Board Chair; Director, Barbados Museum & Historical Society

Alissandra Cummins

Alissandra Cummins is the Board Chair of the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience. As Director of the Museum and Historical Society of Barbados, she is internationally recognized in matters concerning heritage, museum development and art. From 2004-2010, she served as President of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) – the first woman and the first person from the Caribbean to do so – and represented Barbados as a member of the Executive Board of UNESCO from 2011-2013. She teaches Heritage Studies at the University of the West Indies and currently is part of the editorial board of the International Journal of Museum Management and Curatorship.

She was instrumental in the creation of the Museums Association of the Caribbean (MAC), becoming President Founder, in 1989. She was also active as the first Board Member and then as President of the International Association for Caribbean Archaeology (IACA). She also served as UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Committee Chair for the Promotion of Return of Cultural Property to Countries of Origin or its Restitution in Case of Illicit Appropriation (ICPRCP), from 2003 to 2005. In 2007, she was appointed President of the International Advisory Board Memory of the UNESCO World Programme. Alissandra was recently chosen to head the delegation of Barbados in the World Heritage Committee.

Acting as Special Envoy of Cultural Heritage by the Government of Barbados, she is responsible for technical issues and development policies, and represents the nation at regional and international levels. In 2005, she was awarded the Gold Crown of Merit of Barbados in recognition of her services to the development of heritage and museum.

Founding Director, International Coalition of Sites of Conscience; Founding Director, Lower East Side Tenement Museum; Founder, Behold! New Lebanon

Ruth J. Abram (Emerita)

Ruth J. Abram founded the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience (1999), the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, the National Women’s Agenda and Coalition, the Institute on Women’s History, and the traveling exhibition and book “Send Us a Lady Physician: Women Doctors in America, 1835 – 1920.” In 2014, she founded Behold! New Lebanon, the nation’s first living museum of contemporary rural American life. Harnessing the skills of local people who serve as educators, the museum draws an intimate portrait of small-town life and makes it accessible to visitors. In 2019, Ruth was presented with the Louise du Pont Crowninshield Award, the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s highest national recognition for her paradigm-shifting leadership that has directly inspired countless organizations to radically expand cultural and interpretative concepts at historic sites around the world.

An activist turned historian, Ms. Abram has graduate degrees in social welfare and American history and has pioneered the use of history to address social issues. Her writing has been published by a wide range of publications including The Midwest Poetry Review, The New York Times Book Review, History News, The Washington Post, The Public Historian, and The Guardian. A popular speaker, she has appeared before audiences from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, to the Conference Board and the Family Service Association of America. Her numerous media appearances include World News Tonight, The Today Show, and National Public Radio. Along with David Arnow, Mary C. Boys and Muhammad Shafiq, Ms. Abram produced  Exodus Conversations, a multi-faith dialogue on the story of the Exodus as it appears in the Hebrew Bible and the Qu’ran.

A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College with an MSW from Brandeis’s Florence Heller School, Ms. Abram has an MA in American History from New York University, where she was a Kennan Fellow. Her work has been recognized by awards from The Aspen Institute, New York University, Sarah Lawrence College, Russell Sage College, Muhlenberg College and Hebrew Union College. In 1975, she was appointed Commissioner of International Women’s Year by President Jimmy Carter.

Former Executive Secretary, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

Paulo Abrão

Paulo Abrão is a prominent defender of human rights in the Americas, and the former Executive Secretary of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (2016-2020). Having also served as Executive Secretary of the Institute for Public Policies on Human Rights of MERCOSUR, Brazil’s Secretary of Justice, and Chairman of Brazil’s Amnesty Commission, he has advocated for the rights of victims throughout the region and has played a pivotal role in securing human rights for the most vulnerable – including refugees and survivors of trafficking – for decades.

Dr. Abrão holds a doctorate degree in law from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro and a masters of law from the University of the Sinos Valley. A specialist in human rights and democratization processes, Dr. Abrão is a professor at the graduate law program of the Catholic University of Brasília. He has published dozens of articles and books about transitional justice and public law and has produced research at several Latin American universities, such as the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil and the University of Chile.

In 2006 he joined the Brazilian mission for the implementation of the University of Cape Verde. Dr. Abrão now serves as advisor to the Reference Center for Revealed Memories Project of the Public Archive of the Chief of Staff of the Presidency of Brazil. He is also the coordinator of the implementation of the Political Memorial project and is a member of the Council of Cultural Guidelines of the Resistance Museum of São Paulo, a Coalition member. Dr. Abrão hosted the Coalition’s 2010 annual meeting in São Paulo that brought together leaders from the Brazilian Ministry of Justice and National Archives as well as international Coalition leaders to explore the role of memorialization as part of reparations following the Brazilian dictatorship.

President, Australian South Sea Islanders (Port Jackson)

(Waskam) Emelda Davis

Ms. (Waskam) Emelda Davis is a second-generation Australian South Sea Islander who has worked for federal, state, community and grassroots organizations in Australia where she has exhibited diverse expertise in community development, education, training, media, and marketing. As chairwoman of the Australian South Sea Islanders (Port Jackson) (ASSIPJ) since 2009, Emelda has revived ASSIPJ’s focus on “the call for recognition” for the descendants of Australia’s Blackbirding trade through the coordination of seven “Wantok” national workshops between 2012-2015, and the development of the National Australian South Sea Islander Association’s constitution adopted at Tweed Heads New South Wales (NSW 2015).

Holding a Masters of Arts degree from the University of Technology – Sydney, Emelda was awarded partial funding through the Networking Tranby ARC Scholarship for her work on “Children of the Sugar Slaves – Black and Resilient.” Emelda is founder of The Black Collective AU working group in 2018 and was a key advocate in 2019 towards the establishment of the Australian Museums – Pacific Cultural Collection Advisory Panel on which she now sits. More recently Emelda is a committee member for the COVID-19 response Health Directory for Pacific Communities coordinated by state representative NSW Council for Pacific Communities and Multicultural NSW.

Achievements include:
2020 CALD Advisory Panel for Women’s Business
2020 Women for Election Australia, Ambassador
2020 Parliament of NSW Community Recognition Statement – Legislative Assembly

2021 City of Sydney councillor candidate for election
2020 Premiers Multicultural Community Medals (Settlement Services International NSW Human Rights Medal)
2020 Masters of Arts (FASS) Children of the Sugar Slaves ‘Black & Resilient’
2017 Rotary Inspirational Women’s Award
2017 Inspirational Wall Medal, Ultimo – Public School Sydney NSW
2016 NSW Women of the Year (Sydney Local)
2015 NSW Council for Pacific Communities Award

As the director for Onyx Management Group since 2004, Emelda has worked consistently and diligently in resourcing Indigenous, Australian South Sea Islander, Pacific, POC and broader community practitioners to deliver projects on a multitude of platforms producing film, television, sports, event management, music and entertainment projects for grassroots, corporate and private sectors.

Chairman of the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Burundi

Doudou Diène

Born in Senegal in 1941, Doudou Diène holds a Law degree from the University of Caen, a Ph.D. in Public Law from the University of Paris, and a diploma in Political Science from the Institut d’Études Politiques in Paris. In 2017, he was appointed by former President François Hollande of France to help lead the public interest group, “Mission on the Memory of Slavery, Treaties and their Abolition.” And in 2018, he was appointed Chair of the Commission of Inquiry on Burundi by the President of the United Nations Human Rights Council.

After serving as Deputy Representative of Senegal to UNESCO (1972–77) and, in that capacity, as Vice-President and Secretary of the African Group and Group of 77, he joined the UNESCO Secretariat in 1977 and was appointed Director of the Liaison Office with the United Nations Permanent Missions and departments in New York in 1980. Between 1985 and 1987, he held the posts of Deputy Assistant Director-General for External Relations, Spokesperson for the Director-General and Acting Director of the Bureau of Public Information.

After a period as Project Manager of the “Integral Study of the Silk Roads: Roads of Dialogue,” aimed at revitalizing East-West dialogue, he was appointed Director of the Division of Intercultural Projects in 1993 (now called the Division of Intercultural Dialogue). In this capacity, he directed various projects on intercultural dialogue, including the Slave Route, Routes of Faith, Routes of al-Andalus, and Iron Roads in Africa. In 1998 he was placed in charge of activities pertaining to inter-religious dialogue, and in 2002, he was appointed by the Commission on Human Rights as Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, a mandate that was later extended by the Human Rights Council. In 2011, he was appointed United Nations Independent Expert on the Situation of Human Rights in Côte D’Ivoire, and served as Member of the United Nations Independent Commission of Inquiry on Gaza from 2014-15.

He is the author of numerous publications and has chaired and been the distinguished guest on various panels, radio, and television programs, including Neuf siècles de guerres saintes (May 1996), UNESCO/ARTE; Sur la piste des caravanes: L’endroit de toutes les rencontres (February 1998); Sur la route des épices (March 2000), UNESCO/NDR/ARTE; and a programme in the Thalassa series on The Slave Route (FR3, April 1998). He is co-author of Patrimoine culturel et créations contemporaines and of Vol. 35, No. 2 of the Journal of International Affairs on the New World Information Order. He has also published many articles on the issue of intercultural and inter-religious dialogue in journals such as Archeologia, Historia, Sciences et Vie, and Actualité des Religions. He was also Editorial Director of From Chains to Bonds, (UNESCO, 1998) and wrote the preface to Tradition orale et archives de la traite négrière (UNESCO, 2001), as well as the editorial of Newsletter No. 2 of The Slave Route (UNESCO, 2001).

Professor Emeritus, Catholic University of Louvain

Jean-Louis Luxen (Emeritus)

Born in the Congo, Dr. Luxen has been a leader in the international preservation and heritage field for over 30 years. He served as President of the Cultural Heritage Committee of the Council of Europe from 1989 to 1993 and as Secretary General of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) from 1993 to 2002. From 2008 to 2013, Dr. Luxen served as the Senior Legal Expert of the European Union’s Euromed Heritage programme. He most recently served as President of Culture, Heritage, and Development International (CHEDI) and as the Administrateur Général of the Department of Cultural Affairs of Belgium.

Dr. Luxen has written extensively on the relationship between tangible and intangible heritage and between preservation and economic development. He has published analyses of the role and effectiveness of international and national preservation charters, including their effect on lieux de mémoire of social and political significance.

With a M.A. in Economics and a Ph.D. in Law, Luxen brings critical organizational experience to his cultural work. He currently serves as Professor Emeritas at the Catholic University of Louvain.

Legal Adviser, International Coalition of Sites of Conscience

Bruce Rabb

Bruce Rabb is a lawyer who works primarily with organizations engaged in sustainable economic development, human rights, and economic justice. He is Secretary and a Director Emeritus of Human Rights Watch, and serves as Co-Chair of its LGBT Advisory Committee and Vice Chair of its Middle East North Africa Advisory Committee. He also serves on the Boards of the National Center for Law and Economic Justice (NCLEJ), Cinereach, Make Music Matter USA, and War Childhood.

He is Board Secretary and a Fellow of the New York Institute for the Humanities and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the American Law Institute, and the New York City Bar Association where he serves on the Council on International Affairs.

Former President and CEO, Autry National Center of The American West

W. Richard West

W. Richard West Jr., a citizen of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Nation of Oklahoma and a Peace Chief of the Southern Cheyenne, retired at the end of 2007 from the position of Founding Director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. West has devoted his professional life and much of his personal life to working with American Indians on cultural, educational, legal, and governmental issues.

West is also the former President and Chief Executive Officer of the Autry National Center of the American West, where he was responsible for all operations from collection development and financial sustainability to institutional growth and visitor experience.

As director of the National Museum of the American Indian from 1990 through 2007, West was responsible for guiding the successful opening of the three facilities that comprise the National Museum of the American Indian. He supervised the overall planning of the museum’s Cultural Resources Center and oversaw the creation and completion of the George Gustav Heye Center, a museum exhibition facility that opened in New York City on October 30, 1994. West’s philosophy and vision for the museum were critical in guiding the architectural and program planning of the Mall museum, which opened on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. on September 21, 2004.

West practiced law at the Indian-owned Albuquerque, New Mexico, law firm of Gover, Stetson, Williams & West, P.C. (1988 – 1990). He also was an associate attorney and then partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson (1973 – 1988). He served as general counsel and special counsel to numerous American Indian tribes, communities, and organizations. In that capacity, he represented clients before federal, state, and tribal courts, various executive departments of the federal government, and the Congress.

West’s current board affiliations and memberships include: Kaiser Family Foundation (2007-present); International Coalition of Sites of Conscience (2007-present); Native Arts and Cultures Foundation (2011 – present); Center for Native American Youth (2011 – present); National Support Committee of the Native American Rights Fund (1990-present); and American Indian Resources Institute (1973-present). He previously also has served on the boards of trustees of the Ford Foundation and Stanford University.
He served as Chair of the board for the American Association of Museums, the nation’s only national membership organization representing all types of museums and museum professionals, from 1998-2000. From 1992-1995 and 1997-1998, he served as member-at-large of the association’s board of directors and in 1995-1996 as Vice Chair of the board of directors. West also was a member-at-large (2004 – 2007) and Vice President (2007 – 2010) of the International Council of Museums.

President, El-Hibri Foundation

Judy Barsalou

Judy Barsalou is a political scientist whose career has focused largely on building bridges between social scientists, human rights activists, conflict management practitioners and policy makers. She has served as President of the El-Hibri Foundation, based in Washington, DC. She twice worked for the Ford Foundation, first in the 1980’s, as a program officer in the Foundation’s New York and Cairo Offices, and then as the Regional Representative for the Middle East and North Africa based in Cairo, starting in 2008. Judy also served as Vice President of the Grant and Fellowship Program at the United States Institute of Peace. Prior to that, she was the Executive Director of the Middle East Research and Information Project, which publishes Middle East Report and the Director of Academic Programs at the Institute of Governmental Affairs, the University of California, Davis.

Judy’s research engagements include working as a visiting scholar at the American University in Cairo, where she conducted research on Egyptian attitudes about justice and accountability in post-Mubarak Egypt. While at the US Institute of Peace, she ran several working groups on transitional justice that resulted in USIP publications on the role of memorials in social reconstruction and transitional justice; the challenges of teaching history in societies emerging from violent conflict; and trauma and transitional justice. Her recent publications include “Reflecting the Fractured Past: Memorialization, Transitional Justice and the Role of Outsiders” in Susanne Buckley-Zistel and Stefanie Schafer, eds., Memorials in Times of Transition (Cambridge: Intersentia, 2014), and “The Walls Will Not Be Silent: A Cautionary Tale About Transitional Justice and Memory in Egypt” in Chandra Sriram, editor, Transitional Justice in the Middle East and North Africa (Hurst Publishers and Oxford University Press, forthcoming May and August 2016, respectively). Judy has also developed an interest in synergies between neuroscience and conflict management, and recently co-coordinated the conference “Neuroscience and Peacebuilding: Reframing How We think About Conflict and Prejudice,” organized by the El-Hibri Foundation, Beyond Conflict and the Alliance for Peacebuilding in January 2015.

Judy holds a B.A. in political science from U.C. Berkeley and an M.A., M.Phil and Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University.

Former Permanent Ambassador of Morocco to UNESCO

Aziza Bennani

Aziza Bennani is the former Permanent Ambassador of Morocco to UNESCO, where she was the first female Moroccan ambassador. She was head of the Department of Hispanic Studies at Mohammed V University from 1974 until 1988, when she became Dean of the Faculty of Letters at Hassan II Mohammedia University. In 2007, she was elected President of the 16th UNESCO General Assembly of the States Parties to the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. Aziza regularly speaks on the vital role cultural diplomacy plays in political diplomacy and also on the importance of intercultural dialogue.

New York Community Trust

Susan Berresford

Susan Berresford served as the President and CEO of the Ford Foundation from 1996 to 2008. She currently works at the New York Community Trust, consulting on philanthropy and leading several projects for the Ford Foundation.

During her tenure as President, she helped guide the Ford Foundation’s efforts to end discrimination, increase minority voter registration, and build a civil rights network in the U.S.; oversaw the creation of a national loan program that has helped tens of thousands of minority and low-income Americans; and was a key voice in the fight against gender bias. Under her leadership, the Ford Foundation also expanded its activities around the globe, opening an office in Moscow; taking the lead role in the creation of TrustAfrica, an independent foundation working to promote peace, economic prosperity, and social justice on the continent; and committing $280 million — the largest grant in the foundation’s history — to create the Ford Foundation International Fellowships Program.

Ms. Berresford serves on the Boards of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, United States Artists, the Trinidad Trust Fund (California), the California Endowment, and the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. She is a member of the Council on Foundations, the Trilateral Commission, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the European Foundation Center’s Governing Council. Ms. Berresford is also the convener of the U.S.-Vietnam Dialogue Group on Agent Orange/Dioxin.

Her fund at the New York Community Trust was established in honor of her father. It has supported organizations such as the Metropolitan Opera, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and the Lincoln Center Theater, as well as individual American artists. Ms. Berresford studied American history at Vassar College and Radcliffe College.

Immigrant Integration Expert and Consultant

Suzette Brooks Masters

Suzette Brooks Masters is an immigrant integration expert and consultant. She previously oversaw immigration grant making at the J.M. Kaplan Fund, a New York-based family foundation. She has been instrumental in guiding and supporting the Coalition’s work on immigration and civil rights for many years.

Ms. Brooks Masters has written extensively on immigration issues and has held fellowships at the International Center for Migration, Ethnicity & Citizenship at The New School, the Center for Urban Research at the CUNY Graduate Center, and the Open Society Institute’s Forced Migration Project. After receiving her JD from Harvard Law School, she has worked as a corporate and environmental attorney for several law firms as well as a consultant for non-profit organizations involved in immigrants’ rights.

In 1987 Ms. Brooks Masters co-founded New York Cares, a leading volunteer organization that coordinates the services of volunteer groups to alleviate poverty. She sits on the boards of the Lower East Side Tenement Museum and the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, where she chairs the Institutional Advancement Committee and the U.S. Operations Committee. She has previously been a Director at the National Immigration Forum, Lawyers Alliance for New York, and New York Cares.

Ms. Brooks Masters has degrees in economics from Amherst College and Cambridge University, where she was a Marshall Scholar.

Secretary, The Smithsonian Institute

Lonnie Bunch

Lonnie Bunch is the 14th Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. As Secretary, he oversees 19 museums, 21 libraries, the National Zoo, numerous research centers, and several education units and centers.

Previously, Bunch was the Director of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, which opened in 2016. Prior to his 2005 appointment to this post, he served as the president of the Chicago Historical Society, where he led a successful capital campaign to transform the Historical Society in celebration of its 150th anniversary; managed an institutional reorganization; initiated an unprecedented outreach initiative to diverse communities; and launched a much-lauded exhibition and program on teenage life titled “Teen Chicago.” He also held a number of positions, including Associate Director for Curatorial Affairs, at the National Museum of American History from 1989 through 2000.

Mr. Bunch was the Program Manager and Curator of History for the California Afro-American Museum in Los Angeles from 1983 to 1989 and has taught at American University in Washington, D.C.; University of Massachusetts in Dartmouth, and George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He has served on the advisory boards of the American Association of Museums and the American Association of State and Local History. Among his many awards, he was appointed by President George W. Bush to the Commission for the Preservation of the White House in 2002. In 2005, Mr. Bunch was named one of the 100 most influential museum professionals of the 20th century by the American Association of Museums. Mr. Bunch received undergraduate and graduate degrees from American University in Washington, D.C.

Executive Director, International Institute for the Inclusive Museum

Amareswar Galla, Ph.D.

An alumnus of the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, Amar is a champion of cultural democracy, cultural rights, gender mainstreaming, inclusive and deep ecology demonstration projects, arts policy development, Intangible Heritage, World Heritage, indigenous peoples, intercultural dialogue and UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and now the UN Agenda 2030 and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). He was the Producer and Editor of the flagship project and publication to celebrate the 40^th Anniversary of the UNESCO 1972 World Heritage Convention: World Heritage: Benefits Beyond Borders, Cambridge University Press & UNESCO Publishing, November 2012. (French & Korean versions in 2013). The book includes 26 case studies with evidence based analyses of sustainable development and community benefits through good governance, thus becoming a major publication to mainstream culture in development discourse and for promoting integrated planning for all forms of heritage, especially tangible and intangible heritage.

Drawing on his education and experience of affirmative action in India, Amar founded and directed at the University of Canberra, 1985-92, the National Affirmative Action program for the participation of Aboriginal Peoples and Torres Strait Islanders in museums, galleries, national parks and World Heritage Areas in Australia. The success of the program led to invitations to provide technical support for similar programs in Canada, U.S., Brazil, Vietnam, India, China, Norway and several Small Island Development States. During 1994-99, he was the International Technical Adviser for the transformation of Arts Councils, National Museums and Cultural Institutions and the National Parks Board in post- apartheid South Africa. His extensive publication record includes an earlier volume on museum training and transformation guidelines to enable the relevance of museums in Australia to its Indigenous Peoples and Multicultural populations. Heritage Curricula and Cultural Diversity, Prime Minister & Cabinet, Australia 1993.

Amar provided in the recent past strategic cultural leadership in Australia and the Asia Pacific Region as the first full Professor of Museum Studies in Australia at the University of Queensland, Brisbane. Prior to that he was Professor and Director of Sustainable Heritage Development Programs, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University, Canberra. He was also until recently a Visiting Foreign Professor of World Heritage and Intangible Heritage and mentor for Ph.D. candidates at the University of Split located in the World Heritage City of Split. He has just been appointed as the Honorary Professor at the prestigious Global Change Institute, the University of Queensland.

Amar was a regular visitor at the National Museum of Ethnology, Leiden, working on the implementation of Museums and Cultural Diversity Promotion in the Netherlands; Guest Curator of International Projects with the Vietnam National Department of Cultural Heritage; and Founding Convener of the Pacific Asia Observatory for Cultural Diversity in Human Development in partnership with several bodies. The Observatory is now subsumed into the International Institute for the Inclusive Museum. (https://inclusivemuseum.org/director/) It was part of the Action Plan of the UNESCO 2001 Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity in the lead up to the 2005 UNESCO Convention on the Cultural Diversity of Contents and Expressions.

Amar is a leading edge creator of knowledge communities that address culture in human development. He is the Founding Editor of the International Journal of the Inclusive Museum (2008-); Founding Editor of the International Journal on Environmental, Cultural, Economic and Social Sustainability (2004-2015) including the On Sustainability Journal Collection, which consists of four refereed journals and an annual review. (https://onsustainability.com/journals); and Co-founder and 2^nd and 3^rd Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal on Intangible Heritage.

Amar is a prominent UN/UNESCO/UNWTO Adviser on the four pillars of cultural, economic, social and environmental sustainability for the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. (director@inclusivemuseum.org) As a full time Curator, he is currently doing extensive field work on the systemic changes that led to the formation of layers of heritage and environment significance, over almost 2400 years, in the birthplace of Mahayana Buddhism – Amaravathi Heritage Town. His research is directly informing cultural planning for India’s first fully planned and aspirational green capital also called Amaravathi in the same state of Andhra Pradesh.

Robert Lee Bailey Professor of History, University of North Carolina

David Goldfield, Ph.D.

David Goldfield is the Robert Lee Bailey Professor of History at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and editor of the Journal of Urban History. He has published 16 books on various aspects of Southern and American history, including Black, White, and Southern: Race Relations and Southern Culture, which received the Mayflower Award for Nonfiction and the Outstanding Book Award from the Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Human Rights; Still Fighting the Civil War: The American South and Southern History; Southern Histories: Public, Personal, and Sacred; and the Pulitzer Prize-nominated Cotton Fields and Skyscrapers.

His most recent book is the best-selling America Aflame: How the Civil War Created a Nation. In addition, Goldfield has served as an expert witness in voting rights cases, consulted for history museums, and works as an Academic Specialist for the U.S. State Department, leading seminars and workshops abroad on various aspects of American political culture and providing historical context for contemporary elections.

Business Development Manager, Ackermans & Van Haaren

Philip Heylen

Philip Heylen is the Business Development Manager at Ackermans & van Haaren in Belgium.

He was born in Antwerp, in 1968, and holds a Masters in law. He became Vice Mayor of Antwerp in 2004, and was re-elected in 2006 and 2012, for the Flemish Christian Democratic Party CD&V. He is a member of the Board of Directors for numerous companies and organizations, including Elias, ISVAG, the Flemish Opera/Ballet, and M HKA. In his sparse free time, Philip Heylen is enthusiastic marathon runner. He also loves opera, American crooners, cooking, and has a particular fondness for hippos.

International Development Expert

Riva Kantowitz

Dr. Riva Kantowitz is an international development leader with experience in supporting frontline human rights advocates, catalyzing programs to assist civil society organizations, overseeing innovative grant-making and developing new teams. For more than 20 years, Dr. Kantowitz has worked on the prevention of conflict and genocide, transitional justice, promotion of human rights and community and individual resilience, and organizational growth in fragile and developing environments.

Working under both Obama Administrations, she founded and led a team at the U.S. Department of State that provides strategic direction and oversight to a global programming portfolio to promote stability, democracy and human rights in conflict-affected countries. This portfolio now exceeds $45 million, reflecting a four-fold increase in Congressional funding under Dr. Kantowitz’s leadership – and supports work on human rights issues from Colombia to South Sudan to Syria.

Riva has worked with local and international organizations throughout Latin America, Southeast and Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Previously, Dr. Kantowitz co-directed the Conflict Analysis and Resolution Center at Sabanci University in Istanbul, Turkey and prior to that, spent five years working in Guatemala and El Salvador. She is an adjunct professor at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs and has been a faculty member at the Center for Migration and Refugee Studies at the American University in Cairo and the Summer Peacebuilding Institute at Eastern Mennonite University. She has held Fulbright-Hays and David L. Boren Scholarships, and been a Science and Technology Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Dr. Kantowitz earned a Ph.D. from Columbia University in Social and Organizational Psychology and International Conflict Resolution (2006) and a B.A. from Bryn Mawr College.

Geologist and Museologist

Emlyn Koster

Emlyn Koster, PhD, is a geoscientist, museologist and humanist with UK, Canada and US citizenships and travel experiences in the landscapes and cultures of sixty countries. He has been the CEO of the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology, Ontario Science Centre, Liberty Science Center next to Ellis Island, and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences which was recognized at the White House for outstanding community service. A former board chair of the Geological Association of Canada, Humanitarian of the Year by the American Conference on Diversity, and an inductee of France’s L’Ordre des Palmes Scientifique, he was the 2019 Alumni of Excellence Award honoree of the Faculty of Science at Canada’s University of Ottawa.

An adjunct professor of Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at North Carolina State University, his publications and presentations have increasingly infused the largest challenges that confront the Earth with a holistic, past-present-future, all-species perspective. He advocates for the Anthropocene as a transdisciplinary shorthand label for human disruption of the Earth System. Following a keynote presentation at an international symposium on climate change and museums in the UK, the UN invited him to present to its Action for Climate Empowerment conference in Germany, in turn leading to an update of the Paris Climate Agreement to add museums as an agency for educating the public about the climate crisis.

Chairman, Fundación Cultura de Paz

Federico Mayor Zaragoza

Federico Mayor Zaragoza is a Spanish politician, scholar and social change activist who served as the Director-General of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) from 1987 to 1999. Originally a Professor of Biochemistry trained in pharmacology, Mayor entered the world of politics starting as the Spanish Undersecretary of Education and Science in 1974. He became Minister of Education and Science in 1981 and was elected to the European Parliament in 1987.

In 1987, he was elected Director-General of UNESCO, serving two six-year terms. Under his leadership, UNESCO developed a Culture of Peace Programme that outlined a plan of action addressing education for peace, human rights, and democracy; ending poverty; cultural diversity; and conflict prevention and resolution. In 1999 Federico Mayor returned to Spain and started the Foundation for a Culture of Peace (Fundación Cultura de Paz). He also started Ubuntu, a forum of civil society networks around the world which had its first meeting in Barcelona in 2002.

Director, Property and Land, Clinton Devon Estates

Leigh Rix

Mr. Rix is the Director of Property and Land for Clinton Devon Estates, the countryside management business responsible for 25,000 acres stretching across North and East Devon, 15,000 of which are designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Prior to joining Clinton Devon Estates, Mr. Rix served as Area Manager for the National Trust (East Midlands Region), overseeing several sites including The Workhouse, which is a museum of the National Trust and one of the founding members of the Coalition.

Mr. Rix was instrumental in the development of The Workhouse, located in Nottinghamshire, England, which preserves and interprets an example of a once-familiar type of building in Victorian Britain that loomed on the outskirts of every town as both a refuge and a warning to the millions who lived near subsistence level during the 19th Century. The site seeks to serve as a place for confronting issues of poverty, welfare, disability, and homelessness.

Mr. Rix is a Regional Committee Member for the East Midlands Country Land and Business Association and has also served as the Regional Land Use Adviser and Regional Rural Surveyor, as well as a Board Member of the Peak District National Park Authority and Derbyshire and Peak District Destination Management Partnership.

Bishop Emeritus, Norway

Gunnar Stålsett

Gunnar Johan Stålsett graduated with a degree in theology in 1961 and taught at the Missionary School in the City of Stavanger from 1964-1969. From 1969 until 1977, he served as Secretary General of Mellomkirkelig Råd, the Church of Norway’s Council on Ecumenical and International Relations.

In 1977 he was elected Chairman of the Center Party and held that position until 1979. He served as Secretary General of the Lutheran World Federation from 1985-1994 before becoming Rector of the Seminar of Practical Theology at the University of Oslo. Gunnar Stålsett was a member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee 1985-1990 and again served in the Committee from 1994-1998, when he became Bishop of Oslo.

Founding Director, Memoria Abierta

Patricia Tappatá de Valdez

From 2001 to 2012, Ms. Valdez served as Director of Memoria Abierta, which was founded by eight human rights organizations seeking to preserve the memory of the human rights violations and of the aggression that Argentine society suffered from 1974 to 1983. Memoria Abierta’s mission is to promote a social conscience that values active memory as a means to keep history from repeating itself, and to build a solid democracy.

Prior to serving as Director of Memoria Abierta, Ms. Valdez served as Executive Director of the United Nations Commission on the Truth for El Salvador and Director of the Human Rights Department for the National Conference of Bishops in Peru. She holds a B.A. in Social Work from the Ministry of Social Welfare, Bahia Blanca, and a M.A. in Political Science from the Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales, Buenos Aires.

Executive Director

Elizabeth Silkes

As Executive Director of the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience (ICSC), Elizabeth Silkes guides the strategic growth and direction of a thriving coalition of over 350 museums, historic sites, and memory initiatives in 65 countries. Committed to using memory to advance truth and justice around the world, ICSC builds the capacity of these vital institutions through grants, networking, training, transitional justice mechanisms, and advocacy. While members and partners remember a variety of histories and come from a wide range of settings – including long-standing democracies, countries struggling with legacies of violence, as well as post-conflict contexts just beginning to address their transitional justice needs – they are all united by their common commitment to use the lessons of the past to find innovative solutions to related social justice issues today.

Prior to joining ICSC, Liz served as CEO of Cinereach, a foundation supporting film and media projects focused on social change, and as Executive Director of FilmAid International, a humanitarian relief organization using film and video to address the needs of refugees and other displaced communities. Prior to joining FilmAid, she led the major gifts program at Amnesty International USA to record growth while advocating for human rights in the U.S. and abroad. Her extensive experience with community-based media projects gives her a unique perspective on the power of the personal story to engage broad audiences in moving from past to present and memory to action. As a featured speaker at conferences and workshops around the world, Liz has addressed issues ranging from psycho-social relief initiatives in displaced communities to the role of memory in building civic engagement in emerging democracies and post-conflict settings. She has served on the board of ICOM-US, the U.S. National Committee of the International Council of Museums; is a member of the Law Advisory Council for the Fetzer Institute; and serves as an International Advisor to the Accounts of the Conflict project at the University of Ulster INCORE and as an International Advisor to UNESCO and the World Heritage Programme.

Director of Finance and Operations

Susan Azor

As Director of Finance and Operations, Susan Azor is responsible for the leadership and oversight of ICSC’s financial and operational functions, risk assessment, information technology, and human resources. Susan has over 20 years of financial, administrative, and operational experience and has worked with and for several non-profits. Susan graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where she studied Political Science and English and later went on to receive a Masters in Nonprofit Management & Leadership in 2008. Susan lived and worked in Wisconsin, Washington, D.C. and San Francisco before moving to Charlotte in 2016 where she currently lives with her family.

Grants Compliance and Logistics Associate, Global Transitional Justice Initiative

Valerie Barber

As the Grants Compliance and Logistics Associate, Valerie works as the liaison between ICSC’s Global Initiative for Justice, Truth and Reconciliation (GIJTR) and the Finance department to ensure accurate and efficient reporting of federal grants. Before joining ICSC as a full-time employee, she supported GIJTR in a consulting capacity. Valerie brings over 20 years of experience in accounting and finance in the non-profit and public sectors. She has extensive experience with state and federal grants management, budgeting and reporting, focusing on creating efficiencies and improving procedures. In her spare time, Valerie enjoys spending time outdoors.

Program Director, Global Transitional Justice Initiative

Sara Bradshaw

As Program Director for the Global Initiative for Justice, Truth, and Reconciliation (GIJTR), the Coalition’s flagship program on transitional justice, Sara supports organizations and activists in conflict and post-conflict countries in using memory and memorialization-based tools to engage communities in coming to terms with the past and building futures based on justice and non-repetition.

Through the GIJTR, she has worked on projects in Sri Lanka, Guinea, The Gambia and other countries, and has provided technical support and sub-grant administration for dozens of community-based memorialization projects. Sara previously served in ICSC’s Development department before earning her MSc in Human Rights at the London School of Economics, where she received a departmental grant to conduct her thesis research at the Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre. Sara has experience in the education, collections management, and development departments of several New York museums, and she previously administered programs at an intercultural learning organization. Sara also holds a self-designed B.A. in Museum Studies from New York University, where she concentrated on the ethics of ethnic identity museums.

Deputy Program Director, Global Transitional Justice Initiative

Sarah Case

Sarah Case is the Deputy Program Director for ICSC’s Global Initiative for Justice, Truth and Reconciliation (GIJTR), through which she has managed a range of projects, including a Transitional Justice Academy for activists in the MENA region; a multi-year collaboration with
Guinean civil society organizations to advance community memorialization, psychosocial support, and violence prevention; the development of a manual and resource center on digital archiving for civil society organizations; and a research and exchange project aimed at highlighting the unique needs of survivors of conflict-related sexual violence and their children within transitional justice processes.

Sarah joined ICSC following eight years of work with the Global Arts Corps, where she served as managing director and played a key role in the development of innovative theatre and film projects dedicated to advancing reconciliation in post-conflict societies. Sarah is an Associate Producer on the award-winning documentary A Snake Gives Birth to a Snake and a Producer on the forthcoming documentary, The Journey Back to Now. Sarah received her master’s degree in Human Rights Studies from Columbia University, where her research focused on the arts and storytelling as tools for truth-telling and social change. She also holds a B.A. in Art History from Columbia University.

Global Networks Program Director

Silvia Fernández

As the Global Networks Program Director, Silvia Fernández leads ICSC’s programmatic work in Asia and the Pacific, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, Europe, and the Middle East and North Africa, helping to build the capacity of more than 350 members in 65 countries through trainings and workshops, collaborative projects, cross-regional exchanges, and advocacy campaigns. Silvia has worked with ICSC in various roles since 2008, providing overall support to its membership and leading the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of projects devoted to transforming sites of trauma into centers for positive social change.

Throughout her career, Silvia has worked for and collaborated with a variety of public and private institutions dedicated to a spectrum of human rights work including education, advocacy, and public engagement; organized conferences and workshops on human rights, memorialization, and transitional justice around the globe; and spoken widely in international fora on memorialization and new methodologies for human rights education and social change.

Program Manager, Methodology and Practice

Stacey Garcia

As the Program Manager in Methodology and Practice, Stacey Marie Garcia supports ICSC members by leading training and advising projects in the areas of interpretation, community engagement, public programming, and organizational change. She also coordinates ICSC’s three-year Addressing the Silences project, which works closely with a cohort of U.S. museums and historic sites to identify and correct absences in their institutional policy, collections, and storytelling in collaboration with community partners. 

Stacey has worked internationally in nonprofits, education, museums, and foundations to facilitate transformative changes toward social justice.  Most recently, as the Engagement Officer at the Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County she created experiences for people to collaborate, learn, and take action together on critical local issues. She led local pandemic and disaster relief efforts to prioritize funding and accessible resources to the most marginalized and disproportionately impacted. Additionally, she launched and facilitated Rise Together, a BIPOC-led coalition of local leaders advancing racial equity and justice. Prior to that, as the Director of Community Engagement at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History, Stacey created new engagement models to center previously excluded communities and build bridges across differences, and led the exhibitions, programs, education, and collections teams.

Stacey is an artist, curious learner, creative gatherer, gardener, activist, and pie baker. She has a BFA in Photography & Art History at the University of Florida and a Masters of Science in International Museum Studies from the University of Göteborg, Sweden.

Program Manager, Global Transitional Justice Initiative

Devon Gulbrandsen

As a Program Manager for ISCS’s Global Initiative for Justice, Truth and Reconciliation, Devon partners with communities around the world to advance local truth and justice initiatives, with a special emphasis on working with youth. She is currently a master’s candidate pursuing a degree in International Development at American University. Devon also has experience in contract management, program logistics, and field experience living overseas. She most recently lived in Nepal where she taught English to adult women pursing their high school degrees and ran a Children’s Home in Kathmandu. Devon also holds a double B.A. degree in International Relations and Global Studies from St. Lawrence University, where she concentrated in Middle Eastern Studies.

Senior Program Manager, Global Transitional Justice Initiative

Olivia Head

As a Senior Program Manager in ICSC’s Global Initiative for Justice, Truth, and Reconciliation, Olivia Head is responsible for developing and implementing advocacy strategies across a range of program areas. Before joining ICSC, she spent four years as a policymaker and program manager for the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office, most recently as a member of the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) team, where her work focused on increasing access to justice and accountability for survivors of conflict-related sexual violence. In 2016, Olivia co-founded an award-winning charity supporting refugee women as they rebuild their lives in the United Kingdom, called Bread & Roses. She remains involved today as the Chair of Trustees. 

Administrative Associate

Estefanía Hecht-Toltl

As the Administrative Associate, Estefanía provides support to the Executive Director and the Methodology and Practice Department. She received her B.A. in Spanish with a concentration in Peace, Justice, and Human Rights in 2016 from Haverford College. Her work as an intern in the Documentation Center of the Museum of Memory and Human Rights in Chile played a large role in centering her studies on the relationships between identity, memory, and state violence.

Following her undergraduate studies, Estefanía worked in a variety of administrative support roles in both nonprofit and for-profit sectors. She has voluntarily served on the Board of Editors for Clepsidra – Interdisciplinary Journal of Memory Studies and the Board of Directors of the South Mountain Conservancy’s Wildflower Sculpture Park. During her free time, Estefanía enjoys hiking, native gardening, and learning new languages.

Global Networks Associate

Elena del Hoyo

As Global Networks Associate, Elena del Hoyo supports logistical coordination and implementation (including for regional meetings and the Project Support Fund) for the work of ICSC’s Global Networks department. She earned her M.A. in International Cultural Heritage Management from Durham University and her M.A. in International Affairs from the Autonomous University of Barcelona. She is most interested in dissonant heritage, the ethics of commemoration, political uses of the past and post-conflict transformation. She also worked as a children’s art teacher for six years and has just started pottery lessons. She loves having tzatziki for breakfast.

Senior Program Manager, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean

Gegê Leme Joseph

Gegê Leme Joseph is an architect and urbanist (FAUUSP–Brazil), set and production designer (AFDA, South Africa), and museologist (University of Leicester, UK). As Senior Program Manager in the Global Networks department, she oversees ICSC’s activities in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. Gegê also leads much of ICSC’s global thematic work, including the Migration Network.

She started her career in culture as a member of J.C. Serroni’s creative atelier, a renowned Brazilian theatre design practice. She moved to South Africa in 2003, where she collaborated on several flagship museum planning and implementation projects, as well as exhibitions and other media experiences for heritage and culture, especially those re-signifying difficult pasts. She developed several projects beyond museum walls such as heritage routes, television shows and publications, for both public and private sectors. In 2013 she started Much | Media and Culture, a consultancy specializing in museums, culture and heritage related to contested histories and legacies, focusing on social impact and change. She was involved in flagship museum projects in Brazil, such as the Museu da História e da Cultura Afro-Brasileira – MUHCAB (Museum of Afro-Brazilian History and Culture) in Rio de Janeiro, and grassroots initiatives such as Museu do Samba.

She was a Board Member of ICOM-Brazil until July 2018, and is a Board Member of the Committee for the Collections and Activities of Museums of City of ICOM (CAMOC), where she co-created and runs Migration:Cities – a project aimed at fostering exchange and collaboration between museums dealing with city-making processes involving migrants and refugees in arrival cities. She also develops independent research and writes for international publications in the museum field.

Senior Program Manager, Europe and MENA

Justine di Mayo

As Senior Program Manager for the Global Networks department, Justine Di Mayo oversees ICSC’s activities in Europe/Eastern Europe and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). For over 10 years, she has worked on transitional justice initiatives in Lebanon, Syria, and MENA more broadly. As the founder and director of a Lebanese Site of Conscience, Act for the Disappeared, she worked on strengthening local peace building and on generating greater political and societal support for the right to know in regard to families of the disappeared. She has developed intergenerational and intercommunity oral history projects, documentation efforts into the fate of the missing, and psychosocial programs for victims including memory initiatives.

In 2017, Justine moved to France where she worked for a policy network advocating for gender equality and women’s rights in the Euro Mediterranean region. In this capacity, she organized conferences and provided support to local organizations in MENA to promote victims’ participation and gender perspectives in transitional justice mechanisms.

Program Director, Global Transitional Justice Initiative

Dario Colmenares Millán

Dario Colmenares Millán is a Program Director for ICSC’s Global Initiative for Justice, Truth, and Reconciliation, currently focusing on enhancing truth-telling and documentation efforts in Colombia and Bangladesh. Before joining ICSC as a staff member, Dario actively contributed to its Latin American network, and, as a specialized consultant in documentation and memorialization, led GIJTR’s program “Supporting Truth, Justice and Reconciliation in Colombia” in 2018 focused on strengthening participatory processes with the Truth Commission and the Unit for Searching the Disappeared.

Prior to joining ICSC, he played a central role in the Centre for Memory, Peace, and Reconciliation in Bogotá since its creation in 2008, where he coordinated participatory truth-telling programs in arts and culture with ethnic and rural communities for nearly a decade. He has also been a consultant in transitional justice for several international donors in the implementation of the Colombian peace process, including the Embassy of The Netherlands and the Embassy of France and has extensively participated in promoting memorialization initiatives in the Latin American region. He has also been a book editor and documentary producer with several Colombian NGOs and institutions.

Finance and Administrative Associate

Ariel Montrose

As the Finance and Administrative Associate, Ariel provides support to the Finance and Operations departments through maintaining financial records and logistics coordination.

Born in Brooklyn, Ariel graduated from Vassar College majoring in International Studies with a focus on Latin America and the Caribbean. She is currently pursuing her Masters in Public Administration at City College of New York. Ariel has worked in a variety of fields from interning at the United Nations, working as the bookkeeper and office assistant for the Alliance for Coney Island, and working as a finance assistant for the Children’s Museum of the Arts.

Development Associate

Juliet Nadis

As the Development Associate, Juliet works closely with the Director of Development and the Board to help ICSC meet its annual fundraising goals. Previously, Juliet interned with Parque de la Memoria, a Site of Conscience in Buenos Aires, and wrote her undergraduate thesis on memory and transitional justice in the U.S. and Argentina. She graduated from Vassar College in 2021 with a BA in International Studies and a minor in Spanish.

Program Manager, Global Transitional Justice Initiative

Parusha Naidoo

As a Program Manager for ICSC’s Global Initiative for Justice, Truth, and Reconciliation (GIJTR), Parusha Naidoo provides support to GIJTR’s transitional justice programming across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and MENA. In 2015, she received a B.A. in Justice and Transformation from the University of Cape Town, and, in 2019, a M.A. in Global Affairs, with a specialty in Peace Studies from the University of Notre Dame. Her studies and professional focus center on the systemic and symptomatic causes of conflict and inequality. Driven by a belief in social justice that interrogates positionality, power, and access, she works toward a world where we do not simply ask, “Who has a seat at the table?,” but rather “Who has a voice in the room?” Before coming to ICSC, Parusha worked at the Life & Peace Institute in Kenya and the Restitution Foundation in South Africa.

Senior Program Director, Global Transitional Justice Initiative

Ereshnee Naidu

Ereshnee Naidu is the Senior Director for the Global Initiative for Justice, Truth and, Reconciliation (GIJTR), ICSC’s flagship program on transitional justice. Ereshnee has over twenty years of experience designing and implementing community outreach strategies and programs in critical post-conflict settings that include South Africa, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, and Colombia, among many others. She is a seasoned educator with extensive curriculum and workshop design experience, and has broad content development, training, and facilitation skills.

A thought leader and global transitional justice practitioner, Ereshnee pioneered ICSC’s work in transitional justice in 2014 with the founding of GIJTR, which under her stewardship has worked with partners in 76 countries, fostered over 463 grassroots projects, and engaged more than 760 local civil society organizations in building capacities and laying the groundwork for community-wide participation in transitional justice processes. 

Ereshnee earned her Bachelor of Arts and two Masters of Arts degrees from the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa, the first in Dramatic Arts (1998) and the second in Forced Migration Studies (2004). She subsequently earned her Ph.D. in Sociology from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.

Senior Program Manager, Global Transitional Justice Initiative

Diana Naoum

As Senior Program Manager of the Global Initiative for Justice, Truth and Reconciliation, Diana Naoum assists in the management of ICSC’s flagship program on transitional justice, currently helping to facilitate its Forensics Academy and a program on commemorative cultures. Before joining ICSC, Diana Naoum was the Middle East and North Africa coordinator at Human Rights Watch, providing programmatic support to investigative research on human rights violations across the region. Diana has also served as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant at Afyon Kocatepe University in Afyonkarahisar, Turkey. Diana received her M.A. in the Politics of Conflict, Rights, and Justice from SOAS University of London. 

Diana enjoys attending Middle Eastern film festivals and learning how to cook the traditional Lebanese food she grew up with. 

Director of Communications

Ashley Nelson

As Communications Director, Ashley Nelson leads all aspects of ICSC’s communications efforts, including marketing, public relations, and advocacy. As a member of the senior leadership team, she plays an integral role in shaping the strategic direction of the organization, and facilitating communication between ICSC, members, and the general public. Before coming to ICSC, she worked as Communications Manager at the Anne Frank Center USA, the oldest partner of the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, where the young writer spent two years hiding from the Nazis.

In addition, Ashley writes on culture, politics and women for a variety of publications, including The New York Times, www.oprah.com, The Guardian, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The Nation, Salon, & Dissent. Specific topics covered have included women’s health, economic security, reproductive rights, welfare, divorce, domestic violence, and maternity benefits, among many others.

Senior Specialist, Methodology and Practice

Linda Norris

As Senior Specialist in Methodology and Practice, Linda Norris plays a key role in ICSC’s training offerings, with a focus on creative practice, and also helps steward membership development and engagement. Linda also leads many special projects ICSC, including the MENA Digital Mapping and Documentation and the Revitalization of La Maison des Esclaves projects. As the co-author of Creativity in Museum Practice, she is an international leader in facilitating conversation and action surrounding the ways creativity can transform museums, shape more compelling narratives and create deeper, more inclusive community connections. 

Additionally, Linda frequently represents ICSC in international museum and heritage contexts. In 2019, she presented sessions at ICOM Kyoto, and at conferences in locations such as Estonia, Ukraine, Sierra Leone and Turkey. She has been featured on the Museopunks podcast, “A new definition of museum?” as well as Dan Snow’s History Hit podcast. She is also an adjunct instructor in the Johns Hopkins University’s online Museum Studies and Cultural Heritage Programs, teaching courses such as International Experiments in Community Engagement and Interpreting Cultural Heritage.

Linda holds an M.A. in History Museum Studies from the Cooperstown Graduate Program. She was a U.S. Fulbright Scholar to Ukraine in 2009 and also served as a senior expert reporting on the state of Ukraine’s cultural heritage sector for the Culture and Creativity Project of the EU-Eastern Partnership Programme. 

Director of Methodology and Practice

Braden Paynter

As the Director for Methodology and Practice at the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience, Braden helps good ideas move around the world and helps sites build the knowledge, skills, and relationships they need to thrive. He leads the Methodology and Practice team in supporting member development of programming, exhibitions, and engagement strategies that address their communities’ most pressing challenges. Braden has personally trained hundreds of organizations in dialogue, community engagement, planning, and operating at the intersection of history and justice. Before joining ICSC, Braden worked with the National Park Service at the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site where he oversaw public, education, and professional development programs and in exhibits at Old Sturbridge Village.

Braden’s writing has focused on making transformative connections and building civic engagement through historic sites, and the role of victims, survivors, and perpetrators in catalyzing positive change. He has a masters in Museum Studies with a focus in American Studies from George Washington University. Braden is looked at with some curiosity by his colleagues for stubbornly riding his bicycle in from Queens every day when he lived in New York. Now, he’s very happy living further north, heading to the New England woods, and engaging in dorky word games whenever he can.

Finance and Administrative Assistant

Candace Tougma

As the Finance and Administrative Assistant, Candace Tougma supports all ICSC departments in both finance and operations functions. Born in the Bronx, Candace received her A.S. degree in Accounting and is currently enrolled at Lehman College finishing her B.S. in Accounting. She has previously worked as a clerical assistant in a non-profit organization in Harlem as well as a volunteer tax preparer through New York Cares. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, cooking, organizing, and watching movies.

Director of Development

Teresa Vazquez

Prior to joining ICSC, Teresa co-founded and served as the inaugural Executive Director for the Museum of the Courageous, curating the stories of courageous Americans who have taken a stand against hate. She has also served as a Special Advisor to the board, Chief of Staff, and Chief Development Officer for Echoing Green, a global nonprofit that supports emerging social entrepreneurs and invests deeply in their ideas and leadership.

Before joining Echoing Green, Teresa was an economic development advisor for two terms of the Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg Administration. In that capacity, she led multiple arts and economic development initiatives that uplifted emerging artists and established arts-based economic engines in local communities. Teresa also served as a Director for the Nonprofit Finance Fund, a leading national Community Development Financial Institution that builds a more just and vibrant society by helping mission-driven organizations adapt, thrive, and drive social change.

Teresa began her commitment to social justice in college when she co-led an international student movement to address prejudice and discrimination in local communities. She graduated from Vassar College and NYU’s Robert F. Wagner School for Public Service. She also holds a certificate in management from Columbia Business School’s Institute for Nonprofit Management.

Program Assistant, Transitional Justice Initiative

Jordan Watkins

Jordan was born in Cambridge, England and relocated to Colorado Springs, Colorado as a young child. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degrees in Criminal Justice and Psychology before moving to Boston and attending New England Law | Boston, where she received a J.D. with a concentration in International Law in May of 2022. Jordan’s interest and academic research consisted of creating a comprehensive mapping program of transitional justice initiatives developed in response to racial and civil unrest within the United States as well as research on the role of businesses and the private sector in human rights violations through the analysis of truth commissions. In her free time, she enjoys reading, catching up on new TV shows and being outdoors as well as traveling whenever possible.

Communications Associate, Programs

Camila Yanzaguano Bravo

As the Communications Associate, Programs, Camila supports two of ICSC’s programmatic departments: the Global Initiative for Justice, Truth and Reconciliation, and the Global Networks team. In this position, Camila primarily oversees the production and design of materials, including toolkits and report publications developed by these two departments. She also provides logistical support for in-person and virtual events and manages the social media for both departments by creating and publishing content on various platforms and interacting with different communities and audiences. 

In 2017, Camila received her B.A. in International Relations and Political Sciences from the University of Melbourne, Australia. In 2018, Camila moved to New York City to pursue her MA in International Affairs with a major in Urban Cities and Social Justice at The New School. Camila also holds a MA in International Tourism Management from the EAE Business School in Barcelona, Spain. 

Camila started working in the non-profit sector shortly after receiving her B.A. by joining organizations in Spain, South Africa, the United States, and her home country, Ecuador. Born and raised in Cuenca, Ecuador, Camila is passionate about traveling and learning from other cultures. She enjoys working with grassroots organizations to find the best non-traditional social justice practices that can be replicated worldwide.