With over twenty years of experience in social impact, Ei Ei Samai brings a wealth of knowledge and a unique world perspective to her clients, community, and fellow peacebuilders at MBBI. She holds a Master of Science in Organization Management and Transformative Leadership and is certified in advanced facilitation, community mediation, conflict transformation, restorative justice, and more. Most recently, Ei Ei earned the distinction of “Courage Catalyst” as part of the first cohort of facilitator trainings led by the renowned researcher and author, Brené Brown. “Committed to growing agility, resilience, and belonging in social impact groups through science-based culture design” — This is the powerful mission behind Ei Ei’s work as Principal Designer of Samai Group; a mindful facilitation consultancy based in San Francisco, CA.

Early Inspirations from Burmese Culture and Beyond

At the spirited age of four, Ei Ei started her journey toward becoming a leader in mediation and peacebuilding. “I grew up in Burma, and the way that I saw the grownups around me handle conflict was unique and served as my first inspirations,” Ei Ei explained. She remembers that whenever a significant matter arose within her family, the adults would gather and engage in a focused exchange of ideas. There were unofficial power-holders in these conversations; voices of wisdom and calm— and the wordage was always suggestive, rather than blunt or demanding.

After immigrating to the United States with her family at eleven years old, Ei Ei was exposed to a vastly different cultural landscape where she developed an interest in social justice. Her multidisciplinary undergraduate studies, involvement in women of color organizations, and experience observing other traditional methods of conflict management led by elders in New Zealand strongly influenced Ei Ei’s professional aspirations. She knew that she wanted to learn as much as possible about how to approach world conflicts with a systems lens and restorative focus.

Completing the School for International Training’s graduate program in peacebuilding and conflict transformation, was a game changer for Ei Ei. Through this opportunity, she spent time in Rwanda doing post-conflict field studies and building a comprehensive skills-based understanding of how the peacebuilding process operates; how diverse elements, such as forgiveness, the arts, and civil society, may be organized and interwoven to allow for widespread communal healing. “Until then, it did not occur to me that this could be my career.”

Launchng Samai Group and Understanding its Impact

Fast forward to today— Ei Ei is the distinguished proprietor of Samai Group, which, at its core, was founded upon her life-long regard for gender equality, global citizenship, honoring the planet, and living a purpose-driven existence. Ei Ei also expressed exceptional gratitude to the people along the way who opened her eyes, filled her heart, skilled her hands, and helped her pave a career path.

Samai Group represents Ei Ei’s professional prowess and brings together the tools and trainings she has identified to help shape conversations and improve outcomes for a diversity of social impact organizations. Most notably, Ei Ei consults with local governments, social enterprises, public schools, and non-profits in the realms of educational equity, diversity and inclusion, family and community engagement, environmental justice, and collaborative partnerships.

When asked why she believes mediation and other informed strategies for conflict management are important today, she said “Displays of anger and dysfunction are happening every day in our workplaces and throughout society, because people simply do not have the tools to deal with the issues they face.” In other words, peacebuilding, from Ei Ei’s perspective, should not only be practiced post-conflict, but also as a habitual preventative. “We want to avoid people becoming volcanoes.”

The Light in a Community of Practice

“What I enjoy most about this work are the people!!!” When coaching a client or facilitating a group training, “I love the moments when I can see that a person no longer feels alone in their struggle, or that they are feeling more capable to try on new language and engage in productive conversations with colleagues, or that they now have the tools to transform a given conflict into something positive!”

Additionally, Ei Ei considers MBBI to be an essential community of practice. She enjoys learning about the context of others’ mediation work; their challenges and how they apply their skills. She said, “As a process person, there is always something to learn,” and it is good for the sustainability, success, and global interconnectedness of everyone in this field.

Ei Ei participates in several projects with MBBI, but the Democracy, Politics, and Conflict Engagement Initiative (DPACE) is a special interest. Its ultimate mission to foster a more just society through creative and constructive conflict management is very much in line with the goal of her own consultancy. Now, more than ever, “We do not have time for infighting. We need to figure out how to be a collective.” MBBI has the unique ability to contribute to this effort.

Lastly, Ei Ei shared a piece of advice from a former professor related to the importance of the MBBI network. In this line of work, where practitioners are constantly exposed to the dark injustices of the world and the ways in which people are hurting, every peace-builder needs to stay aware of their light and learn how to resource it through a shared community whenever it gets dim. “To shine again and to bring light into this work every day” is the essence of what MBBI makes possible.

Ei Ei will be hosting two webinars on MBBI’s platform this summer entitled, “The Implications of Equity in Conflict Work,” on Monday, July 22, and “Rumble and Rise Skills for Authoring New Social Contracts” on Wednesday, August 14. For more information and to register, please email webinars@mediatorsbeyondborders.org.

Article by Juliana Heffern, MBBI Writer

Charalee Graydon is a dedicated member of the MBBI Climate Change Policy Project (CCPP) and has attended the Conference of Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) twice, the COP 23 in Bonn, Germany, and the COP 24 in Katowice, Poland. She first joined as a member of MBBI 5 years ago when she was working on a collaborative group focusing on climate change. She is also active in the Children & Youth Alternative Dispute Resolution Working Group, and United Nations Multilateral Working Group. She considers it important to work with young people to develop peaceful models for climate change dispute resolution.

Publishing Prolifically on Climate Change 

Charalee is most interested in climate change as a global issue. Her advocacy in finding solutions revolves around her wide academic expertise; She is a part of the faculty at Euclid University and focuses on international law, climate change, and dispute resolution. Further, she has authored multiple articles on the legal structures of the Paris Agreement, the US’s decision to leave the Paris Agreement, international law in fostering cooperation on the Paris Agreement, and international piracy,  

One of her largest selection of articles is about the combination of creative arts and climate change. Whether to engage in debate or change opinion and behavior, the arts can play a key role in the cultural awakening of the masses to the perils of climate change. To highlight this intersection, she is a featured writer for EnvironmentalJusticeTV, which explores transitions to a just and sustainable future on a finite planet. Her most comprehensive article focuses on the creative arts and climate change, specifically international indigenous art and culture.

Her first article discusses the necessity of art for climate change. This leads to her new several articles highlighting specific artists focusing on climate change and environmental justice at large. The first major artist Charalee spotlighted was Cameroonian artist Barthélémy Toguo, whose October 2016 exhibit in Montpellier, France, focused on human rights issues especially the relationship of fossil fuels, exploitation of oil resources, and climate change. Charalee then spotlighted Marshallese poet and climate activist Kathy Jetñil- Kijiner at a Rhodes Climate 1.5 Intergenerational Workshop. Lastly, she showcased South African artist Tanisha Bhana works in an online contemporary art gallery entitled “Guns and Rain.”

The Judgement Game, Let’s Play the Game, and Can We Save the Human Race?

In 2013, Charalee published her first novel, The Judgment Game, which discusses the criminal justice system by allowing the reader to become the decision maker in how and what punishments the fictional country of Torcia will use. This interactive book provides the reader and an opportunity to play a role in the justice system and see how it truly functions. She has also translated this book into Spanish entitled El Nuevo Camino: Casos Legales in order to allow this interactive process to have a wider readership.

Soon after, she wrote a second book, Let’s Play the Game, as a companion to The Judgement Game. This book uses collaboration to address problems in human relationships through a series of activities and games, groups gather and share ideas in decision-making and conflict resolution. Diversity of opinion and creativity are rewarded! Lastly, Charalee has recently written her third book, Can We Save The Human Race?, as a science fiction novel about a journalist reporting on a hospital creating clones in order to relocate humans to a new planet as Earth is on the brink of climate destruction.

Each of Charalee’s four books revolves around her mantra of “We need to build a peaceful world. We must work together to solve the world’s problems because we are sisters and brothers on this planet. We have the organization, people, and tools to resolve disputes peacefully and to address the issues that threaten life on Earth. It is now just a matter of using them!” 

Upcoming for Charalee, she is currently writing an article and thesis on conflict resolution and climate change. She will also be collaborating with Ken Cloke in the Fall Mediation Training in Santa Monica, California October 28—November 1, 2019. This event is a private mediation training workshop if interested register here!.

Further, Charalee is collaborating with the CCPP leadership and MBBI’s Webinar Coordinator to organize a webinar showcasing the work of the Climate Change Policy Group. The first webinar in November will be about the development and activities of the Climate Change Policy Project with speakers Tom Fiutak and Gregg Walker. More details will be available soon to our Webinars’ page.

Article by Ben Lutz, MBBI Writer

Jim Longo is a Professor and Chair of the Education Department at Washington and Jefferson College in Washington, Pennsylvania. Jim is a trained historian and his education background and primary areas of research include gender equity and the role of women in history. He is a member of MBBI’s Internship Task Force, which creates more meaningful internship and volunteer experiences while expanding MBBI’s reach and impact. He is adamant about teaching future teachers mediation techniques, especially restorative practices.

Women’s Role in Mediation and the Engagement of Young Peacebuilders

Alongside his wife and fellow MBBI member Mary Jo Harwood, Jim presented at MBBI’s 7^th Congress in Bucharest, Romania, on the role of women in mediation; myth, history, and reality. The MBBI 7^th Congress gave him the perfect opportunity to learn international mediation techniques while also showcasing his breadth and depth of knowledge on the role of women in mediation.

Through MBBI’s 7^th Congress, Jim became connected with Mary Montague, the 2015 MBBI Peacemaker of the Year winner who was a nurse in Belfast, Northern Ireland, during the Troubles, sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland, was also a front line peacebuilder well before and even after the peace treaty was signed. She is also a founding member of the Women Waging Peace global network. Jim invited Mary to Washington and Jefferson College (WJC) to teach his students about global mediation strategies which helped set up the conflict resolution studies program at WJC.

In some contexts, particularly those in which there is a history of violence, there is a need for community healing and for support in overcoming traumatic experiences, before dialogue or negotiation can even begin. These specific practices focused on restoring the community had become the cornerstone of Mary’s mediation career and coincidentally, of Jim’s educational background. With Mary’s expertise and Jim’s role as an educator, he created a new initiative at WJC focusing on restorative practice.

Furthermore, Jim takes his students to schools in Belfast, Northern Ireland; Dublin, Ireland; and Leeds, England, to learn about mediation techniques and to set up an international partnership and pen pal engagement program. In Ireland, a recent law mandates that restorative practices must be taught in all schools. In continuation of his penpal program and restorative practice initiative at WJC, Jim went to a conference in Ireland of April 2018 to promote and support restorative practices.

It has never been a more crucial time for us to listen with our ears, head, and heart. Relationships built through restorative practice are the oxygen people and communities need to survive and thrive.

Teaching Mediation to Teachers

Before becoming a professor, Jim was a public school teacher for over a decade, at a school that was undergoing racial integration. It became immensely obvious to Jim that his role as a teacher became intertwined with mediation strategies as many conflicts arose as a result of integration. Ensuring that each student is able to process the education they are receiving is just as important as the education itself, and so mediation techniques became a large portion of Jim’s teaching career. This experience prompted him to study and research not only mediation strategies for teachers, but also the curriculum itself. His doctoral degree in Teaching, Curriculum, and Learning Environments is a testament to his direct experiences in the public school system during integration as well as his emphasis on gender equity.

In the vein of creating inclusive classrooms, Jim teaches his students, especially those that will become teachers these restorative practices. “Teachers are more than just educators; they are mediators, community organizers, and advocates for their students.” Teachers are the most important mediators in a child’s life as issues between students, between teachers, between parents, and within the community will arise. Teaching mediation techniques is vital, as teachers will absolutely encounter scenarios where mediation strategies will need to be used in the classroom.

Article by Ben Lutz, MBBI Writer