Speakers' Bios
Aqeela Sherrills is a campaigner against gang violence who lives in Watts, Los Angeles. In 1992 he brokered a peace agreement between the Bloods and the Crips (two rival gangs). His son, Terrel Sherrills was shot to death in 2004 in an apparently random killing. He is executive director and co-founder (with his brother) of the Community Self-Determination Institute which works for peace and reconciliation. He also co-founded Amer-I-Can with American football player Jim Brown.
Azim Khamisa is an author and speaker from San Diego. He is the founder and CEO of Tariq Khamisa Foundation which he founded after 1995 when his only son, Tariq Ð a 20-year-old student Ð was shot and killed while delivering pizzas in San Diego. His killer, Tony Hicks, became the first 14-year-old to stand trial as an adult in the state of California. He received a 25-year prison sentence. Azim, alongside Tony's grandfather and guardian, Ples Felix, now devotes much of his time to promoting the vision of the Tariq Khamisa Foundation Ð an organization committed to "stopping children from killing children."
Mark Umbreit is a Professor and Founding Director of the Center for Restorative Justice and Peacemaking at the University of Minnesota, School of Social Work. He also serves on the faculty of the Center for Spirituality and Healing in the University of Minnesota Academic Health Center. Dr. Umbreit is an internationally recognized restorative justice practitioner and scholar with more than 33 years of experience as a mediator, facilitator, trainer, researcher, and author of six books and more than 130 other publications. He specializes in facilitating dialogue between family survivors/victims of severe violence, primarily homicide, and the offender. Dr. Umbreit is actively working with colleagues on international peacemaking initiatives.
Michelle Le Baron serves as Professor of Law and Director of the Program on Dispute Resolution at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. She has done seminal work in many areas of conflict resolution including intercultural, international, family, and commercial law. Professor LeBaron's recent scholarship focuses on the creative arts as they facilitate intercultural conflict transformation. She offers short courses internationally, and has given keynote speeches in Ireland, New Zealand, Switzerland and across the US and Canada. She is the author of Bridging Troubled Waters: Conflict Resolution from the Heart and Bridging Cultural Conflicts: A New Approach for a Changing World, both from Jossey Bass, and Conflict Across Cultures: A Unique Experience of Bridging Differences with Venashri Pillay.
Tim Hicks was a mediator in private practice for 14 years before coming to the University of Oregon to direct the Masters degree program. Prior to his mediation career, he and his wife started and managed two successful businesses, one that grew to 150+ employees. As a mediator, Tim worked in three primary sectors - family and divorce, workplace/organizational, and multi-party, environmental/public policy. He also consulted with and provided training for businesses and organizations in conflict management. He is the co-author the book "The Process of Business/Environmental Collaborations: Partnering for Sustainability" and author of the article "Another Look At Identity-Based Conflict: The Roots of Conflict in the Psychology of Consciousness" (Negotiation Journal, Vol. 17, #1, January 2001). MA Antioch University.
Ted Lewis has been involved with mediation work since 1996, managing restorative justice programs in both Kansas and Oregon (Eugene). Throughout this time he has led annual trainings in victim offender mediation, and has conducted numerous workshops in conflict resolution and communication. For the past four years he has provided mediation and reconciliation services to Mennonite churches in the Pacific Northwest.
Rebecca Hiers first began examining the often hidden, yet powerful role that apology and forgiveness play in resolving disputes while working for an Indian Tribe on the successful collaborative resolution of an intense water rights dispute. In workshops and in her writings, she draws upon her experience both as a collaborative negotiator and as a mediator. She received her J.D. from the University of Oregon in 1990, and her A.B. in chemistry from Princeton University in 1985. In 2002, she opened Sunrise Mediation, and now serves on the Executive Committee for the Oregon State Bar's Alternative Dispute Resolution Section. Currently, she is writing a book that looks in detail at the role that apology and forgiveness play within the mediation process.
Rob Gould co-founded Portland State University's Graduate Program in Conflict Resolution in 1993 and serves as its director. Dr. Gould also recently completed a three-year term as Chair of PSU's Philosophy Department. He has presented a wide variety of papers, workshops, and seminars in topics related to philosophy and conflict resolution. In 1984, he co-founded the Oregon Peace Institute with Congresswoman Elizabeth Furse, and continues to serve on OPI's Board of Directors. More recently, he co-founded the Northwest Institute for Conflict Resolution and the Newhall Nonviolence Institute. Dr. Gould is currently in the process of writing two books. One is an introduction to the field of conflict resolution for graduate students, and the other is on the philosophy of conflict resolution.
