia entries. Sullivan’s current research and policy focus is on forced migration and refugees, with particular attention to the Syrian refugee crisis and its impact on host societies, especially Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey as well as the Balkans.  

Sullivan has been a consultant to UNHCR, the World Bank, USAID, U.S. State Department, U.S. Department of Defense, Council on Foreign Relations, and academic institutions in Europe, the U.S., and the Middle East.

Dr. Sullivan has received and managed grants and awards from Fulbright-Hays, Rotary International, Center for Arabic Study Abroad (Egypt), American Research Center in Egypt, National Endowment for the Humanities, Fulbright Scholars Program, Social Science Research Council, Institute for International Education, U.S. Department of State, U.S. Institute of Peace, U.S. Department of Defense, and the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

I have long treasured my relationship with Denis whose knowledge is deep and whose passion for experimental, immersive education we both share.

I had the privilege of having him lead one of our Institutes research trips to Egypt.

Ray Matsumiya

Inspired by a mother from Hiroshima, Ray Matsumiya has devoted his professional career to unofficial diplomacy, cross-cultural exchange and peacebuilding. Over the past twenty years, he has designed and supervised dozens of programs for thousands of participants ranging from politicians, to civil society leaders, and high school students. These programs have been implemented in the US, Japan, Spain, and nine Middle Eastern/ North African countries in partnership with the US Department of State, UNESCO, the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and others.

His most recent project is the Oleander Initiative which gathers high-impact individuals from around the world to Hiroshima, Japan for life-changing programs, workshops, and study tours.  He is also a Senior Fellow at the War Prevention Initiative, where he works to enhance the effectiveness of Rotary International peacebuilding programs. 

Ray’s work has been featured in the New York Times, Boston Globe, PBS, El Pais, and NHK World. He has been an invited speaker at TEDx, the Massachusetts State House, the Dayton International Peace Museum, the US embassy of Tunis, and universities such as the Sloan School at M.I.T and the Fletcher School at Tufts University. He has also had pieces published in USA Today and Inkstick Media.

Ray received his Master’s degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and his BA with honors from Wesleyan University. He is the immediate past president of the Rotary Club of International Peace and is a certified mediator under M.G.L. ch.233 § 23C. Ray is fluent in English and proficient in Japanese and Levant Arabic.

I was introduced to Ray by Anne Marie Codur. He is an innovative dedicated peace activist who has also been involved in the University of the Middle East Project. At some point, he and I have promised each other a chess game. I will certainly lose.

Saeed Hosein

During my formative years, nothing captivated and stimulated my imagination quite like the art of painting. It soared above all other pursuits, occupying a central place within my being. The act of creating vivid imagery became an all-encompassing intellectual passion, diligently pursued throughout the various stages of my life's journey. I started my artistic education at Karaj fine art school for Diploma. Then I went to Tehran University, earning a bachelor's degree, and subsequently continued to deepen my knowledge by pursuing a master's degree at Tarbiat Modares University, specializing in the profound discipline of painting.

In more recent times, I have broadened the horizons of my artistic repertoire by delving into the realms of graphic design, illustration, and the captivating field of UI and UX design. This diversification has allowed me to expand my creative prowess and enrich my experiences.

In the summer of 2022, my beloved wife and I embarked on a significant life transition, leaving behind the vibrant city of Tehran to establish our new home in the splendid city of Boston. Presently, we reside in Boston, cherishing the opportunities and experiences that await us in this culturally rich and thriving environment.

With great anticipation, I eagerly look forward to forthcoming remarkable moments, such as the prospect of becoming acquainted with Mr. Sherman, our esteemed neighbor.

I met Saeed. a young Iranian artist by happy serendipity, in my neighborhood dog park.  He was walking his host's dog and I was out with Remi - who is responsible for many of my new friends!! We talk politics quite a bit. He unequivocally belongs to the "light side".

Saeed's wife, Mariam, is a researcher on ovarian cancer at MGH. They will be here in Boston for several years. 

I am impressed by Saeed's decency and sensibilities, and I appreciate his artistic talent. His work can be found on his website.

Here is work that Saeed recently presented to the 2023 Boston Printmakers Biennial:

Let the Curses of Hell Rain Down Upon You

Throughout history, a pattern has repeated itself in hierarchical societies where those in power become entangled in the affairs of their lovers and wives while disregarding the needs of the lower class they govern. This behavior ultimately distances the ruler from their own society and blinds them to the oppression they inflict on the people. As a result, the ruling apparatus becomes cursed by the grief-stricken mothers who have lost loved ones due to the inhumane actions of those in power. This curse spreads like wildfire, engulfing the entire governing apparatus and leading to its eventual dissolution.

I will end my discussion with a poem by Ahmed Shamlu, a contemporary Iranian poet.

They passed by, broken and defeated,

Ashamed of their tuneless songs.

The alleys fell silent,

Their footsteps drowned out by the sound of defeat.

The soldiers passed by, broken and defeated,

Weary and desolate on their horses.

Their colorless banners of pride

Tumbled down upon their spears.

What good is your pride in the heavens

When every cursed speck of dust on your path

Curses your name?

What good is your garden and its trees

When you spoke with sorrow to the cypress?

Wherever you set foot,

Plants wither and die.

For you never believed in the sanctity of earth and water.

Our destiny was sung

In the skeptical songs of your soldiers

Returning from the conquest of the Rus castle.

Let the curses of hell rain down upon you,

For the black-clad mothers,

Bearers of the most beautiful children of sun and wind,

Still raise their heads from the prayer mats.

Sanjoy Hazarika

Sanjoy Hazarika is the international director of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative. Earlier, he was Director of the Centre for Northeast Studies and Policy Research at Jamia Millia Islamia. is the international director of the HOPE He is an award-winning journalist, formerly with the New York Times. His books include Strangers No More: New Narratives from India’s Northeast, Bhopal: The Lessons of a Tragedy, and Strangers of the Mist: Tales of War and Peace from India’s Northeast. As a columnist and specialist commentator on the Northeast and its neighboring regions, Hazarika has written and published extensively on the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, the Eastern Himalaya, and freedom fighters from the Northeast. He is the founder and managing trustee of C-NES, which has pioneered the work of boat clinics on the Brahmaputra River.

Sanjoy is an honorary research professor at CPR and holds the Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlew Chair at Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, where he also directs the Centre for North East Studies and Policy Research. He has been a member of various academic organizations and official committees, including the Justice Jeevan Reddy Committee to Review AFSPA, the Society of Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, Shimla, and the North East India Studies Programme at Jawaharlal Nehru University. Hazarika has also worked as a newspaper correspondent, columnist, and documentary filmmaker.

I first met Sanjoy when he was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard. He combined a distinguished career in academia, journalism, and political activism in the field of human rights, and Indian civil-military affairs. We called one another “co-conspirators” and I was honored to award him and Institute’s Dr. Jean Mayer Global Citizen award.

Sanjoy has been a friend for decades. He is one of the most perceptive and thoughtful people that I know, whose career has transcended many disciplines and activism. He introduced me to Professor Myron Weiner at MIT, a foremost expert in the field of Comparative Politics, which I have a deep respect for, and has unfortunately been sidelined to great negative consequences in the field of policy, particularly when regional expertise is needed desperately to inform decision-makers. This is something I learned early on as a student when I realized at my university Johns Hopkins that Owen Lattimore had been exiled from even faculty dining rooms, during the red scare. Lattimore’s knowledge of Vietnam was ignored, resulting in catastrophic intervention, which we saw again in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

Sanjoy and I had many co-conversations about this, and he participated in numerous EPIIC and Institute Programs. Two noteworthy examples that spoke to the unusual nature of what he had to offer were taking our students to work on hospital ships in the upper reaches of the Brahmaputra River, and hosting my Chinese students with his Indian students in Dehli. 

Sanjoy most recently lectured for me at Sai University and advises my students. 

Maia Majumder

Dr. Maimuna (Maia) Majumder is a member of the ladder-rank faculty in the Computational Health Informatics Program (CHIP) at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital and a recent graduate of the Engineering Systems program at MIT’s Institute for Data, Systems, and Society (IDSS). In between her graduate studies and her current position at CHIP, Maia spent a year at the Health Policy Data Science lab at Harvard Medical School’s Health Care Policy department as a postdoctoral fellow. During her masters and doctoral studies at MIT, she was funded through a graduate fellowship at HealthMap computational epidemiology group. Prior to Maia’s arrival at MIT, she earned a Bachelors of Science in Engineering Science (with a concentration in Civil and Environmental Engineering) and a Masters of Public Health in Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Tufts University. While at Tufts, Maia was a field researcher with the International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B), where she worked with clinic patients (and their data) to learn how to better tell their stories. Her current research interests involve artificial intelligence and machine learning approaches in the context of public health, with a focus on infectious disease surveillance using digital disease data (e.g., search trends; news and social media). She also enjoys exploring novel techniques for data procurement, writing about data for the general public, and creating meaningful data visualizations. Since January 2020, she and her team have been actively responding to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and she is considered a leading expert in the epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2.

This link will provide everyone with the manner in which I adore and admire Maia, a brilliant student of mine for five years, and an extraordinary researcher/mentor (it will also be one of the few occasions you’ll ever see me in a Tuxedo).

This video is a distinct vivid memory for me, as I was asked to present and toast Maia at her wedding by my good friend and Maia’s father, Shafiqul Islam.

As I have indicated in this video, the most distinctive attributes of Maia are her warmth, integrity, and compassion. Moderna and frankly, the world, should e thankful for her contributions to the anti-covid vaccines.

Helen Zhang

Helen Zhang is currently a Master of Science candidate at the University of Oxford studying Clinical and Therapeutic Neuroscience. Her research focus is on utilising transcranial magnetic stimulation to probe the neurological underpinnings of theta-gamma tACS in the motor cortex. She received her Bachelors in Science from Brown University in 2022, studying Biology with a focus in Biotechnology and Physiology. Her Honors Thesis focused on developing monoclonal antibodies as a treatment for P. falciparum malaria.

Helen resonates with the iden=ty of a global citizen as she comes from a multicultural background. She was born in Vancouver, Canada to first-generation immigrants, moving back to her parents’ hometown of Shanghai, China at the age of six. She studied in Shanghai until her high school graduation, existing in a metropolitan world that blended her traditional Chinese family and heritage with values from her international school education. Helen was heavily involved in global leadership and international affairs in many different avenues of her life. She was part of the leadership team at Huge Grace Orphanage, starting a dental program that provided free fluoride treatments to the children that resided there. She was also involved in Model United Nations for 16 years of her life, culminating in her election as Secretary-General for Brown University Simulation of the United Nations, one of the largest and most prestigious conferences in the global high school circuit. At Brown, Helen was also involved in Global Brigades, volunteering over 600+ hours to spearhead medical brigades to Tegucigalpa, Honduras that provided free consultations and medication to local villages. Lastly, Helen held the Lead Coordinator role for Brown’s Women in Science and Engineering club, promoting female empowerment in male dominated fields and creating networks of mentorship and support for professional development in the scientific fields.

Working in Rhode Island Hospital’s Emergency Department during COVID solidified Helen’s desire to enter medicine. Her experiences interacting with a diverse patient population sparked a passion to emphasize the importance of intersectionality and the social determinants of health when interacting with patients. She hopes to eventually work within the public health system to create educational curriculums and residency trainings that specifically spotlight how social and cultural experiences impact one’s perception and interactions with the medical system, with a belief that re-emphasizing this human connection will strengthen physician- patient relationships and immensely improve quality of care.

Helen has plans to move back to the States in September 2023 and is eager to continue her educational journey to medical school. She is excited to create interdisciplinary connections at the Trebuchet that will strengthen her holistic outlooks to inform her role as a future physician.

Léo Stern

After a career as a saxophone soloist and orchestra conductor, I recently completed a master's degree in international business and diplomacy in Paris. Here’s a brief recap of how I connected the dots. 

I am extremely grateful for what music instilled in me. The value of mentorship, of trust and collaboration, the beauty of cultural inclusion and the pursuit of harmony are pillars I have carried within me ever since.

In this regard, Sherman’s work and community resonated deeply with me. I have the firm intention to push myself and others to do their best, and if I can touch one soul with half the warmth and care some people have had for me along the way, I’ll have much to be proud of.

I started playing the saxophone in a rock band when I was 8 years old and entered the conservatory aged 13. Music made me evolve early in diversity and showed me what it takes to bring heterogeneity into symbiosis. There, I gained a better grasp on the notion of differences – cultural, social, philosophical, physical. I also realized that harmony is a process, as opposed to a static state. It is a joint pursuit based on a shared intention. 

My time as an orchestra conductor was fundamental in my evolution. It was during my life in Vienna that I had my first contact with this profession. At that time, my professor and friend Theodor Guschlbauer challenged me in remarkable ways. Theodor was born in Austria in 1939 and absorbed the entire Viennese musical heritage and savoir-faire/know-how. One of the few students of Herbert von Karajan, Theodor showed me what true craftsmanship and dedication to art is. He played a fundamental role in pushing me to seek more accountability in everything I did. At that time, I created my own orchestra, which convinced me even further of how powerful human bonds can be. While music developed me in the ways described above, I also gradually realized that I had undernourished/neglected certain aspects of myself. 

While still being a conductor, I educated myself on subjects that always fascinated me. I took online classes and in person courses – while making my way into schools I was not officially affiliated with – and devoured books. This adventure led me to enter a master’s degree in international business and diplomacy in Paris. 

The program was excellent at combining finance and economics with international relations, topics I am equally fascinated by. It was an ideal blend of my aspiration to seek cultural diversity and my desire to create, be it a business, an institution, etc. 

Since the beginning of my master’s degree, I have been working for the France committee of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC), chaired by Pascal Lamy, former director of the World Trade Organization. The PECC aims to bring together diplomats, entrepreneurs and researchers to foster economic cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. I assist the Secretary General in defining the overall committee’s strategy. I also organize conferences - e.g., on the blue economy, sustainable tourism, IT supply chain restructuring, deep-sea mining - and provide financial and geopolitical analysis that feed into high stake negotiations.

More recently, I have started work as a consultant at Volentia, a strategy consulting firm that tackles topics as diverse as geopolitics, business, and public affairs. Shifting between these subjects is a challenge I enjoy a lot.

Personally and professionally, I am intrigued to understand how things and people work, and why. Juggling multiple perspectives simultaneously, I like to imagine how to enhance structures and systems.        

I want to thank Sandenna McMaster, my fiancée, for introducing me to Sherman. Her insights as to how naturally we would bond proved to be true beyond any expectations.

As noted, I met Léo via his wonderful fiancé, Sandenna, who has been a wonderful Trebuchet team member. My initial conversation with Léo extended for nearly three hours. He is intelligent, intriguing, talented, and as thoughtful and compelling a young man I have met in many years. An original composition by Léo, Japanese Wind, can be found here.  His video is accompanied by photos taken by Léo on his ascent of Mount Fuji. 

Mauricio Artiñano

Mauricio Artiñano graduated summa cum laude from Tufts University in 2006, with a major in International Relations, and has a Masters in Public Policy from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs.  At Tufts, he was actively involved with the Institute for Global Leadership, the Tisch College of Civic Life, the International Club, and the International Relations Program (as co-founder of the Director's Leadership Council). 

As recipient of the Wendell Phillips Memorial Award, he was the Class of 2006 Baccalaureate speaker at graduation, when he spoke about the various levels of impact that one can have when trying to change the world, and about how love is the most revolutionary and impactful force to do so. 

Mauricio has spent most of his career with the United Nations. From 2008 to 2009, he served as a diplomat for Costa Rica during the country's two-year term on the UN Security Council. Following his Masters degree in public policy from Princeton University, he was served in the UN peace operations in South Sudan (UNMISS), Somalia (UNSOM) and for seven years with the special political mission in Colombia supporting the peace process between the former FARC-EP guerrilla group and the Colombian state. Among his various accomplishments with the Mission in Colombia, Mauricio designed the mission's first youth engagement strategy, created a network to support former combatants' reintegration projects related to tourism, and led an innovative project to train former combatants and community members as whitewater rafting guides (Rafting for Peace).

 Following his HIV+ diagnosis in 2015, Mauricio has also been active in HIV/AIDS activism, including founding two initiatives for HIV awareness and anti-discrimination, in Colombia and Costa Rica.

Mau was one of the more significant human and intellectual members of  my EPIIC and Institute years - and subsequently, unsurprisingly, one of the most caring, empathetic and beloved alumni of our many ensuing years.

While enrolled in the EPIIC 2003-04 colloquium, then sophomore Mauricio Artinano explored  the idea of bringing together the people who had been involved in the Central American peace process to look at lessons learned 20 years later. They were advised by INSPIRE practitioner-in-residence and IGL Executive Advisory Board Member, Timothy Philips the cofounder of the Project on Justice in Times of Transition (the founding of which was inspired by the Institute’s EPIIC program in 1991), 

Two years later, then a senior, with Mau's and others, including Sebatian Chaskel, Pedro Echavarria, Cynthia Medina, Andrea Petersen, and Molly Runyon, unstinting effort, that idea came to amazing fruition. The conference, “Lessons Learned from Regional Peace-Building: The Experience of the Central American Peace Process,” was held in March at Spain's Toledo Center for Peace 

The students had traveled through Central America over a summer to interview some of the main protagonists in the Central American peace process of the late 80s and early 90s in preparation for the conference. The students used their research, both bibliographical and interviews, to craft and structure the agenda and discussion questions for the conference. The student group also worked on the logistics, planning and organization of the summit. More than 40 distinguished individuals who participated in the peace process -- including three former heads of state, formers guerillas, and former ministers of defense -- were in attendance at the conference, which generated thoughtful and productive discussions on the future of Central America and on the lessons that Central America’s peace-building experience can provide for the international community. 

The remarkable participants included: 

Vinicio Cerezo Arévalo, former President of Guatemala (1986 – 1991); 

Rodrigo Madrigal Nieto, former Foreign Minister of Costa Rica under former President Arias; 

General Joaquín Cuadra Lacayo, former Commander in Chief of the Nicaraguan Army; 

Joaquín Villalobos, former El Salvadoran FMLN comandante; 

José María Figueres, former President of Costa Rica; 

Pierre Schori, member of the Sanford Commission on Central America; 

Sir Marrack Goulding, former UN Under Secretary-general for Peacekeeping (1986 – 1993) and Under Secretary-General for Political Affairs (1993 – 1997); 

Javier Pérez de Cuellar, former Secretary-General of the United Nations; 

Oscar Santamaría, former El Salvadoran government negotiator and former 28 Secretary-General of the Central American Integration System (SICA)

Of his experience with EPIIC, Mauricio told the Tufts Journal that it was “the most challenging and rewarding academic experience of my life.” Recognized for this conference, along with his overall excellence in academics, Mauricio was named to the USA Today All-Academic First Team.

But far beyond his academic prowess, whether taking on Michael Hardt's challenging work, or challenging his EPIIC symposium program committee, what remains with me most, is Mau's deep passionate concern for humanity, his emotional intelligence and maturity, demonstrated in his galvanizing reaction to one of the most tragic incidents of my life at director of the Institute, the passing of a beloved student, his classmate Bory Damyanova.  LINK

Mau, a young man of personal courage and conviction, had early on understood that EPIIC's incontrovertible strength and value was as a deep connective intellectual and caring human community. He summoned his peers even prior to Bory's accident, to mount a supporting  'Revolution of Love." 

It stimulated a powerful rush to excel, to challenge one another to be the best each of us, and collectively we could be, and to support one another in meeting the rigors we demanded of a leadership challenge, that often mystified and perplexed other faculty and students,  who at times cynically understood us a cult. 

Together his classmates created the Bory Damyanova Award.  I have tried to honor Bory, and assuredly Mau, and Bory's other friends, this way within Trebuchet. https://www.the-trebuchet.org/ibo

Anya Parks

Anya Parks is a Ph.D. student studying the evolution of social communication in dogs and humans at George Washington University. She has a specific interest in the cognitive requirements for language, joint attention, teaching, and imitation learning. Anya explores these questions using interdisciplinary approaches that combine ecology and developmental, comparative psychology. 

Her favorite part of her work is helping her students. As an early career researcher, she is currently developing skills in R and Python coding languages, in addition to her extensive background in evolutionary, and behavioral ecology. She also has experience in website design and copywriting. In her free time, you’ll find her running, drawing, reading, or working with her furry friend, Stella.

I actually owe this new friendship to Remi, who first encountered Stella, Anya’s pup, in our Coolidge Park dog run. Remi is responsible for many lovely conversations with Anya, whose intelligence, warmth, and always fascinating conversations about human-dog relationships and dog-dog relationships reminded me of my encounters decades ago with Professor Michael Fox at Washington University St. Louis, an expert in behavioral and developmental animal studies. I reached out to him as the author of Understanding Your Dog, when I spent several wonderful years working with Bianca, my Samoyed rescue dog. 

Daniel Sonder

Daniel is married to Fabiana Sonder, an entrepreneur in the healthy food industry in Brazil. They live in HK with their 3 kids, Gabriela (15, volleyball), Andre (13, basketball) and Alice (9, gymnastics). The family moved to Hong Kong in 2022, when Daniel joined the Hong Kong Exchange as Chief Strategy Officer. This followed a nine year period at B3 (Brazilian Stock and Futures Exchange), where he was CFO and Investor Relations Officer. He joined B3 in 2013, and, in addition to his role as CFO, Daniel was responsible for overseeing its corporate philanthropy efforts. Previously, Daniel worked for seven years at Credit Suisse in Brazil, where his last position was as managing director in their asset management division. He has also worked for the Brazilian Development Bank and the Brazilian government in infrastructure finance and state-owned companies management. Daniel started his career at J.P.Morgan in 1999. He holds a bachelor's degree in Economics and International Relations from Tufts University as well as a master's degree in International Relations from Tufts University's Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. As a sophomore at Tufts, Daniel was part of EPIIC 95/96 (Religion, Politics and Society), and later (2021) joined the IGL Advisory Board.

Daniel was a superb student in EPIIC. His clarity of thinking and intelligence was self-evident. Obviously not only in my class, but across the board in his academic career, to enter the Fletcher 5 year program was a distinct honor afforded to only two students a year. 

What was particularly delightful about him was his affect, which was at once modest and confident. Daniel’s initiative and competence was evident in his taking on one of the more responsible committees in our efforts, the Inquiry Secondary School Simulation Program, which hosted hundreds of highschool students who were prepared for a dynamic interaction over the course of three days.

His characteristic smile was always a reassuring one to his peers, from whom he easily won great respect. I gave Daniel the assignment to liaison with a very controversial speaker of that year, Leonardo Boff, the Brazilian liberation theologian who had been silenced by the Vatican for his criticism of the Catholic church. It was an obvious choice given both their Brazilian backgrounds, but really because I knew I could trust Daniel thoroughly. The campus was embroiled in the decision to bring Leonardo, which was endorsed by the University Chaplain Scotty McLennan. 

Daniel sat on the board of advisors at IGL and in April 2023 was invited to join the board of trustees of the Fletcher School by its chair and good friend, Leslie Puth.