Melinda Holmes

is the Program Director at the International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN) of the Women’s Alliance for Security Leadership (WASL), which brings together existing women’s networks, practitioners, and organizations with longstanding experience in addressing extremism and promoting peace, rights and pluralism to improve practices in communities affected by violence, and informs and offers pragmatic policy solutions for the international community. A peacebuilding specialist, writer, and strategist focusing on gender and political violence, Holmes is responsible for facilitating collaboration, analysis, advocacy, and outreach on gendered approaches for preventing and responding to violent extremism at ICAN. Previously, holmes was a 2016-2017 Visiting fellow at LSE’s Centre for the engagement of religious and traditional beliefs, actors, and communities in advancing peace and human rights. Holmes holds a Master’s degree in International affairs from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, focusing on the gendered and religious dynamics of conflict and peacebuilding.

Rasha ElMansuri

is Libyan-Finnish, and a Project Implementation Coordinator at EDUC8, which is an EU-funded project conceptualized to build resilience against radicalization and polarization through religious education representing and polarization through religious education representing the Muslim Youth of Finland (NMF). She is currently a Master’s Degree student at the University of Turku, Finland, pursuing biomedical imaging, and is also an NMF Board Member.

Diversity sparks her inspiration. Being surrounded by different people from various backgrounds, whether it be professional or academic, it helps her grow and learn. Positivity, acceptance, appreciation, good attitude, and respect is her definition of being open-minded.

Melissa Nozell

is the Program Officer for Religion and Inclusive Societies at the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP). Prior to joining USIP in August 2014, Nozell spent 7 months in Amman, Jordan, where she volunteered with several organizations including NyDat Syria and Mercy Corps, to help Syrian refugees through humanitarian aid efforts and mediation.

Nozell has experience conducting research on religious trends in the U.S. and the Middle East through the Jordanian Interfaith Coexistence Research Center, where she focused on Arab Christian-Muslim relations and faith-based diplomacy, and the Pluralism Project at Harvard University, where she updated and composed reports for the online edition of On Common Ground: World Religions in America. She also worked as an educator in Abu Dhabi.

Her interest areas include the implications of religious identity in pluralistic societies and the ways in which religion can be used as a tool through which to teach human rights in conflict-prevention and reconciliatory capacities, particularly in the Middle East. Nozell earned a Bachelor’s in Religion and Asian Studies from Colgate University, and a Master of Theological Studies from Harvard University.

Stacey Schamber

works as a Senior Program Officer with the International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN), providing technical assistance on the Better Peace Initiative, the Women’s Alliance for Security Leadership (WASL), and issues of protection and psychosocial support. She is trained as a licensed Clinical Social Worker, with a specialty in trauma, and worked in healthcare and mental healthcare settings in the U.S. She has trained social workers internationally in Ethiopia, Lebanon, and India. In addition, Stacey worked as a consultant on gender-based violence and manager of a protection monitoring project in Lebanon, in response to the Syrian refugee crisis.

For one year, she also worked with Meta-Culture, a conflict management organization based in Bangalore, India. Schamber has consulted with Mediators Beyond Borders International on their women in the mediation program. She is passionate about preventing violence that can result from social, religious, or political conflict. Schamber’s international conflict resolution experience and training enable her to foster sustainable community development. She holds a BA from Wellesley College, a Masters in Social Work, and Masters in Theological Studies from Boston University.

Shahid Rehmat

is the Executive Director of Youth Development Foundation (YDF), which is a national youth-led movement that brings together youth from diverse cultural, religious, and geographical backgrounds to fight extremism through non-violent conflict resolution skills. Rehmat is also a peace activist and social entrepreneur with a decade of working experience in countering violent extremism, interfaith harmony, youth leadership, conflict mitigation, and tolerance in post-conflict zones and sensitive geographic areas of Pakistan including North Sindh, Southern Punjab, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The decade-old tested model of YDF is internationally recognized at various forums, including the Minority Rights Group Internation (MRD), UNOY, UNAOC, Pax Romana, The Network for Religious and Traditional Peacemakers. Under his leadership, YDF drafted the first-ever interfaith harmony policy for the Government of Punjab, initiated a regional campaign to counter hate speech, discrimination, misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine, and stigmatization in the post-pandemic scenario. He is an Executive Member of the Punjab Corona Task Force and partners with USAID, FCA, European Union, MRG, USIP, and NED. Rehmat is the recipient of the Promotion of Minority Rights Award by the Governor of Punjab and The Ministry of Human Rights, Minorities Affairs, and Interfaith Harmony. He is also a recipient of the prestigious ‘Emerging Leaders of Pakistan’ award, Acumen Pakistan Fellowship, and holds a Master’s degree in Social Work.

Donna Bollinger

currently serves as the Advocacy Officer for the World Council of Churches at the Ecumenical Office to the United Nations in New York City. Donna’s program responsibility for gender justice, indigenous issues, and racial justice is evidenced in the Action Coalition to End Gender-Based Violence, the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, and the annual Commission on the Status of Women. Working with faith-based partners and CSO to address issues of gender justice, particularly in the area of women, peace, and security. Bollinger is the focus of her Doctorate of Ministry Degree at Drew University. In addition to graduating as a Merit Scholar from the Wake Forest University School of Divinity, she has also earned a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Education from East Carolina University. Early in her career, Bollinger served as a delegate to the White House Conference on Rural American Women and was nominated as one of the Outstanding Young Women in America for this work.

Prior to her current position, Bollinger served as the Executive Director for Religions for Peace USA, demonstrating her commitment to interfaith understanding and cooperation. She has served as a staff member for the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA and then the Ecumenical Gathering of Youth and Young Adults based in Geneva, Switzerland. Bollinger has worked extensively with Haitian, Hispanic, and Hmong communities in the United States, collaboratively addressing the challenges of public health, immigration, and economic development. She has served as the Executive Director of a faith-based community organizing nonprofit, created and built Native Grace, a fair-trade resource and retail center, and worked with Legacy International’s Global Youth Village where participants from the Middle East and North Africa region engaged in dialogue and peacemaking.