Meet the Class of 2011

Nick

Nick Martin (Washington, D.C.)

Nick Martin is the founder and CEO of TechChange, whose mission is to “train leaders to leverage emerging technologies for sustainable social change,” a mission directly relevant to the Middle East’s current technologically-driven social change movements. Nick believes that “21st-century training and pedagogy are needed to solve 21st-century social problems, “ and has worked on six continents with teachers and students, helping to develop the concept of global citizenship.

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Selma

Selma Talha Jebril (Washington, D.C.)

A very engaged individual, Selma participated in numerous seminars, conferences and round table in Washington, D.C. and overseas, where she represented the voice of Moroccan youth and her strong engagement in the sociopolitical life of her countries as well as the Middle East and Africa. She actively advocated for Morocco and Sudan. In Washington, D.C. she is an active member to several Moroccan and International organizations with a strong International network.

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Joseph

Joseph Essex (Brooklyn, NY)

Joseph Essex holds a Masters of Professional Studies in Arabic from the University of Maryland and a Dual BA in Middle Eastern Studies and Political Science from the Elliot School of International Affairs at George Washington University. He was also a fellow in The Arabic Flagship program at the University of Damascus from 2009 to 2010. Fluent in Arabic with significant regional experience, Joseph served as the Resident Director first for the Syria program and then for the pilot Jordan program. In 2011, he relocated to the United States where he now oversees the CET programs in the Middle East.

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Traci

Traci Fenton (Grafton, IL)

Traci Fenton is the Founder and CEO of WorldBlu, whose mission is championing the growth of democratically-run companies worldwide. WorldBlu publishes the annual WorldBlu List of Most Democratic Workplaces™, a list of the most transparent, collaborative and decentralized companies in the world, ranging from small to FORTUNE 500-sized organizations. As a leading expert in organizational democracy, she is recognized as one of the business thought-leaders of her generation as well as of the next generation of business. WorldBlu’s trademarked democratic principles provide new and inspiring perspectives on the ongoing democracy debate and the Arab spring in the Middle East.

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Chris

Chris Turner (Brooklyn, NY)

Chris Turner has a vision to “tap the world market for crafts, textiles and other handmade goods, specifically in relation to those who recognize the value of traditional religious iconography crafts produced in the Holy Land.”  Chris bases all his work in Fair Trade and is creating business opportunities for artisans.  In 2009, Chris lived and worked in the Bethlehem district of Palestine. While there to do thesis research on the role of food in resistance, he helped to establish the Bethlehem Fair Trade Artisans network. When it was time to leave, Chris knew that he could not simply leave the work behind. Chris now owns and runs a Fair Trade wholesale and retail company (Palestine Fair Trade Alliance) that is dedicated to increasing market access and product awareness for Palestinian handicrafts, textiles and value-added agricultural products.

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Elias

Elias D’eis (Bethlehem, Palestinian Territories)

Elias D’eis is a Palestinian Christian from Beit Sahour. Elias D’eis was born and raised in the conflict area of the West Bank.  He currently works for the Palestinian NGO, founded by Sami Awad, Holy Land Trust, leading trips of international visitors though Palestine and Israel with the goal of building bridges between the local and the international communities. Elias in the Travel & Encounter Department where he organizing the logistics for the people who come to raise their awareness about the situation in this land, to understand the core of the Palestinian–Israeli conflict, and to learn more about the culture and tradition by face-to-face meetings.

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Rebecca P

Rebecca Polivy (Jerusalem, Israel)

Rebecca Polivy works for the non-profit organization, Encounter, in Jerusalem, leading trips through the Holy Land for members of the American Jewish community. She is particularly drawn to face-to-face encounters and helping to develop skills of listening and communicating, and her trips are intended specifically to catalyze connections with Palestinians. Rebecca’s work is “dedicated to the challenge of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, more specifically, towards highlighting the role of American Jews in this conflict and working within this constituency to develop more constructive engagement with Israel, Israelis, Palestinians and the conflict to bring about a peaceful resolution.”

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Kateland

Kateland Oakes (Hope, Maine)

Kateland Oakes is an intrepid explorer and Middle East aficionado.  She was in Syria during the beginnings of the government crackdown in the spring of 2011.  She is most passionate about “looking for ways to provide the opportunity for people to experience a different side of the Middle East than what is offered by American stereotypes, media, and movies.”

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Aaron

Aaron Voldman (Washington, D.C.)

Aaron Voldman is co-founder and Executive Director of the Student Peace Alliance (SPA), the national youth movement for a Department of Peace. He is also a member of the Board of Directors for The Peace Alliance, the partner organization to SPA that empowers civic activism for a culture of peace. As of September 2011, SPA had grown to be an alliance of 150 chapters on high school and college campuses throughout the United States.

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Sarah

Sarah Norton (Denver, CO)

Working as a ‘Group Challenge’ facilitator at Seeds of Peace International—a conflict resolution organization dedicated to serving youth in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and the United States—and pursuing a master’s degree in Medical Anthropology, has allowed Sarah to understand and articulate what she sees to be “an inherent connection between access to health care, health status, and the ability of individuals to engage in effective dialogue.”

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Eyal

Eyal Raviv (Tel Aviv, Israel)

Wanting to communicate with others who want peace, I built MEPEACE – a network for peace with thousands of peacemakers and millions of page visits on mepeace.org.  I was raised in NY, Tel Aviv and Los Angeles. I left home for New York at age 16, anad studied at Yeshivat Hakotel, Yeshiva University, and the London School of Economics. I moved to Israel in 2005 and studied Arabic and web design. During the second war in Lebanon, I opened my eyes and dedicated myself to Middle East peace. I came up with this built mepeace.org to bring together people who believe in peace. After a quarter million page visits online, we created Peace Cafes and Peace Talks events on the ground.

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