Young Minds, Global Voices
Panelists
Gwendolyn S. Myers has over ten years of experience working in Peace and non-violence education among, in and out of school youth. She’s a Certified FBA Young Mediator, Global Peace Activist and Board Member at Mediators Beyond Borders International (MBBI).
Recognized as Time Magazine 2019 -Top Eight Young Reformers Across the Globe Shaping the World and 2019-Top Seven-African Women Breaking Barriers in Peacebuilding in Africa by CARROT CO. (FrontlineWomen).
She’s the Founder& Executive Director (2008-Present) of a non-profit, youth-led peacebuilding organization; Messengers of Peace- Liberia Inc managing over one thousand five hundred Young Volunteer Peace Messengers.
Ms. Myers was recently selected and featured as the overall winner of the President’s Awards 2020 addition to City, University of London gallery of Extraordinary Women achieving the extraordinary since 1894.
Melanie Koch has finished her German legal education at the University of Bonn with a Master’s Degree (First State Examination in Law) in 2018. This June, she will also complete her Second State Examination in Law at her State’s Ministry of Justice in Düsseldorf. After already having worked and studied in Germany, China, Brazil, and Mexico, she will continue working as a Lawyer in Mexico, where she has already spent a part of her traineeship for the Second State Examination in Law.Maria Apostolidou will sit the Greek Bar exams and qualify as a lawyer in summer 2021. She has completed her Bachelor in the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, a semester as Erasmus student in the Université Libre de Bruxelles in Belgium and her LLM in the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, U.K.
Her areas of interest include IP law, Business law, E-commerce. She has been a senior editor of the legal website Ousia Review since November 2020 and a trainee lawyer since 2018.
Benjamin Lutz is a PhD Student at the University of Winchester in the UK, focusing on the intersection of Religion, Reconciliation, and Peacebuilding. He also the Director of Communications and Operations for Mediators Beyond Borders International (MBBI) a global organization focusing on peacebuilding and mediation. He holds a Master’s degree from the University of Bradford in the UK, where he focused on Middle Eastern peace processes through interfaith and interreligious dialogue efforts. He speaks Arabic and has spent much of his academic and personal careers living, researching, and engaging throughout the Middle East region. He also serves on the senior leadership team of Young Professionals in Foreign Policy (YPFP) as the Membership Director and Youth Summits Director.Chisom Osuala is a tech lawyer with four years of experience spanning across contract management, IP and data privacy regulations.
A multidisciplinary artist, with a passion for writing and innovation, Chisom believes in applying a diverse skillset to complex problems. In her previous roles, she has worked closely with founders and entrepreneurs on risk management, marketing, licensing and regulatory compliance.
She has worked in the Lagos State High Court—Fast Track Division where she oversaw mediation procedures. With academic credentials and practical know-how on two continents, she currently works as a vc analyst.
Chisom has an LL.M in Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law from Fordham University.
Salman Shaheen is a Consultant working in the Management Consulting & Digital Transformation industry in Saudi Arabia with a background in Law from King's College London. Salman's current focus is on the professional learning and development field and is working in developing and enabling employee training. Salman is also a licensed civil and commercial mediator and has participated in multiple mediation competitions including the ICC Mediation Competition in Paris and CDRC Mediation Competition in Vienna. In his free time, Salman is working on finishing a storybook and volunteers to coach basketball to children. Amee Dharamshi lives in Bangalore, India. Amee practices as a Conflict Management Professional & as a Private Mediator. Through her workspace - Dialogue den, she promotes and advocates to apply collaborative methods of dispute resolution for conflict resolution within the family, at the workplace and in business affairs. Academically, she is qualified in the subjects - Commerce, Finance, Law, Company Secretary, Arbitration, Mediation, and International Dispute Resolution.
With her academic knowledge and real-life skills, Amee works together with three global organisations with a mutual goal to achieve the global sustainable development goals - the Young Mediators Initiative, The Hague Centre For Global Governance, Innovation And Emergence, and the MasterPeace Global Organisation. Any circles, dialogues, co-creation on subjects: collaborative conflict resolution, collaborative leadership, peace, social sustainability, youth engagement, and gratitude - interests her as well as motivates her to contribute her time and energy to.
Jay Patrick Santiago is an attorney in the Philippines and a qualified solicitor in England & Wales. His practice focuses on international dispute resolution, alternative dispute resolution, and insolvency. He is a member of the expert pool of Benchmark Chambers International & Benchmark International Mediation Center. He is an accredited arbitrator of the Philippine Dispute Resolution Center, Office for Alternative Dispute Resolution Center of the Philippines, and the Philippine International Center for Conflict Resolution. He is a contributor to the book Mediation in Asia (Sweet & Maxwell, 2015) and Foreign Investment and Investment Arbitration in Asia (Intersentia, 2019). He regularly speaks at events organized by many ADR organizations, including the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Asia Pacific Arbitration Group of the International Bar Association, Asian Institute of Alternative Dispute Resolution, and Center for International Alternative Dispute Resolution. Prior to rejoining Quisumbing Torres (member firm of Baker McKenzie in Manila), Jay was based in Hong Kong and worked as a senior member of the Secretariat of a renowned international arbitral institution. Jay obtained his Master of Laws in International Business Law as a Chevening scholar at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He obtained his Juris Doctor degree from the Ateneo De Manila University where he currently teaches Private International Law.Sumhiya Sallay is an LLB (Hons) graduate with a First Class from Staffordshire University. She currently works as a Programs Executive at Advocata Institute - Sri Lanka. She has extensive experience negotiating grants with international stakeholders for the Institute. She led the Mediation Team at the Asia Pacific Institute of Information Technology (APIIT), Sri Lanka at numerous competitions and presently coaches the APIIT Mediation Team. Her interests include alternative dispute resolution, intellectual property, and commercial law. Originally from London, Ilan David Bass has over 10 years’ experience helping international organizations improve relations and resolve conflicts with stakeholders in the UK, Israel and China. He holds degrees in East Asian Studies from the University of Sheffield and in Conflict Resolution and Mediation from Tel Aviv University.
Ilan moved to Beijing in 2009 to build on his undergraduate studies and learn Mandarin. He also worked for the UK government in the Chinese capital before relocating to Israel for graduate studies. After completing his MA, he worked for an Israeli-Palestinian peacebuilding NGO that promotes dialogue and change in the MENA region, and later returned to China to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
Recently based in Shanghai helping international companies manage their operations in the Chinese market, Ilan is currently working remotely as a mediator, trainer, and intercultural conflict coach. He has mediated community, civil and workplace disputes in England, Scotland and China, and returns to his graduate program each year to train the new cohort of students in mediation skills. He is also a UNESCO Senior Research Fellow at the Bosserman Center for Conflict Resolution at Salisbury University in the United States.
Benjamin Lutz is a PhD Student at the University of Winchester in the UK, focusing on the intersection of Religion, Reconciliation, and Peacebuilding. He also the Director of Communications and Operations for Mediators Beyond Borders International (MBBI) a global organization focusing on peacebuilding and mediation. He holds a Master’s degree from the University of Bradford in the UK, where he focused on Middle Eastern peace processes through interfaith and interreligious dialogue efforts. He speaks Arabic and has spent much of his academic and personal careers living, researching, and engaging throughout the Middle East region. He also serves on the senior leadership team of Young Professionals in Foreign Policy (YPFP) as the Membership Director and Youth Summits Director.
Mr. Nisshant Laroia is a Mediatior, Advocate and Partner at The PACT. He is a graduate of Gujarat National Law University. He is an Accredited Mediator at The Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA), Government of India, Accredited mediator at Indian Institute of Arbitration and Mediation (IIAM) and a Certified Cross-border mediator & Scholar, PSMA, Charles University, Prague. He is an Accredited Mediation Advocate, SCMA London and an Associate Grade Arbitrator, CIArb, London.
Mr. Nisshant has presided over mediation matters at a Ministry of Law and Justice, Delhi Government Mediation Centre. Mr. Nisshant Laroia has trained and coached near 4000 trainees in the field of Mediation, Negotiation and Conciliation across various law and management universities. He has been an editor of the ADR World magazine.
Jonathan Rodrigues is a member of the MediateIndia! Advisory Board.
Jonathan is a lawyer and mediator, leading the Online Mediation and Corporate Relations verticals at CAMP – Centre for Advanced Mediation Practice, in Bangalore, India. Jonathan is also engaged as Guest Faculty at MNLU Mumbai, at its newly launched post-graduate course in Mediation and Conflict Resolution.
Jonathan is trained and accredited as a Mediator by the Indian Institute of Arbitration and Mediation (IIAM), Cochin. He is also a certified civil and commercial mediator with the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA), affiliated to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (Govt. of India). He is trained and certified in facilitating cross-border family disputes by the summer academy hosted at Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic. Jonathan has trained with SCMA London and Singapore International Mediation Institute as a Mediation Lawyer.
Lydia Ray is a GDC court mediator with over 5 years of experience who additionally serves as a family mediator in her private practice. She holds a B.A in International Relations with a focus on conflict resolution pertaining to the Middle East region. She has experience working with nonprofits that focus on sustainable efforts for marginalized groups globally to sustain their own basic and complex needs.
She is a global human-rights activist that utilizes an arts-based approach to educating and spreading awareness of conflict resolution techniques and skills whilst advocating for non-violent expressions to bring about political and social change. She is currently serving in the position as the partnership coordinator with Mediators Beyond Borders International, Intern.