The Dialogue Project dot Org

The Dialogue Project Board of Directors

Thomas Cox is an artist and designer active in grassroots, community empowerment organizations. Born in California, a resident of New York for 28 years, he has found great value in the honest and deep exploration of the diverse views of others made possible through dialogue. Tom facilitates several dialogue groups and is Vice President of The Dialogue Project.

Rev. Khader El Yateem is the Palestinian Christian Minister of the Salaam Arabic Church in Bay Ridge Brooklyn. He serves the Lutheran Church Council on special missions throughout the world and is particularly involved in poverty and hunger issues. Father El-Yateem participates in a Brooklyn Dialogue Circle, hosted by the Arabic Church. Rev El-Yateem grew up in Beit Jala, Palestine.

Helen Engelhardt has been active in peace, justice and environmental causes for over thirty years. She is an educator and writer, concerned with building better relationships between peoples of different backgrounds in her beloved borough of Brooklyn. She sings alto with the Brooklyn Jewish Community Chorus and is a Brooklyn Dialogue Circle participant.

Marcia Kannry is a Jewish American who lived in Israel for six years. A former Executive Director of The Jewish National Fund, Marcia traveled throughout Israel and the occupied territories during the first intifadah. Her own experience with dialogue at that time began the journey that has led to the creation of The Dialogue Project. Marcia earned her B.A. in religious studies from the University of Pittsburgh and has pursued master studies at New York University. She has created inter-group/interfaith organizations for more than 20 years. (President of the Board)

Paula Pace is a mediator/attorney and facilitator in private practice. She has a family mediation practice and mediates EEO cases for the US Postal Service and the Transportation Security Administration. A former public interest lawyer, Paula served as an Assistant Attorney General and as an attorney with the Legal Aid Society. Paula is an Associate of the Institute for the Study of Conflict Transformation and a member of the Board of Directors of the National Executive Service Corps. (Chairperson of the Board)
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Judith Scheuer is a teacher by training and has worked in special and standard education as a reading teacher as well as a teaching conflict resolution. Before becoming an educator, Judith worked in community organizing. Inspired by the Dialogue Project, Judith also created a reading/discussion group in her home on the subject of Israeli and Palestinian issues, for parents at the Jewish school that her children formerly attended.

The Dialogue Project Staff

Director and Board Member - Marcia Kannry (see Board bio)

Mino Akhtar Facilitator - facilitates our Manhattan and New Jersey dialogues. Mino is an independent consultant specializing in organization team building, strategic planning and other tools to leverage the human potential in the non-profit and private sectors. She is the Director of Public Relations for American Muslim Alliance, NJ, a group that educates Muslims on participation in the political process. An American Muslim of Pakistani descent, Mino grew up in the Middle East and Europe. She is an intern with WBAI Radio program Tahrir - voices of Arabs and Muslims here and abroad - hosted by Barbara Nimri Aziz.

Jenny Besch Facilitator - facilitates the Riverdale/Yonkers/Bronx dialogues. She is director of the Westchester Mediation Center of CLUSTER, Inc. She is a certified mediator with a 1997 Masters degree in Organizational Psychology from Columbia University who has mediated over 300 cases and designed and conducted numerous mediation trainings throughout New York. She is trained in community mediation, parent-child mediation, custody-visitation mediation, divorce mediation, lemon law arbitration, employment discrimination, victim offender mediation and restorative justice group conferencing. She is on the Board of Directors of the New York State Dispute Resolution Association, as well as EPIC, a noted parent effectiveness training and service organization.

Paula Pace - Facilitator (see Board bio)

Eddy Ehrlich Interfaith Events co-chair - Volunteer -is a Jewish-American who has lived in Israel and served in the Israeli army. Eddy's family remains in Israel. Eddy is an occupational therapist. He is a volunteer prayer leader at his synagogue and teaches bar/bat mitzvah students.

Linda Sarsour Interfaith Events co-chair -is a Palestinian American activist, who with Eddy has created dialogue interfaith study sessions around ideas about forgiveness, justice and charity. A mother of three, Linda is the Muslim community outreach liaison for Lutheran Hospital Medical Center. Linda also serves on the Board of the Arab American Association and will work as an outreach coordinator for The Dialogue Project's new program SPEAKING ACROSS DIFFERENCES.

Tracey Jindeyh Bay Ridge Volunteer - Bay Ridge outreach -is married to a Palestinian from Gaza. Tracey and her husband, Ouifa, live in Bay Ridge and are active in community organizing around issues of childcare and safety.

Matthew Digiuseppe Web Site Design and Coordination - A doctoral student of Political Science at SUNY Binghamton.