Kreatives Leadership 2021

Ana (Anuki) Mosiashvili is a human rights lawyer, youth advocate and youth worker from Georgia. Ana currently works as an international coordinator of advocacy and partnership of the Y-PEER network. She is also one of the co-founders of a grass-root NGO “Center for Youth Development – XXI (CYD)” based in Sagarejo, Georgia. On behalf of the CYD, Ana has managed and coordinated dozens of projects in various regions of Georgia. The projects focus mainly on empowering women and girls, advocating for gender equality, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, meaningful youth engagement, and in general democratic participation. For the past 5 years, Ana has been actively involved in the national, regional, and international processes related to SDGs, ICPD +25, Beijing +25.

Guncha Annageldieva is a youth advocate from Turkmenistan. She is pursuing her Bachelor degree in Sociology. Guncha has been actively involved in volunteering work since her childhood and strongly believes in power of volunteering. YPEER Network plays a crucial role in her life. Currently, she works as International Coordinator in charge of Communication of YPEER Network. With the gained skills from YPEER Network, she was able to establish the first Students Council at University of Turkmenistan and currently she presents University students’ voice and needs. As UNRCCA Ambassador and lead coordinator of UN SDG Ambassador of Turkmenistan, Guncha closely works with the implementation of the 2030 UN Agenda both at National and International level.

Ghaith Sandouk from Syria, is a 26 years old Information Technology Engineer and Y-PEER International Coordinator in-Charge of Innovation & Digital Tools. Ghaith is an enthusiastic activist and a vital advocate for sustainable development, gender equality, and youth participation. He is currently working as a Software Project Manager in a multinational company while continuing his postgraduate studies in Master of Business Administration. During his 6 years of working experience in the developmental field, Ghaith has occupied a variety of decision-making positions with different national youth initiatives and teams working in Syria. He has also been chosen to be a speaker in several regional and international events representing the Syrian youth and youth-led initiatives. In the past year, Ghaith founded a youth-led initiative called “Bogeyman” which mainly focuses on topics of bullying, hate-speech and mental-health.

 

Anas Badawi from Syria, is a 25 year old civil activist focusing on public affairs, women's rights issues, gender equality, gender-based violence, sustainable development goals, and peace. He is a fifth-year student in the Faculty of Dentistry in Damascus University. Anas is currently the legislative and legal environment coordinator for civil work in Syria within the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). He is also an advisory board member at the Youth Peer Network (Y-PEER) in Syria, after he was the Focal Point in charge of the network for two consecutive years in 2019 and 2020. Anas is a peer education trainer and advanced trainer in peer education using interactive theater techniques. In addition, he is the founder and general coordinator of the Tawleh initiative, which is an initiative launched in February 2020 as an attempt to create a free, safe, and supportive civil space for dialogue among Syrians in the fields of sex, politics, religion, and feminism. For the past three years, Anas has actively participated in the national, regional and international processes facilitated by the UN within the framework of UNSCR 2254. Finally, Anas is a member of the Civil Society Support Room that works in cooperation with the OSE (Office of the Special Envoy) in Syria.

 

 About the webinar

In his session Dr. Carl Stauffer will use his years of experience in restorative justice and peace & reconciliation projects to explore with participants what it means to find peace and inner content in the midst of struggle. Explaining how with patience and stillness participants can slow down enough to be consciously present with their own thoughts and emotions in order for clarity to emerge. Thus participants will understand that it is only through taking care of oneself that we are capable of taking care of others.

Speaker

Dr. Carl Stauffer currently functions as Senior Expert for Reconciliation at the US Institute for Peace in Washington DC. He has practiced trauma healing, nonviolence, restorative Justice and reconciliation for 3 decades in 37 countries. For the past 10 years he has served as the Academic Director for the Caux Scholars Program in Switzerland.

About the webinar

Rodrigo Martínez Romero is the main convener of this webinar. He connected with the mission of Initiatives of Change in 2010 during the visit of Usha and Rajmohan Gandhi to Mexico City, his sacred land.

Since then he has been involved with initiatives like the Trust and Integrity in Global Economy (TIGE) conference, the Caux Interns Program, the Heart of Effective Leadership (HEL) training and the Community Trustbuilding Fellowship (CTF). He takes great joy in connecting with communities of IofC across the globe and continues to be inspired by the vision of unity and reconciliation across the Americas.

It was a master thesis research on spiritual politics done at the Free University of Amsterdam, which connected him with the IofC Creative Leadership Team. Last year he was joined by 3 men to explore from a space of courage and vulnerability different dimensions of that academic construct and leadership path.

This year he is focused on taking the spiritual politics calling into social entrepreneurship by working on setting the Spiritual Politics Lab (SPL) in the Hague. True to the spirit of connection, community and service to the IofC movement, he is now inviting female leaders to share their experience of spiritual politics around a conscious politics manifesto which will be presented during our webinar.

Join us in a sacred learning space focused on storytelling, core IofC values and the passage from fear to possibility, arriving at a destiny nourished by vibrant coalitions of change. We aspire to keep learning how to create leadership formulas where the feminine and the masculine consciously integrate around a conscious politics manifesto. This is work in progress fuelled by the spirit of hope, art and creativity.

The Team

Rodrigo Martínez Romero has been serving the IofC mission for the last 10 years. His current Master’s thesis at the VU Amsterdam examines how crosscultural dynamics influence the understanding and application of spiritual politics as a practice of servant leadership and dilemma reconciliation. He initially trained to become a diplomat and follow in the family tradition of working in the civil service. Exploring the intersection between spirituality and politics with holders of ancient wisdom traditions from India, Colombian pre-Hispanic shamans and Catholic Jesuits led him to reframe his leadership as diplomacy of the spirit. This has led him to study ontological coaching, promote social justice, aspire to grow as a social entrepreneur and engage in holistic advocacy in research and education by recognizing the need to recover the soul as a valid domain of learning.

 

Pepe García is Country Support Coordinator for North America, Central America and The Caribbean of the Open Government Partnership. He is co-founder of the Mexican School of Conscious Politics. In addition to that, he is also the co-founder of Dulce Maguey, a former mezcal bar in Mexico City and now a traditional mezcal brand. He is a vegan and an environmental activist. His life purpose is to open governments and societies through open hearts, open minds and good public policies, to tackle systemic inequality and suffering, and to help dismantle the patriarchal-capitalist-oppressive system to build fairer and kinder societies.

 

Sujith Ravindran is a contemporary mystic and a serial author. He helps leaders, institutions and movements in the social, political and business domains access unforeseen realms of awareness and fulfil their true reason for existence. His mission is to help humanity realize its limitless human potential by translating spiritual sciences into contemporary life. In 2021, he was conferred the honour of Ambassador of Peace by the Council of Assissi, Italy. In addition to that, he a great lover of hot peppers.

 

 

Angelika Kobl is a facilitator, space holder and musician. Her purpose is to open spaces of encounters and reconnection - for ourselves, others and the land - to remember and tap into the wisdom that lies within all beings and be once more aware of our shared humanity and the sacredness of all life. Her objective is to heal divisions and trauma, and ultimately help people to walk together in unconditional solidarity towards a more caring, trusting, loving, mindful and wholesome future. She aims to bring transformation, she opens doors and gently points to the way/the first steps when people are ready.

 

Paola Schietekat is a Senior Behavioral Economist at B4Development Foundation, part of the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy in Qatar, which is the entity tasked with preparing the Emirates for the 2022 World Cup. As a gender specialist, Paola worked as an adviser for the Federal Congress in Mexico at the Unit for Gender Equality. She has published research on gender issues in different countries. Paola has a Masters degree in Public Policy from Oxford University and a B.A. in International Relations, with a minor in Anthropology from the American University of Kuwait. Back in Kuwait, Paola worked as a political consultant at the Mexican Embassy and directed an organization for the protection of migrant workers in the GCC. Paola authored her first novel in 2014, at age 19.

 

Lázaro Valiente is a muldisciplinary artist, musician, meditation guide, and mindfulness and creativity coach. Currently, he is the mental health coach of the Los Capitanes professional basketball team from Mexico City. He is a leadership consultant on Mexican and international projects, a researcher and a facilitator of Circulo HE, which offers a space for critical reflection about the concept of masculinity. As an artist he has performed and shown his art in Vive Latino, Lollapalooza, Mexico City Museum, Carrillo Gil Museum, El Museo del Barrio in New York, Wilfredo Lam Museum in Cuba, Cartier Foundation in Paris, amongst others. As a musician, he has played and collaborated with a wide range of artists, including Calle 13, Natalia Lafourcade, Devendra Bahart, Cold War Kids, Adan and Alejandro Jodorowsky.’

 About the workshop

Deep listening and staying present in uncertainty, volatility and challenge are core skills in the work of a leader. They involve the whole self in ways that have a profound effect on ourselves as much as the world around us. The difficult realities we inhabit and witness in today’s world can feel overwhelming and can be detrimental to our health, wellbeing and work. Rather than rising above uncertainty, discomfort and pain and having all the answers, we need the capacity to swim right in these difficult places while retaining capacity for creativity, inspiration and connection.  

What does it mean to listen deeply and be present to ourselves and the world? How does this keep us connected with inspiration, direction, our values, and each other? 

Through interactive methods, participants will explore: 

• the challenge of staying present to overwhelming issues in in overwhelming times  
• strategies for listening deeply while also managing the impact of doing so  
• the link between inner and outer listening, and sustainable, whole-hearted involvement in change-making work

The Team

Agnes Otzelberger is a trainer and researcher supporting change-makers in finding their resilience, power and wisdom. Coming from a background of ten+ years in the not-for-profit sector and international development, with a focus on climate change and social inequality, she began to work on the connection between 'inner'/personal and 'outer'/system change in these demanding and volatile times.

In 2017 she founded The Good Jungle which exists to connect beyond-profit organisations and people working for the greater good with cutting edge insights and practices from the emerging meeting place between modern psychology & science and ancient wisdom - resourcing those whose work on global challenges has led them to doubt, anxiety, hopelessness, and frustration about the planet's declining health, persistent injustices and collective responses to them.  

As part of this, Agnes offers training and support for those experiencing 'compassion fatigue'/empathic distress/vicarious trauma, anxiety, grief, moral injury and other symptoms resulting from their work in a change making role for people, animals or planet. Another area of focus is a deeper examination of our desire to help and change the world, and the not-for-profit world’s complicated relationship with money.

Neil Oliver is a Certified Professional Facilitator with experience of working with diverse groups across a wide range of sectors in the UK and internationally. Most of his experience comes from working with complex public sector organizations including the UK National Health Service. Since 2011 Neil has worked with the Caux Forum organizing conferences and providing training. This year Neil is part of the Tools for Change Makers organizing team. He has a particular interest in working with multi-cultural groups and teams.

About the workshop

Through intermodal expressive arts methodologies which include visual arts, creative writing, music and movement we will delve into deep play; discover new ways of creatively transforming our troubles and being empowered through the arts to create hope and possibilities for the world within and around us. 

Bring your crayons, pencils and paper and let your child-like self take the wheel as you surrender and be transformed by the power of your imagination!

Facilitator

Maruee Pahuja is an Expressive Arts facilitator and is pursuing her Master’s in Expressive Arts Therapy from the European Graduate School. She is also a specialty contact lens consultant and ocularist. She is the creative training co-lead for People Beyond Borders. Her passion, curiosity and research lie in the direction of building a wholesome healthcare system that incorporates intermodal art practices in the medical field. Maruee finds her grounding through her love for gardening and believes that nature and art are her soul food. She was part of CPLP 2019 and is excited to connect with her global family (virtually) this year.

Riathung Ngullie comes from Nagaland state, landlocked Northeast India. He was selected to intern at IofC-India in 2013 and later on volunteered with the IofC-India, Outreach program till 2020. He also has experience working with IofC-Japan, Nepal, and the Tibetan communities living in India. Starting with IofC, India, he has worked in areas and situations focused on creating and implementing programs, workshops, and interactions focused on Trust Building, Leadership, self-transformation, Peacebuilding, and the facilitation of dialogues amongst several communities. He and his wife currently live in Chennai, India

Merna Mustafa is a young Egyptian writer who fell in love with words the moment she could recognize them. She is a writer not only for a living but also for comfort. She has always been in love with stories which lead her to IofC, which subsequently brought out the storyteller she never knew she had within her.

Rajendra Senchurey is a dedicated peace practitioner currently working with Policy Research Institute - a think tank of Nepal Government. He teaches conflict and peace studies to the post-grads in Mid-Western University as a Visiting Lecturer. He holds an MPhil in International Peace Studies from Trinity College Dublin in Ireland. He has a decade of experience in the fields of interfaith, interreligious dialogue, civil resistance and nonviolence, conflict resolution, transitional justice and sustaining peace. He has worked in these areas under several national and international fellowships including the ones from UNESCO, KAICIID, ICNC and FK Norway. He regularly writes in Nepal's leading national dailies as a freelance contributor. He is the recipient of "Books for Peace 2020" Award. He is the Secretary of Initiatives of Change Nepal. He was a Caux Scholar in 2017 and a member of the organizing team of the "Towards an Inclusive Peace" conference in 2018 and 2019. He has spoken as a Panelist at the 'Just Governance for Human Security' Conference in 2018. As an intellectual from Dalit (so-called untouchables in the Hindu caste system) community, Rajendra is committed to eliminating caste-based discrimination from Nepal.

Nader Akoum from Lebanon is a Beirut-based architect and sociopolitical activist. Akoum was involved in combating the corrupt ruling class via student elections inside universities for the past 5 years. He later founded the Studio Madane collective (https://www.instagram.com/studiomadane/) which aims to engage the youth in higher level discussions, policymaking, and design interventions via multidisciplinary working methodologies. Meanwhile, Akoum was a consultant and collaborator to many pro-reform projects in Lebanon. He identifies with his advocacy: human-centered thinking, collective decision making, self-governance, impactful architecture, youth power, freedom and justice.

Researcher by profession, Marienne Makoudem Tene is a Peacebuilder by passion. She is a Research Officer in the Department of Economic and Environmental Studies at the National Centre for Education -the only public research centre in social and human sciences-, which operates under the supervision of the Ministry of Scientific Research and Innovation. She was awarded the “2017 best Junior Researcher in Social Sciences” prize. Her peacebuilding journey started in 2014 with her participation to the Caux Peace and Leadership Programme. She then attended the Caux Sponsored participant programme in 2016 and the Caux Scholars Programme in 2018. She was a member of the organising team of the “Towards an Inclusive Peace” conference in 2018 and 2019. In 2019, she was elected National Coordinator of Creators of Peace (CoP) and member of the International Committee. She coordinates the CoP Africa task force and is a member of the national council of Initiatives of Change in Cameroon. Since January 2021, she is a member of the Initiatives of Change Hub committee. After her participation to the Caux Scholars Programme in 2018, she has organised many training sessions on leadership, peacebuilding and the promotion of living together both for individuals and for professionals. Through her own organisation called the International Consortium for Peace, Human Security and Sustainable Development (ICPH2SD), Marienne launched last year the first edition of the Summer School in Leadership for Peace, Human Security and Sustainable Development. The second edition will take place in August 2021. Marienne is a mother of 5 with 4 girls is the CSP Alumni Ambassador for Africa

Batol Gholami has always been passionate about how to become a charismatic leader. When she was a child in her village in Baghlan, her father, who was her role model in leadership, inspired her to recognize the importance of leadership skills. Since childhood, she has explored the possibilities for young women to gain more influence. As Afghan women have suffered for ages, Batool has stood up to share their voices worldwide. This has led Batol to found the Afghanistan Youth Leaders Assembly (AYLA), a platform for female empowerment and information sessions in different parts of Afghanistan.

Ehab Badwi is one of the Youth Representatives of the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM). A strong believer in the potential of youth, Ehab serves as founder and president of the Syrian Youth Assembly, a global network of young Syrians around the world. Ehab has worked in the past six years on youth and peacebuilding issues at the local and global level, and he served as the Regional Focal Point – the Middle East and North Africa – Humanitarian Affairs and SDG 16 Regional Focal Point (Peace & Security) for the UN Major Group for Children and Youth.
One of Ehab’s main interests is the role of youth in community development. Since 2007, Ehab has joined the Scout Movement in Syria and feels now that the movement had a great impact in shaping his personality and interests. He has also been a member of the German Scout Organization Deutsche Pfadfinderschaft Sankt Georg (DPSG) since 2016 and is one of the Changemakers for Migration of Ashoka Network, which supports the world's leading social entrepreneurs.
Ehab worked in peacebuilding with a full focus on engaging youth in peace processes and was part of the United Network of Young Peacebuilders UNOY in the European Youth Advocacy Team. He was also a youth representative at the World Humanitarian Summit at the Global Youth Consultation in Doha 2015, and the Global Consultation in Geneva and the summit in Istanbul.
Ehab holds a Diploma in Engineering and is currently studying Political Science in Germany. A Syrian by birth, He studied and worked in Ivory Coast, Turkey, and Germany.

Trokon Redem McGee is from Liberia and a 2018 Caux Scholar in Switzerland.  He works for Talking Drum Studio: Liberia Peace Center. Formerly, he served as the Country Representative for Search for Common Ground in Liberia. He develops and promotes a culture of accountability and expands approaches for the prevention of exploitations and abuses. Trokon is an expert in peace building and gender-sensitive approaches, a trained U.S. Department of State Fellow (Community Solutions Program, USA), 2017.
Trokon has worked in the following areas: education programming, gender equality and women economic empowerment, child protection, youth development, livelihood security, advocacy, monitoring and evaluation, and humanitarian accountability.
His current work is a hybrid project of Transitional Justice and Restorative Justice, which aims to support community memorialization and to bridge generational divides leveraging creative media products after a 14 year long civil war.
Trokon has a Master’s degree in International Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid from Kalu Institute, Spain, a Master of Arts degree in International Relations from the University of Liberia, and Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology with a minor in Economics from the African Methodist Episcopal University, Monrovia, Liberia.