Paula Garb is Co-Director and co-founder of UC Irvine’s Center for Citizen Peacebuilding. She is the Associate Director of International Studies, Associate Adjunct Professor of Anthropology, and lecturer in anthropology and political science at the University of California, Irvine(UCI). She is a facilitator and researcher of citizen peacebuilding projects. Garb spent 17 years living and working in Moscow, where she received her M.A. in anthropology from Moscow State University and later completed her doctorate in anthropology from the Russian Academy of Sciences Institute of Anthropology. She ultimately secured a job as a field producer for CBS News in Moscow, where she worked until she came to UCI in 1991. After returning to live and work in the U.S. she has studied the mobilization of activists around environmental problems associated with the nuclear weapons complex in Russia and the role of citizen initiatives in the ethnic conflicts of the Caucasus. Since 1995, with funding from the University of California, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the US Institute of Peace, USAID, and the Winston Foundation for World Peace, she has been promoting citizen peacebuilding activities and research. Her primary project has focused on facilitating and studying peacebuilding efforts between Abkhaz and Georgian academics, journalists, representatives of nongovernmental organizations, and politicians. In 1999 she initiated a coordination network of peacebuilding projects and organizations working in the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict, and continues to foster the network. Garb has been using her long-term and in-depth experience and research data from the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict to examine and compare how citizens are helping to resolve disputes in other conflict zones, such as Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Middle East, Cyprus, and Northern Ireland. She draws on these experiences for courses in conflict resolution that she teaches to Los Angeles gang intervention workers and UCI students. Her work has also led to a number of publications in academic and other journals.
Jeffrey D. Sachs is the Director of The Earth Institute, Quetelet Professor of Sustainable Development, and Professor of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University. He is also Special Advisor to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. From 2002 to 2006, he was Director of the UN Millennium Project and Special Advisor to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the Millennium Development Goals, the internationally agreed goals to reduce extreme poverty, disease, and hunger by the year 2015. Sachs is also President and Co-Founder of Millennium Promise Alliance, a nonprofit organization aimed at ending extreme global poverty. He is widely considered to be the leading international economic advisor of his generation. For more than 20 years Professor Sachs has been in the forefront of the challenges of economic development, poverty alleviation, and enlightened globalization, promoting policies to help all parts of the world to benefit from expanding economic opportunities and wellbeing. He is also one of the leading voices for combining economic development with environmental sustainability, and as Director of the Earth Institute leads large-scale efforts to promote the mitigation of human-induced climate change. In 2004 and 2005 he was named among the 100 most influential leaders in the world by Time Magazine. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan, a high civilian honor bestowed by the Indian Government, in 2007. Sachs lectures constantly around the world and was the 2007 BBC Reith Lecturer. He is author of hundreds of scholarly articles and many books, including New York Times bestseller The End of Poverty (Penguin, 2005). Sachs is a member of the Institute of Medicine and is a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research. Prior to joining Columbia, he spent over twenty years at Harvard University, most recently as Director of the Center for International Development. A native of Detroit, Michigan, Sachs received his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees at Harvard University.
Flyer and Additional Information Paolo Davanzo is the Founder and Executive Director of the Echo Park Film Center (EPFC) in Los Angeles, CA. Paolo Davanzo was born in Italy and immigrated to the United States with his family at age 7. He started EPFC in honor of his parents, social justice activists who passed away early in his life. An Associate Professor in the Film & Video Department of College of the Canyons, Paolo holds a BA Degree in Visual Arts & Political Science from UC San Diego and a Masters Degree in Film from Humboldt State University. He is the founder and programmer of the Human Rights Film Festival, the EPFC Youth Film Festival and the Polyester Prince Road Show. The goal of the Human Rights Film Festival is to highlight social justice issues too often ignored by the mainstream media. Every year, the festival presents an engaging variety of documentary and experimental films that explore themes of home and community. Basic human rights, including the right to peacefully assemble, the right to religious freedom, the right of political sovereignty and the right to life and liberty, are often taken for granted in Western industrialized nations. In the post-9/11 landscape, issues of human rights are increasingly crucial and closer to home than ever before and these films are vehicles to promote thought, discussion, debate and action.
Flyer and Additional Information Ruth Messinger is the President of American Jewish World Service, an international development agency. Previously Ruth was active in local politics in New York for two decades, serving as a Council Member and as Manhattan Borough President. She was the Democratic Party candidate for Mayor of New York City in 1997. Messinger’s areas of expertise include: democracy and civic participation, urban policy and politics, social welfare, education, employment and tax policy. She is a social worker by professional training, and has taught in several MSW programs and is one of the leading advocates and effective spokespersons for the growing role of social workers in politics. Ruth Messinger has taught Policy and Politics at Queens and Hunter Colleges and is active in the fight to protect and improve the future of higher education in New York.
Flyer and Additional Information Dr. Rastegar is founder and has been the CEO of Relief International (RI) since the inception of the agency in 1990. He has a Doctorate of Philosophy in Comparative and International Education from UCLA and has served on the faculty of UCLA's Graduate School of Education, Sociology and Political Science departments. His research and program intervention interests include the impact of displacement on political marginalization and radicalism, minority-majority relations, Islamist political movements, and organizational learning behavior. His academic work includes study of the ideology and organization of the Afghan mujahedin organizations. Since founding RI, he has designed and overseen innovative approaches in transitional programming from relief to development and from centralized to market economies including integrated multi-sectoral approaches in active conflict areas such as Afghanistan, Albania, Azerbaijan, Burundi, Georgia, Kosovo and Tajikistan.
Flyer and Additional Information Dr. Smith-Christopher is the author of several books, including, Jonah, Jesus, and Other Good Coyotes: Speaking Peace to Power in the Bible, A Biblical Theology of Exile (Overtures to Biblical Theology) and Introduction to the Old Testament: Our Invitation to Faith and Justice, a text for secondary school courses in Old Testament. Dr. Smith-Christopher is also the author of “The Books of Ezra-Nehemiah” in The Oxford Bible Commentary, and “Daniel” in the New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary. Dr. Smith-Christopher’s most recent book, Jonah, Jesus and Other Good Coyotes: Speaking Peace to Power in the Bible, is now available, with a foreword by Dr. Walter Brueggeman. Dr. Smith Christopher is the editor of and a contributor to the text, Subverting Hatred: The Challenge of Religious Nonviolence. The 10th anniversary edition of Subverting Hatred has been announced. Dr. Smith-Christopher has taught and spoken on topics in scripture, particularly of the Exilic and Persian periods, and on issues of peace, justice and non-violence, and recently began teaching on the role of Scripture in African-American Gospel and Blues musical and lyrical traditions. Dr. Smith-Christopher has also consulted on many television and multi-media projects in these areas.
Lecture begins at 7:30 pm (Members and Guests Welcome) New York Culture of Peace Resource Center Flyer and Additional Information Ishmael Beah was born in Sierra Leone on Nov. 23, 1980. When he was eleven his life, along with the lives of millions of other Sierra Leoneans, was derailed by the outbreak of a brutal civil war. After Ishmael’s parents and two brothers were killed, he was recruited to fight as a child soldier. He was thirteen years old. Ishmael fought for over two years before he was removed from the army by UNICEF and placed in a rehabilitation home in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone. After completing rehabilitation in late 1996, Ishmael won a competition to attend a conference at the United Nations to talk about the devasting effects of war on children in his country. It was there that he met his new mother, a professional storyteller who lived in New York City. Ishmael returned to Sierra Leone and continued speaking about his experiences to help bring international attention to the issue of child soldiering and war affected children. Ishmael Beah is a member of the Human Rights Watch Children’s Rights Division Committee.
Flyer and Additional Information Leila Conners Petersen is co-founder and president of Tree Media Group. With a background in international politics, Leila set out to build a production company that tells stories about the pressing issues of our time. Founded in 1996, Tree Media creates media to support and sustain civil society. Leila writes and produces projects for various media: from film, to television, to the web and print.
Dee Aker, Ph.D. is the Deputy Director of the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice (IPJ) at the University of San Diego, is a psychological anthropologist and conflict resolution professional with 30 years experience working with international communities and individuals in transition. Most recently at the IPJ, Aker created and directs the Women PeaceMakers Program, Nepal Project, and WorldLink program. Aker has extensive experience in international higher education, including administration, curriculum development and teaching. She worked as a regular TV host, columnist and freelance journalist covering women and gender concerns for ten years, including the production of 234 thirty-minute interviews with women leaders, pioneers and survivors from around the world. She facilitated training, communications and negotiations for groups and individuals in conflict and transition in Europe, Africa, Central America and South Asia. Before coming to the IPJ to work in conflict mitigation, Aker worked with Carl Rogers at the Center for Studies of the Person and the Carl Rogers Institute for Peace on special conflict transformation efforts in Europe and Central America. Currently her work includes specialized public sector programs for youth, women and political leaders designed to increase their awareness of their rights as stakeholders and responsibilities as actors in their communities, as well as enhance skills in strategic negotiation. Aker is the 2007 Harvard Phillip Brooks House (PBH) Fellow, selected to "share a distinguished public service career" with students and staff at the PBH and Center for Public Interest at Harvard. Her career was launched in 1963 when she was selected as an early Peace Corps volunteer serving in Colombia. 
Adolfo V. Nodal, M.A.President, Cultural Affairs Commission City of Los Angeles Saturday, July19, 2008 4:00 pm Santa Monica Culture of Peace Resource Center Adolfo V. Nodal currently works as Project General Manager for the Annenberg Foundation and oversees the Not A Cornfield project and the construction of other public art projects downtown. He also contributes to the cultural development and political evolution of his native Cuba, serving as president of the Cuba Culture Foundation and organizing cultural, humanitarian and religious missions to his native country. Nodal received a bachelor’s degree in Art from Florida State University in Tallahassee in 1972 and earned a master’s degree in Contemporary Art from California State University at San Francisco.
Robin S. Toma is the Executive Director of the Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission, has broad experience in the field of human relations. He was appointed by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors in 2000 after working five years with the Commission. He was invited to be a member of the US Delegation to the 2001 UN World Conference Against Racism, held in South Africa, Japanese American Leadership Delegation to Japan in 2003, and the Climate of Trust Delegation to Russia in 2005. He is co-author of the manual: “Day Laborer Hiring Sites: Constructive Approaches to Community Conflict,” and authored “A Primer on Managing Intergroup Conflict in a Multicultural Workplace." Toma was lead attorney in seeking redress for over 2,200 Japanese Latin Americans who were forcibly brought to the U.S. and imprisoned by the US government during World War II. He is also part of an ongoing gathering of leaders known as the Executive Session on Criminal Justice and Human Rights organized by Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. Previously, he served as staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Southern California for nearly 7 years, promoting human rights and building multi-ethnic coalitions to bring about institutional change. A native of Los Angeles, Toma received his Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology and Economics at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and his Master’s degree in Urban Planning and his Juris Doctorate from UCLA. He completed a three-year Kellogg National Fellowship/Leadership Program studying how genuine democracies can be built in culturally diverse societies around the globe. Toma lived two years in Barcelona, Spain and is fully fluent in Spanish.
Shigeko Sasamori is one of the twenty-five so-called “Hiroshima Maidens” who survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 and were brought to the United States for reconstructive surgery in 1955. This was made possible by the editor of the erudite Saturday Review, Norman Cousins, who rallied support from his readership to help sponsor the twenty-five reconstructive surgeries. By the same process, he also arranged medical care and education for 400 Japanese children orphaned by the explosions. Norman Cousins became Shigeko Sasamori’s adoptive father. Shigeko Sasamori’s story of survival revolves around her transformation from a 13-year-old in delirium after the atomic bombing to an international peace activist in the tradition of her adoptive father, Norman Cousins who wrote, “nothing is more powerful than an individual acting out of his conscience, thus helping to bring the collective conscience to life.” She currently serves as the C.E.O. of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Peace Projects, L.L.C. whose mission is to stimulate an active, worldwide dialogue in order to protect humanity from nuclear harm. The Project’s activities will advance the work of Norman Cousins, who demonstrated the power of international dialogue in promoting mutual understanding, goodwill, and peace.
Linda Groff is a Professor of Political Science & Futures Studies at California State University, Domingues Hills. She holds Ph.D., M.A.L.D., and M.A. Degrees in International Relations from The Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy (at Tufts University & Coordinated with Harvard University). Dr. Groff has been teaching for 24 years, including 22 years at Cal. State University, Dominguez Hills, where she originally organized a Future Policy Studies Minor, and regularly teaches courses in futures, global, intercultural, peace & conflict resolution areas. In addition, she is interested in the processes of creativity and learning in different cultures, evolutionary/change processes, and East-West spiritual traditions. Shigeko Sasamori
Ali Modarres is the Associate Director of the Edmund G. “Pat” Brown Institute of Public Affairs at California State University, Los Angeles and a Professor at the Department of Geography and Urban Analysis on the same campus. He specializes in urban geography and his primary research and publication interests are community development and planning. He has published in the areas of urban development, transportation planning, environmental equity, social geography, immigration, and race and ethnicity as they relate to the issues of access and the role of public policy in creating disadvantaged communities.
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A Journey Toward Peace:
Paths to Peace Through Compassion, Cooperation and Sustainable Development
Working Locally, Thinking Globally: Community Approaches To 
Ruth Messinger
Gandhi in Palestine: Lessons Learned on Enhancing Cultures of 
Religion and Peacemaking
Former Child Soldier, Human Rights Activist and Best Selling Author of “A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier”
Solutions at the 11th Hour
Stephan T. McGuire is in preproduction on a documentary called "Losing My Religion", which through interviews will document Jehovah's Witnesses as they leave the authoritarian sect and find their way in the world. He is also co-writing a feature film about 3 fundamentalist Christians whose faiths are adversely affected by a young womans death.
Because We Must: Women As Peacebuilders
Mr. Robin Toma, J.D.
Shigeko Sasamori
A Holistic Integrative View of Peace Based on 
Global Migration and the Challenge of Development Culture of Peace
The SGI-USA is involved in non-sectarian, awareness activities to promote the values of peace, culture and education. |
 SGI President Ikeda's Peace Proposal
Each year SGI President Ikeda publishes a peace proposal which explores the interrelation between core Buddhist concepts and the diverse challenges global society faces in the effort to realize peace and human security. |