Belgium
Raymond Sommereyns
Raymond Sommereyns is the director of the Outreach Division, Department of Public Information, United Nations, New York. During his more than 30 year career at the United Nations he has been active in legal, political and public information areas. Assignments included legal adviser to peacekeeping operations in the Middle East, senior adviser for the conflict between Iran and Iraq, good offices efforts in Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Cyprus, oversight of political affairs in West Asia, Europe and the Americas. He holds law degrees from the Free University of Brussels and Harvard Law School and was a foreign lawyer at the New York law firm of Sullivan and Cromwell. He is fluent in English, French and Dutch and has working knowledge of German, Spanish and Italian.
Bolivia
Gonzalo Ponce
A former Consul General in Washington, D.C., Mr. Ponce is a an interpreter and business consultant. Before his assignment in Washington, D.C. in the late nineties, Mr. Ponce worked as a researcher for USAID in Bolivia. He has conducted extended business missions in Europe. He has taught at the University of San Andres in La Paz Bolivia and at the University of Maryland. He is fluent in Spanish, English and Portuguese.
Denmark
Bruno Amoroso
For the past 30 years, Bruno Amoroso has been a professor of economics at Roskilde University in Denmark. He is the Chair "Jean Monnet" on European Social Cohesion and Economic co-operation in the Wider Europe. Among his fields of expertise are Macroeconomics and International Economy, Globalization, Comparative Welfare Systems, Mediterranean and South East Asia meso-regions. He has field experience in Japan, Thailand, Cambodia, China, Vietnam, South and North Korea. He is fluent in Italian, Danish, English and French. He is the author of many published works. For further information on Prof. Amoroso please see his webpage at www.ssc.ruc.dk/homepages/amoroso/
France
Olivier Bricet
Olivier Bricet, a graduate in international public law in French and German universities, has several years of field experience in the Balkans. He has worked for humanitarian NGOs, the UNMIK, the OSCE and the Ombudsman, dealing with complaints of individuals against public authorities. In 2001 he worked as antifraud officer for OSCE conducting investigations all over Kosovo. He currently works as a human rights officer in Prizren, Kosovo. He is fluent in French, English and German.
Italy
Lorenzo Montanari
Lorenzo Montanari holds a Master’s degree in International Relations and Diplomacy from the University of Bologna, Italy. He specialized in Peace and Democracy Building at the Postgraduate School of Economics and International Relations of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan. For several years he worked as a project analyst with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and also as a political analyst in Latin America. He has served as an electoral observer for the European Union in Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador. His main areas of expertise are international relations, conflict resolution, human rights, advocacy, democracy building and election monitoring. Currently, he is working as an international relations and fund raising consultant for a Latin American NGO. He is fluent in Italian, Spanish and English.
Annamaria Pastore
Annamaria Pastore, a graduate of La Sorbonne in Paris, is an adjunct faculty member and Projects Director at Northwestern University School of Law, International Center for Human Rights in Chicago. She was trained at the International Peacekeeping School in Pisa, HEI in Geneva, IEP in Paris and the Hague Peace Academy and LSE in London. Ms Pastore has served as International Officer working for the United Nations and OSCE in Serbia, Kosovo, Sudan, Iran, Eritrea and other areas. She specializes in Human Rights, International Relations and International Law and is fluent in Italian and French. Among her professional activities, Ms. Pastore is involved in fundraising projects on behalf of nonprofits and nongovernmental organizations. She is fluent in Italian, French, Spanish and German.
Jordan
Jamil M. Shami
Dr. Jamil M. Shami is an international educator and an activist in human affairs. He served as college vice-president, dean and professor in the United States and the Middle East. He has deep knowledge of Middle Eastern affairs and, as a Palestinian, is intimately acquainted with Palestinian issues. His extensive experience in citizen diplomacy includes conflict resolution, human rights, democracy, capacity building, international development and volunteerism. He is fluent in English and Arabic.
Spain
Eduardo Trillo De Martin
Eduardo Trillo de Martín-Pinillos has a Ph. D. in International Law and is professor of International Law and International Relations at the University of Madrid, Spain. He has many years of experience in International organizations such as UNHCR, European Union, OSCE and UNDP. His specialty is in the fields of Democratization, Rule of Law and Human Rights. His field experience has been in the Balkans, Africa, Latin America and East Timor. He is the author of three books on the Balkans, the Colombian guerrillas and Equatorial Guinea. He is fluent in Spanish and English.
Switzerland
Franco Furger
Franco Furger is Research Professor at the Foreign Policy Institute, Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies in Washington DC. He has a long-standing interest in environmental policy and in the governance of new technologies. Currently, he is conducting a project on the regulation of human biotechnologies. His main areas of expertise are economic sociology and institutional economics. Franco Furger is fluent in Italian, French, German and English. He is the author of several articles and two books.
United Kingdom
Leslie Graham Leek
Leslie Leek was a career UK Police Officer who specialized in the fields of Counter Terrorism and the investigation of serious crime throughout his 30year career, retiring in 1995 at senior command rank. He now works as a security consultant throughout Europe advising on threat and risk assessment in the commercial field. He also works on contract to the UK Foreign Office for the OSCE and the United Nations
United States
Charles Freeman
Charles (Chuck) Freeman is a commercial pilot with an international cargo carrier, and a lawyer admitted in Virginia, Maryland and Georgia. He served for thirty-one years as an officer in the United States Air Force, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve as a pilot, air operations officer and military political officer. He retired with the rank of colonel and was decorated with the Legion of Merit.
Cathy Schneider
Cathy Schneider is Associate Professor of International Studies at American University and director of the Americas program in Comparative and Regional Studies. She holds a Phd in Government from Cornell University, and her areas of expertise include political violence, identity politics and social movements. Her current research is on security policy and the policing of minority communities. Among her recent publications are: "Shantytown Protest in Pinochet's Chile", "Violence, Identity and Spaces of Contention in Argentina, Chile and Colombia", and "Racism, Drug Policy and AIDS". She is fluent in French and Spanish.
Cynthia Louise Butler
Cynthia Louise Butler, a graduate of Georgetown law school, is an attorney in private practice with twenty years of experience and a concentration in ADR, Mediation/conflict resolution. She has studied conflict resolution at Harvard Law School where she obtained an Advanced Certification in Mediation. Ms. Butler has lived many years overseas and has had a life-long interest in international peacemaking and conflict resolution. She served on the Board of the United Nations Association-National Capital Area (UNA-NCA) and assisted in their programs, including tours in Paris and Geneva visiting many NGOs and UN associated organizations. She brings to the organization a strong interest in cross-religious understanding. In her blog "Pilgrims, Patriots and Prophets" she advocates building bridges of peace between faith traditions and explores the nexus between politics and religion. Based currently in Washington, DC, she is a member of the American Constitution Society and the John Carroll Society. She is fluent in French.
Richard Wiener
Richard Wiener retired from a 39-year career as a patent lawyer which included lecturing in the US and abroad on international patent law and heading the Washington office of a major patent firm. He lived under the Nazi regime in Germany from 1933 to 1939, and was the only Jew in a school of Hitler Youths. He watched as his home was destroyed and his father taken to a concentration camp. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, he returned to his hometown for a class reunion, and initiated a healing experience with his ex-classmates. On his return, he created a "Power of Forgiveness" workshop to show others that it is possible to revisit even the most painful life issues. He has spoken widely at college, school and church venues on the subject of reconciliation.