Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire agreement, reflections, calls to action
In a major turn of events, Israel and Hamas has reached a ceasefire agreement. In an early news segment, Al Jazeera interviews Mouin Rabbani, non-resident Fellow at the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies. A graduate of Tufts University and Georgetown University's Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, Rabbani has published, presented and commented widely on Middle East issues, including for most major print, television and digital media.
January 16, 2025: Gazan poet Mosab Abu Toha wrote a piece back in September 2024 that Etan Nechin says amid the ceasefire “demands more than reflection, it demands a reckoning with Gaza's destruction.” More on this here.
January 17, 2025: A recent article by Ussama Makdisiprovides revisits “Victims of the Victims,” Edward Said’s ethical humanism in the context of the Gaza genocide.
Much more will be added as this progresses.
Moneshia zu Eltz
Moneshia is passionate believer in our latent power to bring more kindness and justice into the world as the "more" and "something better" that we are desined for. She thrives in bringing together and building communities of individuals to remove obstacles, address complex problems and recognize spiritual truths as the means to achieve our full societal potential across the socio-economic spectrum. A New Yorker of Indian heritage, she leads by example to execute against winning strategies for business and society for the benefit of all stakeholders, leveraging her experience in M&A, strategy, value creation, mentorship, leadership and inclusion.
A graduate from Smith College in Economics and Humanities, Moneshia was a Management Consultant at Monitor/Deloitte in the Forestry/Non profit, Telecommunications, Healthcare and Banking sectors across Latin America, Africa, Japan and India before attending Wharton for her MBA. Thereafter, Moneshia played a pivotal role as Director of Corporate Development at IBM, evolving across 60 transactions across the globe how employees and leadership development could be made instrumental in supporting higher business performance. She established industry best practices for incoming CEOs and integration executives for long term sustainable growth and monitored performance and outcomes across the portfolio.
In 2015 she moved to Europe as the Vice President of Collaboration & Strategic growth for Philips in Amsterdam, infusing her ability to integrate technology into healthcare to make it more efficient, personalized and profitable with digital and cloud, working across start ups, and the Pharma and Medical Device industries.
In 2018 Moneshia moved further in the direction of human development, taking on roles that empowered a business as a force for good mind-set among peers and collaborators. As interim CEO of Volunteer Vision, a mentoring platform for career readiness and leadership, she propogated an expanded notion of self leadership and learning by doing that was embraced by like minded networks such as NOW Partners, the Bahai international Community and the BMW Foundation Responsible Leaders.
She continues to advise investors and CEOs in healthcare, technology and sustainability on fundraising and M&A as companies evolve in their journeys to optimize their mission, while hosting retreats and colloquiums for professionals from all backgrounds to leverage business acumen and compassion into how we can collaborate for a better tomorrow. She established an INSEAD alumni Business as a Force for Good chapter in Germany that serves 3000 business professionals, and developed a pedagogy of leadership learning experiences that includes group coaching on life design for women leaders, generational gatherings on regenerative processes, and mentorship to further the work of social entrepreneurs (Tallberg Foundation) and Finance (Global Alliance for Banking with Values). Her programs range from tree planting in biogas, organic and regenerative farms to spiritual study/meditation and yoga in the hills of Tuscany, Italy under the themes of reducing food waste to AI/tech for good.
Moneshia is honored to serve the Consivero community and grateful to be on this journey together.
Taylor Bates
Taylor is a 2012 Tufts graduate in political science, where he participated in IGL programs including Synaptic Scholars and ALLIES research trips in Ukraine and Chile. After graduating from Harvard Law School, Taylor spent six years as an associate at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, where he advised clients on antitrust, IP litigation, securities, and white-collar investigations. Some of his notable representations include Nissan in U.S. securities matters after the arrest of former CEO Carlos Ghosn, Medytox in litigation over theft of botulinum toxin trade secrets, T-Mobile during its merger with Sprint, and Allied Universal in several acquisitions of security guard firms.
In 2021, Taylor joined the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Consumer Protection in the Division of Enforcement. As an enforcement lawyer, Taylor investigates and litigates violations of FTC orders and trade regulations. Some of his notable matters include contempt proceedings in FTC v. Mytel International et al. and FTC v. Harris Originals of NY et al. His practice also covers alleged deceptive practices in lending, dietary supplements, personal protective equipment, data privacy, and digital subscriptions.
Taylor currently lives in Washington, D.C. with his fiancee Becks. In his spare time, Taylor enjoys bouldering, skiing, and lifting. His everyday joys are his espresso machine and cookbook collection, and he is always happy to share a homemade cortado or a home-cooked meal with friends.
Tayler was an exemplary student and Synaptic Scholar. All of his activities were conducted in a very deliberate and responsible manner, something critical given the nature of the trips he took, especially to Chile, working on a precedent-setting Human Rights curriculum for the Carabineros under the tutelage of Judge Juan Guzmán Tapia who persecuted Augusto Pinochet. He showed an unusual ability to be highly efficient and effective. It was no surprise to me when I learned that he was a boulderer. A warm-hearted man, greatly respected by his colleages, who learned to be very careful of his very wry humor, well received by his peers. He was passionate about everything he seemed to do and did well. His pursuit of justice and accountability is highly regarded by me.
Convisero mentor Jehane Sedky leads FXB Center at Harvard University
Jehane Sedky recently joined Harvard University’s FXB Center for Health and Human Rights as its new Executive Director. Jehane is a seasoned senior executive with an excellent record in leadership roles, providing strategic guidance and support to influential leaders such as former US President Bill Clinton, former UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy and the late Harvard University Professor Dr. Paul Farmer. Her expertise spans a wide spectrum of responsibilities, including leading major initiatives, strategic program development for social impact, fundraising, media, and communications. Renowned for exceptional leadership and people management skills, Ms. Sedky excels in unifying teams toward common goals.
The work of health and human rights is imperative, especially as we see here the Lancet Study that discovered official Gaza death toll is estimated to be a 41% undercount.
Aligning Environmental Concerns across Convisero mentors including
Across the Convisero mentors network are individuals and collaborations that are working on the critical concern of the environment.
Recently, Duncard Pickard, was featured in the Vineyard Gazette about his latest project at work, “proving that greenhouse gases are a pollutant and that the countries with the highest carbon emissions have a legal obligation to curb their effects.” He’s also featured in Tufts NOW on this case and feels a special connection to small islands seeing parallels between his hometown of Martha’s Vineyard and their vulnerability to climate change.
Similarly, the People’s Tribunal for Environmental Justice formed out of a summer Fletcher project Julia Shufro completed for her graduate program. This group included Boaz Wachtel, Rachel Svetanoff, and Peter Droege. Peter, together with India's remarkable Admiral Dhowan, is creating in partnership with The Trebuchet the Global Maritime Accord Academy, whose third session took place recently.
Leo Stern works 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. He assists 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.
Gregg Nakano has recently created an extraordinary project in the region concern, the KASL Climate Research Station - Ebadon. Gregg was the ramrod of the Institute's ALLIES civil - military program, whose seeds under Gregg's initiative grew into Pacific ALLIES. Now as part of Pacific ALLIES there is the KASL Kwajalein Atoll Sustainability Laboratory.
Another great alum, Daniel Mandell, who until recently served in the important post of chief Legal counsel to the President of Vanuatu. After he completes his time in Palau, Daniel will be a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellow in Tokyo, Japan, where he will research ways for the U.S./Japan/Australia trilateral relationship to work together on development projects in the Pacific region.
ISYP co-hosts virtual event with VCDNP and IAI: Non-Proliferation for Young Professionals
I serve as an external advisor to ISYP whose efforts are closely related to my own in nuclear nonproliferation and youth involvement. Convisero mentors Talia Weiss, Maria Udolova, and soon to be Talia Wilcox are exemplary leaders in this space. Below is a demonstrative example of ISYP in action.
Left to right: Sanaa Alvira, Leadership Team Member at International Student/Young Pugwash, and Federica Dall’Arche, Senior Research Associate at the VCDNP
On 25 October 2024, the Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation (VCDNP), the Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI), and International Student/Young Pugwash (ISYP) held the second edition of the “Engagement Opportunities in Arms Control, Disarmament, and Non-Proliferation for Young Professionals and Students” event. The virtual meeting provided key insights and hands-on advice on youth engagement and careers in the arms control, disarmament, and non-proliferation space, and was attended by over 100 students and young professionals.
Brian Abrams
Brian T. Abrams is the founder of B Ventures Group, an innovative new investment fund applying venture capital toward global peacebuilding and conflict resolution. Before that, he managed over $1 billion in assets, saw nearly 10,000 startups, sat on over 15 boards of directors, and generated top-tier returns. All of that taught him that a human-centric approach to investment is not only the right way but also the best way. Venture capital should be a financial means to a human end, not the other way around.
Convisero Mentor Lucy Kaplansky Live at BOMBYX Center for Arts & Equity
On A Winter's Night ft. Cliff Eberhardt, John Gorka, Lucy Kaplansky, Patty Larkin
Presenting the Reunion Tour of “On A Winter’s Night” from veteran singer- songwriters that remain among the brightest stars of the singer/songwriter movement for the past three decades. In 1994 Christine Lavin gathered them together, along with folk and Americana artists to showcase music of the Winter Season on the now-classic On A Winter’s Night CD, followed by several years of touring collaborations. These artists have released dozens of recordings and toured steadily through the decades, with fond memories of their touring days together. The winter season is again celebrated by these unique and popular performers, back together by popular demand.
Christina Goldbaum's latest: Syria, Lebanon, and more
Recent articles, videos and podcasts from on the ground in some of the most fragile places in the world by wonderful alum and Convisero mentor Christina Goldbaum.
Convisero mentors meet at J-Street event on Palestinian and Israeli attitudes post-October 7th
Sherman left, Kahil Shikaki (Founding Senior Fellow of Brandeis Crown Center for Middle East Studies) middle, and Convisero mentor Padraig O'Malley right
J-Street recently hosted an event on Palestinian and Israeli attitudes post-October 7th. Their values hold the belief that only a negotiated resolution agreed to by Israelis and Palestinians can meet the legitimate needs and national aspirations of both peoples.
Padraig left, Sherman middle, and Dahlia Scheindlin (fellow at Century International, based in Tel Aviv)
Working in the American political system, in the Jewish community and with others with whom J-Street shares core values, they advocate for diplomacy-first American leadership and policies that advance justice, equality, peace, and democracy in Israel, in the wider region and in the United States as well.
Convisero mentor Ted Kurland convening: Politics War Room with James Carville and Al Hunt
This live show was held on November 3, 2024. A note of acknowledgement to Convisero mentor Ted Kurland who convened this event.
Al Hunt, Dorris Kerns Goodwin, and James Carville
Political strategist James Carville and revered journalist Al Hunt convenes a war room each week to discuss the “battle for the soul of the nation!”
This episode centered on the U.S. presidential election, the significance of polling data, and the implications for democracy. The speakers reflected on the qualities of effective leadership, drawing parallels between historical figures like Lincoln and Roosevelt, and emphasized the importance of character in leadership, among other seminal topics.
Their podcast featured here includes my question which can be found on minute 1:20:31.
International Court of Justice Proceedings in The Hague by Columbia Prof. James Hansen
The International Court of Justice is hearing from scores of nations before it issues an advisory opinion on the "Obligations of States in Respect of Climate Change." The key issue is whether international law requires nations to phase out production, distribution and use of fossil fuels and otherwise pay damages to the most vulnerable and hardest-hit of nations.
The other panelists are:
Eelco Rohling, Professor of Ocean and Climate Change at the Earth Sciences Department at Utrecht University.
Appy Sluijs, Professor of Paleo-oceanography at the Earth Sciences Department at Utrecht University.
Ingrid Robeyns, Professor of Ethics of Institutions at the Ethics Institute of Utrecht University.
Dan Galpern, General Counsel of Climate Protection and Restoration Initiative, and my long-time legal and policy adviser. [Dan's backgrounder on the proceedings is here.]
Convisero mentor Sherif Mansour: "Investigating Gaza" at Source!
Convisero mentor Sherif Mansour hosts a panel at Source! Center for Investigative Journalism Symposium. Seen here is the link to his event.
Investigating Gaza: Given the difficulties of getting reporters into Gaza, journalists have been using remote methods – like AI and open-source technology – to find out what is going on there. Two reporters talk about the difficulties and opportunities of these methods, and the battle to uncover the truth.
Featuring: Krishna Karra and Abu Bakr Bashir
Chair: Sherif Mansour
Remembering President Jimmy Carter: National Security Archive
From Convisero mentor Tom Blanton’s National Security Archive. More can be found at the National Security Archive here.
The late President Jimmy Carter, contrary to the views of some critics, was typically focused, knowledgeable, and strong-willed on matters of foreign policy, often responding sharply to attempts by his most senior aides to bend his thinking, according to a review of the voluminous documentary record on Carter’s presidency.
A case in point is Carter’s relationship with his national security advisor, Zbigniew Brzezinski. Every week, Brzezinski sent the president a memo intended to combine both factual reporting and personal observations on global affairs. Carter often wrote brief marginal notes on those memos in reply, which in retrospect open a window into his own thinking about the world and approaches to foreign policy.
A revealing example is Brzezinski’s April 21, 1978, “NSC Weekly Report,” an 8-page memo that immediately launches into a page-and-a-half appeal to modify and toughen administration foreign policy by doing more than just “negotiating agreements and devising formulas.” What was missing in the U.S. approach, Brzezinski wrote, was a hardnosed effort to “influence attitudes and to shape political events.” Sounding for all the world like his famously realpolitik predecessor, Henry Kissinger, Brzezinski called for a slew of other tactics, including an occasional “demonstration of force ... to infuse fear;” “saying publicly one thing and quietly negotiating something else;” “letting problems fester until they are ripe for action;” and using “black propaganda to stimulate difficulties for our proponents.” “The world,” he ended, “is just too complicated and turbulent to be handled effectively by negotiating ‘contracts’ while neglecting the need also to manipulate, to influence and to compel.”
Carter’s handwritten replies to most of these ideas are no more than a few words but they are graphic in conveying the president’s disapproval and even sarcasm regarding Brzezinski’s ideas. Next to the mention of force, he writes “Like Malaguez?” – a reference to a forcible rescue operation of a merchant ship (the Mayaguez) off Cambodia in 1975 that ended disastrously. Next to “saying publicly one thing,” he scribbles “Lying?” – an allusion to his core campaign pledge to reject the public dishonesty of the Nixon/Kissinger years and never to lie to the American people. In other places, he simply underlines the passage and puts a question mark in the margin. Finally, reacting to Brzezinski’s statement that he plans to develop some of these ideas further for the president, Carter writes: “You’ll be wasting your time.”
Wrap-up of 2024 - Best of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists
Warm regards from the ISYP Advisory Board, on which I serve.
Calculated retreat of the Great Aletsch Glacier during the 21st century. (Figure modified from Jouvet and Huss, 2019). This figure is from an article featured as a 2024 Bulletin magazine highlight, "The Alps’ iconic glaciers are melting, but there’s still time to save (most of) the biggest."
Reposted from the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists:
The best of the Bulletin's bimonthly magazine, 2024
By Dan Drollette Jr
Melting glaciers, demagogues, climate crises, fusion bombs, breadfruit trees, and the Greta Thunberg of AI. Each of these subjects was at the center of articles from the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists' bimonthly magazine in 2024, and each of those articles was among our best magazine articles of the year. Read more, and stay tuned for highlights in upcoming newsletters.
We cannot afford another lost year for food and climate action
By Emile Frisson
Last year, organizers of the annual UN climate negotiations finally got around to dealing with agriculture as a source of carbon, using the occasion to unveil a so-called "roadmap" for bringing the world's food production into line with global climate goals. But has the UN gone far enough? Read more from this highlighted 2024 magazine piece.
BEST OF 2024
Emerging experts of 2024: Fresh thinking about the military (and TikTok)
A naval research analyst. A journalist covering arts and culture. A PhD candidate in international studies. A former Navy helicopter pilot turned military professor. And a master's student in management science and engineering. These were among the emerging experts the Bulletin published in 2024.
Bulletin editor Dawn Stover collected 2024 highlights from our "Voices of Tomorrow" section. Selections are below, and check out the article for more on killer robots and nuclear petting zoos.
Who needs a government ban? TikTok users are already defending themselves
By Hali Mecklin
TikTok will be banned in the United States as of January 19th, unless its Chinese owner sells the platform to an American company—or the Supreme Court (which will hear oral arguments on the case on the 10th) rules that the ban passed by Congress violates the First Amendment. Most users aren't worried about the alleged national security threat, but some are quitting TikTok for a different reason. Read more.
Escalating to de-escalate with nuclear weapons: Research shows it's a particularly bad idea
By Daniel R. Post
Many strategists believe that escalating a conflict—by threatening the "limited" use of nuclear weapons, for example—may be an effective way to compel an adversary to back off. The author's research, however, strongly suggests that escalating a nuclear conflict is much more likely to provoke an adversary into continued resistance and possibly counter-escalation. Read more.
By sending nuclear weapons to the United Kingdom, could the United States be fueling nuclear proliferation?
By Janani Mohan
An air base in the United Kingdom is being upgraded with the expectation that the United States may station nuclear weapons there for the first time in 15 years, as a response to the growing instability caused by Russia's war on Ukraine. Stationing can address near-term security concerns, but expansion of this practice runs the risk of increased proliferation. Read more.
How many people were killed by the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
Video by Erik English
One of our foremost multimedia publications of the year, the Bulletin released a video based on Alex Wellerstein's research, first published in "Counting the Dead at Hiroshima and Nagasaki." The video features footage of Hiroshima prior to the bombing, generously provided by the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, and highlights the difficulty of quantifying the devastating human toll of nuclear weapons. Watch now.
Convisero mentor Izzeldin Abuelaish’s interview with The Guardian: "I refuse to hate"
Palestinian doctor and five-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee, Izzeldin Abuelaish, has experienced immense personal tragedy. In January 2009, an Israeli tank shell hit his home killing his three daughters and one of his nieces and in October this year, 22 members of his extended family were killed in Jabaliya refugee camp by an Israeli airstrike. Dr. Abuelaish speaks to the Guardian about how his personal loss has made him determined to push for peace.
James Henry
James S. Henry, Esq. is leading investigative economist, attorney, teacher, and activist with a strong focus on front-line global justice issues like kleptocracy, tax havens, and the climate crisis. In the private sector, Mr. Henry has served as Director of Economic Research (chief economist), McKinsey & Co.; VP Strategy, IBM/Lotus Development; Business Development Manager, Chairman's Office (Jack Welch), GE; and Senior Consultant, Monitor Company. He is founder of Sag Harbor Group, a strategy consulting firm that has served such leading clients as ABB, Bell Labs, Charles Allen & Co., the Calvert Fund, Cemex, ChinaTrust, the Joint Caribbean Task Force (Scotland Yard/FBI), IBM/Lotus, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Swedish Power Board, TransAlta, Volvo, and Daikin.
In the pro bono world Mr. Henry is a Global Justice Fellow and a Lecturer on the Yale faculty, where for 6 years he has co-authored a weekly seminar for Yale graduate students and upper-year undergraduates on "Global Justice Problems" – urgent interrelated matters like the global warming, tax dodging, kleptocracy, the future of democracy, the global art industry, and “dangerous technologies” (AI, fintech, nuclear power) that cut across national boundaries. He has also served as a Senior Fellow at Columbia University's Center for Sustainable Investment, where he has led seminars on international tax policy, the global haven industry, the remittance cartel, and "fintech" for the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA).
Mr. Henry has been active “change maker.” He has helped to start and foster many activist NGOs. In 2003-4 he was one of the founding principals of TJN USA and the Tax Justice Network, a global NGO that led the fight against financial secrecy jurisdictions (“tax havens”), offshore tax avoidance by major corporations and wealthy individuals, and kleptocracy. He served as a TJN Senior Advisor (2005-2022), a global board member of TJN (2005-13) and TJN US (2005-present), and a liaison to the US tax reform organization Americans for Tax Fairness. From 2009 to 2015 he served as a board member of Long Island University. Since the 1990s he has also been a pro bono environmental lawyer and a ACLU/ NYCLU cooperating attorney in New York's EDNY, serving on NYCLU's Suffolk County board. In 2020-21, he served as a Board Member of Amnesty International USA, on its Finance and Strategy Committees. In 2021-23 he was a co-founder of The Institute for Access to Public Information (https://foia-foil.com), a NYS 501c3 devoted to litigating FOIA cases. In 2024 he is serving as Chairman and a co-founder of UAML.org, a global coalition dedicated to fighting money laundering.
In 2020-21, in the wake of New York's pandemic-induced fiscal crisis, Mr. Henry helped to organize a campaign to have New York State stop rebating $15 billion per year of badly-needed state tax revenues that NYS collects from its .1% stock transfer tax on Wall Street investors — most of whom are not NYS residents. This very practical progressive sales tax secured majority support in the NYS Senate and Assembly, but to date (2024) it has been unable to overcome the “capture” of the hierarchies of both major parties in NYS by Wall Street. This organizing effort did encourage the revival of a global campaign for a "financial transactions tax” (“FTT”) in the US, the EU, and Asia. From 2014 to the present he has been a key leader of the QPAM Coalition, a group of experts from six countries that has encouraged the US DOL to enforce its laws against criminal banks that advise US pensions funds. In 2024, for this year’s G20 in Brazil, Mr. Henry assembled an international coalition of experts on global warming, reforestation, and soil conservation to propose a “Global Reforestation Fund,” financed by a .1% global FTT, to promote soil conservation and cool the planet directly.
As an investigative economist with a global perspective, Mr. Henry is a leading practitioner of the “to the frontlines” school of reporting. He has written numerous pioneering investigative articles and books about international private banking, offshore havens, debt, capital flight, development, leading kleptocrats, and climate finance. Since the 1970s, he has conducted first-hand investigations of corruption, corporate chicanery, tax dodging, and debt in dozens of developing countries and havens, including the Philippines, South Africa, Angola, Kenya, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Panama, Honduras, Guatemala, Haiti, the Bahamas, Barbados, Switzerland, Delaware, and the Cayman Islands. In the 1980s he authored the American Bar Association's first full-length analysis of US tax compliance. His award-winning books (Banqueros y Llavadolares. (Tercer Mundo, 1996) and The Blood Bankers. (Basic Books, 2003, 2005, 2014)) provided the first detailed investigations of the global underground economy and the rise of the global haven industry. He was the principle author of The Price of Offshore Revisited (July 2012/2013,2016, TJN), a seminal work on unrecorded offshore private wealth whose estimates have recently (June 2020) been validated by the OECD. His original reporting has appeared in many leading publications, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, Time, Business Week, the Nation, the New Republic, the Atlantic, The Financial Times, the Economist, Jornal do Brasil, the Philippines Inquirer, La Nacion, El Pais, The American Interest (Contributing Editor) and DCReport.Org (Senior Investigative Editor). In 2010 he was named the Edward R. Murrow Fellow in Investigative Journalism at The Fletcher School of Diplomacy. In 2016 he was a leading commentator and analyst on the ICIJ’s Panama Papers, and served as an member of the Iceland Special Commission that investigated the role of illicit offshore assets in Iceland’s 2007-2009 economic collapse. In 2019 he was named a Poynter Fellow in Journalism at Yale University. In June 2021 he received one of two TJN/AABA (UK) Annual Awards for Contributions to Tax Justice. In 2017-24 he has been a key advisor on several OCCRP investigations of kleptocracy, including its 2022 “Suisse-gate” investigation.
Mr. Henry has testified as an invited expert numerous times before the US Congress, the UN, the EU Parliament, and the FBI’s International Corruption Unit on global tax havens, the underground economy, and tax justice. He has also presented many TED talks, and has been a featured commentator on leading media outlets, including the BBC, NPR, CBC, Australia ABC, Zembla, ZDF, most US TV networks (ABC,NBC,CBS,CNN,CNBC, and MSNBC), and Al Jazeera. He also played a leading on-air role in several feature-length documentary films, including "The Giant Beast That Is the Global Economy,'" (Amazon Prime, April 2019); "The Finance Curse," (Nick Shaxson, et al, 2024); "The Price We Pay" (Harold Crooks, TIFF, 2014), and "We're Not Broke" (Charles Davidson, Sundance, 2013).
Born and raised in Minnesota, Mr. Henry is an honors graduate of Winona Public High School, Harvard College (Magna Cum Laude, Social Studies ’72; Detur Prize; Phi Beta Kappa, National Merit Scholar, Chairman, Student Advisory Committee, Kennedy Institute of Politics); Harvard Law School (JD.,Honors,1976); the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (MS, ABD, Economics, 1978);a Danforth Fellow; one of the original “Nader Raiders,” a member of the New York Bar since 1979, and an Adirondacks '46R. He and his family are based in New York.
Oleander Initiative in Japan - Directed by Convisero mentor Ray Matsumiya
Convisero mentor Ray Matsumiya is leading the Oleander Initiative as its Director. Below is a summary of the program’s description:
Program Summary
Ray Matsumiya
2024 Oleander Initiative Participants, from Canada, Kenya, Uganda, the United Kingdom, and the United States
Months after the atomic bomb was dropped over Hiroshima, Japan, a small patch of red oleander flowers bloomed out of the irradiated rubble. Since then, red oleander has symbolized both the dangers of nuclear war and the hope of a more peaceful future. In a similar spirit, the Oleander Initiative leverages the “power of place” of the city of Hiroshima – the first city to be devastated by nuclear weapons – to harness the power of education to promote more peaceful societies.
The Oleander Initiative gathers educators from communities around the world to work together and transform the lessons of Hiroshima into relevant and impactful peace education activities for their students. The Oleander Initiative generates deep awareness of the catastrophic humanitarian impacts of nuclear weapons and equips participants with intellectual tools for conflict resolution and mutual understanding.
Program Description
During early August in 2016 and 2017, educators from the Middle East, North Africa, Japan and the US gathered together during the anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, today a vibrant metropolis known as the City of Peace. During the program, Oleander educators developed lesson plans for their students informed by interactions with atomic bomb survivors, schoolteachers from the city of Hiroshima, and from experts on the humanitarian impact of nuclear war. These lesson plans — fine-tuned and co-developed with Oleander staff and fellow participants during the program — have a concrete and tangible impact on their students and communities. They raise consciousness about the catastrophic global impacts of nuclear war and inspire our next generation to work locally to promote peaceful societies.
Program Activities
Instruction from top academics in the fields of peace education and nuclear weapons issues
Testimonials from hibakusha atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki
August 6thatomic bombing memorial ceremony hosted by the city of Hiroshima
Educational collaborations with teachers and students from Hiroshima
Attendance at the World Conference against A & H bombs, the oldest and largest of its type
Personalized guidance to assist development of educational activities best suited for Oleander educators’ local contexts
Visits to Miyajima and Hiroshima Castle
Cultural Activities including Kagura performance, tea ceremony, and calligraphy
Three day visit to Nagasaki
Two day orientation activities in Tokyo
Preparing for Making Peace Visible 2025 Symposium in Washington D.C. with Convisero mentors Tamar Miller and Jamil Simon
We will be collaborating with Making Peace Visible’s 2025 International Symposium in Washington, D.C.
Making Peace Visible (MPV) is the only bridge-building organization dedicated to convening journalists and other media professionals with peacebuilders. Our mission is to foster a more informed, engaged civic culture that supports peace as an essential part of democratic participation. By activating cross-disciplinary connections, we aim to help reduce the prevalence of divisive narratives and promote methods of reporting that highlight peace and reconciliation efforts that help prevent and resolve conflicts.
2018 MPV International Symposium, NYTimes Center, NYC
MPV will launch our second international Summit in October 2025, in Washington, D.C. We will host experts in journalism, peacebuilding, neuroscience, and technology, examining how media both helps and hinders peace efforts. We will critically address how narratives about peace are shaped and disseminated; how the news can help educate the public on the viability, successes and long-term impact of peacebuilding; and how we might collectively implement strategies across all media platforms for powerful, transformative storytelling.
The Problem We Are Addressing: Multilayered peacebuilding is largely invisible, as our media landscapes are heavily dominated by reporting on bombs, blood, and bad news. Stories that capture human decency, mutual understanding, and heroic, painstaking peacebuilding efforts rarely see the light of day. This is despite growing evidence that media consumers, particularly in the U.S., increasingly prefer news that is hopeful, solutions-based, and constructive.
Scholars in media and journalism studies have long recognized that the news plays a crucial role in shaping public and political discourse. Conventional ways of covering political conflict distorts this discourse, offering the public a narrow, incomplete view that marginalizes, if not ignores altogether, key actors. This skewed narrative restricts opportunities for informed participation, depriving citizens of the full context needed to engage meaningfully in democratic processes. Oversimplified, polarizing narratives exacerbate conflicts, deepen divisions, and undermine public support for peace efforts.
Peacebuilding is a proven, long-term process that requires changing attitudes, behaviors, and social norms before, during and after conflict. It involves analyzing conflicts to understand their root causes and developing strategies to prevent and reduce violence. But peacebuilding will continue to be ignored as long as the public remains unaware of its proven effectiveness.
The 2025 International Summit: We are working with our partners and allies to move peacebuilders and peace initiatives closer to the front burner of public discourse. A two-day summit in Washington, D.C. will create a platform for key stakeholders in conflict reporting to engage with peacebuilders, neuroscientists, and technologists to examine how both the news media and social media play dual roles in hindering and promoting peace efforts. These key stakeholders include journalists worldwide, editors as gatekeepers, researchers providing critical media analysis, peacebuilders facilitating civil discourse, journalism students, and program officers at philanthropic foundations. The summit will feature dynamic presentations, experiential workshops, and the latest research, to foster strategies for reimagining media coverage of peace and conflict. We will also debut the first ever MPV Story Awards, monetary awards given to journalists for excellence in peace reporting. This event follows the success of our inaugural symposium at the New York Times Center in 2018, a partnership with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting that attracted over 400 journalists and peacebuilders. Following this, MPV founder Jamil Simon was awarded the Luxembourg Peace Prize.
Our current partners include George Washington University Media and Peacebuilding Project, Beyond Conflict, and Search for Common Ground, and we are exploring partnership with several other leading organizations.
Themes and Outcomes: This summit will be a pivotal opportunity to refine media practices and promote improved conflict reporting. Incorporating pre- and post-event analysis and surveys, this summit will offer:
• Mindful and Inclusive Reporting Practices: Journalists will learn how peace initiatives are best reported, including best practices for ethical, trauma-sensitive reporting and the necessity of including a greater diversity of voices, especially the invaluable yet overlooked role women play in peacebuilding processes. Strategies to avoid biases, propaganda, and misinformation will also be included.
• Tech and Social Cohesion: The news media landscape has been transformed by social media and AI, democratizing information but also amplifying misinformation and divisiveness, which stifles peace narratives. Experts in tech and social cohesion will address these challenges and explore solutions.
• Neuroscience, Journalism and Peace: In collaboration with Tim Phillips of Beyond Conflict, we will feature discussions led by experts in neuroscience, psychology, and behavioral science, providing a deeper understanding of how media narratives and language influence human emotions, decision making, and behavior. We will explore strategies to create stories that include empathy, dialogue, and constructive conflict resolution.
• Peacebuilding Workshop for Journalists: We will offer an immersive workshop to provide a hands-on experience of conflict resolution. By modeling key aspects of the negotiation process, participants will gain a deeper understanding of strategies for de-escalation. This experiential approach will equip journalists with the tools to report on peace efforts more accurately.
• Communication for Peacebuilders: We will highlight case studies of effective peacebuilding communication, demonstrating how messaging and the creative use of both narrative and nonfiction media tools can influence public perception, encourage engagement, and foster peaceful outcomes. This will provide valuable insights for journalists and peacebuilders.
• Strengthened Collaboration and Networking: The summit will provide a rare opportunity for idea exchange and relationship-building among journalists, peacebuilders, media scholars, and funders, fostering future collaborations, advocacy efforts, and joint projects to improve conflict reporting.
Additional Offerings: To extend the reach of the summit beyond the event itself, MPV will incorporate these crucial dialogues into our online offerings in the form of podcast episodes, articles for our journal NUANCE, and video content for the MPV Education Initiative:
• Making Peace Visible Podcast Features journalists, peacebuilders, scholars and activists, grappling with the news media's impact on public perceptions of peace and conflict. Our 45+ podcast episodes have been downloaded in 124 countries.
• NUANCE is a seasonal online journal with essays, interviews, and photojournalism projects that explore innovative solutions for elevating peace in the media.
• MPV Education Initiative offers global training in ethical reporting, reconciliation coverage, and media literacy through online and in-person courses for journalists, journalism students, and educators.
Alex Wright-Gladstein
Alex Wright-Gladstein is an entrepreneur who is passionate about the climate crisis and finding ways to divert our dependence on fossil fuels in lucrative industries. After getting a BA in economics and political science at Tufts University in 2008 she went to MIT Sloan School of Management, graduating with an MBA in 2015 along with the Siebel Scholar, an award for leadership and academic excellence.
Wright-Gladstein developed her passion for the environment at age 12, this interest strengthened while at college, where she saw the potential in connecting technology and climate action. During her time at Tufts she founded the Tufts Energy Forum, a program dedicated to educating the community about alternative energy sources, global energy supply and demand, and the geopolitical implications of the pursuit of energy resources. After graduating Tufts in 2008, Wright-Gladstein worked in data analytics at EnerNOC gaining some understanding of the technology that would go on to be a basis for her work. Determined to help environmentally-oriented tech start-ups succeed and expand, she decided to attend MIT to get a business degree.
In 2015, after creating a business plan as a part of the MBA program, Wright-Gladstein decided to team up with two PhD students to further develop the project and participate in the MIT Clean Energy Prize, winning $275,000 as the grand prize. With this capital the team was able to get the start-up off the ground, eventually naming it Ayar Labs. Using Moore’s Law, the startup focused on the energy efficiency and optimization of fiber optic communications, using light to move data between chips in data centers and super computers. Wright-Gladstein worked as co-founder and CEO at Ayar Labs for over 9 years working with her colleagues to raise hundreds of millions of dollars to develop the inventive technology.
In 2021, Wright-Gladstein founded Sphere, an incorporation focused on making it easy for employers to offer climate-friendly 401(k) and 403(b) retirement programs to their employees. She came up with this idea after struggling to find retirement plans that didn't go towards fossil fuels, for her employees at Ayar labs in 2017. Wright-Gladstein learned that over 1.5 trillion dollars get invested in fossil fuel companies through United States retirement savings and was inspired to find a way to change the investment industry. Sphere has been added to financial service companies like ADP and Empower, expanding the opportunity to invest in sustainable 401(k)s to tens of thousands of organizations and millions of employees.
Alex Wright-Gladstein is dedicated to seeing the future of the global economy changed through diverting the reliance on fossil fuels and has been and continues to be a pioneer in utilizing technology and the economy to change the way we see and participate in climate activism.
Sphere bio https://www.oursphere.org/about-us/team
https://www.sunvalleyforum.com/alexwg
Ayar Labs interview https://designthesolution.org/wli-entrepreneur-spotlight-alexandra-wright-gladstein/
Sphere interview https://greenportfolio.com/blog/sphere-female-founder-alex-wright-gladstein/