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Member Spotlights

MBBI calls its members Peace Builders. Our members contribute their time utilizing their skills and experiences to participate in Working and Regional Groups, and Capacity-Building & Advocacy Initiatives. We hope that through our Spotlights, our members, individually and collectively, will inspire you as much as they inspire us to continue the important work.

To read more about our other current members, log into your profile for the member directory.

A growing number of international requests reach MBBI for partnerships, services, and projects. Help us build our capacity to say “yes” to these requests; consider joining us as a Peace Builder. For more information on how to become involved and for internship and volunteer opportunities, please visit our Join Us page or contact us at info@mediatorsbeyondborders.org.

Our Peace Builders

Dialogue, Trust, and the Work of Peacebuilding. Member Spotlight: Anne Sawyer

Anne Sawyer learned early that conflict was not something distant or abstract. Growing up in California in a family of lawyers, she was surrounded by disagreement, negotiation, and strong perspectives.…
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Full Circle: Listening, Learning, and Leading Through Mediation. Member Spotlight: Clay Francell

Clay Francell’s story begins in Odessa, Texas, USA in the heart of oil country where the pace of life is steady and the sense of community runs deep. He grew…
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Living the Next: Presence, Peace, and Possibility. Member Spotlight: Paola Saldivias Mendez

In Cochabamba, Bolivia, where the rhythms of daily life are shaped by both tradition and change, Paola Saldivias Mendez is learning to sit with complexity. Recently returned home after completing…
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Environmental Peacebuilding and the Power of Belonging. Member Spotlight: Caroline Walsh

Caroline Walsh’s earliest memories of the world are shaped by movement, water, and difference. Born in South Africa at the end of apartheid, she enters life in a place defined…
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Holding Space for Change: Conflict, Trauma, and Human Connection. Member Spotlight: Andrea Bassin

Andrea Bassin joins the conversation from Santa Fe, New Mexico, where the desert landscape feels both grounding and expansive, much like the work she has devoted her life to. A…
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From Engineering to Peacebuilding. Member Spotlight: Dr. Ernest Thiessen

Dr. Ernest Thiessen has spent more than three decades working at the intersection of engineering, decision science, and peacebuilding. As President of Smartsettle Resolutions and iCan Systems Inc., he has…
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From Law to Listening. Member Spotlight: Elizabeth Lajayi

Elizabeth’s journey into peacebuilding has been shaped less by a single defining moment and more by a gradual awareness of how people experience conflict, power, and justice in their everyday…
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From Courtrooms to Conversations. Member Spotlight: Ed Timken

Nelson Edward Timken, known to most simply as Ed, has spent his professional life guided by law, learning, and a deep belief in the power of listening. A third-generation New…
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Listening as Resistance. Member Spotlight: Maggaly Zaida Quispe De La Cruz

Maggaly Zaida Quispe De La Cruz traces her commitment to peace back to a simple but powerful idea: that people deserve to be heard. At 35 years old, she lives…
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From Faith to Facilitation. Member Spotlight: Onell Gomez

Onell Gomez is based in Trinidad, where her work in mediation and peacebuilding is deeply shaped by her faith in God, her commitment to children, and her desire to create…
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