2024 International Peace Symposium: Avoiding Armageddon

Speakers

• Chad Dion Lassiter Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission
  

  Chad Dion Lassiter

  Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission

  Lassiter is the current Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, where he investigates complaints of unlawful discrimination in areas like employment, housing, commercial property, education, and public accommodations. A nationally recognized expert in the field of American Race Relations, Lassiter has worked on race, peace, and poverty- related issues in the U.S., Africa, Canada, Haiti, Israel, and Norway, and is called upon frequently by media outlets to provide commentary on race relations and potential solutions.

• Col. Chase Metcalf Faculty, US Army War College
  

  Col. Chase Metcalf

  Faculty, US Army War College

  Colonel Chase Metcalf is an active-duty Army Strategist assigned as a Faculty Instructor and the Director, Campaign Planning in the Department of Military, Strategy, Planning, and Operations at the U.S. Army War College. COL Metcalf was a USAWC Fellow at Yale University for the class of 2020 and holds a Master of International Public Policy from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, a M.A. in National Security Studies from American Military University, and a B.A. in Political Science and History from the University of Vermont.

• David Commins Professor, Dickinson College
  

  David Commins

  Professor, Dickinson College

  His teaching interests are in modern Middle Eastern history with an emphasis on Islamic thought and political movements. His most recent book is The Mecca Uprising: An Insider’s Account of Salafism and Insurrection in Saudi Arabia. His other books are Islam in Saudi Arabia, The Gulf States: A Modern History, The Wahhabi Mission and Saudi Arabia, Historical Dictionary of Syria, and Islamic Reform.

• Dr. Cristina E Ciocirlan Professor, Elizabethtown College
  

  Dr. Cristina E Ciocirlan

  Professor, Elizabethtown College

  Dr. Ciocirlan is the 2015 recipient of a U.S. Fulbright Scholar Award in the U.K., to study environmental behaviors in organizations at Durham University. She worked with local and international banks and consulted with several small and medium-sized businesses. As a graduate student, she received full scholarships to study in Prague, the Czech Republic, Budapest, Hungary and Colchester, U.K. She presented several papers at national and state conferences (several of which won “The Best Paper Award”) and published her research in peer-reviewed journals. Her research interests focus on environmental psychology, diversity, inclusion, and equity in organizations, managerial decision-making, and family business management. Dr. Ciocirlan teaches Management and Organizational Behavior, Talent Management, and People Analytics.

• Dr. Najiba Benabess Dean of the School of Business at Elizabethtown College
  

  Dr. Najiba Benabess

  Dean of the School of Business at Elizabethtown College

  Dr. Najiba Benabess currently serves as the Dean of the School of Business at Elizabethtown College in Elizabethtown, PA. Dr. Benabess holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a master’s degree in economics from Western Illinois University.

• Rich Harwood President and Founder of The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation
  

  Rich Harwood

  President and Founder of The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation

  After working on more than 20 political campaigns and two highly respected non-profits, Rich Harwood set out to create something entirely different. He founded what is now known as The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation in 1988, when he was just 27 years old. Soon after, he wrote the ground-breaking report Citizen and Politics: A View from Main Street, the first national study to uncover that Americans did not feel apathetic about politics, but instead held a deep sense of anger and disconnection. Over the past 30 years, Rich has innovated and developed a new philosophy and practice of how communities can solve shared problems, create a culture of shared responsibility and deepen people’s civic faith. The Harwood practice of Turning Outward has spread to all 50 U.S. States and is being used in 40 countries. Rich has invested his career in revitalizing the nation’s hardest-hit communities, transforming the world’s largest organizations and reconnecting institutions like newsrooms and schools to society. In Newtown, CT, after the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Rich led the process for the community to collectively decide the fate of the school building. Rich is an inspiring, sought after speaker, who regularly keynotes major conferences and events. He appears regularly on major media outlets. He has written four books, scores of articles and numerous groundbreaking reports. He’s also written numerous studies and articles that have appeared on national media including MSNBC, NPR, CNN’s Inside Politics, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, Special
  Report with Brit Hume and C-SPAN. Recently, he became a regular contributor to The Christian Citizen, a publication which provides thought on issues of justice, mercy and faith.