Our team

Janessa Gans Wilder, Founder + CEO

Janessa Gans Wilder, a former CIA analyst, founded Euphrates on the heels of a 21-month assignment in Iraq. Janessa was liaising with top Iraqi leaders in the run up to the first elections in 2005, and witnessed first hand the clashes between Americans and Iraqis and the lack of cultural, religious, and historical understanding that pervaded both sides. Convinced that our foreign policy challenges require more than government effort, Janessa resigned from the CIA to start a grassroots movement to allay fear and restore trust between the West and Middle East in the aftermath of 9/11. Her aim is to help citizens on both sides realize their mutual humanity as the way to find lasting freedom and security. Her Middle East experience has included Arabic study in the Palestinian Territories and extended travel throughout the Arab world. After five years of government service on the Middle East and South Asia, she became a consultant to the State Department and a visiting professor of Middle East issues at Principia College. Janessa received a Master’s degree in International Policy Studies from Stanford University, and her BA from Principia College.

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Hillary Austin, Strategy

Hillary Austin was first drawn to the Middle East through studies of French colonialism in North Africa. This interest has since focused on the relationship between the Middle East and West, specifically in encouraging a greater sense of mutual understanding and open dialogue. International and political issues have been an integral part of Hillary’s education; she served as logistics director of the 59th annual Principia College Public Affairs Conference and has studied and traveled throughout Western Europe. She spent time last year in Syria and Lebanon where she took an intensive beginning Arabic language course. Hillary earned her B.A. with majors in International Relations and French literature from Principia College, and recently completed a year of teaching in Normandy, France.

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Heather Libbe, Program Manager

Heather Libbe became interested in the Middle East after spending three months in Jordan, Israel and the West Bank this past winter. While abroad, she took graduate courses focused on peace and sustainability and was able to engage in dialogue with individuals from all sides of the Israeli-Palestinian relationship. From that experience, she learned the importance of cross-cultural communication and understanding, and became interested in conflict resolution. A recent Principia College graduate, Heather earned a B.A. with majors in Business Administration and Religion. She is looking to pursue a Masters in Theological Studies, as well as a Masters in International Peace and Conflict Resolution. Additionally, she is hoping to learn both Hebrew and Arabic and return to the Middle East as soon as possible.

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Jean Jenkins, Secretary, Board of Directors

Jean Jenkins developed a love for the Arabic language as an undergraduate at the University of WI, Madison. This led to participating in summer Arabic language programs in Jordan and Egypt – and then earning a Master’s degree in Middle East Studies at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. As a Georgetown student she was awarded a one-year internship with NBC News in Cairo, Egypt and later covered international affairs as a reporter for Christian Science Monitor Radio. Among other assignments, she traveled to Israel and the Occupied Territories to cover reaction to the 1993 signing of the first Israeli-Palestinian Peace agreement.

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Chuck Wattles, Treasurer, Board of Directors

Chuck Wattles has worked for many years in both international and domestic development programs for numerous non-governmental organizations and governmental agencies. Internationally, he worked with the Education Development Center as the Washington D.C. Program Manager for a Youth Leadership Program in the West Bank and Gaza, and lived for three years in Sudan working with street children, refugee resettlement, emergency housing, and disaster relief. He’s traveled throughout East Africa, the West Bank, Israel, and Jordon. While working at Peace Corps headquarters he brought special focus to combining youth development and environmental projects. In the U.S. he has directed three nonprofit housing and community development organizations and served on the boards of two youth development organizations. He has a Masters degree in International Administration from the School for International Training, in Brattleboro, Vermont.

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Rebecca Tobias, Board of Directors

Rebecca Tobias is a Global Council Trustee of the United Religions Initiative and the Program Director of the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Ethics, which designs and facilitates interfaith and intercultural programming which serves to foster a culture of peace; and through her work has coordinated capacity-building projects with civic, faith, and social justice advocacy organizations locally, nationally and internationally. As a Fellow with the Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights for the Working Groups for Indigenous Populations, Rebecca assisted in the drafting of resolutions presented for the Human Rights Sub-Commission meeting held in August 2005 and since that time has served as a delegate to the United Nations for several CSO’s including the inaugural meeting of the Tripartite Forum on Interfaith Cooperation for Peace.

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Craig Hunter, Attorney

Craig Hunter has been a Los Angeles trial lawyer for about 30 years who likes to think he breaks the traditional mold. He received a B.A. in mathematics from Principia College and a law degree from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, serving as an editor of the law review. As his daughters steered clear of the law, Craig branched out from his litigation practice to help commercial wind developers and assist a few Indian tribes in developing their economies through gaming and renewable energy projects. He is also a commercial pilot who enjoys flying as a hobby and is a weekend sailor and surfer.

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