Rev. Dr. Rodney Petersen (President) is from the Chicago area, then Boston, Geneva (Switzerland), and North Carolina. He is a Presbyterian (PCUSA) minister, trained as an historian at Harvard and Princeton with postgraduate studies in Geneva. He taught first at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, then at Webster University in Geneva, and with the Swiss Red Cross before becoming Executive Director of the Boston Theological Institute (BTI). He taught history-related courses in the Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Protestant schools of the consortium. In this context, he led workshops in conflict-ridden sites in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, South America, and the Caribbean, in addition to the United States. Upon retiring from the BTI, he became Executive Director of the Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries and was honored with an emeritus title. He has been awarded with several ecumenical and interfaith awards and in 2021 received the Governor’s (Charles D. Baker, Massachusetts) Citation as an Outstanding Citizen and recipient of the 2021 Boston Mountaintop Award. He is the author or editor of numerous publications, including Forgiveness and Reconciliation: Religion, Public Policy and Conflict Transformation (Templeton Foundation Press, 2002), Formation for Life: Just Peacemaking and 21st Century Discipleship (Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2013); general editor, Religion at Harvard, 1636-1992, 3 vols. by G. H. Williams (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2014); and Religion and Public Policy: Human Rights, Conflict, and Ethics (Cambridge, 2015).

 

Leocadia Montero-Hainley (Vice President) is a black Latina who helps people use a productive approach to address conflict. She is the principal of Leocadia Consulting and is an Associate with LACE Oregon. She uses a trauma-informed and restorative justice approach to facilitate dialogues. Leocadia helps organizations, individuals, couples, and families to have compassionate conversations to address difficult relationships. She is a Psychotherapist and a Popular Education dialogue facilitator. She received the ESPERE training from Centro de Dereitos Humanos e Educação Popular of Brazil in 2009. She coordinated, directed and facilitated the ESPERE-Violence Reduction Program at Adelante Mujeres for seven years. She was the first Latina to implement the ESPERE workshop in the USA. In her twelve years facilitating these dialogues, she has trained more than 1,300 people. She is a member of the Domestic Violence Fatality Review Team of the Oregon Department of Justice and a board member of the Family Justice Center of Washington County. She is from the Dominican Republic where she served as District Attorney. She earned her law degree from Universidad Nacional Pedro Henriquez Ureña and she holds a Master of Art in Psychotherapy from Pacific University.

 

Jane Wells (Treasurer) is an executive coach who works with senior leaders in nonprofits, businesses, and government agencies to cultivate their strengths and transform thought and behavior patterns that may interfere with their effectiveness. She is a skilled facilitator who helps leaders bring out the best in themselves and the people who work with them. Jane is a founding director of Forgiveness International and has led ESPERE workshops in the U.S. and South Africa. She is certified as a Professional Coach by the International Coach Federation. Jane is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and has an MBA from Boston University. She and her husband live in the Boston area.

 

Lupe Hernandez (Clerk) is an international trainer in healing trauma and deep understanding in ACEs. She co-founded “Help-Restore-Transform,” a program which works to address educational barriers and improve self-worth among women and children in Mexico. She brings over two decades of experience leading people to heal from trauma. She is trained in conflict resolution, mediation and restorative justice practices, and is a leader and provider of the Beyond Trauma program at Adelante Mujeres.

 

 

Claudia Acosta is an experienced property manager and engaged community leader. Driven by her passion to spread awareness of the benefits from forgiveness and reconciliation, she was a pioneer and played a crucial role in the birth of ESPERE in her native city, where she currently serves as the El Paso Coordinator. Over the last ten years she has received on-going training from Fundación Para la Reconciliación in Colombia and Centro Cultural Loyola in Monterrey, Mexico. Claudia holds a Diploma in ” Desarollo Humano” from the IBERO (Universidad Iberoamericana CDMX) that focused on the integral personal growth in individuals. She is dedicated to changing our world one heart at a time. Her commitment to giving back to the community has shown over her twenty-three years of experience working full-time managing a low-income property. During her tenure as a Property Management Specialist, her focus and work has translated into helping hundreds of low-income families by providing affordable housing programs. Claudia is a Certified Occupancy Specialist and a Certified Tax Credit Specialist. In her spare time Claudia enjoys spending time with her beloved family. Her husband of 34 years and their three sons, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren.

 

Sophia Bishop-Rice began her career in marketing & communications twenty years ago as the only African American employed by the company at the time. While at Lesley University in 2005, she assumed the role of Program Manager for the Center for Children, Families and Public Policy (CCFPP), which provided professional development during annual conferences attended by principals, superintendents, and K-12 educators nationwide. After some experience in nonprofits, it solidified her desire to create BUILD-BEYOND, Inc. a program that supports at-risk youth ages 13-15 and introduces them to the building trades and enables them to adopt forgiveness and reconciliation practices as managed through the ESPERE trainings at Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries, where she is currently the Executive Director. Sophia’s passion for addressing the neglect of those who are incarcerated, led her to found KIT, Inc., a nonprofit that is committed to the highest ethical standards aimed to foster practices that create an environment of transparency, accountability and integrity for incarcerated caregivers, formerly incarcerated parents, and their children. One would think that her five grown sons, three granddaughters, and her providing emotional support to friends and family “behind the walls” of prison institutions in Massachusetts, would keep her busy…Well, think again! Sophia is onto her next big thing: living her best life.

 

Dr. Eileen Borris is a clinical and political psychologist, author, speaker, and workshop trainer on forgiveness from the personal to the political. Working in the field of international conflict resolution, Dr. Borris has worked in areas of conflict around the world healing the wounds of conflict, war, and genocide, incorporating the work of political forgiveness. Dr. Borris has published many articles and books on forgiveness including, Forgiveness: The Ultimate Freedom, acquired in five foreign countries, and Finding Forgiveness: A 7 Step Program for Letting Go of Anger and Bitterness, a self-help book published by McGraw-Hill. The books focus on the profound impact forgiveness can have in transforming people’s lives. Currently, she is writing a book on political forgiveness, a monthly newsletter, and a blog that focuses on different aspects of political forgiveness and the healing of our nation. By invitation, Dr. Borris has been honored to speak before the United Nations General Assembly on “Forgiveness and the Healing of Nations,” and has spoken to the members of the UN, UN missions, agencies, and non-governmental organizations worldwide about forgiveness and reconciliation. Currently, Dr. Borris is developing a “Healing Hate in America” project that uses a political forgiveness model based on systemic peacebuilding, and which addresses individual healing, the reconstruction of communal relationships, and the pursuit of a just political order. Click here for more info

 

Lorna Lemay is an experienced conflict resolution practitioner, group facilitator, trainer, instructional designer, business strategist, accredited mediator, and communications expert. She has been certified by several institutions over the years such as the International Association of Public Participation, International Association of Facilitators, Canadian Institute for Conflict Resolution (CICR), Community Mediation Ottawa and Ontario Community Mediation Coalition. Her work history includes the Federal Court of Canada, RCMP, Citizenship and Immigration Canada, and a national, not-for-profit health-care organization. Lorna is the President of LL Concord Consultation & Mediation Services Inc., and co-founder of a registered children’s charity, “Chance Foundation”. She is passionate about serving the community, building organizational resilience, and inspiring change. At present, she offers her expertise as an advisor to the CICR Board, and is CEO and co-founder of ForGiving ForRestoring Canada.

 

Dr. Frederic Luskin directs the Stanford University Forgiveness Projects and is the author of the bestselling books Forgive for Good (Harper Publishers, 2002) and Forgive for Love (Harper Publishers, 2007). His work began with a randomized trial for his dissertation and the forgiveness methodology is derived from his own forgiveness experiences. He has worked with suffering people both nationally and internationally with forgiveness issues both large and small. Forgiveness allows us to escape from victimhood and has substantial benefit for physical and emotional well-being.

 

Fr. Leonel Narvaez is from Colombia. He is a catholic priest and a sociologist, educated in Turin (Italy) with postgraduate studies in Cambridge University and Harvard University. He worked for ten years with the nomads of desert East Africa (Kenya, Sudan, Ethiopia) and another ten years in the Colombian Amazon. During this period, he participated in several negotiation processes with the leftist guerrilla groups and developed several successful peace programs in the area. He was awarded with the Bogotá City Council Great Cross of the Civil Merit for his contribution to peace in the city. In 2007 he received in Paris, the UNESCO PRIZE FOR PEACE EDUCATION. In 2008, the Congress of the Republic of Colombia honored him with the ORDER OF DEMOCRACY. He is the Founder and current President of the Fundación para la Reconciliación, based in Bogota, Colombia and now present in 18 countries of the Continent. He is the author of the books: The Revolution of Forgiveness and Political Culture of Forgiveness and Reconciliation.

 

Dr. Loren Toussaint is a professor of psychology at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. He is vice chair of the Discover Forgiveness Advisory Council for the Templeton World Charity Foundation, president of the Forgiveness Foundation, associate director of the Sierra Leone Forgiveness Project, and a consultant to Mayo Clinic, Cancer Treatment Centers of America, and Boise State University. Dr. Toussaint’s research examines virtues, especially forgiveness, and how they are related to health and well-being. He and colleagues recently published a compendium of research titled: Forgiveness and Health: Scientific Evidence and Theories Relating Forgiveness to Better Health (Springer). Dr. Toussaint directs the Laboratory for the Investigation of Mind, Body, and Spirit at Luther College. He encourages “everyday forgiveness” to build resilience and minimize stress in families, schools, healthcare, workplaces, and communities.