Suzanne M. Nazal is currently Senior Lecturer at University of the Philippines College of Social Work and Community Development, who teaches courses on social welfare policy, project development and management, and social work in a global context. As a social worker and development practitioner, she works as an independent consultant with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and The World Bank specializing on civil society and stakeholder engagement. Before this, she was a staff member of the ADB where she focused on promoting meaningful engagement with civil society organizations (CSOs) and NGOs in ADB programs and in policy development. She has been involved in various development projects all over Asia and the Pacific with concentration in social planning, participatory approaches and effective stakeholder engagement She completed Bachelor of Science in Social Work and Master of Arts in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of the Philippines.
Sylvia Brown is a Conflict Advisor and International Development specialist with twenty years experience advising international non-governmental organisations (INGOs), local civil society organisations, UK government and UN agencies. She has a special interest in the Humanitarian-Development-Peace (Triple) Nexus, Conflict Sensitivity and Peacebuilding.
She is experienced in political economy analysis, conflict analysis and gendered conflict analysis, using primary data collection (including in hard to access areas) as well as secondary data analysis (from academic and 'grey' literature. She has experience applying these skills in Myanmar, Thailand, Pakistan, Kenya, Indonesia and the Philippines. She has a special interest in women and youth in peacebuilding, community-based peacebuilding, local and customary governance and forced migration issues. She is also experienced in organisational development of civil society organisations and am familiar working in conflict-sensitive environments among refugees, multiple power-holders, political upheaval and international humanitarian interventions.
Thursica Kovinthan Levi is a SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow and lecturer at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), University of Toronto. Her current research focuses on trauma-informed pedagogies for integration and reconciliation in refugee education. This research builds on her doctoral dissertation examining the interface between gender, education, and conflict in fragile contexts, focusing on Sri Lanka. She has worked and conducted research in South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Central America with various NGOs and as a research consultant. Thursica is also an educator with the Toronto District School Board, where she teaches children with refugee experiences. She has worked as an Education Policy Analyst at Global Affairs Canada and Part-time Professor at the Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa. Thursica holds a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Ottawa and a M.A in Child Studies and Education from OISE.
Tobias Ide is Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations at Murdoch University Perth (Australia) and Specially Appointed Professor for Peace and Sustainability at Hiroshima University (Japan). He received most of his academic training Germany and published widely on the environment, climate, peace and conflict, including in International Security, Journal of Peace Research, and Nature Climate Change. Tobias also frequently works with and consults decision makers, including at the United Nations, the European Union, and NATO.
Ute Kollies is deployed in Mali for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), and is the organizer of Mali Football for Peace.
Uzra Zeya is president and CEO of the Alliance for Peacebuilding. She has over two decades of diplomatic experience in Near East, Asian, European, human rights, and multilateral affairs.
Dr. Vachararutai Boontinand is a lecturer at the Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies and Director of SHAPE-SEA Program.
Vaiba Kebeh Flomois an outstanding peace and women’s rights activist, community mobilizer, feminist, trauma case worker, and leader, who works to promote the rule of law and to reduce violence amongst community people through training and dialogue. She provides trauma counseling with a key focus on women and youth who experience violence. Her work includes building women’s and community capacities through peace education, and community development to promote equal participation in decision-making processes. She is the co-founder of the Community Women’s Peace Initiative and the Liberian Women Mass Action for Peace, the movement that advocated for an end to the Liberian civil war, law reform, and policy implementation. Ms. Flomo is committed to ensuring that every girl child goes to school; she mentors young women to discover their potential and to take up leadership roles. Ms. Flomo is the Founder of “Kids for Peace”, Rock Hill Community Women’s Peace Council, and presently serves as an Advisor to the Young Women of Substance in District #6, Montserrado County. She continues to work with women and girls on SGBV, VAW, good governance, and economic empowerment through microcredit/village saving initiatives.
Dr. Vesna Bojicic-Dzelilovic is Senior Research Fellow at LSE IDEAS, and an Associate Fellow of the LSEE Research on South Eastern Europe at the Hellenic Observatory, both at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). She is Co-director of UN Business and Human Security Initiative at LSE, a research and implementation programme which investigates private sector’s contribution to peace and development in the context of Agenda 2030. She specialises in the political economy of development and conflict, with a particular interest in the business, peace and development nexus, and the role of international aid in transitioning from armed conflict. Her geographic focus and field work is South East Europe and she has also studied from a comparative perspective Afghanistan, Syria and Colombia. Dr Bojicic-Dzelilovic has published in a range of academic journals including Review of International Political Economy, Journal of International Relations and Development, International Feminist Journal of Politics, co-edited six academic book volumes and advised World Bank, European Union, UNDP and national governments. Her latest publication (co-authored) “Assessing Peace and Social Impacts through Local Human Security Business Partnerships” is forthcoming in Business Horizons Journal. She holds PhD in Economics and MA in Development Economics.
Whitney McIntyre Miller, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Leadership Studies at Chapman University and is the leading scholar of the Integral Peace Leadership Framework. Her scholarship has a particular focus on international community-based and educational work. Dr. McIntyre Miller has published over 35 articles and book chapters and edited two journal special issues. She is the author ofIntegral Peace Leadership: Theory and Practice for Creating Peaceful Changeand a co-editor of a forthcoming peace leadership volume. Dr. McIntyre Miller has experience in community and international development, refugee resettlement, nonviolence, and election monitoring. She is a founding member of the Peace Leadership Collaborative and sits on several global advisory boards.
Xavier Mathieu is a Lecturer in International Politics at the University of Liverpool (UK). His research focuses on post-colonial legacies in global politics, in particular as they impact past and current notions of sovereignty, international interventions, and identity/difference. His current project explores the way (post)colonial violence opens up spaces of resistance by disrupting the frontiers between ‘us’ and ‘them’.
Yoav Kapshuk is Senior Lecturer at Kinneret College on the Sea of Galilee, Israel; Head of Israel Studies Unit at the department of Multidisciplinary Studies. Former Visiting Fellow at the LSE Middle East Center, and at the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt. Dr. Kapshuk focuses on peace research: peacebuilding, peace education, peacemaking and transitional justice, especially about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Israelis and Palestinians relationships. He received his Ph.D. in Political Science and International Relations from the Tel-Aviv University (2017). His studies have been published in peer-reviewed academic journals such as Defence and Peace Economics, Israel Law Review, and Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology.
Yolanda G. Ealdama is a registered social worker in the Philippines. She has a Master in Development Studies with specialization in Women, Gender and Development from the Institute of Social Studies now the International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University, The Netherlands. She was a volunteer of the Hague Appeal of Peace Coalition while studying in the Netherlands. She has more than 3 decades of experience in the field of social work and social development. She had had engagements with different sectors of society from peasants, women, non-government and government organizations. She is vice chairperson of the International Consortium on Social Development-Asia Pacific. She is also an Individual Lifetime member of the International Association of Schools of Social Work. She is currently teaching at the University of the Philippines as Professorial Lecturer.
