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STEPHEN ABERLE
Stephen Aberle is a Vancouver actor, singer, computer programmer and activist. A long time member of the working groups of both Jews for a Just Peace and the Canada Palestine Support Network, Stephen finds that his activism is motivated in no small part by his understanding of Judaism, and that his religious understanding is informed by his activism. He finds the root of both in Hillel's ancient dictum: "That which is hateful to you, do not do to another. That is the whole of the Law; the rest is commentary. Now go and study!"
Most of Stephen's activism is focused on anti-occupation, anti-war and anti-racist solidarity work, especially with regard to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He seeks to build support for a fair and just solution to that conflict, one that respects the human and democratic rights of all people and peoples living in that part of the world.
Stephen is encouraged by the words about "the exploration of common areas for action" in the description of this Institute.
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JUNAID S. AHMAD
Junaid S. Ahmad is a JD candidate in law at the College of William and Mary School of Law, Williamsburg , VA. He is on the Executive Board of the Domestic Violence Resource Project (DVRP). For the past few years, he has worked with the National Interfaith Committee on Worker Justice - building alliances with some of the leading religious figures - of all faith backgrounds - who are working on issues of worker and social justice. He has presented on this theme of interfaith solidarity for worker justice at the previous two annual meetings of the largest gathering of Muslims in North America , the Islamic Society of North America convention. In addition, he has worked as a labor organizer in Washington , DC , on two principal campaigns, the "Justice for Janitors" campaign and the Hotel and Restaurant Workers campaign, as part of the national organization, Service Employees International Union (SEIU). He has been active in campus and community living wage campaigns, and is at present part of the Williamsburg, VA-based group, Tidewater Labor Support Committee (TLSC), a group advancing the rights of workers on the campus of the College of William and Mary.
Junaid is an editor of the Richmond Independent Media Center . He has been a longtime activist on issues related to corporate-led globalization, HIV/AIDS and gender justice, and militarism and war, working in organizations such as Amnesty International and the Mobilization for Global Justice (MGJ). He writes for webzines (such as ZNet, Counterpunch, Hot Coals, Left Hook, etc) and has written for magazines and journals such as Left Turn, Chowrangi (progressive Pakistani-American magazine), Muslim Public Affairs Journal, Studies in Contemporary Islam, and Islamic Studies. In Pakistan , he has worked with groups such as Educate Pakistan and the Peoples Rights Movement, the latter being at the forefront of issues related to social and economic justice in Pakistan . He continues to maintain an association with Positive Muslims, the Cape Town-based organization working on issues related to Muslims, HIV/AIDS, and gender justice, a group with which he worked while he was in South Africa in 2004.
He is currently involved in a collaborative project with the International Islamic University, Islamabad , on developing an annual "State of the Muslim World" report. Most recently, he, along with other Muslims, has formed the Abu Dharr Collective, which is committed to the ideal of social justice and to articulating an Islamic theology of liberation.
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ANGANA P. CHATTERJI
Angana Chatterji PhD, is associate professor of Social and Cultural Anthropology at California Institute of Integral Studies. Professor Chatterji has integrated scholarship, research, and activism in linking the roles of citizen and intellectual. A rigorous and passionate advocate for social justice, she has been working with postcolonial social movements, local communities, institutions and citizens groups, government and donor agencies in India and internationally, since 1984, toward enabling participatory democracy for social and ecological justice. Her work focuses primarily on India , and South Asia , and her perspectives have been defined by a lifetime of learning and living there.
Professor Chatterji's work focuses on issues of globalization, development and cultural survival; land rights and public policy; identity politics, nationalisms and gendered violence. Professor Chatterji has been working with policy and advocacy research connected to community forest governance and public lands reform in India. Her work in this arena addresses issues of indigenous land rights and community governance, gendered violence and grassroots resistance, as mediated by class, ethnicity, religion and caste, migration, displacement, and statelessness.
Dr. Chatterji has served as the Director of Research, Asia Forest Network, and has been involved in coordinating Network groups in member countries in South and Southeast Asia. Professor Chatterji also works on issues of hyper-nationalism in diaspora, with groups such as the Coalition Against Communalism and the Campaign To Stop Funding Hate in California. Following September 11, 2001, Professor Chatterji has convened the Dialogues for Peace at California Institute of Integral Studies. Professor Chatterji holds an MA in Politics, and a PhD in the Humanities with a focus in Development Studies and Social and Cultural Anthropology. Recently a guest editor for Cultural Dynamics, a Sage Journal, for a special issue entitled, Gendered Violence in South Asia: Nation and Community in The Postcolonial Present (2004, Volume 16, 2/3), her publications include Community Forest Management in Arabari: Understanding Socioeconomic and Subsistence Issues , two forthcoming books, Land and Justice: The Struggle for Cultural Survival and Violent Gods: Hindu Nationalism in India's Present, and a co-edited volume, Contesting Nation: Gendered Violence in South Asia. Notes on the Postcolonial Present.
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DOROTHY CHRISTIAN
Dorothy is a writer, a video artist, and a producer/director of documentaries. She is of the Okanagan-Secwepemc Nations of the interior of British Columbia . Dorothy is a member of the Splats'in Indian Band, one of 17 Secwepemc communities. Ms. Christian has written over 75 mini-documentaries for the only multi-faith broadcaster in the world. Dorothy produced for VISION TV's SKYLIGHT newsmagazine program for 8 seasons. And with her freelance work, Dorothy added over 25 productions to her experience by directing series television (Art Zone Children's program, the Creative Native) and produced for APTN National News (Feb 14th Memorial Walk for Missing & Murdered women) and CTV's First Story (with Rebecca Belmore, Anishnawbe performance artist). In 2005, Dorothy produced a corporate video for the Minerva Foundation for BC Women on Native Women & Leadership. Her works have screened at film festivals, traveled with major exhibitions regionally, nationally and internationally.
Many of Dorothy's works have a social activist bent; she has tackled some hard issues which include “Native, non-Native” relations in Canada. One of her pieces was included in the hour which brought a Gemini to the SKYLIGHT Team at VISION TV in 2000 which covered precisely that topic. She filmed a dinner party of Native and non-Native women activists where hard questions were asked, e.g. “What do you think of this enormous guilt that white Canadians feel about us?” Her interest in peaceful coexistence comes out of her experiences at the so-called OKA Crisis (1990) and the Gustafsen Lake standoff (1995). For 16 years Dorothy has been consciously examining what it would take to have “peaceful coexistence” within herself, in her community and in the country. That exploration has led her to international screenings of her work in Switzerland in 2003 and in Kenya and Uganda, Africa , in 2005. Dorothy has just completed her first independent film, ‘a spiritual land claim' (one woman's healing journey) which is on the film festival circuit.
Ms. Christian's undergraduate work was at the University of Toronto where she worked on a double major in Political Science and Religious Studies. Dorothy is currently attending full time graduate studies in the Communications Department at Simon Fraser University.
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CURTIS CLEARSKY
Vancouver-based Indigenous Hip-Hop artist Curtis Clearsky has been named one of a handful of international Messengers of Truth, a United Nations initiative to reach younger audiences around the globe.
The 26-years-old father of three was born and raised in Vancouver on Coast Salish Indigenous Territory. He is from the Blackfoot (Blood)/Ojibway (Saluteaux) Nations. He is currently the Project Coordinator for the non-profit Aboriginal youth organization called Knowledgeable Aboriginal Youth Association (KAYA), which speaks to Aboriginal youth and creates opportunity for Aboriginal youth in the Urban Vancouver Area. He has also been an integral part of RedWAY BC - keeping us real and focused on what we can do TODAY to help create a better TOMORROW.
Clearsky has performed Hip-Hop and spoken word for five years. His music expresses truth, empowerment, love, peace, reality and personal revelation, and address issues in his community.
In recent years, disenfranchised urban youth have, however, given birth to a powerful voice. This voice is Hip-Hop. Originating from the inner cities of North America, Hip-Hop is becoming the most popular form of expression of urban youth worldwide. A recent study undertaken by UN-HABITAT reveals that Hip-Hop is more than a genre of music or dance. It is a social movement. It is both a product of and a reaction to globalisation and represents a strong political statement.
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GLORIA COLE (Gaaxstalas Wedlidi)
Gloria Cole (Gaaxstalas Wedlidi) is a member of the Tlowitsis First Nation, a grade four teacher and doctoral candidate at UBC. She is passionate about sharing her culture and educational journey.
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MARJORIE DUMONT
Marjorie Dumont is from the Wet'suwet'en and Gitksan Nations. She has facilitated many workshops about Aboriginal History and culture, particularly her culture's way of restoring peace.
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TERRI-LYNN WILLIAMS-DAVIDSON
(gid7ahl g udsllaay)
Terri-Lynn Williams-Davidson is a citizen of the Haida Nation from Skidegate, Haida Gwaii. She holds degrees in computer science and law from the University of British Columbia . She has practiced in the area of aboriginal-environmental law for the last 10 years, and restricts her personal law practice at White Raven Law in this area. Terri-Lynn represented the Haida Nation at all levels of court in litigation to protect the old-growth forests of Haida Gwaii, Council of the Haida Nation and Guujaaw, et. al. v. Ministry of Forests, et. al. , and is currently counsel for the Haida Nation in an Aboriginal Title lawsuit.
Terri-Lynn has published and regularly lectures internationally in aboriginal law, particularly as it relates to cultural heritage and environmental protection. She was the founding Executive Director of the charity EAGLE (Environmental-Aboriginal Guardianship through Law and Education). She has volunteered for numerous organizations, including as an Advisory Council member for the Vancouver Foundation's Environment Program and as a juror for the Buffet Award for Indigenous Leadership, at Ecotrust (US). She is currently a board member of Earthlife Canada Foundation and Haida Gwaii Singers.
Terri-Lynn is devoted to perpetuating Haida culture, beginning with co-founding a children's dance group in 1978 and illustrating a children's book. She is an accomplished singer and dancer and is an active member of the Rainbow Creek Dancers, which travels and performs locally and internationally. She also creates appliquéd and woven ceremonial-regalia. She and husband, artist Robert Davidson, often return to rejuvenate and connect with the land and people of Haida Gwaii.
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FARID ESACK
A South African Muslim theologian who studied in Pakistan and Europe, Farid Esack has authored a number of books on Islam, including Qur'an, Liberation and Pluralism: An Islamic Perspective of Interreligious Solidarity Against Oppression , On Being a Muslim: Finding a Religious Path in the World Today, and An Introduction to the Qur'an (all by Oxford: Oneworld). He is a former commissioner for Gender Equality in South Africa. He has taught in South Africa, Europe, and the U.S. and is currently Bloomberg Professor at Harvard Divinity School in the U.S. He co-founded in 2000 "Positive Muslims", a group that works with Muslims who are HIV+ in South Africa. His most recent work is Islam, HIV and AIDS: Reflections Based on Compassion, Responsibility and Justice.
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VICTORIA FREEMAN
Victoria Freeman is the author of Distant Relations: How My Ancestors Colonized North America, which traces the interactions of her family and First Nations people from the 1600s to the present day. She is currently a PhD candidate in history at the University of Toronto, focusing on Indigenous/non-Indigenous relations in Canada and comparatively. She has given numerous readings, lectures, and presentations for schools, universities, church groups, and community organizations across Canada, either on her own or with Aboriginal co-presenters, on the history of colonialism in Canada and the possibilities for reconciliation between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples. She has also helped to organize many public forums on this topic, including Turning Point: Native Peoples and Newcomers On-Line ( www.turning-point.ca) , a web site facilitating dialogue and information sharing on reconciliation issues. She was a member of the national planning committee for Re-envisioning Relationships: Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal Alliances and Coalitions for Indigenous Rights, Social and Environmental Justice, a conference held at Trent University in November 2006. Victoria and Okanagan/Secwepemc video artist, Dorothy Christian, have worked together for more than eighteen years, including co-presenting at an international conference on conflict resolution and human security in Caux, Switzerland, in 2003.
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EUGENE HARRY
Eugene Harry is from the Squamish unceded territories, on which we are visitors. He is a Healer, Spirit Dancer, cultural canoe paddler, Indian Shaker Church Minister and devoted father. He is a Coastal Salish Halkomelem language speaker and has been involved in numerous social justice coalitions in a diverse range of capacities. He brings relevant environmental and spiritual dimensions to interfaith dialogue which considers the local land and cultures of the Coast Salish peoples.
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CHIEF ROBERT JOSEPH
(Kwun Kwun Wha Lee Gei Gee, Big Thunderbird)
Chief Robert Joseph , Kwun Kwun Wha Lee Gei Gee Big Thunderbird, is a Hereditary Chief of the Gwa wa enuk First Nation. He is also an Indian Residential School Survivor who spent 10 years at St. Michael's Indian Residential School at Alert Bay on the central coast of British Colombia.
He spoke only Kwa Kwala as a six year old boy entering this Residential School. He was beaten many times for speaking his own language and endured other hardship and abuse. He recognizes the destructive impact that this experience had on his life, family and community. This same experience has given him the inspiration to assist aboriginals in seeking hope, healing and reconciliation in his position as Executive Director for the Indian Residential School Survivors Society.
Joseph has spent most of his working life as an advocate for Aboriginal people. He has worked for provincial organizations in BC including the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, Native Brotherhood of BC, and the First Nations Summit. He has also worked for Tribal Councils like the Nuu-Chah-nulth, Kwakiulth District Council, and Musgamagw Tribal Council. In addition, he has worked for large and small Bands as Band Manager. Joseph has a broad experience in dealing with public and government institutions. Throughout the years he has been Community Development Worker, Local Government Worker, District manager for Indian and Northern Affairs Canada. He also served as Aboriginal Fisheries Advisor to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. In the late 1960's, he was BC Coastal Project Manager for the Company of Young Canadians during a time when former Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau was espousing a Just Society for Canada. .Joseph also has some experience in media having been the first Native reporter for the Vancouver Sun. He also worked on small weekly publications. In addition, he was involved with the Aboriginal media including the Native Voice, Indian Voice and Neseika as well as with the Radio Audio Visual Education Network.
Recently Joseph has been awarded with an Honourary Doctorate of Law Degree from the University of British Columbia for his distinguished achievements in serving BC and Canada through the Indian Residential School Survivors Society and for preserving the traditions and cultures of the First Nations of BC.
He has always sought to bridge the differences brought about by intolerance, lack of understanding, and racism. Recently, as chair of Native American Leadership Alliance for Peace and Reconciliation, Joseph was part of a peace delegation to Israel and Palestine. Joseph understands that faith, hope and healing for Aboriginals well ultimately require the bringing about of good will between many parties.
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JERILYNN
Jerilynn aka JB the First Lady is triple threat as an Youth advocate, hip hop Emcee, and Director/curator. She is 23 years old, and hails from the Nuxalk (Bella Coola) and Cayuga Nations (Six Nations). She is an advocate for youth voice and expression through involvement with the community for the Last 6 years. She is currently working as co-director at Knowledgeable Aboriginal Youth Association (KAYA).
Jerilynn is also the Vice-President of the Urban Native Youth Association (UNYA). She loves developing theatre productions with native youth in East Vancouver, serving to give a voice to urban aboriginal youth issues. Jerilynn is also the the 2006 urban aboriginal Youth award winner for her work in the community.
Check her out at www.myspace.com/jbthefirstlady or at www.kayaweb.ca
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NAMSOON KANG
Namsoon Kang is Associate Professor of World Christianity and Religions at Brite Divinity School, Texas Christian University, USA . Before she joined Brite Divinity School in 2006, she taught at Faculty of Divinity, University of Cambridge, UK, and Methodist Theological Seminary, Korea. She has been actively involved in global ecumenical and peace movements, being invited to the 9th Assembly of WCC (World Council of Churches) as one of the plenary speakers in 2006, Porto Alegre, Brazil . She studied theology in Korea, Germany, and the US with her PhD from Drew University, U.S.A. She is currently the vice-president of WOCATI (World Conference of Associations of Theological Institutions), and served as co-moderator of CATS (Congress of Asian Theologians). Her research interests evolve around the contemporary power-sensitive discourses such as feminism, postmodernism and postcolonialism.
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CARMENCITA P. KARAGDAG
Carmencita P. Karagdag is the coordinator of Peace for Life, an international faith-based movement engaged in building people's solidarity and mobilising the power of spirituality in the struggle for social justice and peace and against global hegemony. She is a member of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (Philippine Independent Church) and has actively served the ecumenical movement in various capacities, locally and internationally, since her youth. She is a member of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches as well as the Justice, International Affairs and Development Committee of Christian Conference of Asia . She sits on the Commission on Ecumenical Relations and International Affairs of the Philippine Independent Church (PIC). She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of the Philippines and an MA in Asian Studies. She is the editor/publisher of the following works: "Peace, Disarmament and Symbiosis in Asia-Pacific", "Beyond the Cold War", and "No Time for Crying".
Previous Positions and Involvements:
Member, Executive Committee, WCC Vice Moderator, Working Group on Diakonia and Solidarity, WCC Program Secretary, Ecumenical Education and Nurture, National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP) Virginia Cadbury Fellow, Selly Oak College, United Kingdom Executive Director, Commission on Ecumenical Relations and International Affairs, PIC Executive Director, Resource Center for Philippine Concerns, Tokyo-based Founder, Mission for Filipino Migrant Workers in HK, HK-based Founder, Asian Regional Exchange for New Alternatives (ARENA), HK-based.
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SARA KENDALL
Sara Kendall is a facilitator of arts-based and empowerment- focused processes. Much of her work is dedicated to youth oriented and youth driven initiatives; all of her work comes from a place of passion for joining creative expression with personal development in the context of supportive community. Sara was the coordinator of A People's Project; the Vancouver Child and Youth Rights-Based Monitoring initiative, a project that aims to assess how the human rights of children and youth are being met or unmet in the City of Vancouver through participatory, youth-led workshops. She is the program coordinator of Peer Perspectives, a project of the Access to Media Education Society that utilizes story-telling media created by youth of colour, first nations youth and queer youth in participatory anti-racism and anti-homophobia workshops for youth and youth educators. Some of the other organizations that Sara facilitates with include: the Momentum Project, an urban arts empowerment and social change facilitation collective; Power of Hope, an organization which facilitates international arts-centered awareness and empowerment multi-day programs for youth; Projections, a mentorship project that partners professionals from the film and television industry with street-involved youth in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, and Diversity through Hip-Hop, self-discovery and education workshops in BC's maximum security juvenile detention center.
Sara is a practicing circus artist and coach, a Hip-Hop artist (freestyle, song, rhyme, mouth percussion) and otherwise multi-disciplinary performer (mixing clown, theater, movement, media). "My work is heart-centered, accessing the development of community energy through connection to our spirits, as individuals, together. This means working with a group art practice that intentionally opens us up from the inside: through song, movement, authentic and simple expression of our experiences, and the nurturing of self-value and value in others --- towards the emergence of heart-felt conviction relating to social issues around us. And the facilitation rule is: it's about the love. It's about the sensation of each member of said community experiencing a genuine opening inside themselves. That is the work."
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JAMES LONEY
James Loney, 42, is the Canada program coordinator for Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT). A member of CPT since 2000, James has served on CPT projects in the West Bank, Esgenoopetij (Burnt Church, NB), Asubpeeschoseewagong (Grassy Narrows, ON), Kenora and Iraq. He was kidnapped in November 2005 by Iraqi insurgents (along with three others) and held for 118 days before being rescued by British soldiers. James was a founding member of Zacchaeus House, a Catholic Worker house of hospitality for people who are homeless located in Toronto. Founded by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin in 1933, the Catholic Worker movement calls for the transformation of the social order through the works of mercy, nonviolence, simple living, prayer, and community. He was a member of the Zacchaeus House community from 1990-2001. He currently lives in Toronto (around the corner from Zacchaeus House) with his partner Dan.
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KATHRYN POETHIG
Kathryn Poethig (PhD, Religion and Society, Graduate Theological Union; MDiv, Union Theological Seminary; BA, Anthropology, University of Chicago ), has lived and worked in Southeast Asia for over twenty years. She is currently Assistant Professor of Global Studies at California State University, Monterey Bay. Her area expertise includes global gender issues, particularly feminism and militarism, religious social ethics, and religion, violence, and peacemaking. Dr. Poethig supervised education for Southeast Asian refugees in the US and Asia for 15 years. Her work focuses on progressive religious citizenship in Southeast Asia, particularly in areas of complex conflict and peacemaking. She has written on the Dhammayietra, the annual peace walk in Cambodia as transnational example of engaged Buddhism. More recently, she has focused on Filipino feminist theologians' frameworks for “just peace” for both Communist and Muslim insurgencies in light of the US war on terrorism.
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NORMA ROSE POINT
Norma Rose Point is from the unceded territories of the Musqueam Nation and Seabird Island Nation. She has been involved with numerous interfaith dialogues which include social justice leadership, educational equity issues and environmental activism in her solidarity work for most of her life. She has presented at the 6th World Peace Forum and at a wide variety of coalitions that look at social-culturally appropriate research, language, wholistic health issues. She has worked for the Musqueam education committee since 1965. Her involvements include working for the Vancouver School Board and numerous community health organizations in Vancouver. She is the Elder in Residence for post secondary institutions at the FNHL, British Columbia's Institute for Technology (BCIT) and the UBC Institute for Aboriginal Health. She is currently 'retired' and pursuing a post-secondary degree. She is an Elder, a foster mother and grandmother to many.
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VICTOR PORTER
Victor Porter has been working in the field of Popular and Adult Education and Participatory Action Research since 1984. His work emphasizes the use of the Popular Theatre Methodology / Theatre of the Oppressed, which is a vehicle to explore issues, reflect, evaluate, share experiences and search for solutions in an active, accessible and participatory way. While his recent popular theatre work has been with immigrant youth in Vancouver, he has worked extensively with immigrant communities both in Canada and internationally. Victor is the Community Outreach Program Manager for Mosaic, an Immigrant and Refugee Serving Agency in Vancouver.
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NISHA SAJNANI
Nisha Sajnani, a registered Drama therapist and Certified Canadian Counsellor, is the director of Creative Alternatives, a nonprofit applied arts center in Montreal which provides experiences of the arts in health, education, and advocacy. Since 2004, Nisha has been the coordinator of the Creating Safer Spaces program at the South Asian Women's Community Center in Montreal which draws on a popular theatre and community organizing strategy to address intimate and structural violence against immigrant and refugee women. She is a doctoral candidate at Concordia University where her research centers on critical performance autoethnography with racialized women in the South Asian Diaspora. Nisha is also an actor with the Ollin Teatro Transformacion, and the Montreal Playback Theatre Company. Nisha recently returned from extensive training in street theatre and human rights advocacy in Bangalore, India.
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PRITI SHAH
Priti Shah, MBA, MBA , is a self employed, community-based activist, social justice advocate, and anti-racism trainer/facilitator. Since 1988, she has been actively lobbying and advocating on behalf of immigrant women and professionals, for equal employment status and recognition of international credentials in Canada . She has participated on both provincial and national committees and collaboratively worked with government and community agencies to design policies in support of this goal. Additionally, she has been involved in community based research and training projects, led public forums and talks, written articles and conducted workshops. She is currently a board member for Capacity BC, a registered non profit society of internationally trained professionals.
Priti also has many years of experience working with Unions, primarily with Hospital Employees Union and its members who were privatised in the health sectors. Working hand in hand with the Unions and the Federal Government, she provided training and employment support to members in marginalised situations. Currently, she is the Coordinator for a pilot project involving internationally trained Nurses. As well as working on the Living Wage campaign for HEU. Priti also co-designed the curriculum for “Our Voices” Conference - the first National Human Rights Conference for CUPE held in Vancouver in 2006.
In 2005, she co-founded Pratham BC Foundation, a non-profit charitable organization whose mission is to eradicate poverty by empowering the marginalised in society, particularly children, through the provision of basic education. As large number of these children are being used as child labour. Her work involves creating awareness around literacy issues affecting underprivileged children in India and garnering financial support to fund specially designed literacy programs for these children so that no child is left behind without an education. Raised as a Hindu, Priti finds it only natural to embrace all religions as facets of the One Truth and her spiritual, social and civic consciousness transcends all barriers. She feels deeply connected to every human being and it is this connection that spurs her on towards her life's purpose of creating a just and equitable society.
Priti is also an active member of the Sri Sathya Sai Organisation – a multi-faith service organisation dedicated to Spiritual advancement of Seekers of Truth, promotion of Universal Spirituality & Human Values. Priti's involvement with this organisation began in 2004 when she saw a clear parallel between its fundamental belief in the inherent goodness and divinity of mankind and her own core beliefs and philosophy in life. Since then, she has been actively involved in the running of Sri Sathya Sai Center of Coquitlam, B.C., where she held several key coordinator positions. Currently, Priti is a Spiritual Education teacher at the Center. She facilitates the spiritual growth of children (ages 5 through 16) through a unique model of education that promotes Character building and the practice of the 5 basic Human Values ie Love, Peace, Truth, Right Conduct and Non-Violence.
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SIMONA SHARONI
Simona Sharoni is an internationally-known feminist scholar, researcher, and activist. She holds a PhD in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from George Mason University and is the author of Gender and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: The Politics of Women's Resistance (Syracuse University Press, 1995).
Sharoni has written extensively on gender dynamics in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the North of Ireland, Middle East politics, the peace and justice movement peace and conflict resolution theory. She has also conducted research on the aftermath of peace agreements, comparing Israel-Palestine to the North of Ireland. Militarization and de-militarization and the relationship between violence against women and the violence of war have been among her primary topics of interest.
Sharoni, who is Jewish, lived much of her life in Israel and served in the Israeli military. Her practical experience includes over two decades of teaching, research, writing, facilitation, and community organizing both in Israel and in the United States . She also worked in Israel for ten years coordinating and facilitating encounter groups between Israeli-Jews and Palestinians who hold Israeli citizenship. She was a founding member of Women in Black and involved in advocacy work with Israeli women's peace groups, which struggled to end the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. She also contributed to solidarity work with Palestinians in the Occupied Territories and in North America, with a special emphasis on women's initiatives.
She is currently launching a new project titled Healing the Wounds of War, which involves coaching and counseling for veterans and their families.
For further information refer to: http://www.simonasharoni.com
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RUPINDER SIDHU
Rupinder is a Vancouver-based social artist and facilitator. He has been helping build healthy, passionate communities for the past 10 years. Strength and self-empowerment inspire all of Rup's work; he brings a fun, engaging, and heartfelt energy to all of his facilitation. As a multi instrumentalist, producer, dancer, choreographer, and poet, his vision is ignited by an interdisciplinary passion for the arts. Rup facilitates with a variety of different organization including Safe Teen, a violence prevention and gender awareness program; Peer Perspectives, delivering engaging anti-oppression workshops; the Momentum Project which is an arts based social justice non-profit organization, the Power of Hope, a non-profit which uses arts based facilitation for youth empowerment. Rup also teaches percussion at the Sarah MacLaughlin Music Outreach, a free inner city music school and has his own initiative, Metaphor, bringing Hip-Hop workshops into youth detention centers and rural communities.
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SHANA SMITH
Shana Smith (Tlakwaskimgeluk A'comala) is with the Tlowitsis First Nation and is an Aboriginal Support Worker in 6 schools for the Delta School District. She is the leader of the Raven Tricksters, a West Coast Drum group of Delta Students.
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ITRATH SYED
Itrath Syed has recently completed a Masters degree in Women's Studies at the Centre for Women's and Gender Studies at the University of British Columbia. Her MA work explored the gendered and racialized construction of the Muslim community in the media discourse surrounding the Islamic Arbitration or “Shariah” debate in Ontario. In 2007, Itrath will be teaching “Contemporary Debates in Muslim Women's Feminisms” in the department of Women's Studies at Simon Fraser University .
In 1995, she completed her BA from Simon Fraser University with a major in Middle East History and minors in Political Science and Women's Studies. During the years between her undergraduate and graduate degrees, Itrath worked in the field of anti-violence work. She started out at a Rape Crisis Centre and then worked at Transition Houses for battered women and their children. Itrath is a social justice activist involved with the local antiwar movement, in anti-occupation solidarity work, and in resisting the erosion of civil rights and the racial profiling of the Muslim, Arab, and South Asian communities in Canada . In the 2004 federal election, Itrath ran as a candidate for the New Democratic Party in her home riding of Delta-Richmond East, British Columbia. Itrath has been interviewed for several documentaries and is a frequent presenter on a wide array of political and social issues.
Itrath is a Muslim and her social justice activism comes from her belief that working towards a more just and equitable society is an integral part of living a life in engagement with the Divine.
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