Common Bond Institute

2nd Annual International Conference on
Religion, Conflict, and Peace:
Walking The Talk To Compassion And Harmony

Official Partner and Event of
the Charter For Compassion
and
the Parliament of World Religions

Steve Olweean, MA
is founding Director of Common Bond Institute, co-founder and President of International Humanistic Psychology Association (IHPA), past President of Association for Humanistic Psychology, and a therapist with an MA in Clinical Psychology. Treatment focus has been on abuse recovery of victims and perpetrators, trauma recovery, and healing negative belief systems. He has written and presented internationally on concepts of The OTHER and dynamics of belief systems. Current book project is "Engaging The OTHER." Founder of Annual International Conference on "Engaging The Other," co-founder of International Conference on Conflict Resolution, which has occurred for 15 years in Russia, and co-founder of International Conference on Religion, Conflict, and Peace.
Email: SOlweean@aol.com Web: www.cbiworld.org

Bill Secrest, MA
B.A. Michigan State Univ, 1971. M.A. History of Religions, University of Detroit, 1977. Director of Religious Studies Program, Henry Ford Community College. Faculty Advisor to HFCC Student Environment Association (current). Vice President of Southeast Michigan Land Conservancy (current)
Web: http://www.hfcc.edu/

Keynote: Greg Roberts
is Director of State of Michigan Office of Community and Faith-Based Initiatives, charged with proactively establishing strong relationships with faith leaders throughout the State. He is also responsible for promoting “Mentor Michigan” with faith leaders to help recruit 10,000 adults statewide to provide a caring, loving relationship with children/youth in need. Prior to being appointed by Governor Granholm, he served as the District Director for Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (D-13). As deputy director for Wayne County’s Department of Community Justice, he was instrumental in the development of comprehensive, community-based initiatives working to make a substantial difference in the lives of young people and families.
Web: http://www.michigan.gov/outreach/

Live Virtual Keynote:

Huston Smith, Ph.D
is holder of 12 honorary degrees, is internationally renowned as the world's leading philosopher, scholar, and author on world religions, and has devoted his life to the study of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Hinduism, all of which he believes in. His book "The World's Religions" has been the most widely-used textbook on its subject for a third of a century - selling over 2,500,000 copies worldwide. Bill Moyers devoted a 1996 5-part PBS special to his life and work, "The Wisdom of Faith with Huston Smith." He has produced three series for public television: "The Religions of Man," "The Search for America," and "Science and Human Responsibility," and his films on Hinduism, Tibetan Buddhism, and Sufism have won international film festival awards. His most recent books include "Tales Of Wonder," "The Way Things Are, Why Religion Matters," and "Cleansing the Doors of Perception: The Religious Significance of Entheogenic Plants and Chemicals." Among his other books are "One Nation Under God: The Triumph of the Native American Church," and "Primordial Truth and Postmodern Theology." He has authored over eighty articles in professional and popular journals.
Web: www.hustonsmith.net/

Live Virtual Keynote:
Rabbi David Rosen
is Director of the American Jewish Committee's Department for Interreligious Affairs and its Heilbrunn Institute for International Interreligious Understanding, served as Chairman of IJCIC, the International Jewish Committee on Interreligious Consultations, is Honorary Advisor on Interfaith Relations to the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, serves on its Commission for Interreligious Dialogue, and represents the Chief Rabbinate on the Council of Religious Institutions of the Holy Land. He is an International President of Religions for Peace (WCRP), Honorary President of the International Council of Christians and Jews (ICCJ), on the Executive of the World Council of Religious Leaders (WCORL), member of the Elijah Institute's World Board of Religious Leaders, and a founder of the Interreligious Coordinating Council in Israel. He was a member of the Permanent Bilateral Commission of the State of Israel and the Holy See that negotiated normalization of relations between the two, member of the Advisory Committee of the World Congress of Imams and Rabbis and of the World Economic Forum's C-100.
Web: http://rabbidavidrosen.net/index.htm

Recorded Address To The Conference:
Karen Armstrong
is a prominent scholar of religion and society, and former Roman Catholic nun, who has dedicated her life to the study of religion and the world's faiths from Islam to Buddhism. Her recent book "The Spiral Staircase" discusses her spiritual awakening after leaving the convent when she began to develop her iconoclastic take on the great monotheistic religions. She has written over 20 books about commonalities between Islam, Judaism and Christianity, and their effect on world events, including "A History Of God," "Holy War: The Crusades And Their Impact On Today's World," and "Muhammad: A Prophet for Our Time." Her latest book is "The Bible: A Biography." Since 9-11 she has contributed frequently to conferences and the international media on Islam and fundamentalism, which she sees in a historical context, as an outgrowth of modern culture. She is author of 3 TV documentaries and took part in Bill Moyers TV series "Genesis: A Living Conversation." In 1999 she was awarded the Muslim Public Affairs Council Media Award. Her examination of the fundamental commonalities of the world's faiths has brought her to her current important project: "the Charter for Compassion."
Web: http://charterforcompassion.org/

* As a key conference outcome, participants will be invited to individually endorse these proclamations, with final documents being disseminated widely.

A-1:
Brenda Rosenberg
was the first woman senior vice president of fashion merchandizing and marketing for Hudson's Department stores in Detroit Michigan, and later for Federated Allied Department Stores. Since 9/11 Brenda has become a champion for inter faith, inter cultural and inter racial understanding. As executive producer of "Reuniting the Children of Abraham toolkit 4 peace" she has spoken at numerous churches, mosques, synagogues and schools throughout Michigan, across the country and overseas. She was the first woman, and first Jewish person, to deliver a Ramadan sermon in metro Detroit's Islamic community.
Web: thechildrenofabrahamproject.org

Shahina Begg
is Co-founder of WISDOM (Women's Interfaith Solutions for Dialogue and Outreach in MetroDetroit). Born and raised in India, Shahina moved to the United States in 1973 where she accepted Islam and has contributed to a variety of faith-based, interfaith and charitable organizations. As a Co-founder of the Muslim Unity Center in Bloomfield Hills, a mosque committed to serving all Muslims, Shahina has helped to educate Muslims and non-Muslims about the tenets & beliefs of Islam. She has contributed to interfaith work through organizations such as the Michigan Round Table for Diversity and Inclusion & Reuniting the Children of Abraham.

Gail Katz
is a retired ESL teacher from the Berkley School District, where she coordinated a program for seventh graders called the Religious Diversity Journeys. Gail chairs the World Sabbath for Religious Reconciliation, an annual interfaith event. Gail sits on the Board of the Interfaith Leadership Council, and is a Co-founder and President of WISDOM (Women's Interfaith Solutions for Dialogue and Outreach in MetroDetroit). She chairs Interfaith Connect, an initiative to bring young people (high school, college students) of different faith traditions together.

Padma Kuppa
is a writer, an IT professional, a wife and mother of two, working to build a more pluralistic society. Most of her schooling was done in NY, but she finished high school and college in India. She serves her community by engaging its ethnic and religious diversity, as Bharatiya Temple's Outreach Chair, co-founder of the Troy Interfaith Group, an organization highlighted by Harvard's Pluralism Project, the Board of WISDOM, and Hindu American Foundation's Executive Council . Her faith has been strengthened through personal experiences, while her study of Hindu philosophy continues to inspire her activism every day.
Web: http://www.bharatiya-temple.org/home/index.shtml

Patricia Harris
began in Human Resources as the first woman on Ford Motor Company's Management Training Program in Ford Tractor Operations, before moving to Marketing and Sales Operation until retirement in 2002. A member of St. Hugo of the Hills Parish in Bloomfield Hills, she chairs the Ecumenical Awareness Committee, is a member of Catholic Caucus of SE Michigan, and supports the global ministries of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Sisterhood. Trish is a Co-Founder of WISDOM, was co-presenter of WISDOM's "story" at a Harvard Conference entitled "Women's Interfaith Initiatives After 9/11", and in 2008 was honored as a "Diversity Champion" by the Race Relations & Diversity Task Force- Birmingham/Bloomfield area.

________________________________________
A-2:
Bill Secrest, MA (see Friday Morning Opening)

Ventra Asana, M.Div., M.T.S.
is Adjunct Professor of Comparative Religion at Henry Ford Community College and Deacon Clergy - The United Methodist Church. She holds a Master of Divinity, and Master of Theological Studies (Garrett Seminary), and a B.A. in Film Studies from Wayne State University. Her dissertation is being completed as: Down Here on the Ground: Urban African American Women Gardeners as Models of Sustainable Development Practice in Local Community from Union Institute and University, Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences.
Web: http://WorkshopInUrbanEcology.web.officelive.com

S. Lilly Mendoza, Ph.D
(Ph.D in Communication, Arizona State University) is an Associate Professor in Intercultural Communication Studies at the Oakland University, Rochester, MI. She is the author of "Between the Homeland and the Diaspora: The Politics of Theorizing Filipino and Filipino American Identities" (Routledge, 2002). Her areas of teaching and research are critical issues in intercultural communication, indigenization movements, theories of identity and subjectivity, postcolonial theory, and critical race theory.

Jim Perkinson, Ph.D
(University of Chicago) is a long-time activist/educator/spoken word poet from inner city Detroit, teaching as Professor of Social Ethics at the Ecumenical Theological Seminary and lecturing in Intercultural Communication Studies at the University of Oakland. He is the author of "White Theology: Outing Supremacy in Modernity and Shamanism, Racism, and Hip-Hop Culture: Essays on White Supremacy and Black Subversion," and has written extensively on questions of race, colonialism, religion and urban culture.

Manveen Saluja, M.D., F.A.C.P
is a clinical assistant professor at Wayne State University and an attending staff at William Beaumont Hospitals. She is one of the Board members of Parashakthi Temple. Dr. Saluja is a physician, a medical professor, a member for various medical societies, a poet and a spiritual counselor. She counsels number of people spiritually and spends a great deal of time facilitating interfaith discussions and understanding different cultures and their spiritual practices. Dr. Saluja acknowledges Dr. G. K. Kumar as her living spiritual mentor and Divine Mother as the guiding force in her life.
Web: http://www.parashakthitemple.org/

Mouhanad Hammami, M.D.
is a graduate of Aleppo University, Syria, faculty member at Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit, and research associate at the Detroit Medical Center, Department of Pediatrics. In 2006 he was granted the American Medical Association (AMA) foundation for Excellence in Medicine and Leadership award for his public health advocacy and community work. Dr. Hammami served as Executive Director of the National Arab American Medical Association (NAAMA) between from 2006 to 2009, was recently elected as president for 2011, and is Chief of Health Operations of Wayne County Department of Health and Human Services.
Web: http://www.naama.com/

Sonya Friedman, Ph.D
Received her PhD in Psychology from Wayne State University and has a private clinical practice in Birmingham, Michigan. She has been host of CNN Informational/news Program, "Sonya Live," for 8 years, ABC talk radio's resident psychologist for 10 years, a weekly columnist for Detroit Free Press for 10 years, has written for Town And County magazine, Destinations magazine, and is a weekly contributor to the St. Maarten Herald newspaper and The Eccentric Newspaper. Publications include: "Men Are Just Desserts", "Smart Cookies Don't Crumble", and "A Hero Is More Than Just A Sandwich."
Web: http://www.drsonyafriedman.com/

Mumtaz Haque
is Producer/host of Manoranjan Radio Show & www.mumtazworld.com, President of the Council of Asian & Pacific Americans in Michigan (CAPA), Council Member of the Governor's Advisory Council on Asian and Pacific Affairs ACAPAA, Past President & Board Member, International Institute of Metropolitan Detroit, and Past President & Board Member of the India League of America. An educator by profession, she has represented her colleagues for two consecutive years in the Detroit Federation of Teachers, and serves on the Michigan Department of Education Bias And Sensitivity Committee for MEAP & MME (Michigan Merit Exam).
Web: www.mumtazworld.com

David Crumm
is best known as a journalist for more than 30 years, specializing mainly in reporting on the impact of faith and culture on people's daily lives. Since the mid 1980s, he has reported across the U.S. and occasionally from other parts of the world for the Detroit Free Press and its wire services. In 2006, his weekly column on everyday spirituality won the annual Wilbur Award for "Best Column on Religion in a Major Newspaper." In 2007, Crumm and a team of media professionals launched the www.ReadTheSpirit.com Web hub and related publishing projects through which they are exploring emerging themes in spiritual media, promoting cultural diversity and are helping men and women make their own spiritual connections.
Web: www.readthespirit.com

Jack Lessenberry
is Senior Political Analyst for Michigan Radio. He has has worked as a foreign correspondent and executive national editor of The Detroit News, and he has written for many national and regional publications, including Vanity Fair, Esquire, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, and The Oakland Press. Currently, he is a professor of journalism at Wayne State University and a contributing editor and columnist for The Metro Times, The Traverse-City Record Eagle, and The Toledo Blade, in addition to his work at Michigan Radio.
Web: http://www.michiganradio.org/

________________________________________
D-2:
Betty Kingsley, L.C.S.W.,
is a retired clinical social worker. She was the first mental health worker for the Ho Chunk Nation. She designed the mental health program for the tribe and became the executive director of the Ho Chunk Nation Department of Mental Health. Like many Ho Chunk she left her home to get employment as racism offered few jobs in the area. She joined and served in the U.S. Navy before becoming a social worker and returning to help her people. She was raised in the traditional Ho Chunk way.

Myron Eshowsky, M.S.
is a mediator, counselor, and spiritual healer. He has written and published in a wide range of professional journals on topics related to the integration of shamanic methods to modern problems. His work has primarily focused on two primary questions: how to bring healing to severely traumatized populations; and how to integrate indigenous models of peacemaking to modern disputes. He has provided consultation and healing services to community mental health centers, prisons, social service agencies, tribal governments, NGO's, hospitals, universities, the United Nations and corporations. He has mediated numerous multiparty disputes including: victims/perpetrators of hate crimes; rival gang disputes; community/corporation environmental disputes; and ethnic/tribal disputes.
Web: http://myroneshowsky.com/

Mike Whitty
is professor at the University of San Francisco and the University of Detroit Mercy. He is co-editor of Work and Spirit: and At Work Spirituality Matters. Professor Whitty is a diversity trainer, mediator, educational policy consultant, futurist.and former director of the Institute for Building Sustainable Communities. As US Chancellor of the International Association of Educators for World Peace he has issued a Call for A Truce in The Cultural Wars
Email: mikwhitty@prodigy.net

Jehan Olweean, MA
has taught special education for over 8 years to a broad spectrum of special needs students has her degree in Special Education from Eastern Michigan University. Her mission has been to bring dignity, respect, and self-empowerment into the classroom, while inspiring students to reach their fullest potential and highest self esteem. A fundamental aspect of her commitment is to advocate for special needs students to receive the recognition, appreciation, and rights they deserve. She has presented at the International Conference on Conflict Resolution in Russia, and the International Conference on Engaging The Other.

E-1:
Rene Lichtman, Ph.D.
was born in Paris in 1937 of Polish Jewish parents. He and his mother survived the war in hiding in France. Rene's father joined the French Army and was killed in combat against invading Germans. In 1950, at the age of 13, he came to the US with his mother and lived in Brooklyn, New York. For many years, he has been active in Holocaust organizations, was a founder in 1992 of the Hidden Children and Child Survivors of Michigan. In 1996, was founding member of the World Federation of Jewish Child Survivors of the Holocaust, and has been Vice President ever since. Rene holds degrees in Fine Arts, Mass communication, Instructional Technology, and worked for William Beaumont Hospital for 20 years.
Web: http://www.wfjcsh.org/

George Khoury, MBA
was born in Jerusalem in 1942, lived in Palestine until 1948 when he was evicted with his family from Yaffa (Jaffa), lived in Birzeit under harsh conditions until 1952 when they moved to Amman, Jordan, and lived at a periphery of a refugee camp until 1961 when he came to the US. He received a BS in Mechanical Engineering from University of Detroit and a MBA from Central Michigan. He was instrumental in establishing various Arab-American organizations, including the Arab Community Center (ACCESS), The Arab American University Graduates (AAUG) and the Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC). He is active in the leadership of the Friends of Sabeel-North America

Myron Eshowsky (see D2 )

________________________________________
E-2:
Sonya Friedman, Ph.D (see D-1)

Jackie Teunessen, MA
holds a Master's Degree in Organizational Leadership with a concentration in Christian Ministries, from Regent University in Virginia. She is the founder of the Theodore Carl Dream Center; a non-profit organization. Jackie has developed secular and faith-based programming to address the issues surrounding dysfunctional families, abuse, addictions and recovery. She has published articles relating to addictions, recovery and hope. She is the author of "The R.O.C.K Workbook," and the "R.O.C.K Program."

Najah Bazzy, RN
is a Transcultural Nurse Clinical Specialist and a Diversity Specialist with 25 years specializing in the area of transcultural health care. She has an extensive background in critical care nursing with a special expertise in Arab and Muslim health care, beliefs, and practices. She is CEO of Diversity Specialists and Transcultural Health Care Solutions. She is also the Executive Director and Founder of Zaman International, a non-profit humanitarian organization which provides “hope for humanity”.
Web: www.zamaninternational.org/

Venkat Hari, Ph.D
is a resident of the Detroit Michigan area since 1973. He retired recently from the Biological Sciences Department at Wayne State University and is currently an Emeritus Professor. Apart from his activities as a research scientist, Venkat Hari has been involved in several social, religious and charitable activities. He has served as President of the Michigan Tamil Sangam, President of Michigan Asian Indian Family services for 3 years, Board of Directors of Friends of Asian Art in the Detroit Institute of Arts, and currently Board of Directors and Vice President of Parashakthi Temple in Pontiac Michigan.
Web: http://www.parashakthitemple.org/

Steve Olweean (see Friday Morning Opening)

Farha Abbasi, MD
is a 4th year resident of Psychiatry at Michigan State University. She emigrated from Pakistan in 2000 seeking a safe haven for her family as terrorism plagued her homeland. She has worked with local and state politicians to increase public education and awareness of Islam and the Muslim community, has worked within her mosque to help Muslims break their silence on mental health issues, and helped teach medical students how to work with Muslim patients. In 2008 she was awarded the American Psychiatric Association SAMSHA Minority Fellowship to address mental health issues of minority populations.

Imad Hamad
is the Regional Director and Senior National Advisor for Public Affairs of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), the premier civil rights organization in the nation on behalf of Arab Americans. He is a long time community advocate, who has fought for the cause of civil rights and justice, and has been an active bridge builder between communities for many years.
Web: www.adcmichigan.org

Imam Abdullah El-Amin
is one of the founding members of the Muslim Center in Detroit and has served in various capacities since then, including Chairman. He is a strong voice of conviction, conscience, and principle who has an ability to cross cultural and religious lines in order to sow the seeds of peace–with Christians, Jews, and Muslims, with Americans and Africans. Along with a Jewish and Christian colleage he co-created the original concept that became known as "The Children of Abraham Project."

Victor Ghalib Begg
Chair, Council of Islamic Organizations of Michigan. Detroit News Michiganian of the Year. Community Peacemaker of the Year, Peace & Conflict Resolutions Studies Center, Wayne State University. Co-Founder - Unity Center Mosque. Co-Founder Interfaith Leadership Council of Metro-Detroit. Co-Chair, Michigan Round Table for Diversity & Inclusion. Frequent op-ed writer in the Detroit newspapers. Appeared on FOX network, NPR and CBS. Member Michigan Coalition for Human Rights. Served on Michigan Community Service Commission

Saeed Khan
is currently Lecturer in the Department of Near East & Asian Studies at Wayne State University, where he teaches Islamic and Middle East and History, Islamic Civilizations and History of Islamic Political Thought, and Adjunct Professor in Islamic Studies at the University of Detroit-Mercy. Saeed is also the Founder and Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Social Policy & Understanding (ISPU), a Michigan-based Think Tank promoting the study and analysis of US social and domestic policy.
Web: http://ispu.org/

I-1:
Nettie Kingsley
was director of Historic Preservation for the Ho Chunk Nation for 13 years, led numerous efforts to protect and preserve traditions of her people, preserving and protecting numerous sacred sites from environmental degradation. She has served as executive assistant to the President of the tribe. Nettie's husband worked as a radiological technician for Indian Health Services led to them working and living on a number of reservations around the country and learning of other tribal traditions. As a young woman, due the racism and extremely high employment rates for her people, she moved from the area to seek schooling and work in Milwaukee. She was raised in the traditional Ho Chunk way.

Geshe Gendun Gyatso
was born in Tibet in 1961, escaped to India in 1963, at age 8 became a Buddhist Monk at Sera Je Monastic University in India, studying logic and epistemology, the study of nature of knowledge, and in 1981 was fully ordained by His Holiness The Dalai Lama. He studied in the Geshe Program for 25 years including Tantric Study at Gyumed Tantric College in India, and in 1993 was awarded his doctorate degree in Buddhist Studies as a Doctor of Buddha's Philosophy (Geshe). He studied comparative religion as a visiting scholar under the Boston University Fellowship Program for Theological Study, and during his studies became an affiliated Chaplain at Boston University and Chaplain at Harvard's Dana Faber Cancer Institute.
Email: gggk930@gmail.com Web: www.geshegendun.org

Myron Eshowsky (see D2 )
________________________________________
I-2:
Robert Cohen, MA
in international relations from American Univ., is Exec. Dir. of Jewish Community Relations Council, was Assist. Exec. Dir. and Dir., Community Relations of the Jewish Fed. of Tulsa, and worked for 3 decades in television news, public relations, and advertising, as international public relations consultant for Hill & Knowlton, and exec. VP of Schmelzer & Associates. He has won numerous honors, including Natl. Headliners Award, Natl. Assoc. of Broadcasters Service to Children Award, and Gabriel Award of Unda-USA (Natl. Catholic Assoc. for Communicators). Cohen has been Secretary and Board member of Temple Israel in Tulsa, chaired the Social Action Committee and Black-Jewish Dialogue Committee of Temple Emanu-El, and is board member Mental Health Assoc. of Michigan.
Web: http://www.jcrc.org/

Betsy Kellman, MA
is the Regional Director of the Anti-Defamation League where she has served since 2002. Ms. Kellman has a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan and a master's degree from Wayne State University. Prior to ADL Betsy was an educator and has a strong business background. While working for ADL she has been very involved in law enforcement and civil rights issues, sits on a Security Task Force, and is involved in many community coalitions including an immigration taskforce, a lobbying organization and is an advisor to the Holocaust Education Coalition.
Web: http://www.adl.org/

Rabbi Norman T. Roman
has been Rabbi at Temple Kol Ami for over 20 years. His knowledge, love of Judaism, spiritual presence, and leadership have been at the forefront of Temple Kol Ami's existence. He was born in New York, raised in the Cleveland area, educated at John Carroll University, and ordained at Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, received the title of "Reform Jewish Educator" from URJ and National Association of Temple Educators, earned a Master's in Hebrew Letters, an honorary Doctor of Divinity from HUC-JIR, and is Adjunct Instructor in Religious Studies at the University of Detroit Mercy.

Kari Alterman, MSW
is the Regional Leadership Director, and Detroit Chapter Director for the American Jewish Committee. Before coming to AJC she worked with the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, most recently as its Leadership Development Director.
Kari has served as adjunct lecturer at University of Michigan School of Social Work on the American Jewish community and its organizational make-up. BA MSW from University of Michigan, and Certificate in Jewish Communal Service. She serves on Congregation Shaarey Zedek board and has been co-chair of its pre-school.
Web: http://www.ajc.org
________________________________
I-3:
Farha Abbasi (see Panel F)

Sheri Terebelo Schiff
is active in human relations and multicultural and interfaith relations, conducting workshops and seminars in race relations, diversity, prejudice reduction, and anti-bias education. Also active with the American Jewish Committee, WISDOM, and Jewish Historical Society, Sheri serves on the boards of many Jewish agencies and organizations. She is a docent and mentor at the Holocaust Memorial Center, and a co-chair of Book Stock, used book and media sale to benefit literacy projects. Sheri's interfaith activities include WISDOM, Reuniting the Children of Abraham, Interfaith Leadership Council, and past co-convener for the Race Relations & Diversity Task Force where under her leadership the group received the Closing the Gap Award from New Detroit.

Steve Spreitzer, M.S.W.
is the Director of Programs for the Michigan Roundtable for Diversity and Inclusion, an organization honoring our differences by empowering members of communities to work for inclusion, equity and racial justice. Steve received his Masters in Social Work at Michigan State University where he studied the role of the faith community in bringing restorative justice to the Criminal Justice system. He has received recognition from the American Middle East Christian Congress, the World Sabbath for Religious Reconciliation, the Council of Islamic Organizations of Michigan and the Catholic Youth Organization. Steve and his wife Mary live with their three children in Plymouth.
Web: http://www.miroundtable.org/mrdi/

Mary Assel, PhD
is Director of the English Language Institute at HFCC. She is an active member in various campus and off-campus committees that embrace all areas in the teaching of English as a second language, culture, and religion. She taught in Africa, the Middle East, and the US for over 30 years. She presented and published numerous articles on language learning, religion, and culture and recently authored 25 Icons of Peace in the Qur’an.
Web: http://www.hfcc.edu/

Susan Lebold, JD, MSW
is a lawyer and social worker with over 25 years of professional experience. In 2009 she launched i2iexchange solutions, an organizational consulting business that specializes in inclusive approaches to problem-solving and decision-making. In 2010 she joined with two partners to form BDL Mediation, LLC, which provides mediation, facilitation and conflict resolution services. She is a member of the National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation and the Association of Conflict Resolution.

Maida Besic
Prompted by the importance to her of cultural and global issues, Maida decided to major in Psychology with an emphasis in social and cultural psychology along with a minor in Islamic Studies. She has strived to learn more about other cultures by being involved in numerous multi-cultural events, outreach efforts, and pursuing the Cultural Competency Certificate at Macomb Community College. She has received dialogue group facilitation training through the 20,000 Dialogues training program and has used these skills in facilitating community based dialogue groups.

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Registration Form - pdf (2012 to be posted)
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2012 RCP Full Program (2012 to be posted)
2012 Presenter Biographicals (2012 to be posted)
2012 List of Presenters (2012 to be posted)
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Common Bond Institute
Steve Olweean, Director, SOlweean@aol.com
12170 S. Pine Ayr Drive • Climax, Michigan •49034 USA
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Website: http://www.cbiworld.org
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