Creative Leadership 2022

Living Your Possibilities - From Healing to Action

23-29 July 2022

 

Creative Leadership aims to be an inclusive space for diverse participants from around the globe to come together and reconceptualize leadership. The conference will take people on a journey of personal and collective growth, using arts, storysharing, workshops and dialogue groups. These tools will help participants unlock their own leadership potential.

This year’s theme “Living your Possibilities: From Healing to Action” is a response to global events, in times of uncertainty and rapid change. To take action and create our own change, we must begin by reconnecting with our inner voices and finding our own healing process. The conference will be based on the idea that healing is a continuous process that requires conscious effort and deliberate action in our day-to-day lives.

We will begin each day with time for individual reflection and growth. Activities will then focus on fostering a culture of solidarity and collective healing through compassion, awareness and overcoming individualism. Finally, we will explore creative methods to reignite participants’ energy to take personal and collective action.

Now more than ever, conscious leadership and collective action are required. This is an opportunity to empower global voices to come together to try and find hope and healing for themselves and their communities.

 

CL 2021 report banner
Creative Leadership 2021 participants

 

Event Details

  • When:  Saturday 23 July to Friday 29 July 2022
  • Where: Online via Zoom
  • Duration: 7 days with a break day on Tuesday 26 July
  • Timing: Sessions run from 15:00 CEST (UCT +2) to 20:00 CEST
  • Language: At current time the conference will be offered solely in English

 

Who is this conference for?

We encourage participation from:

  • Anyone who yearns to create change in the world and within themselves
  • Anyone who wants to explore avenues to navigate a personal and collective healing journey while finding creative ways to take action
  • Anyone who wants to explore self-development and growth as essential tools to take action
  • Anyone who wishes to connect with an international network of people, exchange ideas on how to achieve similar objectives from different perspectives

 

Hope CL 2021 Antoine Chelala
During a Quiet Time on courage and hope at Creative Leadership 2021

 

What should participants expect?

  • To take part in a transformative journey which reimagines leadership through restorative healing, introspection, and external inspiration
  • To use dialogue, listening, reflection, and the arts, as tools for gathering knowledge
  • To join a network of changemakers working on redefining leadership and putting theory into practice
  • To gain applicable skills and connections by embodying the values of Creative Leadership 
  • To access materials from the sessions and a participation certificate based on sessions attended

 

How is the conference organized?

Creative Leadership 2022: Programme

 

QUIET TIME

A space for reflection. It provides participants the chance to listen to their inner voice and become empowered through a clearer understanding of themselves.

 

DIALOGUE GROUPS

An opportunity to listen and share. Participants will exchange thoughts on the themes in small, fixed groups.

 

WEBINARS

A time to learn from international speakers and theme-related experts.

Discover our webinars 2022 (see below):

 

HUMAN LIBRARY

A space for story-sharing. Participants and speakers connect and grow through listening to different experiences.

Sunday 25 July - Journey of Conscious Healing

Wednesday 27 July - Cultivating a Culture of Solidarity

 

WORKSHOPS

A time of active engagement to explore practical tools related to the themes.

Discover our workshops 2022 (see below):

 

TEA TIME

A time for fun! These sessions are unguided, participants take the lead, talk and build stronger connections with fellow participants and speakers.

CL 2021 circles

WORKSHOPS

Host

 

Fadi George

 

Fadi George is from Egypt. His main vocation is to build bridges of peace among different groups and worlds. Fadi is interested in arts, peace, justice, and safe spaces. His Master of Arts in Transformational Leadership from Seattle University inspired him to work on the training of young leaders in Egypt who are interested in building a just and peaceful society. His long-term vision is to create safe spaces that allow a journey of authentic transformation within our organizations, societies and the world. Today he continues to inspire young people to be the possibility in a complex world.

Host

 

Yvonne Buchheim

Yvonne Buchheim (Germany) is an interdisciplinary artist and educator who returned to Germany in 2019 after twenty years abroad. Her art explores the body as a home, a concept challenged by the diagnosis of a life-threatening illness. Using biographical narrative and stop-motion film, she reflects on illness and healing intersecting with a pandemic. The resulting artworks are intimate testimonies of fragility and resistance, they visualise the paradoxical, absurd, and existential in life.
Yvonne Buchheim has presented her artworks in numerous exhibitions and installations worldwide, including the Cheekwood Museum of the Art in Nashville, USA, and an underwater sound installation at a public swimming pool in Newtown, Wales, UK. Her recent solo exhibition at the ACC Gallery Weimar was funded by NEUSTART KULTUR from Deutscher Künstlerbund and an accompanying book will be published in 2022.

Host

 

Mohamed Gabris

Mohamed Gabris (Lebanon) brings 7 years of experience in the humanitarian-gender-protection nexus while responding to the Syrian refugee crisis in Lebanon. His expertise includes programme quality assurance, mainstreaming gender, accountability, and different protection-related aspects; working with various NGOs and INGOs in Lebanon such as Action Against Hunger, the Norwegian Refugee Council and recently the ABAAD - Gender Resource Center. Since 2013, Mohamed has been working in the domains of personal and community development with Initiatives of Change. He has worked mainly in India, Sri Lanka, Lebanon and other parts of the world through different initiatives that revolve around capacity-building, programme coordination, facilitation and event management. Mohamed completed his MA from Notre Dame University in International Affairs and Diplomacy, with a focus on nationalism and identity. Currently he works in the humanitarian field in Lebanon and is also a volunteer as a suicide prevention helpline operator at Embrace.

 

WEBINARS

Solidarity is the bridge between the possibility of healing and the step towards action and justice. Most healing processes can't be adressed alone, a culture of solidarity is therefore needed.

During this session we will begin to see solidarity as essential to our individual and collective healing processes and as an indispensable element in enabling us to move towards global action in the search for justice.

 

Speaker

 

Tsegga Medhin (USA) is a humanitarian, an executive coach and an equity accelarator.  She is an activist in the business of building a better world by advocating for social impact. With over 20 years of corporate leadership experience with Wells Fargo, IBM, and Credit Suisse, Tsegga is a speaker and a certified executive coach to affect individuals and organizations on leadership that is not only technical but adaptive, not only transactional but transformational. Tsegga Medhin is the President of UN WOMEN USA NC. As the founder of The Peral Leadership Institute she aims to impact and inspire underserved, under-resourced women and children in STEAM education and careers. She is a graduate of Harvard Kennedy, School of Public Policy Leadership and Ethics and the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

This webinar will focus on the human journey of going to the root. Regardless of the social, political, environmental or economic issue, going to the root means discovering the deeper layers of beingness where real, meaningful and sustainable change can manifest.

From this commitment to going to the root, we will explore three interrelated topics:

  1. Indigenous prophecies and spiritual leadership
  2. Children and intergenerational collaboration
  3. Art as a vector for social healing

In a context of communitarian diversity, we want to support changemakers to return to their spiritual homes and see igniting action through the lenses of impact as social healing and personal healing as impact.

After celebrating our webinar, we will be launching a 7-month period of community building. Through the partnership between the Creative Leadership & School of Conscious Politics team, our main reference will be on the 7 steps of the Spiritual Politics model:

  1. Listen to the social pains of your context.
  2. Reconnect with your soul mission
  3. Acknowledge your gifts & talents
  4. Bond with the right networks & coalitions
  5. Take time to strategize to overcome obstacles
  6. Manifest your sacred activism
  7. Celebrate the learnings

 

_____________________________________________________________________________________

 

Speaker

 

Eljna Fleury

Grandmother Sister Ejna Fleury (Crow Creek Sious Tribe/South Dakota, USA) is an enrolled member of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe, South Dakota, and is their first Tribal Peace Ambassador. She is a Mystic, Visionary & Ceremonialist. She is the co-founder of Healing Hearts at Wounded Knee and the Wounded Knee Global Ceremonies to heal the multi-generational and multi-lineal effects of massacre, holocaust, and war upon humanity, other species, and our beloved planetary home. Grandmother Ejna has been practicing meditation for more than 40 years and is a certified meditation teacher and spiritual counselor. She is Commissioner at the Global Justice and Healing Commission and International Coordinator of Four Worlds Holistic Health Program for Elders & Leaders. She serves as a minister, healer, priestess, ceremonialist and a pipe carrier in the tradition of While Buffalo Calf Woman.

 

Rosa Visolela Namises

Grandmother Visolela Rosalinda Namises (Namibia) is a social, gender equality and human rights activist and chief of the /Khomanin people in Namibia. She was a co-founder and director of Women’s Solidarity Namibia, a women’s organization combating gender-based violence in Namibia from 1989 – 2004. Visolela also served as a Member of Parliament from 1999-2005 and again in 2010. Inspired and connected to Mother Earth through her cultural heritage and the power of the ancestors, she has led initiation, healing, and the sacred dance ceremonies for both the Namibian and international communities. She has knowledge of traditional and herbal medicine and is an active member of GEN (Global Ecovillage Network) Africa and Europe Network and serves on its Advisory Board. Visolela Namises is also the founder and main operator of Dolam Residential Child Care, a day-care facility for vulnerable children in Katutura, Namibia.

 

Brother Chief Phil Lane Jr

Brother Phil Lane Jr. (Ihanktonwan Dakota and Chickasaw Nations/Canada) is an enrolled member of the Ihanktonwan Dakota and Chickasaw Nations and is an internationally recognized leader in human, community and economic development. During the past 54 years, Chief Lane has worked with Indigenous Peoples from the Americas, Micronesia, South East Asia, China, India, Hawaii, and Africa. He served 16 years as an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Education at the University of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada (1980-1996). In 1982, Chief Lane co-founded the Four Worlds International Institute (FWII) with Indigenous Elders and Spiritual Leaders. As well, Phil is Chairman of Four Directions International and Compassion Games International. Chief Lane has been the recipient of multiple awards and recognition. He was the first Indigenous person to win the prestigious Windstar Award, presented annually on behalf of the late John Denver and the Windstar Foundation. In 2000, he received the Year 2000 Award for Freedom and Human Rights awarded by the Swiss Foundation. Other winners of this award include Nobel Prize winner Wangari Maathai, the Dalai Lama, Lord Yehudi Menuhin, Jacques-Yves Cousteau, and Yevgeni Velikhov, Vice President, Soviet Academy of Sciences.

 

Irina (Creative Leadership 2022)

Sister Irina (Bolivia/France) is a 5-years-old French-Bolivian. She loves drawing and everything linked to horses. Irina is very concerned about the future of children, especially because she sees so much waste in the streets of her city. She has a baby dog called Mike and she thinks it is very important to take care of animals.

 

 

 

 

Maria Belén Paz

Sister Maria Belén Paz (Bolivia) is the director of ACT2gether Latin America. She is passionate about Human Rights and Peacebuilding, promoting inclusive participation of children and the youth.  She worked for Initiatives of Change France as the Field Coordinator of the Education for Peace Programme in Paris for five years before she joined the CATS - Children as Actors for Transforming Society core team. In 2016 she moved back to Bolivia, where she opened the Act2gether Latin America office, focusing on children's rights and intergenerational collaboration and has been developing child participation projects and doing field research as the office director.

 

 

Sofia Mariscal

Sister Sofia Mariscal (Mexico) is a contemporary art curator and cultural manager who lives and works between Madrid, Mexico City and the northern Sierra Madre of Chihuahua State. She founded MARSO, a non-profit organization that focuses on projects which bring different disciplines of contemporary art and culture closer to social work; in 2020 Sofia launched a programme called Tierra Norte, aiming to build bridges between innovation and cultural legacy preservation of the first nations in northern Mexico, with special attention to women collective empowerment, environmental sustainability, commercial circularity, and fair trade. The Tierra Norte project is done through participatory methodologies, alternative and interdisciplinary forms of research and knowledge composition.

 

Maruee P CL 2022

Sister Maruee Pahuja (India) is a visual artist, an advanced intermodal expressive arts therapy practitioner, an arts-informed ecotherapy practitioner and researcher at the Step Ahead Institute, Berlin. She also works as an ocularist and contact lens consultant. Part time she works as the creative trainings co-lead for People Beyond Borders. She is part of the Creative Leadership organizing team and driven by the curiosity to find intersections in the fields of arts and science. She loves gardening and is often found sailing on the ship of her imagination. 

 

 

Rodrigo Martinez Romero

Brother Rodrigo Martinez Romero (Mexico) has been a proud member of Initiatives of Change Mexico since 2010.  He is also co-founder of the Spiritual Politics Lab and the School of Conscious Politics (SCP) where he collaborates with trainers, artists, spiritual leaders, and researchers to test, innovate and experiment with heart-driven political leadership education curriculums. The SCP provides learning spaces to support changemakers to resignify their relationship with politics and the political world, embark on learning journeys to actualize their spiritual and political potential, and unleash sacred activist projects to bring social healing to diverse local contexts. What do we need politics to see and do from a space of love, hope, and evolution? As a lover of questions, Rodrigo aspires to keep growing as a spiritual-driven, social justice, artistic entrepreneur. What is success? Currently expressing the art of being guided not by ego or market demands but by the wisdom of Self to creatively restore balance and health to our social systems. Rodrigo holds a BA in International Relations from El Colegio de Mexico and an MSc in Leadership and Change Management from the Free University of Amsterdam. 

 

Angelika Kobl

Sister Angelika Kobl (Germany) is the founder of IMAREZ, a space for facilitation, coaching, research and artivism. She is passionate about systems thinking, environmental and social justice, working with groups (dynamics), conflict transformation, heart-centred courageous co-creative leadership, deep listening and asking meaningful questions. In her work and life, she is driven by a commitment to healing and to being in service to humanity, the earth and all life. She holds a BSc in Ecology and Conservation (University of Sussex, UK) and a MA in Global Studies (University of Graz, AT). She has also trained in Process-Oriented Facilitation, Processwork and World Work with various Processwork Institutes and is about to embark on the Processwork Diploma journey. As a key SP partner, Angelika has co-developed and co-facilitated SP trainings like the SP Tribe, and is involved behind the scenes in the further development of the SP Lab.

 

Parter Organizations

 

CL 2022 Roots webinar logos

 

Participation and Commitment

Most of the sessions are open to all and participants can attend as many sessions as they like. However, there is a benefit to increased participation. Over the course of the week, increased presence will create trust and allow for a more rounded and meaningfull experience.

 

What past participants said

‘Throughout the journey, we focused on being more positive, action-focused. As we pictured moving forward, we focused on those things that help ground us and help us find purpose. As we find perspective and shift our attitude, we can think about how we can actively take control of our lives and stimulate progress. I've walked away feeling inspired and with a vast global community who relate to me and I relate to.’

 

_________________________________________________

 

‘We learnt that coming out of the troubles during our journey we have to have courage and empathy to go to our destiny, and to empower others.’

 

_________________________________________________

 

‘I felt like I was a little rock that was close to the bank of a flowing river. There was some sort of divine intervention, some force that picked up that rock and threw it closer to the flowing water. The flowing water is the Creative Leadership experience, which is filled with so many good things, and now I am being constantly washed and purified. Re-learning and unlearning. That is how I would summarize my experience.’

 

 

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Discover the Creative Leadership 2022 Opening Session. Watch all Creative Leadership videos on Youtube.

 

Speakers & Human Books

Dhruti Rathod
Human Library Book
India
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An award-winning director and a brown woman, who also identifies as gender-neutral, Dhruti Rathod was born and raised in India. A media and communications graduate, she is a filmmaker specializing in documentary storytelling. Dhruti started her full-time documentary filmmaking journey after realizing the impact a personal story leaves on oneself and how cinema plays an imperative role in shaping our society. Having studied a wide array of subjects that includes sociology, psychology, art, music, theatre, gender, marketing, advertising, and management amongst many others, she is well-equipped to be critical of her work and that of others around. She is passionate about telling stories that question stereotypes and offer narratives of people who are usually ignored by society.
Dalia Ihab Younis
Human Library Book
Egypt
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Dalia Ihab Younis is a medical doctor by training, a content creator and a strategist in the development sector by profession, but by passion she is an independent artist and activist. Dalia began taking music more seriously in 2017. She started community-based singing initiatives, performed on stage and in churches, wrote her own lyrics, music and a cappella arrangements, joined and led choirs and facilitated a cappella and song-writing workshops. Dalia was featured in national and international media for her different one-of-a-kind projects and ideas. Over the past 5 years, Dalia has successfully crafted several artistic innovations and awareness content that appealed to hundreds of thousands if not millions. The core values of all her projects include voicing the voiceless and creating an enabling and supportive setting that cherishes self-expression, respect and diversity. Discover Dalia's music here
Jake Jay-Lewis
Human Library Book
United Kingdom
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Jake Jay-Lewin grew up in the Findhorn Ecovillage and Spiritual Community, Scotland, and has been active in the Ecovillage movement since 2013. He co-developped the youth-arm of the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN), NextGEN and was recently elected to GEN-Europe’s Council and Board of Trustees. He draws on his experiences of visiting 50+ intentional community/Ecovillage projects worldwide, working in the Calais Refugee camp and a decade of training with various governance, nature, and trauma-informed methods in his work as a trainer, coach and facilitator to empower individuals and organisations toward regenerative culture. His passion is supporting people in working consciously with their feelings to evolve, transform, connect, and create.
Kawsar Amine
Human Library Book
USA/Afghanistan
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Kawser Amine is the founder and CEO of WSPL. She was born and raised in Kabul, Afghanistan, and is a former member of the female Afghan national soccer team. Kawser earned a Bachelor's degree in General Management and specialized in International Relations at the Indian School of Business Management in New Delhi, India. She has worked with different parts of society as a young women leader and peace activist to improve the participation of women in leadership, governance, politics, peace processes and sports. She is a women's rights activist and endeavours to bring light to specific issues concerning women's rights. She works as a leadership programme assistant officer of the national security council and as a political analyst for the secretary council of Afghanistan. She also works for a radio program and has worked with multiple organisations as a volunteer. Her objective is to give a voice to the  thousands who have no voice. She has always tried to stand up and support women in different sectors of society. As a part of the young generation from Afghanistan she wants to speak up on behalf of the young people of her country.  
Olena Kashkarova
Human Library Book
Ukraine
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Olena Kashkarova is a Ukrainian mediator, facilitator, and trainer on non-violent communication. She has been based in Berlin, Germany, since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion in spring 2022. Having worked in the area of peace-building in different capacities for over a decade, she is now a Ukrainian activist, supporting hospitals in Ukraine and Ukrainian defenders with life-saving supplies. Together with her German and Ukrainian friends they established a German-based organization called 'Solidarity in Action’.
Rainer Gude
Human Library Book
USA / Switzerland
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Rainer Gude is currently on Sabbatical and has just finished a 1100 km walk from Switzerland to Rome. From facilitator, moderator, convenor, public speaker and manager, his many roles all start with a belief in the importance of being the change you want to see in the world. Most recently he was the Executive Coordinator of the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform and Co-Director General of Initiatives of Change (IofC) Switzerland where he oversaw Strategic Partnerships, Programmes and External Relations and helped run the Caux Forum. Rainer also worked with Initiatives of Change International by coordinating the relations with the UN and other International Organizations and missions in Geneva. He holds a Masters in International Affairs from the Graduate Institute of Development and International Studies in Geneva. Before joining IofC, he worked several years in the business and NGO sectors.
Yvonne Buchheim
Workshop Host
Germany
Read More Hide More
Yvonne Buchheim (Germany) is an interdisciplinary artist and educator who returned to Germany in 2019 after twenty years abroad. Her art explores the body as a home, a concept challenged by the diagnosis of a life-threatening illness. Using biographical narrative and stop-motion film, she reflects on illness and healing intersecting with a pandemic. The resulting artworks are intimate testimonies of fragility and resistance, they visualise the paradoxical, absurd, and existential in life. Yvonne Buchheim has presented her artworks in numerous exhibitions and installations worldwide, including the Cheekwood Museum of the Art in Nashville, USA, and an underwater sound installation at a public swimming pool in Newtown, Wales, UK. Her recent solo exhibition at the ACC Gallery Weimar was funded by NEUSTART KULTUR from Deutscher Künstlerbund and an accompanying book will be published in 2022.
Fadi George
Workshop Host
Egypt
Read More Hide More
Fadi George’s main vocation is to build bridges of peace among different groups and worlds. Fadi is interested in arts, peace, justice, and safe spaces. His Master of Arts in Transformational Leadership from Seattle University inspired him to work on the training of young leaders in Egypt who are interested in building a just and peaceful society. His long-term vision is to create safe spaces that allow a journey of authentic transformation within our organizations, societies and the world. Today he continues to inspire young people to be the possibility in a complex world.
Mohamed Gabris
Workshop Host
Lebanon
Read More Hide More
Mohamed Gabris (Lebanon) brings 7 years of experience in the humanitarian-gender-protection nexus while responding to the Syrian refugee crisis in Lebanon. His expertise includes programme quality assurance, mainstreaming gender, accountability, and different protection-related aspects; working with various NGOs and INGOs in Lebanon such as Action Against Hunger, the Norwegian Refugee Council and recently the ABAAD - Gender Resource Center. Since 2013, Mohamed has been working in the domains of personal and community development with Initiatives of Change. He has worked mainly in India, Sri Lanka, Lebanon and other parts of the world through different initiatives that revolve around capacity-building, programme coordination, facilitation and event management. Mohamed completed his MA from Notre Dame University in International Affairs and Diplomacy, with a focus on nationalism and identity. Currently he works in the humanitarian field in Lebanon and is also a volunteer as a suicide prevention helpline operator at Embrace.
Speaker
USA
Read More Hide More
Tsegga Medhin (USA) is a humanitarian, an executive coach and an equity accelarator.  She is an activist in the business of building a better world by advocating for social impact. With over 20 years of corporate leadership experience with Wells Fargo, IBM, and Credit Suisse, Tsegga is a speaker and a certified executive coach to affect individuals and organizations on leadership that is not only technical but adaptive, not only transactional but transformational. Tsegga Medhin is the President of UN WOMEN USA NC. As the founder of The Peral Leadership Institute she aims to impact and inspire underserved, under-resourced women and children in STEAM education and careers. She is a graduate of Harvard Kennedy, School of Public Policy Leadership and Ethics and the UCLA Anderson School of Management.
Rodrigo Martinez Romero
Speaker
Mexico
Read More Hide More
Rodrigo Martinez Romero (Mexico) has been a proud member of Initiatives of Change Mexico since 2010.  He is also co-founder of the Spiritual Politics Lab and the School of Conscious Politics (SCP) where he collaborates with trainers, artists, spiritual leaders, and researchers to test, innovate and experiment with heart-driven political leadership education curriculums. The SCP provides learning spaces to support changemakers to resignify their relationship with politics and the political world, embark on learning journeys to actualize their spiritual and political potential, and unleash sacred activist projects to bring social healing to diverse local contexts. What do we need politics to see and do from a space of love, hope, and evolution? As a lover of questions, Rodrigo aspires to keep growing as a spiritual-driven, social justice, artistic entrepreneur. What is success? Currently expressing the art of being guided not by ego or market demands but by the wisdom of Self to creatively restore balance and health to our social systems. Rodrigo holds a BA in International Relations from El Colegio de Mexico and an MSc in Leadership and Change Management from the Free University of Amsterdam. 
Maria Belén Paz
Speaker
Bolivia
Read More Hide More
Maria Belén Paz (Bolivia) is the director of ACT2gether Latin America. She is passionate about Human Rights and Peacebuilding, promoting inclusive participation of children and the youth.  She worked for Initiatives of Change France as the Field Coordinator of the Education for Peace Programme in Paris for five years before she joined the CATS - Children as Actors for Transforming Society core team. In 2016 she moved back to Bolivia, where she opened the Act2gether Latin America office, focusing on children's rights and intergenerational collaboration and has been developing child participation projects and doing field research as the office director.
Irina (Creative Leadership 2022)
Speaker
Bolivia/France
Irina (Bolivia/France) is a 5-years-old French-Bolivian. She loves drawing and everything linked to horses. Irina is very concerned about the future of children, especially because she sees so much waste in the streets of her city. She has a baby dog called Mike and she thinks it is very important to take care of animals.
Maruee P CL 2022
Speaker
India
Read More Hide More
Maruee Pahuja is a visual artist, an advanced intermodal expressive arts therapy practitioner, an arts-informed ecotherapy practitioner and researcher at the Step Ahead Institute, Berlin. She also works as an ocularist and contact lens consultant. Part time she works as the creative trainings co-lead for People Beyond Borders. She is part of the Creative Leadership organizing team and driven by the curiosity to find intersections in the fields of arts and science. She loves gardening and is often found sailing on the ship of her imagination. 
Angelika Kobl
Speaker
Germany
Read More Hide More
Angelika Kobl (Germany) is the founder of IMAREZ, a space for facilitation, coaching, research and artivism. She is passionate about systems thinking, environmental and social justice, working with groups (dynamics), conflict transformation, heart-centred courageous co-creative leadership, deep listening and asking meaningful questions. In her work and life, she is driven by a commitment to healing and to being in service to humanity, the earth and all life. She holds a BSc in Ecology and Conservation (University of Sussex, UK) and a MA in Global Studies (University of Graz, AT). She has also trained in Process-Oriented Facilitation, Processwork and World Work with various Processwork Institutes and is about to embark on the Processwork Diploma journey. As a key SP partner, Angelika has co-developed and co-facilitated SP trainings like the SP Tribe, and is involved behind the scenes in the further development of the SP Lab.
Sofia Mariscal
Speaker
Mexico
Read More Hide More
Sofia Mariscal (Chihuahua, Mexico 1984) is a contemporary art curator and cultural manager who lives and works between Madrid, Mexico City and the northern Sierra Madre of Chihuahua State. She founded MARSO, a non-profit organization that focuses on projects which bring different disciplines of contemporary art and culture closer to social work; in 2020 Sofia launched a programme called Tierra Norte, aiming to build bridges between innovation and cultural legacy preservation of the first nations in northern Mexico, with special attention to women collective empowerment, environmental sustainability, commercial circularity, and fair trade. The Tierra Norte project is done through participatory methodologies, alternative and interdisciplinary forms of research and knowledge composition.
Eljna Fleury
Speaker
Crow Creek Sioux Tribe, South Dakota (USA)
Read More Hide More
Ejna Fleury is an enrolled member of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe, South Dakota, and is their first Tribal Peace Ambassador. She is a Mystic, Visionary & Ceremonialist. She is the co-founder of Healing Hearts at Wounded Knee and the Wounded Knee Global Ceremonies to heal the multi-generational and multi-lineal effects of massacre, holocaust, and war upon humanity, other species, and our beloved planetary home. Grandmother Ejna has been practicing meditation for more than 40 years and is a certified meditation teacher and spiritual counselor. She is Commissioner at the Global Justice and Healing Commission and International Coordinator of Four Worlds Holistic Health Program for Elders & Leaders. She serves as a minister, healer, priestess, ceremonialist and a pipe carrier in the tradition of While Buffalo Calf Woman.
Brother Chief Phil Lane Jr
Speaker
Ihanktonwan Dakota and Chickasaw Nations/Canada
Read More Hide More
Hereditary Chief Phil Lane Jr. is an enrolled member of the Ihanktonwan Dakota and Chickasaw Nations and is an internationally recognized leader in human, community and economic development. During the past 54 years, Chief Lane has worked with Indigenous Peoples from the Americas, Micronesia, South East Asia, China, India, Hawaii, and Africa. He served 16 years as an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Education at the University of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada (1980-1996). In 1982, Chief Lane co-founded the Four Worlds International Institute (FWII) with Indigenous Elders and Spiritual Leaders. As well, Phil is Chairman of Four Directions International and Compassion Games International. Chief Lane has been the recipient of multiple awards and recognition. He was the first Indigenous person to win the prestigious Windstar Award, presented annually on behalf of the late John Denver and the Windstar Foundation. In 2000, he received the Year 2000 Award for Freedom and Human Rights awarded by the Swiss Foundation. Other winners of this award include Nobel Prize winner Wangari Maathai, the Dalai Lama, Lord Yehudi Menuhin, Jacques-Yves Cousteau, and Yevgeni Velikhov, Vice President, Soviet Academy of Sciences.
Visolela Namises
Speaker
Namibia
Read More Hide More
Visolela Rosalinda "Rosa" Namises is a social, gender equality and human rights activist and chief of the /Khomanin people in Namibia. She was a co-founder and director of Women’s Solidarity Namibia, a women’s organization combating gender-based violence in Namibia from 1989 – 2004. Visolela also served as a Member of Parliament from 1999-2005 and again in 2010. Inspired and connected to Mother Earth through her cultural heritage and the power of the ancestors, she has led initiation, healing, and the sacred dance ceremonies for both the Namibian and international communities. She has knowledge of traditional and herbal medicine and is an active member of GEN (Global Ecovillage Network) Africa and Europe Network and serves on its Advisory Board. Visolela Namises is also the founder and main operator of Dolam Residential Child Care, a day-care facility for vulnerable children in Katutura, Namibia.

Facilitators

Nuhu CL 2022
Facilitator
Nigeria
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Nuhu Abdulmalik is a trained educator, graphics designer, video editor, photographer, actor, radio drama script writer and producer and loves creativity and innovation. Nuhu believes in teamwork and is convinced that friendship is a lubricant that smoothens interpersonal relationships. A young and passionate individual with over 15 years of experience in both traditional and non-conventional drama, Nuhu began his career as an independent consultant for SFGC in Sokoto and is currently an associate member of the Institute of Strategic Management in Nigeria and a member of the National Association of Teachers of Technology.
Shadi Malak
Facilitateur
Egypt
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Shadi Malak is a highly motivated global citizen who believes in the power of volunteering, self-development, compassion, and leading by example to promote human dignity and create a more peaceful world for all living beings. For many years he worked with refugees  in Egypt as a legal assistant and educator, and currently works for a programme that offers capacity-building training to refugees. He holds a Master's degree in International Law and has a background in youth empowerment, curriculum designing, and development. Shadi loves to listen to other peoples' stories and believes that sharing stories can create miracles!
John Paul Kulumba
Facilitator
Uganda
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John Paul Kulumba is a young Ugandan, currently in his third year studying Industrial Engineering. He is also part of the student leadership structure at Stellenbosch University in South Africa. He is a keen sportsman, enjoys reading and is always looking for new experiences. He is especially interested in interacting, collaborating, and forming friendships with people from all around the world.
Mohammed Alkafafy
Facilitator
Egypt
Mohammed Alkafafy is a master student at Lund University in Sweden. He is the founder of Knowledge and Beyond Community and an IFMSA and freelance trainer.
Ahmed Abdelsalam
Facilitator
Egypt
Ahmed Abdelsalam is 26 years old and from Egypt. He is a student, learner, educator, facilitator and storymaker, striving for quality.
Asmaa Sleem
Facilitator
Egypt
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Asmaa Sleem is Egyptian and believes that the main hope of any nation lies in the education of its youth. She is also convinced that hope for this world means spreading peace, mindfulness, justice and moral integrity through people’s education, raising awareness, living consciously and the power of togetherness. She sees herself as a lifelong learner and has worked in peace facilitation and conflict transformation. She was a Caux Scholar at Asia Plateau/India in 2015/16, a participant of the Caux Peace and Leadership Program (CPLP) 2017, a CPLP faculty member (training/logistics) in 2018 and took part in the Mandela Mile programme in 2021. She studied teaching methodologies, has a post-grad degree in social sciences and liberal arts and is currently planning to study positive psychology and trauma-informed education. Asmaa is vice-president of the Association for World Education International (AWE), a global platform for educators that works with innovative methods for sustainable education, lifelong learning and global citizenship.
Sinda Arfaoui
Facilitator
Tunisia
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Sinda Arfaoui has been working as an English Language Teacher for two years, and sees herself as a pursuer of knowledge. She is a MEPI Student Leaders program alumna and took summer courses in Civic Engagement and Leadership at Montana State University. She worked with multiple initiatives focussing on education before joining Initiatives of Change and co-founding MENNA Initiative. For the past two years she has been working for IREX as a selection committee member for the Civic Engagement Exchange Program. Sinda believes that continued teaching and learning can be tools to make a positive change in the world. Most recently Sinda joined Boston University as a Fulbright Arabic Language Teacher Assistant.
Jill Barakat
Facilitator
Lebanon
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Jill Barakat currently serves as regional account coordinator at a business consultancy firm where she is the principal communicator in charge of the preservation and expansion of the company's customer database by identifying opportunities and nurturing them into long-term profitable relationships. Jill is a young professional with a demonstrated history of extensive contribution in entrepreneurship and leadership programmes, along with social services activities with both local and international organizations, namely Initiative of Change Switzerland, the European Commission, the United Nations Development Program Lebanon and McKinsey and Company USA. Jill holds a BA in Political Science with emphasis on American Studies and a minor degree in accounting.
Burak CL 2022
Facilitator
Turkey
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Burak Tantay is a mechanical and electronics engineer in Istanbul and is heavily invested in sustainable development. He has been the spearhead of many service projects that address local and international community issues. He took part in the Addressing Europe’s Unfinished Business conference at Caux in 2014 and in the Caux Peace and Leadership Programme in 2016 and 2018. He believes that the programme helped him to grow and to realize his potential even more effectively.
Leen Salim
Facilitator
Syria
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Leen Salim is a young Syrian who believes in the power of youth and their ability to build a more peaceful, just and sustainable world where all people are equal in dignity and rights. She is a medical student and volunteered as a student coordinator in Paper Airplanes (NGO) that provides free virtual language and skills instruction to conflict-affected people and enables them to pursue their higher education and employment. Leen is always happy to take up new opportunities and she considers herself as a lifelong learner. She joined IofC last year as a participant and is thrilled to take part as a facilitator this year as she appreciates providing youth a safe and healthy space, all the while empowering and inspiring them with stories from changemakers from around the world.
Saba Kher Bek
Facilitator
Syria
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Saba Kher Bek is a highly-motivated Syrian graduate from the faculty of pharmacy. Saba works as a sales pharmacist and researcher at a medical company. She discovered her passion for voluntary work during her first year of college and has since volunteered in various places. She has been a part of the IofC community since 2018 and is an alumni of the Caux Peace and Leadership Programme. Saba believes in the power of kindness and compassion to create a safer, more loving space for the generations to come.
Elizabeth Tang
Facilitator
Canada
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Elizabeth Tang (she/her) is a relationship builder, facilitator, volunteer, and deep feeler. She has spent much of her life exploring the stories of the refugees, newcomers, BIPOC and vulnerable youth she has worked with as co-chair of a resettlement program, a youth outreach worker and an ESL teacher. She currently works as a programme coordinator for an organization that supports non-profits and charities in fulfilling their missions. If she’s not theorizing about the inner workings of those she cares about, you can find her nerding out about food and ceramics.
Haya Alsaady
Facilitator
Syria
Haya Alsaady is a 21-year-old pharmacy student, working at research and interested in facilitation.
Mahek Ramchandani
Facilitator
India
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Mahek Ramchandani is a Psychotherapist based in Pune, India. Her practice for the past 2 years has brought her closer to understanding human behaviour and the mind. She is also a certified yoga instructor and a meditation practitioner who works towards holistic well-being. Before beginning her professional journey she has volunteered with various rehabilitation centrers and clinics in Pune. This gave her a lens to observe and understand deep-rooted social and cultural issues. It also inculcated the love for art and self-work in her. Mahek's interest lies in exploring human potential through various mediums - therapy, meditation, and yoga, in particular. She believes that learning is the key component to keep growing in life and that there is a lot to learn from every individual we come across.
Dara Sabry
Facilitator
Egypt
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Dara Sabry currently works as an English teacher at an international school in Egypt. Dara was first introduced to Initiatives of Change in 2016 and found the experience an integral moment in her life. During her summer internship she met multiple individuals from all around the world. Together they shared their stories, listened to each other and bonded over similar (as well as different) experiences which caused the group to grow into an international family.
Sarah Schofield
Facilitator
Canada
Sarah Schofield is Canadian and once more part of the Creative Leadership family this year. With a background in photo-journalism, she has enjoyed helping to tell the stories of others through her writing and photography. Currently returning to school to pursue her love of helping others through a nursing career, she hopes to be a positive influence to those she meets along her journey.
Facilitator
Burundi
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Désire Tuyishemeze graduated in Clinical and Social Psychology and focuses on the exploration of the link between mental health, trauma healing, piece, reconciliation and climate change. He is active in different local and international organizations, aiming at promoting mental health and psycho-social well-being for individuals and communities. He is an active member of Initaitives of Change, locally and internationally, and part of the Programme Support Team for Emerging Agents of Change (IofC International). He is also the founder of a social enterprise called Psychological Care and Wellness Institute.  
Rajendra Senchurey
Facilitator
Nepal
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Rajendra Senchurey is a peace policy expert from Nepal and belongs to the most-marginalized community of Nepal, called Dalit. He currently works with the Nepal government think-tank called "Policy Research Institute". He holds a MPhil in International Peace Studies from Trinity College Dublin and has been a Fellow in organizations like UNESCO, Caux Scholars Program, ICNC, KAICIID, FK Norway, etc. He holds a decade of experience in the fields of interfaith, interreligious dialogue, civil resistance and nonviolence, conflict prevention and early warning, community reconciliation, post-conflict justice, sustainable peacebuilding, youth mainstreaming, strengthening federalism, policymaking, etc. He regularly writes in Nepal's leading newspapers and onlines and teaches conflict and peace studies as a visiting lecturer. He is the Secretary of Initiatives of Change (IofC), Nepal and was a participant of the Caux Forum events Towards an Inclusive Peace in 2018 and 2019.


partners


organizing team

Daniel Clements

Daniel Clements

Coordination
Sidra Raslan

Sidra Raslan

Coordination
Manuela Garay

Manuela Garay

Communications
Hajar Bichri

Hajar Bichri

Communications
Nuhu CL 2022

Nuhu Abdulmalik

Communications
Mastori Ali

Mastora Ali

Communications
Asmaa Sleem

Asmaa Sleem

Content
Sinda Arfaoui

Sinda Arfaoui

Content
Steven Lin

Steven Lin

Content
Vivi Straub

Vivi Straub

Content
Yara Farhat

Yara Farhat

Content
Maruee P CL 2022

Maruee Pahuja

Content
Hani CL 2022

Hani Abou Fadel

Content
Ines Mokdadi 2024

Ines Mokdadi

Content
Shrouk Hussien

Shrouk Hussien

Content
Ahmed Abdelsalam

Ahmed Abdelsalam

Content
Nourhan Badr El-din

Nourhan Badr El-din

Content
Jonas Truneh

Jonas Truneh

Content
Bhargav Hasurkat

Bhargav Hasurkar

Content

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