Women2Women Conference Co-Chairs

 

Diane Caldwell

 

Diane Caldwell has been a leader in the educational community for over twenty years serving dually as an Academic Support Administer, as well as a supervisor of the Title 1 program for Medford Public schools. She has studied Elementary Education at Boston State College as well as completing the masters programs at Regis College in Special Education. Ms. Caldwell has an extensive background in education that has aided students from all walks of life in both primary and secondary levels of schooling. Throughout her career she has strove to better the learning experience for her students, always going the extra mile whether it was directing a school musical or implementing new reading programs.

 

Her successes have expanded well outside the traditional classroom. Caldwell has helped shape academic curriculums at large, as well as individual educational plans to meet the specific needs of students in both regular classrooms and special education programs. In addition to helping students, she has worked with institutions of higher learning such as Brown University, Fitchburg State, and Salem State College to help facilitate professional development for faculty and colleagues. The goal has always been to give teachers the best tools available in order to help students read and write more effectively and efficiently. Caldwell has been a leader in the Commonwealth in helping prepare students for MCAS testing, while simultaneously working to maintain a collaborative relationship with parents.  Outside of the education arena, Diane Caldwell enjoys traveling, reading, and playing golf.

 

Shahid Ahmed Khan

 

Mr. Khan is a Pakistani-American who was educated at Punjab University and Western New England College. Aside from his job in the Pharmaceutical industry, Khan is also a well-known political and social activist and a recognized authority on South Asian affairs. Some of the important positions that Khan has held include:  chair of the Pak-Millennium Conference, vice president of the Pakistani-American Congress, commissioner of the Governor of Massachusetts’ Asian American Commission, member of the board of trustees of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, national finance co-chair of the John Kerry for President Committee, and liaison to Muslim Americans and South–Asian American communities.

 

A strong believer in the change of policy through social change, Khan is also committed to creating a greater and positive understanding of Pakistanis amongst Americans and, of Americans amongst Pakistanis, to build the bridges of understanding between communities. This goal has been worked on through his peace demonstration in South Asia. Khan is also an avid supporter of the Democratic Party; he has helped senator John Kerry’s presidential campaign raise about one million US dollars and consistently reaches out to the American Muslim community to garner support for the Democratic Party. Khan’s work with the senatorial committee of the Democratic Party was rewarded with a plaque of honor, presented to him by US Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschale.Conference Founder

 

Todd Patkin

President, Todd G. Patkin Companies

 

After graduating from Tufts University in 1987, Todd entered the family automobile parts business. For over 18 years, he along with his brother Roger and his father Steve (the founder) worked together and grew Foreign Autopart and later Autopart International into one of the premiere wholesale automobile parts businesses in the country. The company was sold in September of 2005 to Advance Autoparts enabling Todd to leave the company and put all of his time and energy into what he loves most...spending each day trying to help as many people as he can. Today, Todd runs the Todd G. Patkin Companies with investments in several different businesses many of which were started by friends who needed a little bit of help. In terms of Todd's charities, he focuses on inner city children, the State of Israel and how to facilitate more open dialogue through out America concerning the topic of depression. Todd is a cofounder of the Operatunity Performing Arts Center in Foxboro, MA, he funded Gary Marino's Million Calorie March from Florida to Boston and its now the executive producer along with Gary for Million Calorie March the movie. Todd also sits on many for profit as well as not for profit boards including the executive committee boards for both the Jewish National Fund locally and nationally, the New England Board of the Anti Defamation League and the American Friends Board for Yemin Orde. Todd has been married to and in love with Yadira since October 1991 and Todd and Yadira have Joshua an amazing thirteen-year-old son.

Empower Peace Staff

 

Rick Rendon

Founder, Empower Peace

 

Mr. Rendon is the founder of Empower Peace and Senior Partner of The Rendon Group, a Boston based communications firm that specializes in public affairs campaigns. Empower Peace was founded on the premise that young people, through communication and the promotion of cultural understanding, could help pave the way for peace. Mr. Rendon holds strong to the belief that our future generation has the ability to effect change and that they hold the key to breaking down the cultural barriers that threaten to divide the Western, Muslim and Arab worlds.

 

Throughout his career, Mr. Rendon has taken great pride in creating and developing innovative community-based initiatives and social campaigns. Working with community leaders and activists, Mr. Rendon helped create and organize the world’s largest school-based racial harmony campaign. For seven years “TEAM HARMONY” brought over 15,000 middle and high school students from throughout New England to discuss the issues of hatred and prejudice and to develop programs to promote diversity and harmony in schools and communities region wide. Team Harmony’s keynote speakers have included former United States President Bill Clinton, United States Senator and former First Lady, Hillary Clinton, former United States Attorney General Janet Reno, and the Reverend Bernice King (daughter of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.)

 

Mr. Rendon was also the creator and co-founder of the school-based program, “UNITED WE STAND FOR AMERICA”. This program was developed post 9/11 to provide youth with an opportunity to express their emotions and feelings in the wake of the terrorist attacks. Students from throughout Massachusetts were recruited to create individual messages of peace, hope, and patriotism on six-inch tiles of red, white and blue fabric. This fabric was then assembled to create a giant quilt of an American flag (nearly half the size of a football field). Over 700 schools and 50,000 students participated in this program.

 

Mr. Rendon, working with the Islamic Society of Boston, the Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General, and the Governor’s Task Force on Hate Crimes, developed the “OUTNUMBER THE HATE” campaign. This Massachusetts school-based campaign encouraged students to rally against hate, prejudice and intolerance experienced by Muslim and Arabs in the United States post 9.11. In response to the 1,700 hate crimes reported against Muslims and Arabs living in America, Massachusetts students responded by creating OVER 1,700 messages of respect, diversity and tolerance.

 

In addition to over twenty five years of experience as a senior communications consultant, Mr. Rendon served previously as a Public Information Officer for the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and as a member of United States President Jimmy Carter’s national political staff.

 

Tricia Raynard

Executive Director, Empower Peace

 

Tricia Raynard has recently been appointed the Executive Director of Empower Peace and brings to the table more than fourteen years experience in the ever-changing information world of public and media relations. She has navigated projects from the brainstorming and planning stages straight through to the implementation of special event coordination, media advertising, and public education campaigns. As the Vice President of Public Relations and Special Events at The Rendon Group, she was instrumental in developing effective communication and special event strategies for all TRG clients including Merck, Time Warner, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation, the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, and the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs.

 

Ms. Raynard specializes in developing large-scale public outreach campaigns at all levels from the local community upwards onto the international scene. As the Executive Director of Empower Peace, Ms. Raynard is responsible for further developing the educational programs currently offered, she oversees the broadcast media programs and works with the Empower Peace team to expand the footprint of this important program.

 

Before returning to TRG in 2000, Ms. Raynard was the Vice President of Public Relations at Hawthorne Associates, a public relations and marketing agency that specializes in the corporate training industry. While at Hawthorne Associates she was responsible for developing public relations programs, marketing events and promotional materials well-respected corporate clients including Arthur Andersen Virtual Learning Network, McGraw-Hill Lifetime Learning, The Gallup School of Management and PRIMEDIA Workplace Learning. She was also responsible for coordinating all trade show logistics for Hawthorne clients including booth design, securing show space, coordinating pre-show promotions and special events.

Welcome to Lesley University

 

Joseph B. Moore

President, Lesley University

 

Joseph B. Moore joined Lesley University as President in July of 2007.  Lesley University prepares women and men for professional careers in education, human services, management, and the arts. It has a national presence and reputation in education, particularly teacher education, and the growing field of technology in education. It is the largest provider of graduate education to classroom teachers in the U.S., and is the ninth-leading provider of master's degrees in the U.S.

 

Prior to his appointment at Lesley, Joseph Moore served seven years as the President of Empire State College, a comprehensive college within the State University of New York; as Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs at Mansfield University in Pennsylvania; and as Director of Academic Affairs and Planning in the Office of the Chancellor, Vermont State Colleges.  While at Empire State College, which has 35 locations throughout New York State, five international locations, and a rapidly expanding range of web-based distance learning programs, Dr. Moore emphasized strengthening the college’s academic resources for adult learners; integrating technology with personal interactions to support student learning and employee productivity; supporting professional development of faculty and staff; increasing the diversity of students, employees, and curriculum; introducing new academic programs that meet community needs; enhancing college facilities; and promoting the visibility of the college.
 
Dr. Moore has a B.A. in English from the University of Massachusetts, Summa Cum Laude; an M.A. in English from the University of New Hampshire; and an Ed.D. in Education Administration from the University of Vermont.
 
He is chair of the board of trustees for the Council of Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) based in Chicago, and a former member of the Commission on Adult Learning and Educational Credentials of the American Council on Education (ACE), and the Committee on International Education of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU).

 

Keynote Speaker

 

Farah Pandith

Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs

U.S. Department of State

 

Farah Pandith assumed her duties as Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs in February 2007. She is focused on Muslim communities in Europe and is responsible for policy oversight for integration, democracy and Islam in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs. She also works on issues relating to countering violent Islamic extremism.

 

Prior to joining the U.S. Department of State, Ms. Pandith served as Director for Middle East Regional Initiatives for the National Security Council. She was responsible for coordinating U.S. policy on Muslim World Outreach and the Broader Middle East North Africa initiative. Ms. Pandith reported directly to the Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Global Democracy Strategy. She served on the staff of the National Security Council from December 2004 to February 2007.

 

From 2003 to 2004, Ms Pandith was Chief of Staff for the Bureau for Asia and the Near East for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) where she worked directly for the Assistant Administrator for the bureau responsible for more than $4 billion in programs throughout the Middle East, South Asia, and Asia -- including Iraq, Afghanistan and Gaza/West Bank. Ms Pandith spent two months in Kabul, Afghanistan in 2004.

 

Ms. Pandith was Vice President of International Business for ML Strategies, LLC from 1997 to 2003.

 

Ms. Pandith served at the U.S. Agency for International Development from 1990 to 1993, first as the Confidential Assistant to the Administrator of the Agency, and then as Special Assistant to the Director of Policy.

 

Ms. Pandith has been a consultant in both the public and non-profit sectors. She was a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and has served on several boards with a focus on international affairs including the World Affairs Council of Boston, the Council for Emerging National Security Affairs, and the British-American Project. She has served as a Trustee of Smith College and Milton Academy. In June 2007, Ms. Pandith was appointed as a Member of the Board of Overseers for the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.

 

Ms. Pandith received a Master's degree from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, where she specialized in International Security Studies, International Negotiation and Conflict Resolution, and Islamic Civilizations and Southwest Asia. She concentrated on the insurgency in Kashmir.

 

Ms. Pandith received an A.B. in Government and Psychology from Smith College. She was born in Srinagar, Kashmir, India.

 

Claiming Your Seat at the Table

 

Victoria Budson

Executive Director, Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard Kennedy School of Government

 

Victoria A. Budson is the founding Executive Director of the Women and Public Policy Program (WAPPP) at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.  WAPPP analyzes cutting-edge issues as they impact women’s roles and lives. WAPPP conducts research, develops curriculum, and publishes materials focused on women and public policy.  While at the Kennedy School, Budson was founding Executive Director of the Council of Women World Leaders, a group of current and former presidents and prime ministers.  From 1999-2004, Budson served as a Kennedy School Ombudsperson.

 

Currently, Budson serves on the Board of Directors for the National Council for Research on Women (NCRW) and iVillage Cares.  The mission of NCRW is to harness the resources of its network to ensure fully informed debate, policies and practices to build a more inclusive and equitable world for women and girls.  iVillage Cares, a national advocacy program designed to build awareness and support for causes of concern to women through iVillage, at present is a frequent destination site for 27 million women. Budson has been a member of numerous other Boards of Directors including: the National Women’s Political Caucus, the Massachusetts National Abortion Rights Action League, the Massachusetts Women’s Political Caucus, Women’s Legislative Network and Alliance, Massachusetts Coalition of Democratic Women, the Wellesley College Hillel Alumnae Board. Budson has served on the Steering Committee for the Massachusetts State Treasury’s Women and Money conference.

 

Budson speaks on various topics such as the future of feminism, gender and public policy, electoral politics and political action at institutions including Carnegie Mellon, Harvard University, Tufts University, Wellesley College, the Eleanor Roosevelt Center at Val- Kill, and the Center for Women’s Policy Studies.  In 2002, she served as an advisor for the development of the United Nations’ University for Peace Masters degree program in International Peace Studies with specialization in Gender and Peace Building. Budson presented at the United Nations Beijing and Beyond International Women’s Conference. She is a frequent commentator for news publications, television, and radio programs.  Appearances include: Fox News Live, the Boston Globe, WGBH Boston, WSBK Boston, and Talk of the Nation and The Connection on National Public Radio.  She reviewed and edited the childbirth chapter for the 2005 edition of Our Bodies, Ourselves.

 

Before coming to Harvard, Budson was the Political and Community Affairs Director for Steve Grossman, President of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).  Budson has also worked extensively in Massachusetts’ politics, both as an activist and an elected official on the state and local levels.  As the elected Chair of the Massachusetts Coalition for a Democratic Future, the official statewide organization of young political activists affiliated with the Democratic Party, Budson grew the organization to over 2,000 members. She has held a seat on the Massachusetts Democratic State Committee, which is the governing body for the state Democratic Party.  She served as Chair of the Wellesley Democratic Town Committee and as a member of the Wellesley Town Meeting.

 

In addition to her grassroots and electoral work, Budson is an active political consultant.  As Finance Director for Massachusetts State Senator Cheryl Jacques, she established one of the largest campaign accounts in the Massachusetts State Senate.  She also served as Finance Director for Massachusetts State Representative Rachel Kaprielian, and has worked with EMILY’s List, an organization that raises money for pro-choice, democratic women candidates.

 

Awards Budson has received include: the “Rising Star” award for her outstanding work to advance the political education of women from the Network for Women in Politics and Government at UMASS Boston, the Carol Moseley Braun Award from Mass Choice, and the Dean’s Award for Excellence at the Kennedy School.  Budson graduated Magna Cum Laude and with Departmental Honors from Wellesley College with a joint degree in Sociology and Women’s Studies.  As a graduate of the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Mid-Career Masters in Public Administration Program, she received the Lucius N. Littauer Fellow award for her distinction in academics at the Kennedy School, her contribution to the Kennedy School and the greater Harvard community, and her potential for continuing leadership excellence.

 

The Global Justice Workshop

 

Andrea Friedman

Vice President and Senior Counsel

 

Andrea Friedman is a human rights lawyer with a focus on international law and women's rights. As Counsel at the Global Justice Center, Ms. Friedman works with women leaders in transitional democracies to enforce the international legal guarantees for women's political and legal rights. Her current work at the GJC is focused primarily on advocating for women's inclusion in the political process and constitution drafting within the exiled community of Burma, as well as advancing women's rights through the judiciary and legal reform in Iraq. Her article, "Using the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women to Advocate for the Political Rights of Women in a Democratic Burma", was published in the Summer 2005 issue in the Harvard Journal of Law and Gender. She has also been invited to speak as an expert on legal and judicial reform.

 

Previously, Ms. Friedman was the Program Manager of the Women and Public Policy Program (WAPPP) at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, where she worked on domestic and international women's rights, including coordinating research and events on women in international development, women's health, combating sex trafficking and women's political participation. While at WAPPP, she helped to coordinate the first Women Waging Peace Colloquium, which brought together over 100 women from areas of conflict, and provided them with skills and advocacy training as well a forum for the exchange of ideas and strategies.

 

In addition, Ms. Friedman has worked as a legal intern in Senator Edward Kennedy's Judiciary Office, researching constitutional and immigration questions, developing materials on federal hate crimes legislation and evaluating judicial nominations. She has also worked as a legal intern in the office of the Legal Counsel for the Democratic National Convention Committee and in the corporate and litigation departments at Bingham McCutchen, LLP in Boston. Ms. Friedman was selected to attend the Democratic National Convention in 2000 as a member of the credentials committee and has worked on numerous local, state and national political campaigns.

 

Ms. Friedman holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School and a B.A. summa cum laude in Political Science from Tufts University. She was the founder and first president of Harvard Law Students for Choice at Harvard, served as President of the Tufts Community Union Senate, and was chosen to give the Wendell Phillips Commencement Address at Tufts. She currently resides in New York City.

 

Learning to Lead Through the Use of the Arts

 

Vivien Marcow-Speiser, PhD, ADTR, LMHC

Core Professor in Dance Therapy, Lesley University

 

Vivien Marcow-Speiser is a Core Professor in Dance Therapy at Lesley University and the Director of International and Collaborative Programs. She received her Ph.D. from Union Institute, her Master's in Education from Lesley University, and her B.A. from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.

 

Her work has allowed her unparalleled access to working with groups across the United States and internationally. She has used the arts as a way of communicating across borders and across cultures and believes in the power of the arts to create the conditions for personal and social change and transformation.

 

Her interests are in cross-cultural conflict resolution through the arts and in the discipline of authentic movement; as well as the use of rites of passage rituals in expressive therapy practice

 

Phillip Speiser, Ph.D., LMHC, RDT

Director of Arts Therapy Department, Whittier Street Health Center

 

Phillip Speiser, Ph.D., LMHC, RDT, Director of the Arts Therapy Department at Whittier Street Health Center, Boston, serving over 2,000 children and families annually. Dr. Speiser is a child and family therapist and expressive arts educator/therapist who has been developing and implementing integrated arts programs since 1980. He is a senior

lecturer at Lesley University in Cambridge, MA and has taught and lectured extensively throughout Scandinavia, Europe, Israel and the United States. He is the former chairperson of Very Special Arts Sweden and of the International Expressive Arts Therapy Association.

 

Sharon Katz & The Peace Train

 

As a South African musician growing up during the terrible days of apartheid, I always found that music had a way of bringing people together, regardless of race, culture or beliefs. As a teenager, I used to sneak out to the African townships to play music with my friends there, and when Nelson Mandela was released from prison, I performed at all his rallies, singing about unity and a peaceful transition to democracy in South Africa. I composed "Siyajabula" on the day Mandela was released. It means "We are happy!" And we were ecstatic!

Since then, we've been touring the world, giving concerts, releasing albums, and giving workshops in schools, colleges and communities to promote multi-cultural experiences and end violence.

So come on board The Peace Train. We're really looking forward to seeing and hearing from you!  ~Sharon Katz

 

Sharon Katz made history in South Africa in 1993 when she formed the country's first-ever, 500-member multi-cultural and multi-lingual performing group and staged the production called "When Voices Meet."

 

Then Sharon rocked the nation with her concert tour, "The Peace Train." She took 150 performers, including her friends Ladysmith Black Mambazo, on tour by train, giving concerts at every stop along their route. As the performers played, sang and danced to promote a peaceful transition to democracy in South Africa, TV and radio crews rode on board The Peace Train and broadcasted all the events to the nation.

 

"When Voices Meet" had been so successful and so widely publicized that invitations began pouring in from all over the country. To respond to all the requests, Sharon got sponsors to hire a train - The Peace Train - and took 150 of the performers as well as TV and radio crews on tour throughout the country. At each stop along the route, they performed their concert and encouraged people of all races, cultures, ages and political affiliations to put down their guns and hostilities and to prepare for the country's transition to a peaceful democracy. The performing group became known as "The Peace Train" forever more, and all the world watched as Nelson Mandela became South Africa's first democratically elected President a few months later.

 

The first time world-wide audiences saw Sharon perform, it was on CNN in April 1994. By then, a date had been set for South Africa's first-ever democratic election. Sharon was commissioned by the Independent Electoral Commission to write songs in many of South Africa's languages to teach people how to vote for the first time in their lives. CNN caught Sharon jumping down from a helicopter to perform the songs in a remote area of KwaZulu because Chief Buthelezi had just agreed to let his people vote and there was an urgent need to inform people quickly.

 

The CNN piece brought international attention, and the invitations to perform in the US and elsewhere started pouring in. The Peace Train was about to become The Peace Plane!

 

Ten thousand fans screamed for more at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, just one of their stops when Sharon Katz & The Peace Train did a 5-week, 8-city US tour. They were an instant hit, selling out all their CD's at the first concert.

As South Africa's "Cultural Ambassadors," Sharon Katz & The Peace Train took flight in 1995 to spread their music and message to the US. With sponsorship from the government and private sector in both South Africa and America, Sharon responded to the US invitations by taking her 45-member performing group on a 5-week, 8-city US tour.

 

From Disney World's International Festival to the New Orleans Jazz Fest, from Harlem to Hampton, Memphis and Cincinnati, and from Philadelphia's Penn's Landing to Washington, DC's Duke Ellington School of Performing Arts, Sharon Katz & The Peace Train thrilled audiences of all ages with the unstoppable beat and amazing harmonies of South African music and Dance.

 

Sting and Trudie Styler heard about them from one of Paul Simon's producers, and soon Sharon Katz & The Peace Train were whisked in to the studio to record for an album that included Sting, Paul Simon, Tina Turner, Elton John and Madonna.

 

Sharon Katz & The Peace Train had just returned from a performance at the National Theatre of Ghana -- part of their "Cape to Cairo Peace Train Tour" -- when the phone rang from London. Marc Silag, a production supervisor for Paul Simon, who was working on a recording project for Sting and Trudie and they wanted Sharon Katz & The Peace Train in the recording studio in 3 days. Without even time to unpack from Ghana, the group was whisked into the studio for a recording and video session. The resulting album is called "Carnival!" and also includes Elton John, Madonna, Bette Midler and Tina Turner. Sharon Katz & The Peace Train had really hit the big time!

 

Nelson Mandela's "Cultural Ambassadors" began touring the world, treating Presidents, Kings and millions of fans on 3 continents to the unstoppable beat of their music. Back home in South Africa, Sharon was using her music therapy techniques to help heal the nation from the wounds of apartheid. She's also been working in other trouble spots around the world, earning her a reputation for converting "gang members in to band members."

 

With violence, intolerance and problems in schools becoming a daily concern in America too, Sharon has established a base in the U.S. She's doing workshops and concerts in schools, universities and community centers across the country. She's also forming Peace Train projects in many cities.

 

In another landmark event, Sharon composed and directed "Crossing Rhythms," a music and dance extravaganza that featured over 200 performers from across the African continent and had South Africa's Philharmonic Orchestra playing African music for the first time in its history.

 

Daniela Aguilar Félix

Doctoral Intern, Whittier Street Health Center

 

Daniela Aguilar Félix, M.A. Ph.D candidate, from Universidad Complutense de Madrid, from Madrid, Spain. Whittier Street Health Center art therapist doctoral intern for the last year; using the arts as a powerful communication and healing tool with children, adolescents and young adults at risk, in Mexico, Spain, and United States for the past 9 years.

 

Lisa Kynvi, MA, MT-BC

Music Therapist, Whittier Street Health Center

 

Lisa Kynvi, MA, MT-BC, music therapist at Whittier Street Health Center. She is an adjunct faculty member at Lesley University. While she has worked with many different segments of the population, her work over the past decade has

focused mostly on children with special needs and their families.

 

Aleksandra Pezel

Art Therapy Intern, Whittier Street Health Center

 

Aleksandra Pezel is a graduate student at Cambridge College, pursuing Master's degree in LMHC. Currently, she is an art Therapy Intern at Whittier Street Health Center since 08/2007.Aleksandra Pezel has art background as Puppeteer, and Theater assistant director. She also has extensive experience in working with autistic and children grades K through 8. She promoted programs for unforced communication with children in need of help by establishing communication with children through singing, writing, drawing and playing.

 

Who Does She Think She Is? Film Screening

 

Pamela Tanner Boll

Artist, Filmaker and Activist

 

Pamela Tanner Boll is an artist, writer, filmmaker, and activist.  Pam brought her activism and her art closer together by co-executive producing the Academy award-winning film, "Born into Brothels: The Kids of Calcutta's Red Light District.”  She is currently producing the following film projects: “Global Moms” with director Justine Shapiro (of “Promises”); “Life on the Edge: True Stories of Doctors Without Borders,” a documentary following volunteers from Doctors Without Borders; “Project Kashmir” directed by Senain Kheshgi and Geeta Patel; “In a Dream” (winner of the Emerging Visions Audience Award at SXSW) directed by Jeremiah Zagar and Jeremy Yaches; and “Connected: A Declaration of Interdependence” with Tiffany Shlain, director of “The Tribe” and eight award-winning shorts.

 

Pamela just completed directing and producing a new film, “Who Does She Think She Is?”  This is a feature-length documentary about the lives of women who are artists and mothers.  We follow five contemporary women working in the arts—sculptors, musicians, and painters—and see their struggle to express themselves in a world that sometimes devalues the contributions of women as artists and caregivers.  The film will be released in theaters through Artistic License beginning Fall 2008.

 

Pamela grew up in Parkersburg, West Virginia then graduated from Middlebury College.  She completed graduate studies and has an MA in Interdisciplinary Studies with a focus on Women and Creativity from Lesley University.  She and her husband live in Massachusetts where they have raised their three sons.

Keynote Speaker

 

Martha Coakley

Attorney General, Commonwealth of Massachusetts

 

Attorney General Martha Coakley has dedicated the last 20 years of her life to a career in public service.  Coakley has a strong history as an advocate—not only for individuals and communities, but also for the best interests of the Commonwealth at large.  Coakley brings to the Attorney General's office a diverse and extensive legal background, a proven track record of bringing people to the table to find effective solutions to the issues that face the Commonwealth, and a strong commitment to her role as a public servant.

 

Attorney General Coakley began her legal career in 1979, practicing civil litigation with the firm of Parker, Coulter, Daley & White and later at Goodwin Proctor LLP, both in Boston.  While in civil practice, Coakley gained extensive experience in such areas as insurance defense, criminal defense, and large-scale construction litigation.  She joined the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office in 1986, as an Assistant District Attorney in the Lowell District Court office.  In 1987, Coakley was invited by the U.S. Justice Department to join its Boston Organized Crime Strike Force as a Special Attorney.  She returned to the District Attorney's Office in 1989, and in 1991 was appointed the Chief of the Child Abuse Prosecution Unit, during which time she investigated and prosecuted hundreds of cases of both physical and sexual abuse of children, including Commonwealth v. Louise Woodward.  In December 1997, Coakley resigned her position to campaign for District Attorney in the 54 cities and towns of Middlesex.

 

In 1998, Coakley was elected Middlesex District Attorney.  During her 8 years as District Attorney, Coakley established herself as a passionate advocate for public safety, not only bringing justice to crime victims and their families, but also emphasizing the importance of working with community leaders, schools, and law enforcement in a variety of diverse and multi-faceted prevention efforts.  Under her leadership, the office's Child Abuse Prosecution Unit continued to serve as a national model for victim-centered prosecution of crimes against children.  Coakley was also responsible for extending that model to sexual crimes against adults, establishing the office's Adult Sexual Assault Division in 2002.  During her tenure as District Attorney, Coakley oversaw the successful prosecution of a number of high profile crimes, including the cases of several Catholic priests charged with sexually abusing children, the conviction of Michael McDermott on seven counts of first degree murder in connection with the workplace massacre at Edgewater Technologies in Wakefield, and the successful prosecution of Thomas Junta, the Reading father who fatally beat another parent at a youth hockey practice.

 

In January 2002, Attorney General Coakley completed a one-year term as the President of the Massachusetts District Attorney's Association, where she was at the forefront of statewide public policy discussion and initiatives to improve the criminal justice system and enhance overall public safety.  In recent years, she has continued to play an active role in advocating for legislative change on a variety of issues.  Coakley joined with her fellow District Attorneys and other members of the public safety community in urging the Legislature to provide additional funding for the Massachusetts State Police Crime Lab for enhanced DNA analysis capabilities.  She also joined Senate President Robert Travaglini in advocating for changes in the law to streamline the approval process for academic and research institutions to conduct stem cell research.

 

Both during and prior to her tenure in public office, Attorney General Coakley has been involved in a number of community and professional organizations and boards.  She is a former president of the Women's Bar Association of Massachusetts, and has served on the Board of Directors at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.  During her tenure as Middlesex District Attorney, Coakley served as the Chair of the Board of Directors of Middlesex Partnerships for Youth, Inc., a non-profit organization committed to providing prevention and intervention resources and training to Middlesex school districts and communities.

 

Throughout her career, Attorney General Coakley has been honored for her work by organizations such as the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, and the Victim Rights Law Center.  In 1998, she was named Woman of the Year by the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy at the University of Massachusetts-Boston, and in November 2000, the Women's Bar Association of Massachusetts honored Coakley with its coveted Leila J. Robinson Award for her contributions to the field of law.  In June 2002, the YWCA Boston selected Coakley as a member of its Academy of Women Achievers Class of 2002.  In January 2004, District Attorney Coakley received the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce's Pinnacle Award for Excellence in Management in Government.  And in May 2006, the Massachusetts Democratic Party with its prestigious Eleanor Roosevelt Award honored Coakley.

 

Attorney General Coakley regularly presents trainings and instruction at conferences and seminars, both in Massachusetts and nationwide.  She has served as a guest lecturer for a number of colleges and universities, including Harvard University, Boston College Law School, and Tufts University.  She has also served as a guest lecturer for organizations such as the Columbia Law Review, the Massachusetts Municipal Association, and the Massachusetts Medical Society.  In January 2002, 2003, and 2006, she co-taught a winter study, "Law and Social Policy," at her alma mater, Williams College.  Coakley taught criminal trial advocacy courses at the Massachusetts School of Law during the Fall 2003 semester, and at Boston University School of Law during the Spring 2006 and Spring 2007 semester.

 

Martha Coakley received a B.A. degree, cum laude, from Williams College in 1975, and a J.D. degree from the Boston University School of Law in 1979.  Coakley resides in Medford, Massachusetts, with her husband, Thomas F. O'Connor, Jr.  In her spare time, Coakley is an avid reader, and enjoys downhill skiing, walking her Labrador Retrievers, Jackson and Beauregard, and kayaking with her husband on the Mystic Lakes.

 

The Art of Negotiation

 

Susan Hackley

Managing Director, Program on Negotiation, Harvard Law School

 

Susan Hackley is managing director of the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School (PON), a world-renowned university consortium dedicated to developing rigorous scholarship and a deep understanding of negotiation practice. She oversees all operations, including PON’s interdisciplinary activities, research projects, education programs, and public events. She also manages the publication of a variety of teaching materials, including the quarterly Negotiation Journal and the monthly Negotiation Newsletter. In addition to her management responsibilities, Hackley has taught negotiation seminars in Hong Kong, Singapore, Guangzhou, Bratislava, Barcelona, and Rome. Before joining PON, she worked in communications, public service, and politics. She also co-founded an Internet company, an e-philanthropy site dedicated to raising money for nonprofit enterprises and helping people connect to causes they care about. Hackley has a Master’s in Public Administration from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and she serves as Chair of the board of directors of the Washington, D.C.-based Alliance for Peacebuilding.

 

Sarah Whitman

Researcher, Program on Negotiation, Harvard Law School

 

Sarah Whitman joined the Program on Negotiation after working as a researcher at Facing History and Ourselves and The Center for the Study of Religion and Psychology at The Danielsen Institute at Boston University (BU). She received her B.A. from BU with a double major in Religion and Psychology, and recently completed an M.A. in Religion and Society at BU with a focus on interfaith peacebuilding. Sarah is interested in how sociological and psychological theory can contribute to our understanding of the relationship between religion and conflict.

 

Keynote Speaker

 

Susan H. Alexander

Executive Vice President, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary

 

Susan H. Alexander has been the Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Biogen Idec since January 2006. Prior to that, Ms. Alexander had served as the Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of PAREXEL International Corp. since September 2003. From June 2001 to September 2003, Ms. Alexander served as General Counsel of IONA Technologies. From January 1995 to May 2001, she served as Counsel at Cabot Corp. Prior to that, Ms. Alexander was a partner of the law firms of Hinckley, Allen & Snyder and Fine & Ambrogne.

 

Ms. Alexander is a member of the board of directors of the New England Legal Foundation and the Association of Corporate Counsel, NE Chapter.

 

Ms. Alexander received her J.D. degree from Boston University School of Law and her B.A. degree fro Wellesley College.

 

Ms. Alexander is married with four children.

 

Information Technology Workshop

 

Walter Bender

Founder, Sugar Labs

Senior Research Scientist, MIT Media Laboratory

 

Walter Bender is the founder of Sugar Labs, a non-profit foundation that serves as a support base for the community of educators and software developers who are extending the Sugar user interface. Sugar is designed to enhance the primary educational experience by emphasizing collaboration and expression. Prior to that, Bender was president for software and content of the One Laptop per Child association, where he developed and deployed technologies that are revolutionizing how the world's children engage in learning. Before taking a leave of absence from MIT, Bender was executive director of the MIT Media Laboratory. He was also holder of the Alexander W. Dreyfoos Chair.

 

Bender is currently on sabbatical from MIT, where he is a senior research scientist and director of the Electronic Publishing group. Bender directed the Gray Matters special interest group, which focuses on technology's impact on the aging population. In 1992, Bender founded the News in the Future consortium and has been a member of the Lab's Simplicity, Things That Think, and Digital Life consortia. He became Media Laboratory director in 2000. He received his BA from Harvard University in 1977. Bender joined the Architecture Machine Group at MIT in 1978. He received his MS at MIT in 1980.

 

A founding member of the Media Laboratory, throughout his career Bender has engaged in the study of new information technologies, particularly those that affect people directly. Much of the research addresses the idea of building upon the interactive styles associated with existing media and extending them into domains where a computer is incorporated into the interaction. He has participated in much of the pioneering research in the field of electronic publishing and personalized interactive multimedia. He has worked closely with pioneers in the field of technology and learning such as Seymour Papert, Marvin Minsky, and Alan Kay for more thirty years.

 

Mr. Bender is active in many national and international technical conferences and committees. He is on the advisory board of the Care Product Institute. He has been on the Advisory Board for the VTT Information Technology Research Center of Finland; he is a Visiting Professor at the University of Tampere, Finland; and a founder of Salient Stills, Inc. He was a member of the IBM Mobile Scientific Advisory Board; and a board member of Salient Stills, Inc. Mr. Bender is the author of numerous technical conference and journal articles, book chapters, and magazine articles about media technology. He has lectured nationally and internationally on the topics of electronic publishing, media technology, and computer graphics. Mr. Bender was the 1992–1993 Visiting Lecturer of The Society for Imaging Science and Technology. He has served as a consultant in the areas of graphic design, digital typography, digital color, and interactive video.

 

“Path to Leadership” Panel Discussion

 

Moderator

 

Lina Sidrys Nealon

Manager, Modern-Day Slavery Program,

Hunt Alternatives Fund

 

Lina Sidrys Nealon is the manager of the new Modern-Day Slavery program at Hunt Alternatives Fund that focuses on eradicating the demand side of sex trafficking. Previously, Lina was a policy specialist and trainer with The Initiative for Inclusive Security, an advocacy organization that promotes the full participation of all stakeholders, especially women, in peace processes. Her work has led her to conflict areas such as Palestine, Afghanistan, and Liberia, where she has conducted capacity-building workshops for men and women leaders in government, law enforcement, and civil society. Ms. Nealon’s dedication to eradicating modern slavery was inspired through her work as a grassroots organizer for the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and continued throughout her volunteer efforts with various children’s organizations in Lithuania fighting trafficking. Ms. Nealon graduated with honors from the University of Notre Dame, earning a BA in Political Science with a Concentration in International Peace Studies. Along with her husband, bookstore owner Brian, Lina has organized over 10,000 books to be sent to decimated libraries and schools in Liberia and Afghanistan. Lina enjoys working with several youth groups, particularly in the Lithuanian-American community, because she loves the audacity and passion of teenagers!

 

Panel Members

 

Maria Cristina Caballero

Director of Investigations, Semana

 

Maria Cristina Caballero was Director of Investigations at Semana, Colombia's main weekly news magazine, from (1998-2001). Previously she was also editor of investigations at Cambio news-magazine and El Tiempo, Colombia's main daily paper. She was a Fellow at Harvard University's Center for Public Leadership. She completed a master's degree in public administration at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government. Previously, Caballero completed a Communications and Journalism degree at Colombia's Javeriana University. Caballero was a 1993 Alfred Friendly Press Fellow at Time magazine's Washington, D.C. Bureau (a working fellowship) and a 1997 Lucius W. Nieman Fellow at Harvard University. Caballero won a 1998 Simon Bolivar National Prize in Journalism (the Colombian equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize) for her exclusive interview with Carlos Castano, leader of Colombia's paramilitaries. She won the same award in 1991 for a series of investigative reports regarding corruption at Colombia's National Property Institute. Caballero also received the 1990 Inter American Press Association Human Rights Award. In 1999, she won a World Press Freedom Award from the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, "In recognition of her commitment to the defense of press freedom in Colombia and throughout the world." Her articles and editorials about Latin American and human rights issues, the situation of countries in conflict, press freedom issues, and gender issues have appeared in, among others, Newsweek, The Boston Globe, The New York Times, CNN Interactive, the International Herald Tribune and the Miami Herald.

 

Atema Eclai

Director of Programs, Unitarian Universalist Service Committee

 

Atema Eclai has worked around the world on issues of conflict resolution, negotiation, microcredit, health, genital mutilation, and participatory quality education. She has chaired sessions at the U.N. women’s conferences in Nairobi and Beijing and has facilitated many international meetings. Atema was also a chief facilitating team member for Women Waging Peace, an initiative of the Women and Public Policy Program at the Kennedy School of Governments. Currently, Dr. Eclai is the director of Programs at the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee.

 

“I am only an apprentice in the field of human rights, learning each day to question and challenge unjust power structures,” says Atema. “Human rights work moves me from ma place of easy excuses to a space of seeking real, just solutions. It gives me hope and the courage to believe that the world we live in can change.”

 

Basma Fakri

Co-Founder, Women’s Alliance for a Democratic Iraq

 

An engineer who emigrated from Iraq to the US in 1982, Basma Fakri has worked tirelessly to support freedom and democracy in her native country. She is co-founder and twice-elected president of the Women’s Alliance for a Democratic Iraq, an organization dedicated to a free and democratic Iraq with full and equal individual rights for women. Ms. Fakri sits on the steering committee of the Network of Iraqi American Organizations in Michigan and is a member of the Women for a Free Iraq campaign. In 2004, she co-organized a human rights and women’s rights training seminar in Baghdad. In January of the following year, she worked as a voter education officer and national counting officer in Michigan with the International Organization for Migration during the Iraq out-of-country voting in January 2005. She has also cooperated with high-level policymakers: She spoke at Arria Formula meeting on women, peace, and security at the UN in October 2004. A year later, Ms. Fakri addressed the UN Security Council in a closed session about Iraqi women’s issues and the importance of their role in building the peace in Iraq. She was awarded the 2004 America's Freedom Festival Award in Provo, Utah; other recipients included former US President Ronald Reagan. Dialogue Diversity awarded Ms. Fakri with the Liberty Award in 2005. She holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in civil engineering.

 

Wiveca Holst

 

Wiveca Holst is a leading expert on domestic violence and human trafficking in Sweden. She is also a member of the Swedish Women’s Lobby.

 

The Swedish Women's Lobby (SWL) is a politically independent umbrella organization for women’s non-governmental organizations in Sweden. The aim is to integrate women's perspectives into all political, economical and social processes, locally as well as internationally. SWL strives to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women and girls, and to build and strengthen solidarity among women through information, education, and awareness rising activities.

 

The SWL was established in 1997 and has more than 30 member organizations. SWL is the Swedish coordination of the European Women’s Lobby (EWL), the largest umbrella organization for women's organizations in the EU.

 

Currently, the SWL runs a number of projects. Some of these projects include:

 

-Mobilizing women to increase power and influence

This project includes seminars at the annual “week of politics” in Visby, Sweden; courses in organizational building for migrant women; an in-depth study of women’s influence in civil society organizations in Sweden; and participation in debates on women and power in Sweden.

 

-Operation 1325

A network consisting of SWL and five member organizations, working together to promote the UN Resolution 1325 on women’s participation in conflict prevention and peace negotiations.

 

-The Nordic-Baltic Pilot Project

In 2005, the Nordic-Baltic Taskforce against trafficking appointed the EWL’s regional co-coordinator of a 3-year pilot project, which aims to be a starting point for long-term change in the region, developing victim-centered and durable models for support and reintegration of women victims of trafficking (VOTs) for sexual exploitation in and between the Nordic and Baltic countries. SWL is the Swedish national coordinator of this EWL-directed project. It aims to promote support, protections, safe return, and rehabilitation of women victims of trafficking

 

-Q-sam

SWLL is the only non-parliamentary member of Q-sam, a network gathering women’s unions of the Swedish political parties. The aim is to promote women’s cooperation across political differences.

 

-NOKS

Network and cooperation between the Nordic women’s organizations.

 

Welcome Reception

 

Ambassador Swanee G. Hunt

President, Hunt Alternatives Fund;

Chair, The Initiative for Inclusive Security;

Director, Women and Public Policy Program, HKS

 

Swanee Hunt directs the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, where she also teaches courses on bringing women into formal and informal peace processes.

 

President of Hunt Alternatives Fund, she also chairs The Initiative for Inclusive Security (including the Women Waging Peace Network), which advocates for the full participation of all stakeholders, particularly women, in conflict prevention and resolution.  She has conducted trainings for women all over the world, including 70 of the highest-ranking women in post-war Iraq and 130 women leaders in Sudan.

 

Prior to her appointment as US Ambassador to Austria (1993-1997), she chaired and co-chaired mayoral and gubernatorial initiatives dealing with mental health, homelessness and affordable housing, and families services in Colorado.  She was a key founder of the Women's Foundation of Colorado.  Ambassador Hunt is active in Democratic politics and has supported hundreds of nonprofit organizations through her private foundation.  She is a widely published columnist and has authored two books: the award-winning This Was Not Our War: Bosnian Women Reclaiming the Peace and a memoir, Half-Life of a Zealot.  Hunt is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and serves on the boards of Crisis Group and USA for UNHCR.

 

Raised in Dallas, Texas, Hunt made her mark as a civic leader and philanthropist in her adopted city of Denver, where for two decades she led community efforts on social justice issues such as public education, affordable housing, and mental health services for two mayors and the governor of Colorado.

A photographer, she has had more than a dozen one-woman shows in five countries.  Her musical composition, “The Witness Cantata” has been performed in six cities.  Hunt speaks frequently to conferences, and makes numerous radio and T.V. appearances annually.  Hunt holds a BA in philosophy, two master's degrees (in psychology and religion), and a doctorate in theology.  She is married to symphony conductor Charles Ansbacher.  They have three children.

James K. Glassman

Under Secretary, Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, United States Department of State

 

James K. Glassman leads America’s public diplomacy outreach, which includes communications with international audiences, cultural programming, academic grants, educational exchanges, international visitor programs, and U.S. government efforts to confront ideological support for terrorism. He oversees the bureaus of Educational and Cultural Affairs, Public Affairs and International Information Programs, and participates in foreign policy development.

 

Mr. Glassman previously served as chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the independent federal agency that oversees all U.S. government non-military international broadcasting, including the Voice of America (VOA), Alhurra, Radio Sawa, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), Radio Free Asia (RFA), and Radio and TV Martí. As the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, Mr. Glassman is designated by the Secretary of State to serve as one of nine members of the BBG board.

 

Prior to assuming his position as Under Secretary, Mr. Glassman was a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington public policy think tank. He served as editor-in-chief of The American, AEI’s bimonthly magazine of business and economics.

He is the former president of The Atlantic Monthly Co., publisher of The New Republic, Executive Vice President of U.S. News & World Report, and editor-in-chief and co-owner of Roll Call, the congressional newspaper.

In 2003, he served on the Advisory Group on Public Diplomacy for the Arab and Muslim World, a commission mandated by Congress.

Between July 1993 and July 2004, he was an investing columnist for The Washington Post. For four years, he also wrote an op-ed column for The Washington Post on political and economic issues. His articles have been published in the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Forbes, and other publications. Glassman's most recent book is The Secret Code of the Superior Investor (Crown).

He was also formerly host of Capital Gang Sunday on CNN and TechnoPolitics on PBS and has been a frequent guest on television public affairs programs. In 2000, he co-founded Tech Central Station.com, a technology and policy website. He has given frequent congressional testimony, recently on subjects as varied as the response to corporate accounting scandals, Social Security reform, personal investing, mutual fund regulation, and telecommunications policy.

He was a member of the President's Council on the 21st Century Workforce and serves on the board of trustees of the U.S. Chamber Foundation and the Intel Corp. Public Policy Advisory Board.

 

Mr. Glassman is a graduate of Harvard University, where he was managing editor of the university daily, The Crimson. He is the recipient of, among other honors, the Warren Brookes Award of the American Legislative Exchange Council for distinguished journalism.

 

Presidential Politics Panel Discussion

 

Moderator

 

Alison King,

Political Reporter, NECN

 

Alison King made her political reporting debut at NECN covering the 1996 U-S Senate Race between Massachusetts Governor William Weld and Senator John Kerry. Since then, she's covered three Presidential races and a wide range of New England political stories including a documentary on Massachuetts Senator Ted Kennedy. Prior to joining NECN, King was a reporter at WFSB-TV in Hartford, CT. She has also worked as an anchor/reporter at News 12 in Norwalk, CT and WECT-TV in Wilmington, NC. King also worked on programming for ABC Sports during the 1988 Winter Olympic Games and at ABC's Good Morning America. King has earned a number of awards for her work including three Emmy Awards, two Gracie Awards, several Associated Press Awards, and she was a contributing member to NECN's 2000 Dupont award. Alison was the reporter and producer of the May, 2007 documentary, "The Education of Deval Patrick, The First 100 Days,'' which exclusively chronicled the first tumultuous months of the administration of the Massachusetts governor. She holds a undergraduate degree from Colgate University, and a Masters Degree from NYU's School of Journalism. King is a native of Orange, Connecticut. She and her husband live in Boston with their two children.

Panelists

 

Sheriff Andrea J. Cabral, Esq.

Sheriff, Suffolk County Commonwealth of Massachusetts

 

Andrea J. Cabral, Esq. is the 30th Sheriff of Suffolk County and the first Black American female sheriff in Massachusetts history.  Appointed in November of 2002 and elected in November of 2004, she was an Assistant District Attorney in the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office for nearly 10 years.  As Chief of District Court Prosecutions for four years, she trained and supervised 48 prosecutors in Suffolk County’s eight district courts and the Boston Municipal Court.  She also created and was Chief of Suffolk County’s first major felony Domestic Violence Unit for 5 ½ years.

 

From 1991 to 1993, Sheriff Cabral was an Assistant Attorney General in the Trial and Civil Rights Divisions of the Attorney General’s Office and an Assistant District Attorney in the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office from 1987 to 1991.

 

She is the author of the book Obtaining, Enforcing and Defending 209A Restraining Orders in Massachusetts and co-author of the article, Creating Courtroom Accessibility from the book: Same-Sex Domestic Violence by Beth Levanthal and Sandra Lundy, Esq., Ph.D.  In addition, Sheriff Cabral has been a featured speaker, faculty member and panelist for a number of bar associations, legal education seminars and law school forums.

 

She is the recipient of the 2003 NEWLA (New England Women’s Leadership Awards) Courage Award, the Pioneer Award from the Massachusetts Minority Police Officers’ Association and was named a 2003 Lawyer of the Year by Massachusetts Lawyer’s Weekly.

 

She is a graduate of Boston College and Suffolk University Law School.

 

Ms. Katrina Swett, JD

Vice President, Swett Associates Inc.

 

Ms. Katrina Swett, JD, Vice President, is currently running for U.S. Senate and has run for the NH 2nd Congressional District office and has directed state-wide campaigns for political office, including her husband's. She served as Treasurer and Campaign Director for her father, Congressman Tom Lantos, who is now serving his 12th term on Capitol Hill. She worked in Washington , D.C., first as a Legislative Assistant and then as Deputy Counsel to the Criminal Justice Subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Katrina has worked as a consultant to businesses, charitable foundations, and political campaigns. She was a co-host of the highly regarded political talk show "Beyond Politics" on WMUR TV Channel 9. During her husband's term as Ambassador to Denmark, she taught a course on U.S. foreign policy at the Southern Denmark University and led a successful advocacy effort to convince the Danish Interior Ministry to step up action against illicit trafficking of women and children through Denmark. She was a frequent speaker and lecturer to various academic, business, professional and charitable groups throughout Denmark.

 

Jane Swift

Principal, WNP Consulting, LLC

 

Jane Swift became the Governor of Massachusetts on April 10, 2001 when Governor Paul Cellucci resigned to become the U.S. Ambassador to Canada. Elected Lieutenant Governor in 1998, she worked as “Co-Governor” with Governor Cellucci to stimulate economic growth, impose fiscal discipline, improve public education and enhance the quality of life for working families in the Commonwealth.

 

Governor Swift’s passionate commitment to public education has dominated her career in public service. Swift led the Cellucci-Swift Administration’s effort to improve the state’s public education system through strong accountability and high standards for schools, teachers and students. As Lieutenant Governor, she instituted meaningful remediation programs for struggling students and helped parents access more information regarding their children’s schools.

 

Swift has worked hard to provide tax relief to Massachusetts families, reducing the income tax cut through a ballot initiative overwhelmingly approved by the voters. In one of her first official acts as Governor, she signed the “No-New-Taxes Pledge” and filed legislation to expand the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit to help low-income families keep more of their hard-earned paychecks. Swift has also championed solutions that protect consumer privacy, provide a guaranteed college education for foster children and enable state employees to better balance the demands of work and family.

 

Swift’s career as an elected official began in 1991 at age 25 when she was the youngest woman ever elected to the Massachusetts State Senate. She quickly became the youngest woman in Senate history to hold a leadership position, rising to the rank of Assistant Minority Leader.

 

Governor William F. Weld appointed Swift as Director of the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation in 1997. Prior to that position, she served as Director of Regional Airport Development at the Massachusetts Port Authority.

 

A graduate of North Adams Public Schools, Swift earned her bachelor’s degree from Trinity College in 1987. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Girl Scout Council. Swift, 36 is a native of North Adams. She currently lives with her husband Chuck Hunt and their three daughters, Elizabeth, age 3 and twin newborns, Lauren and Sarah, at their family farm in Williamstown.

 

Meredith Warren

Co-Founder and Partner, Lyric Consulting

Meredith Warren is co-founder and partner at Lyric Consulting, a public relations firm that specializes in helping elected officials, political candidates and businesses reach their target audiences.

 

Before starting her business this year, Meredith worked at the Massachusetts Statehouse as communications director for House Minority Leader Bradley H. Jones Jr.  This followed a three-year stint as a reporter at The Eagle-Tribune in Lawrence, Mass., where she covered Massachusetts politics as a member of the Statehouse press corps. She was also a member of a team of reporters who won a Pulitzer Prize for breaking news in 2003.

 

Meredith graduated from Boston University’s College of Communications in 2001 with a degree in broadcast journalism. As a student, she covered national politics for The Eagle-Tribune and interned at NBC News in Washington, D.C. as part of the Boston University Washington Journalism program.

 

A Piece on Peace

 

Yousef Al Ajarama

 

Yousef Al-Ajarma is obtaining his PhD at Lesley University in expressive arts therapies. He grew up in the Aida Refugee Camp near Bethlehem in Palestine. He is interested in studying how to use the arts to heal ongoing trauma in the Palestinian community. He has his master’s from the European Graduate School in Switzerland in expressive arts therapies. He got his undergraduate degree in social work and psychology from Bethlehem University. For more than 10 years, he worked with traumatized children, teenagers, adults, and parents. Also, he was one of the leaders and trainers for summer camps in Palestine. He is an adjunct faculty at Lesley University.

 

Keren Barzilay Schechter

 

Keren Barzilay-Shechter is an expressive therapist specializing in psychodrama who has worked with children and adults in different setting, such as community

clinics and mental hospitals in Israel. She is a doctoral candidate in expressive therapy, where she is researching the role of the defenses in the Israeli psyche

within the context of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. She has special interest in the possible contribution of expressive therapy in enhancing and processing these defenses.

 

"A Piece on Peace"

 

“With the war in our home country waging on, we found ourselves together in the expressive therapies Ph.D. program at Lesley University - an Israeli Jewish woman and a Palestinian Moslem man. During our studies we have used the healing powers of the art and delved together into a journey of self-exploration, from which an interactive theatre workshop has emerged. Engaged in the creative process, we spiraled from the private to the public domain, discovering and expressing our own version of the Israeli - Palestinian situation. Our artistic dialogue has deepened and expanded, releasing inner occupied territories, on its way towards non-violent liberation.”

 

Media Coverage and Media Relations Discussion

 

Jane Christo

 

Jane Christo is affiliated with the Fletcher School’s Edward R. Murrow Center at Tufts University where she develops programs for journalist reporting in fledgling democracies and area of crisis. Before joining the Fletcher School, Christo served as General Manager of WBUR from 1979 to 2004, elevating Public Radio from alternative broadcasting to a nationally recognized, respected and influential source of news and information. Under her leadership, WBUR has become a major influence in Boston broadcast news; introducing original, innovative and award winning programming such as Car Talk (1992 Peabody Award), The Connection, and Inside Out (2003 RFK Journalism Award). During Christo’s stewardship, WBUR’s fundraising capability rose from less than $1 million/year in 1979 to $19.2 million in 2003. In May 2000, Christo was honored with Public Radio’s highest honor: the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s Edward R. Murrow Lifetime Achievement Award. Drawing from her extensive experience in journalism, Christo has taken various measures to develop journalists from areas of political development and conflict. From 1992 to 2004, she directed the International Training Project, a program aimed at addressing the day-to-day challenges that confront journalists from Eastern Europe. The program covered topics such as reporting on human trafficking and reporting in areas of conflict. Expanding upon previous programs, Christo established the Covering Conflict program in 2003. Covering Conflict provides intensive training for journalists who cover persistent conflict and ethnic tensions in their home territories. Christo received her Bachelors Degree in English Literature from Boston University. She currently resides in Brookline, MA with her husband.

 

Keeping Girls Safe and Sound

 

Girls LEAP

 

Girls' LEAP Self-Defense, Inc trains at-risk girls aged 8-18 in verbal and physical safety skills and self-awareness. LEAP helps girls develop a diverse set of responses to violence, beyond the extremes of passivity and escalation.

 

LEAP's physical skills techniques maximize girls' options and help girls to make safe decisions in spite of fear. The self-reflective skills stren gthen girls' ability to say "no" in difficult situations, to create safe and constructive boundaries, and to identify and trust their own feelings.

 

The mission of Girls’ LEAP is to promote the safety and well-being of girls, women, and their families through focused education programs. We seek to raise awareness, build decision-making skills and foster personal confidence to create safer communities and safer lives.

 

Girls’ LEAP began as a community response to a wave of violence against women and girls in Cambridge in 1994 and 1995. LEAP was co-founded by Deborah Weaver, faculty member in the Department of Physical Education, Recreation, and Athletics at Wellesley College and Peggy Barrett, Education Director of the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center and former Director of the Women's Center at Tufts University.

 

LEAP offered its first programs in Cambridge in 1997. Since then, LEAP has served over 3,000 girls and young women in Greater Boston neighborhoods.

 

 

Edward S. Mason Program

 

The Edward S. Mason Program brings together leaders from around the globe who enroll in the Mid-Career Master in Public Administration and participate simultaneously in a year-long seminar on political, economic and social issues germane to developing countries. This seminar begins with a two and a half-week summer session in July, preceding the Mid-Career Summer Program.

 

The Mason Program is Harvard University’s oldest international student program.  Mason Fellows come from all across Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, the Middle East, Eastern and Central Europe, as well as the former Soviet Union. The typical Mason Fellow is an experienced professional with a proven trajectory in positions of leadership and a strong commitment to public service. Graduates of the Mason Program return to their countries to assume high-level positions.  Many of them have become world leaders, including several heads of state as well as the current Secretary General of the United Nations.

 

The emphasis of the Mason Program is on developing the broad range of analytical and leadership skills required to initiate and to implement major political, social, or economic change.

Keynote Speaker

 

James Roosevelt, Jr.

President and Chief Executive Officer, Tufts Health Plan

 

Mr. Roosevelt joined Tufts Health Plan in 1999 as senior vice president and general counsel and held that position until June 2005, when he became president and chief executive officer. As the general counsel, he presided over the legal department and the company's compliance, privacy and government relations functions.

 

Before joining Tufts Health Plan, Mr. Roosevelt was the associate commissioner for Retirement Policy for the Social Security Administration in Washington, D.C. He has also served as chief legal counsel for the Massachusetts Democratic Party and is co-chair of the Rules and By-laws Committee of the Democratic National Committee. Mr. Roosevelt spent 10 years as partner at Choate, Hall and Stewart in Boston. He is past chairman of the board of trustees for the Massachusetts Hospital Association, past president of the American Health Lawyers Association and past chairman of the board of trustees for Mount Auburn Hospital. Currently, Mr. Roosevelt serves as chairman of the board of directors for Massachusetts Association of Health Plans, and as a member of the board of directors at America's Health Insurance Plans, Emmanuel College and the Kenneth B. Schwartz Center. He is also co-chair of the board of directors for the Tufts Health Care Institute.

 

Mr. Roosevelt received his J.D. from Harvard Law School and his A.B. with honors in government from Harvard College. He has also completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.

 

Women2Women Presentation of Women’s Rights Panel

 

Moderator

 

The Honorable Joan M. Menard

Majority Whip, Massachusetts State Senate

 

State Senator Joan M. Menard, D- Fall River, was first elected to the Massachusetts Senate during a special election in December 1999, becoming only the 25th woman to serve in the legislative body's long and storied history. Senate President Robert Travaglini, recognizing Menard's ability as a leader, appointed her Majority Whip of the Senate in 2003. Prior to her Senate post, Menard served the 5th Bristol District for 21 years in the Massachusetts House of Representatives.

 

With 24 years of service as an elected official, Senator Menard has had a long and proud tradition of breaking gender-based barriers and advancing the cause of women in politics.

 

Menard became the first women to ever hold a leadership position in the 223-year history of the Massachusetts House of Representatives when Speaker Thomas McGee appointed her to the position of Majority Whip in 1984, making her the highest-ranking woman democratic leader in Massachusetts. Menard continued her leadership role, serving as Assistant Majority Whip and Majority Whip for former House Speaker Charles Flaherty.

 

Menard continued to break barriers for women in politics in 1993 when she was elected the first woman to serve as Chairperson of the Massachusetts Democratic Committee. In 1996, Menard was reelected as state chair, and in 1998 was elected as ASDC President and appointed as Vice Chairperson of the Democratic National Committee.

 

Among the issues paramount to Menard in her role as a state senator are childcare, education, disability pension reform, domestic violence, and senior pharmacy assistance programs.

 

Senator Menard served as President of the Greater Fall River League of Women Voters from 1974 to 1977. A former educator in the Somerset School System, Menard received a Bachelor of Science degree in education in 1967 and a Master of Education degree in 1971 from Bridgewater State College. In 1993, she received a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study in Education Administration from Boston College. Menard was an elementary school and special education teacher from 1967 - 1974, at which point she was appointed Director of Special Education for the Town of Somerset, a position she held until she was elected to the House of Representatives in 1978 and began her career in politics.

 

Menard lives in Fall River with her husband Charles. They have two adult children and one grandchild.

 

Panelists

 

Sheila Capone-Wulsin

Executive Director, Massachusetts Women’s Political Caucus

 

Prior to joining MWPC, Sheila served on Hillary Clinton’s New Hampshire primary staff and helped Niki Tsongas become the first women elected to the 5th Congressional district in almost half a century. Capone-Wulsin also served as U.S. Senator John Kerry’s Political Director for four years. She began her political career as Director of Constituent Services for former U.S. Congressman Dick Swett (NH). Capone-Wulsin received her Bachelor’s Degree from Rivier College. She and her husband Winthrop, live in Lowell with their 4 year-old daughter Sophia.  They are occasionally joined by Sheila’s three older children, 25 year-old son Alexander who lives in New Hampshire, Christie, age 20, a junior at Smith College, and David, age 19, a sophomore at University of Hawaii.

 

Leigh O’Neill

Director of Government Relations, Arab American Institute

 

Ms. O’Neill is the Director of Government Relations at AAI. Prior to joining AAI in November 2007, she served as a research assistant at the Jordan Institute of Diplomacy in Amman as a Fulbright fellow. O’Neill began working with the Arab American community in her home state of Massachusetts while serving as Assistant to the State Director in the Boston Senate office of Senator John Kerry. She holds a B.A. in Classical Studies from Boston College and an M.A. in American Foreign Policy and International Economics from the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. O’Neill was Managing Editor of Conflict in Focus, the bi-monthly journal of the Regional Centre on Conflict Prevention at the Jordan Institute of Diplomacy, and has also been published in JO Magazine.

 

The Honorable Marie St. Fleur

Vice Chair – House Committee on Ways and Means, Massachusetts House of Representatives

 

Representative St. Fleur was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives, representing the 5th Suffolk District, on July 6, 1999.  Gaining 77% of the vote in a hotly contested election, Representative St. Fleur is the first Haitian-American elected to state office in the United States.

 

During her first term in office, Representative St. Fleur successfully sponsored into law An Act Relative to A Time for Survivors of Homicide Victims Awareness.  As House Chair of the Joint Committee on Education, Arts and Humanities, Representative St. Fleur championed two way bilingual education, alternative education, sponsored An Act to Reduce Homelessness and Promote Housing Stability for Low-Income Families with Children and helped to establish the new Massachusetts Board and Department of Early Education and Care.  Currently, as the Vice-Chair for the House Committee on Ways and Means, Representative St. Fleur has championed numerous initiatives including: additional funding for community health centers; the One Family Scholarship, a program to end family homelessness by helping women attend college and develop leadership skills; and the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute, which provides services to families of homicide victims.

 

A graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Representative St. Fleur earned a Law Degree from Boston College Law School in 1987.  Following graduation, she served as a Law Clerk in the Massachusetts Superior Court.  Representative St. Fleur began her legal career as an Assistant District Attorney in Middlesex County.  In 1991, she became an Assistant Attorney General for the Commonwealth as civil litigator in the state and federal courts.  Later, as Chief of the Unemployment Fraud Division, Representative St. Fleur managed a staff of Assistant Attorneys General, investigators, and support personnel, in the investigation and prosecution of unemployment fraud.  Representative St. Fleur is a former trustee of the Boston Bar Foundation and past President of the Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association.

 

Women2Women Reception – State Room

 

Empower Peace would like to take this opportunity to honor the following individuals for their support of the Women2Women Conference and Empower Peace.

 

Honorees

-Victoria Budson -   Spirit of Leadership Award

-Susan Hackley -   Spirit of Leadership Award

-Vivien Marcow Speiser -   Spirit of Leadership Award

-The Honorable Joan Menard -  Spirit of Leadership Award

-James Fairweather -  The Peacemaker Award

 

Final Hour

 

Hailing from the Boston suburbs, members of the hard-rocking band Final Hour bring a working-class attitude to songs about relationships, betrayal, disappointment and personal triumph. And it’s no wonder.

 

The quartet has been laboring in the vineyards of Boston and Providence area clubs for the past seven years, honing an original sound that draws from such influences as Tool, Korn and Chevelle.

 

Before that, three of the original members worked in the same auto parts warehouse, moving boxes of brake rotors while they schemed over their breakout CD "Unseen."

 

Behind charismatic frontman and vocalist Caleb Mayben, the quartet has more than arrived since then. Their 2006 release, peppered with memorable riffs, lyrical melodies and relevant lyrics, has led to greater recognition than ever and one of the busiest gigging periods in Final Hour’s history.

 

Underpinned by the virtuosic guitar playing of Andy James, the driving bass of David Foster and the drumming of John Pelletier, Final Hour’s music has been heard at a number of high-profile New England venues including the Tweeter Center for The Performing Arts, Boston’s Hard Rock Café and Cambridge’s TT The Bear’s Place and the Middle East.

 

Two of the band’s current members, Foster and Mayben, previously played in the alternative rock band Out Of Focus before re-emerging with James as the present-day Final Hour. James, a veteran of blues and southern rock, has also performed with the band "Cold Train" and his own original blues outfit "The Andy James Band."

 

At the end of 2007, Final Hour had need for a new drummer. Pelletier was the hands-down winner based on an audition and has kept the beat ever since. Pelletier previously played with the bands Bostos and All In bringing a new edge and pop to new music.

 

With a solid core and a seemingly inexhaustible stream of original tunes, Final Hour has had little trouble keeping fans engaged. Even at far-flung venues, band members are often greeted by fans mouthing back the lyrics to favorite tunes like "Finish Line," "Craving You" and title track "Unseen."

 

As 2008 dawns, Final Hour is far from nearing the finish line as their music rides the wave of an expanding fan base and concert schedule.