During the past fifteen years, people-to-people peacebuilding organizations working in Israel/Palestine have faced many challenges. The unrelenting expansion of Israeli settlements, the increasing restrictions on the movement of Palestinians, the lack of US leadership, and the inability and lack of will of political leadership in Israel and Palestine to move the peace process forward are just a few of the realities that have made the work of peacebuilding organizations every more difficult and, at times wholly disheartening. At the same time these dire developments have also prompted the peacebuilding community to work collaboratively to identify new strategies and approaches to the "what" and the "how" of the work they do.

But recent violence in the region and the conflict both within Israel and between Hamas and Israel give a new urgency to the reckoning that has consumed the peacebuilding field in recent years.

Some of the tough questions being asked include:

• Is people-to-people peacebuilding even possible when restrictions on movement, compulsory military service, and an ever-growing anti-normalization movement make meeting face-to-face nearly impossible? If not, what can take its place?

• Is bringing together Israelis and Palestinians even advisable given the gargantuan power differences between the two sides? If not, is there a way to bring the parties together despite the vast political inequities.

• Given the bleak political landscape on all sides, how do people-to-people peacebuilding organizations even measure success?

In a two-part series, CNI will take a look at these issues from two different perspectives.

First, on June 30, join us as an expert panel shares their views about the future of the peacebuilding movement in Israel and Palestine.

Then, on August 4, join us as we welcome youth voices to the table. In this session, we will hear from young people who have been involved in people-to-people peacebuilding to get their own thoughts and reactions to peacebuilding in the current contentious climate between Hamas and Israel.

CNI is honored to host the following panelists for this event:

Huda Abuarquob is the Alliance for Middle East Peace’s first on-the-ground regional director. She has years of experience in conflict resolution, NGO leadership, and social change education and activism, as well as life-long commitment to building strong people-to-people Israeli-Palestinian relations. She is a well-known speaker on issues related to Middle East politics and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

After studying conflict transformation and peace studies as a Fulbright scholar, she worked as an executive director, a program director, and an NGO consultant to a number of organizations in the U.S., Israel, and Palestine. She is a co-founder of the Center for Transformative Education and has taught and trained hundreds of students in Israel and the U.S. She has long been an active leader in grassroots Palestinian initiatives focused on women’s empowerment and people-to-people diplomacy.

Previously, Huda worked as a teacher, trainer, and consultant for the Palestinian Ministry of Education for fifteen years. She earned her M.A. in conflict transformation and peace studies from Eastern Mennonite University and her B.A. in education for social change from Al-Quds Open University in Jerusalem.

Huda is the oldest of twelve children, the daughter of respected Palestinian educators, and an aunt to twenty-two nieces and nephews. Born in Jerusalem, she has traveled extensively in Europe and the Middle East, lived for years in the U.S. and now resides in Hebron.

Joyce Ajlouny joined the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) as general secretary in 2017. A Quaker leader who is committed to help bring peace and justice to oppressed and vulnerable communities globally, Joyce brings to AFSC a depth of experience in international development and relief, education and 30 years of non-profit management. Under her leadership AFSC is entering its second century with a bold strategic revisioning and planning initiative that set organizational goals for the next decade (2020-2030). 

A Palestinian American, Joyce started her career working in international development in Palestine, focusing on minority and refugee rights, gender equality, economic development, and humanitarian support. She served as the country director for Palestine and Israel with Oxfam-Great Britain, chaired the Association of International Development Agencies there and took on leadership roles at the UNDP and UNFPA.  Prior to joining AFSC, Joyce served as the director of the Ramallah Friends School, a leading K-12 Quaker school in Palestine, for 13 years, where she led a diverse staff to transform the school academically, physically and financially.  

Joyce holds a master’s degree in Organizational Management and Development from Fielding Graduate University in California. While based in Philadelphia, Joyce’s home is in Bethesda, Maryland, where she lives with her husband.  They have three adult children. 

Lior Amihai is the Executive Director of Yesh Din, an Israeli human rights organization that monitors, researches and conducts legal and public advocacy regarding human rights violations inherent in Israel’s prolonged occupation, with the aim of enhancing access to justice for Palestinians in the West Bank. Yesh Din has gained international recognition for its research and litigation in the following areas: accountability of Israeli security forces personnel; law enforcement on Israeli civilians who harm Palestinians or their property; and takeover of Palestinian land. 

Before joining Yesh Din, Lior jointly headed Peace Now's Settlement Watch project, responsible for exposing and analysing the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Lior obtained his master's degree in human rights as a Chevening scholar from University College in London, and his B.Sc. from the City University of London, as a participant in the Olive Tree Scholarship Program for Palestinian and Israeli scholars. Lior grew up in Jerusalem and today he resides in Tel Aviv with his wife and their two children. He is the director of Yesh Din as of 2017.

Eileen F. Babbitt, PhD, is Professor of International Conflict Management Practice at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. Recent publications include: “The Responsibility to Protect: Time to Re-Assess.” Journal of Human Rights Practice. (2017); "The Pragmatics of Peace with Justice: The Challenge of Integrating Mediation and Human Rights." in Coleman, Deutsch, and Marcus. The Handbook of Conflict Resolution: Theory and Practice, Third Edition (2014); "Mediation and the prevention of mass atrocities." in Serrano and Weiss (eds.) The International Politics of Human Rights: Rallying to the R2P Cause?(2014); and "Preventive Diplomacy by Intergovernmental Organizations: Learning from Practice." International Negotiation (2012).

Her 30+ years of practice as a facilitator, trainer, and mediation specialist has included work in the Middle East, the Balkans, and with the United Nations (UNDP, UNHCR, UNAMI), U.S. government agencies (USAID, US Department of State), regional inter-governmental organizations (African Union, OSCE), and international and local NGOs. Dr. Babbitt holds a Master’s Degree in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School, and a Ph.D. from the MIT.

Ned Lazarus is Associate Professor of International Affairs at the George Washington University's Elliott School, and an Israel Institute Teaching Fellow. A Conflict Resolution scholar, practitioner and evaluator, Ned has conducted evaluative studies of peacebuilding initiatives on behalf of USAID, USIP, the European Union and the US Department of State. Ned has taught Conflict Resolution at George Mason University, Georgetown University, American University, the University of Malta and the University of Massachusetts-Boston; his work has been published in Peace and Change, International Journal of Conflict Engagement and Resolution, Journal of Peacebuilding and Development, Palestine-Israel Journal, Fathom, Pulse: A Sociopolitical Journal and Israel Studies Review. Ned earned his doctorate from American University's School of International Service in 2011; his dissertation traces the long-term impact of peace education participation among more than 800 Israeli and Palestinian Seeds of Peace participants from adolescence through adulthood. Before entering the academic field, Ned served as Middle East Program Director for Seeds of Peace, based in Jerusalem, from 1996-2004.

[Panel Moderator] Robert C. Bordone is an internationally-recognized expert, author, speaker, and teacher in negotiation, conflict resolution, mediation, and facilitation.  A Senior Fellow at Harvard Law School, he served on the full-time faculty at Harvard Law School for more than twenty years as the Thaddeus R. Beal Clinical Professor of Law, Director, and Founder of the Harvard Negotiation & Mediation Clinical Program before launching his full-time consulting, advisory, speaking, and training practice.  Bob has also been an Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center and a Visiting Clinical Professor of Conflict Transformation at Boston University’s School of Theology.

 As a professional facilitator, mediator, and conflict management consultant, Bob works with individual, non-profit, governmental, and corporate clients across many sectors. He specializes in assisting individuals and groups seeking to manage conflicts in highly sensitive, emotional, or difficult situations. His corporate clients have included Premera Blue Cross, Health Net, Gap, Inc., Fidelity Investments, Nestlé, Coca-Cola, Delta Air Lines, Exelon, Heineken, and Microsoft.  In addition, he has worked on projects with many nonprofit, educational, governmental and cultural institutions including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Massachusetts General Hospital, Dartmouth College, the Swiss Foreign Ministry, the U.S. Department of Justice, the United Way, the International Criminal Court at The Hague, Seeds of Peace, and the Vienna School of Economics and Business Administration.

 He has also trained attorneys at the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, the National Association of Realtors, and many leading international law firms.

 During his time at Harvard Law School, Bob led the school’s flagship Negotiation Workshop, more than doubling its size. He also developed several new classes at Harvard including an Advanced Workshop on Multiparty Negotiation and Group Decision-Making and a Facilitation Workshop. 

 Bob is the recipient of many awards for teaching, research, and innovation. These include The Albert Sacks-Paul Freund Teaching Award at Harvard Law School, presented annually to a single member of the Harvard Law School faculty for teaching excellence, mentorship of students, and general contributions to the life of the Law School. The International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution’s (CPR) awarded Bob its Problem Solving in the Law School Curriculum Award for his innovative work in creating and building the Harvard Negotiation and Mediation Clinical Program.  Four graduating classes of Harvard Law School selected him to deliver a Last Lecture prior to their graduation, a recognition reserved for only four faculty members each year.

Bob’s current research and writing interests include the assessment, reform, design, and implementation of dispute handling systems and developing and testing methods of effective public dialogue on issues that cut to the core of identity, meaning, belonging, and belief. He is the co-author of two books: Designing Systems and Processes for Managing Disputes, 2d. Edition (Wolters-Kluwer, 2019) and The Handbook of Dispute Resolution (Jossey-Bass, 2005). He has also published articles in leading dispute resolution journals including the Harvard Negotiation Law Review, the Ohio State Journal on Dispute Resolution, the Journal of Dispute Resolution, Negotiation Briefings, Dispute Resolution Magazine, and Negotiation Journal. Bob’s writing and commentary have appeared in various print and broadcast media outlets including NBC News, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, America, The Chicago Tribune, CNN’s Situation Room, and BBC Radio.

Bob has served on a variety of advisory boards that include the Dartmouth College Center for Social Impact and the Harvard Law School Mediation Program.  He has served as Associate Editor of the Negotiation Journal and as a member of its Editorial Advisory Board, as well as a member of the Program on Negotiation Executive Committee, and as faculty adviser to the Harvard Mediation Program, the Harvard Negotiation Law Review, and Harvard Negotiators. Bob currently serves on the Board of Directors for Seeds of Peace, on the Advisory Board for the Catholic Common Ground Initiative, on the Board of the Systemic Justice Project at Harvard Law School, and on the Board of Advisors for the Center for Empathy in International Affairs. He is also Senior Advisor to the National Institute for Civil Discourse and an appointed member of Cambridge, Massachusetts LGBTQ+ Commission.

 After graduating from law school, Bob clerked for The Honorable George A. O’Toole, Jr. of the United States District Court for Massachusetts.  In addition to his many years at Harvard Law School, Bob has also worked at the Washington D.C.-based law firm of Crowell & Moring, the New York-based law firm of Cravath, Swaine, & Moore, CBS News, the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the Boston Consulting Group.

 Bob received his J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School, and his A.B., summa cum laude, from Dartmouth College where he majored in Government. You can follow him on Twitter with the handle @bobbordone or on his website: www.bobbordone.com. 

The last decade has seen an unprecedented rise in the number of global migrants, creating one of the most profound challenges for international cooperation of our time. The United States alone hosts 51 million international migrants, the largest number in a single nation. While many migrants have relocated voluntarily, forced displacements are at the highest levels globally recorded since World War II, with refugees and asylum seekers accounting for a quarter of global migration increases. Those numbers will only continue to increase as political, security, resource, and climate pressures intensify. Borders and refugee camps display human tragedy and despair, illuminating the struggle and failure on the part of states to find an adequate and timely response to what is now broadly described as a migration crisis, which border enforcement cannot solve.

Migration challenges, by their nature, require cross-border cooperation and coordinated international responses. Robust, skilled, problem-solving negotiation is thus critical to addressing the growing crisis in an effective and enduring way. The global appetite for a broad international agreement to respond to and manage the crisis finally reached an action point in 2016 when the UN member states began negotiating a global migration compact, which was finalized in 2018.

However, it is not just nations seeking safe, orderly solutions that are turning to negotiation as a primary tool for responding to the crisis. We also are seeing migrants used as a bargaining chip or leverage in negotiations concerning other political or policy interests. The United States, for example, refused to participate in the negotiations or sign onto the UN Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration. Instead, we saw the U.S. threaten Mexico with trade sanctions if it did not agree to the “Stay-in-Mexico” policy for migrants. Internally, in the U.S. and elsewhere, the migrant crisis has been utilized as a tool to fuel nationalist policies and leaders, and has become the centerpiece of domestic negotiations over national priorities and legislation. Negotiation in these contexts often has been zero-sum, and has resulted in very little movement to a lasting solution.

And—as distinct from the national or international arena—negotiation also has been a survival tool for the individuals and families who must negotiate with each other, with their smugglers, and with border guards to thwart state controls, and for the lawyers and advocates who fight to gain access to migrants and keep them safe.

CNI was honored to host the following panelists, who shared their perspectives, experiences, and insights on the role negotiation has played and should be playing in the migration crisis.

Elizabeth Ferris is Research Professor with the Institute for the Study of International Migration at Georgetown University. In 2016, she also served as Senior Advisor to the UN General Assembly’s Summit for Refugees and Migrants in New York. Prior to joining Georgetown, she was a Senior Fellow and co-director of the Brookings-LSE Project on Internal Displacement and spent 20 years working in the field of humanitarian assistance, most recently in Geneva, Switzerland at the World Council of Churches. She has written extensively on humanitarian issues, including Consequences of Chaos: Syria’s Humanitarian Crisis and the Failure to Protect, with Kemal Kirsici (Brookings Institution Press, 2016). Her latest book – Refugees, Migration and Global Governance: Negotiating the Global Compacts (with Katharine Donato) was published by Routledge in July 2019. She received her BA degree from Duke University and her MA and PhD degrees from the University of Florida.

Dulce Garcia grew up in Logan Heights, California a community that is predominantly Mexican and Mexican-American. Dulce is undocumented and found it impossible to find financial aid after high school. So, she attended community college at night, and worked as a paralegal in a law office during the day. Oftentimes, she held other jobs including waitressing, parking cars, tutoring, selling flowers and retail. She paid her way through school, and subsequently transferred to the University of California San Diego where she received her bachelor's degree in Political Science. She attended law school at Cleveland Marshall College of Law where she received her Jurisprudence Doctorate with a concentration in Civil Litigation. Dulce opened her private practice in 2016 and has provided hundreds of free consultations and dozens of Know Your Rights workshops to inform community members of their rights. She also volunteers to represent low income clients in court in collaboration with the Mexican Consulate and various nonprofit organizations. In 2017 Dulce and other DACA recipients formed San Diego Border Dreamers to advocate for more humane immigration laws and policies. In September 2017, Dulce also sued Trump and the administration after the termination of DACA. As a result of those efforts in court, hundreds of thousands of DACA recipients are able to renew their DACA status while the case is in litigation. Dulce was in the Supreme Court on November 12, 2019 defending DACA. Dulce is the Executive Director of Border Angels, a nonprofit organization that conducts humanitarian work along the US-Mexico border. Border Angels promotes a culture of love through advocacy and education, by creating social consciousness, and engaging in direct action to defend human rights.

Stéphane Jaquemet is the International Catholic Migration Commission’s Director of Policy since February 2018. He is a lawyer and an experienced humanitarian professional with substantial expertise in the policy field.

Before joining ICMC, Stéphane spent 25 years working with the UN Refugee Agency, with assignments in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. Most recently, he was UNHCR’s Regional Representative for Southern Europe, based in Rome. Prior to that, he served in UNHCR headquarters as Senior Legal Advisor, then Chief of Section, Protection Capacity and Promotion of Refugee Law. He has also worked at the International Committee of the Red Cross as a delegate in Africa and the Middle East and as a Legal Officer in Geneva. Stéphane has also worked for the Swiss faith-based aid organization Entraide Protestante Suisse, and as a lawyer in private practice.

Stéphane is a Swiss national. He completed his Law Degree at the University of Lausanne. He holds a Master of Advanced Studies in Criminology from the University of Paris II Pantheon. Stéphane is fluent in French, English, Spanish and Italian and has notions of Arabic.

We were deeply honored to host an off-the-record conversation with the legendary Robert Barnett of Williams & Connolly in Washington, DC. In addition to representing major corporations in litigation matters, corporate work, contracts, crisis management, and government relations, Bob is without a doubt the premier authors’ representative in the world and one of the most revered and respected negotiators in the country. He generously shared stories, negotiation advice, and guiding principles developed over decades of experience.

His clients have included: President Barack Obama; President Bill Clinton; President George W. Bush; Secretary of State and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton; First Lady Michelle Obama; First Lady Laura Bush; Bob Woodward; Mary Higgins Clark; Vice President Dick Cheney; Bern Bernanke; The late Congressman John Lewis; Governor Andrew Cuomo; Ambassador Nikki Haley; The late Tim Russert; Barbara Streisand; The late Jack Welch; Sen. Mitch McConnell; Jake Tapper; Prime Minister Tony Blair; Queen Noor of Jordan; The Prince of Wales; Secretary of State Madeline Albright; Secretary of State James Baker

Bob also has worked on ten national presidential campaigns, focusing on debate preparation. In addition to playing a major role on the debate preparation teams in 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012, he played the role of George Bush in practice debates with Geraldine Ferraro in 1984, with Michael Dukakis in 1988, and practice debated Bill Clinton more than twenty times during the 1992 campaign. In 2000, he played the role of Dick Cheney in practices with Joe Lieberman. In 2004, he played the role of Dick Cheney in practices with John Edwards. In 2000 and 2006, he assisted Hillary Rodham Clinton with her Senate debate preparations and helped prepare her for 23 presidential primary debates in 2008. He assisted Barack Obama with debate negotiation and preparation in 2008 and 2012. He assisted Secretary Clinton with her 2016 debates, including playing the role of Bernie Sanders in practice primary debates and Mike Pence in practices for the vice-presidential debate with Tim Kaine.

Dan Garodnick is the President and CEO of the Riverside Park Conservancy, a not-for profit organization advocating for a six mile park on Manhattan's West Side. As a 12-year Member of the New York City Council Dan Garodnick was known as one of New York's most independent voices and effective legislators. The City Council unanimously passed his bill that will relieve more than 2,700 small businesses in Manhattan from paying the onerous commercial rent tax. He was also the lead negotiator in crafting a plan that will deliver nearly a billion dollars to improve subways and public spaces in Midtown over the next 20 years, through the East Midtown and Vanderbilt Corridor rezonings. Dan is a fierce tenant advocate and, in 2015, negotiated the largest affordable housing preservation deal in New York City’s history -- 5,000 middle class housing units in Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village.

Meredith Kane is Co-Chair of the Real Estate Department for the law firm Paul Weiss and two-term member of the firm’s Management Committee. Ms. Kane is a member of the Board of Governors of the Real Estate Board of New York. She served as a commissioner of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission from 1995 to 2004. She was a member of the World Trade Center Memorial Center Advisory Committee. She was a lead official from 1985-87 of the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development in charge of the development of 8,000 new housing units, and a City Planning official for the City of New Haven from 1977-79 in charge of mixed-use retail and commercial districts. Ms. Kane represented the Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village Tenants Association in the ownership and debt restructuring of the 11,000-unit residential complex.

James Patchett is the President and CEO of New York City Economic Development Corporation. He has spent his career building stronger cities through investments in affordable housing, innovation, and 21st century infrastructure. In his current role overseeing job growth and economic development for the City of New York, James taps into his deep experience in real estate, finance, government, and urban planning. During his tenure, he has overseen some of the city’s most ambitious projects, including launching a citywide ferry system, developing Mayor de Blasio’s 100,000 jobs plan, and optimizing NYCEDC’s 60 million square feet of real estate. James currently serves on the board of the Prospect Park Alliance, the non-profit organization responsible for running and maintaining one of Brooklyn’s most beloved greenspaces.

Donovan Richards Jr., a lifelong resident of Southeast Queens, was elected as Queens Borough President in November of 2020. As a fighter for affordable housing, he was proud to serve as the Chair of the Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises during his first New York City Council term. He used this position to help negotiate a stronger, more inclusive affordable housing plan and made history when the Council passed the most aggressive affordable housing policy in the nation. He also served as Chair of the Committee on Environmental Protection following Super Storm Sandy. Through his position he was able to help secure funding for flood protection to protect Rockaway communities.

On January 20, 2021, Kamala Harris became the first woman to serve as Vice President of the United States. To mark this occasion, the Cambridge Negotiation Institute hosted a star-studded panel featuring negotiation stories and lessons from four prominent women leaders:

Kim Campbell. When it comes to blazing the trail for women, the Right Honourable Kim Campbell's career includes many milestones. Not only does Ms. Campbell still hold the distinction of being Canada's first and only female Prime Minister, she is also the first Canadian Prime Minister to have held office in all three levels of government: Municipal, Provincial and Federal. The Right Honourable Kim Campbell has held the cabinet portfolios of Minister of State for Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Minister of National Defence--the first woman to have held such a position in any NATO country--and Minister of Veterans' Affairs. Additionally, the breadth of her international experience includes participation in major international meetings such as the Commonwealth, NATO, the G-7 Summit and the United Nations General Assembly.

Rose Gottemoeller is the Frank E. and Arthur W. Payne Distinguished Lecturer at Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and its Center for International Security and Cooperation. Before joining Stanford Gottemoeller was the Deputy Secretary General of NATO from 2016 to 2019, where she helped to drive forward NATO’s adaptation to new security challenges in Europe and in the fight against terrorism.  Prior to NATO, she served for nearly five years as the Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security at the U.S. Department of State, advising the Secretary of State on arms control, nonproliferation and political-military affairs. While Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control, Verification and Compliance in 2009 and 2010, she was the chief U.S. negotiator of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) with the Russian Federation. Gottemoeller, the first woman to lead a major nuclear arms negotiation, delivers an insider’s account of the negotiations between the US and Russian delegations in Geneva in 2009 and 2010 in her book Negotiating the New Start Treaty.

Vicki A. Jackson, MD, MPH is chief of the Division of Palliative Care and Geriatric Medicine, Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School, and co-director of the Harvard Medical School Center for Palliative Care. In her role as Chief of Palliative Care for Massachusetts General Hospital, she oversees all clinical, educational, and research initiatives related to Palliative Care. In her work at Massachusetts General Hospital, Dr. Jackson developed an outpatient care clinic in the Mass General Cancer Center. Dr. Jackson previously served as co-chair for an academic leadership training program for junior palliative medicine faculty with the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine and as co-editor of a series for clinician-educators in the Journal of Palliative Medicine. She has co-authored a book called Living with Cancer, which was published in 2017.

Zoe Segal-Reichlin is a corporate lawyer specializing in nonprofit and political law. She currently serves as the General Counsel for Everytown for Gun Safety, the largest gun violence prevention organization in the country, and prior to that served for nearly a decade in the Office of the General Counsel at Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Planned Parenthood Action Fund. She joined Planned Parenthood in March 2010 from Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, where she was a litigation associate. Prior to that, she was the George N. Lindsay Fellow at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law in Washington, DC. Zoe also is a CNI Consultant, and she has been teaching negotiations and difficult conversations seminars and courses for over fifteen years, including as an adjunct professor at Georgetown Law School.

The incoming Biden Administration faces both challenges and opportunities for racial healing, reconciliation, and progress. CNI hosted a panel of experts who shared their experience and vision for the role those who work in conflict resolution, facilitation, mediation, and dialogue might play in the work ahead to bridge racial divides across the country in the aftermath of the 2020 Election. CNI was particularly pleased to use this session to celebrate the publication of Grande Lum’s book, “America’s Peacemakers: The Community Relations Service and Civil Rights,” which looks at the ground-breaking work of the Community Relations Service of the U.S. Department of Justice, an office set up as part of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the mission of bridging and healing racial divisions in communities across the country that would arise as part of the implementation of the landmark act. Moderated by CNI Principal and Harvard Law School Senior Fellow Bob Bordone, the panel included:

Jason Craige Harris (he/him/his) is a Community Partner at the Perception Institute, and he regularly collaborates with other strategic DEI firms such as Anthem of Us and Derrick Gay Consulting. Jason’s consulting work concentrates on diversity, equity, and inclusion; conflict transformation and restorative justice; and leadership development. He also serves as the Director of Diversity and Inclusion at a K-12 Quaker school in NYC, where he is a member of both the Senior Administrative Committee and the leadership team of the School's peace, equity, and justice department, which brings together diversity and inclusion, civic engagement, and global education. He is on the boards of Inwood Academy, Seeds of Peace, and Hidden Water.

Grande Lum is Provost and Professor of Menlo College. Prior to joining Menlo, he was Director of the Divided Community Project (DCP) at the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. Previously, starting in 2012, Grande Lum served as the Director of the Community Relations Service (CRS), an agency within the Department of Justice that serves as “America’s Peacemaker” for communities in conflict by mediating disputes and enhancing community capacity to independently prevent and resolve future conflicts. He is the author of The Negotiation Fieldbook (McGraw-Hill 2nd Edition, 2010); Tear Down the Wall: Be Your Own Mediator in Conflict (Optimality, 2013); and the forthcoming Resolving Civil Rights Conflicts in the Community: The US Justice Department’s Community Relations Service (University of Missouri, 2020. Co-authored with Bertram Levine).

Becky Monroe is the director, Fighting Hate and Bias program. She was previously the director of the Divided Community Project, supporting local leaders in addressing the reasons underlying community division, including racism and other forms of discrimination. Before that, Monroe launched the Stop Hate Project at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Monroe joined the Lawyers’ Committee after working for almost eight years for the Obama administration. At the Department of Justice, she was the director for policy and planning and senior counselor to the assistant attorney general for civil rights. She also worked at the White House Domestic Policy Council as a senior policy advisor. And as acting director of the DOJ’s Community Relations Service, she led implementation of its expanded statutory mandate to support communities combating hate.

Paul Monteiro is the Chief of Staff at Howard University. Prior to that, he was appointed Acting Director of the U.S. Justice Department’s Community Relations Service (CRS) in 2016. Paul previously served as director of AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) at the Corporation for National and Community Service and led the effort to mark its 50th anniversary. From 2009 to 2013, he was an advisor in the White House Office of Public Engagement and led outreach to faith-based organizations, Arab-American communities, and anti-poverty groups. Paul also helped launch the President’s Responsible Fatherhood & Healthy Families initiative that later became “My Brother’s Keeper.” He served as coordinator for the White House Mentorship Program for young men attending local area high schools.

The Cambridge Negotiation Institute convened national leaders in dialogue and bridging work for a panel discussion on October 27, 2020 to discuss the the challenges and opportunities and need for dialogue across difference at a time of increasing political polarization and tension in the United States. Moderated by CNI Principal and Harvard Law School Senior Fellow Bob Bordone, the panel included:

Keith Allred is the Executive Director of the National Institute for Civil Discourse and founder of CommonSense American, a new organization that brings Republicans, Democrats, and Independents together from across the country to find and champion solutions with broad support. NICD serves the platform for CommonSense American, which, in coordination with other NICD programs, strives to revive civility and enhance problem solving across the partisan divide. Keith also was the first professor of negotiation and conflict resolution hired by Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.

Lucas Johnson is the Executive Director of Civil Conversations and Social Healing for the On Being Project. He has been shaped by his time learning from veterans of the Civil Rights Movement in the U.S., most closely Vincent Harding and Dorothy Cotton, and by his work with human rights activists around the world, especially in Africa, Europe, and Latin America. Lucas was a leader in the U.S. community of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR), the world’s oldest interfaith peace organization, for 6 years, based in Atlanta and focused on the Southeast and mid-Atlantic. From 2014 until he joined the On Being Project in December, 2018, he served as General Secretary of IFOR’s global operation.

Grande Lum is Provost and Professor of Menlo College. Provost Lum enjoys writing, teaching and working on issues that helps people and communities work together in more constructive ways. Prior to joining Menlo, he was Director of the Divided Community Project (DCP) at the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. Previously, Grande Lum was nominated by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the Senate in 2012 as the Director of the Community Relations Service (CRS), an agency within the Department of Justice that serves as “America’s Peacemaker” for communities in conflict by mediating disputes and enhancing community capacity to independently prevent and resolve future conflicts. He is the author of The Negotiation Fieldbook (McGraw-Hill 2nd Edition, 2010); Tear Down the Wall: Be Your Own Mediator in Conflict (Optimality, 2013); and the forthcoming Resolving Civil Rights Conflicts in the Community: The US Justice Department’s Community Relations Service (University of Missouri, 2020. Co-authored with Bertram Levine).

Nancy Rogers is a Professor Emeritus at the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law.  She also serves on the executive committee of the College’s Divided Community Project.  Since she first joined the Moritz faculty, she has served as Ohio Attorney General, Dean of the Moritz College of Law, Vice Provost for Academic Administration of The Ohio State University, Visiting Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs for Moritz. Prior to joining the faculty, she was a law clerk for U.S. District Judge Thomas D. Lambros in Cleveland and practiced in the Glenville-area office of the Cleveland Legal Aid Society.  She is a graduate of the University of Kansas and Yale Law School.

The climate crisis is spurring increasing and intensified conflict, and with so much at stake on all sides, zero-sum, partisan, and protectionist approaches are more likely to create impasse and generate further conflict than they are to bring lasting solutions. On the other hand, diplomatic, mutual-gains negotiations prompted by the climate crisis have the potential to strengthen local, national, and international institutions so they are better positioned to tackle—and even prevent—future climate conflicts. To further our understanding of the unique challenges and opportunities, CNI brought together four experts to discuss what, in their experience, makes dispute resolution different in the era of climate crisis and how that informs their work. In a discussion moderated by CNI Principal, Krista deBoer, our panelists shared their insights from engaging in climate-based negotiations, seeking long-term resolutions to high-stakes climate disputes, and working to build capacity for climate-conflict resolution.

Erin Ryan is the Elizabeth C. & Clyde W. Atkinson Professor and Associate Dean for Environmental Programs at the Florida State University College of Law. She is the author of many scholarly works, including Federalism and the Tug of War Within (Oxford University Press 2012). Prior to law school, Ryan served as a U.S. Forest Service ranger on the Mono Lake District of the Inyo National Forest, east of Yosemite National Park.

Lucy Moore has been a practicing mediator, facilitator, consultant and trainer since the late 1980s. Her focus has been natural resources and public policy disputes, and her clients have included federal, state and local agencies, tribal governments and communities, public interest organizations and industry. With a strong background in Indian country, many of her cases involve tribal interests and parties. Lucy is also the author of Common Ground on Hostile Turf: Stories from an Environmental Mediator (2013, Island Press) and Into the Canyon: Seven Years in Navajo Country, (2004, University of New Mexico Press). 

Joaquin Esquivel is Chair of the California State Water Resources Control Board. Previously, he served as Assistant Secretary for federal water policy at the California Natural Resources Agency in the Governor’s Washington, D.C. office. For more than eight years prior to that he worked for U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer of California, most recently as her legislative assistant covering the agriculture, Native American, water, oceans, and nutrition portfolios, in addition to being the director of information and technology.

Sue Biniaz served as the lead climate lawyer for the U.S. State Department for more than 25 years. In that capacity, she played a central role in all major international climate negotiations, including the Paris Agreement on climate change. Since leaving the State Department, Sue has been teaching courses on international environmental law and the international climate negotiations at various law schools, including Yale, Columbia, and the University of Chicago.

CNI brought together four expert facilitators of difficult and divisive conversations to discuss how they approach their work, structure their conversations, and hold space for groups, especially in these times of heightened polarization and intensified political and identity-based conflict. Toby Berkman, Suzanne Ghais, Matt Thompson and Susan Podziba shared insights from their experiences facilitating from a wide variety of contexts including diversity and inclusion, pro-life and pro-choice advocates, international peace negotiations, and multiparty public & private disputes.

Toby Berkman is a CNI Consultant, a Senior Associate at the Consensus Building Institute (CBI) and affiliated faculty at the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School. He has worked with stakeholders and organizations at the local level as well as the national and international stage, with institutions like the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Department of Defense, the United Nations and the World Bank.

Suzanne Ghais, Ph.D is a mediator, facilitator, trainer, and author with 30 years in the field of conflict resolution including in international peacemaking and peacebuilding. Suzanne also teaches courses on conflict assessment, conflict prevention, and international negotiation at the International Relations Online program at American University's School of International Service and the University of Denver's Korbel School of International Studies. She is the author of Extreme Facilitation: Guiding Groups through Controversy and Complexity (Jossey-Bass/Wiley 2005) and many articles.

Madison “Matt” Thompson has worked for over 30 years in the areas of conflict resolution, diversity, and cultural competency. Matt is on The Mediation Group’s panel of neutrals, and he has worked with large regional banking institutions, higher education institutions, major teaching hospitals, and community non- profit agencies. Matt has also been the Director of Staff Diversity at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Director of Affirmative Action and Multi-Cultural Relations at the University of Massachusetts Boston.

Susan L. Podziba has been a public policy mediator for more than twenty-five years. Her clients have included the U.S. Departments of Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Labor, and Transportation, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Institute of Peace, and the United Nations. Ms. Podziba has taught graduate seminars on public policy mediation and negotiations at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School and currently lectures and consults internationally. She is author of Civic Fusion: Mediating Polarized Public Disputes. 

CNI offered this special Roundtable to create an opportunity for reflection and a processing space for the strong feelings of exhaustion, anger, grief, and sadness that so many people experienced as a result of Covid-19, and which for many was intensified and deepened with the murder of George Floyd.  CNI’s panel featured the following leading experts with diverse interdisciplinary perspectives to offer insights on how they think about processing anger, anxiety, and grief either on a personal level or from the vantage points of their respective professions: 

Dr. Joel Salinas, a neurologist specializing in brain health, cognitive-behavioral neurology, and neuropsychiatry who trained at Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Neurology. To offer solutions and techniques for a more productive and kinder society, he studies the intersection of neuroscience, our social environments, and why we think, feel, and do the things we do. Dr. Salinas is also a CNI Consultant. 

Jody Scheier,  a mental health counselor and a teaching consultant at the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, Director of Clinical Training at the Family Center, a facilitator/consultant for Triad Consulting Group, and is a Senior Lecturer (adjunct faculty) at Lesley University’s Graduate Program in Counseling and Psychology.

Fr. Josh Thomas, an Episcopal priest, scholar and interfaith educator. He is the interim Executive Director of Seeds of Peace, Board Chair of the Alliance for Middle East Peace, a coalition of 100+ organizations working at the grassroots level to build peace between Israelis and Palestinians, and has also served as Executive Director of Kids4Peace since 2011.  

Tess Thomas, an inclusive talent leader with extensive experience designing and implementing recruiting programs as well as people, culture, and employee engagement initiatives. She has spent the last several years of her career building and managing talent strategy & operations in startup and midsize organizations while leveraging inclusive hiring and inclusive culture building best practices.