Voices for Civil Dialogue

Dr. Eileen Borris is a licensed clinical psychologist, political psychologist and educator/trainer deeply involved in the healing of emotional wounds on a personal and political level. She maintains a private practice working with couples dealing with difficult issues and individuals grappling with physical illness, loss and grief. Dr. Borris is also the Director of Training and Program Development for the Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy where she works in the area of international conflict resolution. Some of the places Dr. Borris has worked include Nepal, with the Tibetan government in Exile, Pakistan, India, Indonesia, the former Soviet Union, and the Middle East. She has also worked for USAID and UNIFEM. Within these many diverse projects Dr. Borris teaches processes of forgiveness and reconciliation within the broader context of conflict resolution and international peacebuilding. She also sets up regional and national dialogue processes within a context of scenario building and reconciliation in countries with emerging democracies.

Genoveva was born in Tempe , AZ and has lived in Colorado and Oregon . Currently, she resides in the community of Guadalupe, where she spent 28 years growing up and where the majority of her extended family resides. She has a Bachelors from ASU and will complete her MBA November 2008. Genoveva currently works at Maricopa

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Judy Butzine was a social worker/former health care professional for 20 years, utilizing the arts as healing modalities with chronically ill patients. She was at the forefront of designing and implementing holistic educational programming for persons wishing to take responsibility for their own long term medical care.

Ms. Butzine’s awareness and appreciation of diverse cultures and the arts from years living out the country brought her to an arts organization in the early 90’s, providing a structural format for artists, community activists and educators as the development manager. From this position Ms. Butzine formed ArtWeb at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metropolitan Phoenix. Here she designed and directed youth development programming with an emphasis on a literature based arts/cultural participation process. During the last two years of her work with the Boys & Girls Clubs she received National Justice Department grants of significant funding.

Rev. Jan Olav Flaaten began serving as the Council's Executive Director in September of 2002 after 30 years of parish ministry in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

His goals for the council are to improve communication, expand ecumenical dialogue, provide education in ecumenism, and give voice to the Church's witness for justice.

Roberto A. Reveles the Founding President of Somos America - We are America.

As a member of the Arizona Hispanic Community Forum, Reveles is actively involved in promoting civic participation by Latinos. He seeks opportunities for public dialogue on the immigration policy, which he faults for spawning both death in Arizona’s desert and hostility against Latinos. He is a volunteer with Humane Borders that maintains water stations in the southern Arizona desert. He seeks to promote meaningful and comprehensive reform of immigration policy at the federal level and is committed to defense of the undocumented immigrant community against hostile public policies in Arizona.

In 2005, the shortage of qualified welders and fitters raised questions for Sheridan L. Bailey, president of IRONCO Enterprises, LLC., whether or not he could deliver and install structural steel on schedule in accordance with the contract. "Delay damages can be tens of thousands of day," states Bailey. In discussing the labor shortage with his customers, Bailey discovered that they were surprised to learn that labor shortages included structural steel fabrication and erection. Bailey began talking to his state legislators that year, and soon learned that not only were businesses not talking with one another, they were not talking to their state legislators either.

Terri Donovan Mansfield is a co-founder of Voices for Civil Dialogue.

Terri is an internationally acclaimed civilian Peacemaker. As Executive Director and Co-founder of the inclusive and transpartisan Arizona Department of Peace Campaign, Terri is a recognized diplomat, carefully laying international, national, and local legislative foundations for peace. Terri explains that the proposed cabinet level U.S. Department of Peace will research, articulate, and facilitate nonviolent solutions to domestic and international conflicts, creating a caring and sustainable culture of peace.

The Rev Liana Rowe, ordained clergy serving the United Church of Christ with Shadow Rock UCC in Phoenix, is a long time activist and humanitarian on immigrant rights issues.

Rowe has spent several years organizing for a humane and rational border environment through her efforts with Humane Borders, No More Deaths, and the New Sanctuary Movement. Most notably, Rowe led the team that derived the "Faith Based Principals for Immigration Reform" for No More Deaths in 2004.

Rowe currently coordinates over 100 volunteers in the Phoenix area for Humane Borders' humanitarian efforts to maintain water stations in the desert in addition to her duties as a Community Organizer for Interfaith Worker Justice of Arizona's Worker Rights Center.

A resident of North Phoenix for 25 years, Rev. Rowe shares her passion for justice with her husband Bryan of 27 years and three children.

Virginia Cervantes is one of the founding members of Voices for Civil Dialogue. She was born and raised in Omaha, NE. Virginia is a Children’s Advocate and a fundraiser for children’s charities.  Her love for children inspired her to become an International Political and Environmental Researcher. She has spoken to countless authors, historians, elected officials, physicists, etc.  Through her research, it is her hope that one day civil dialogue, listening and understanding will take precedent in our everyday lives … that one day we will see Peace on Earth.

Arizona Department of Peace Campaign

Campaigning for a U.S. Department of Peace
The Arizona Department of Peace (AZDOP) Campaign is a grassroots, inclusive, nonpartisan, proactive, solution-oriented organization which supports the creation of a national Dept. of Peace which will research, articulate, and facilitate nonviolent solutions to domestic and international conflicts.

The Mission of the Cultural Arts Coalition/Celebrating Global Connections, Arizona:
Identifying, supporting, promoting, celebrating, and documenting those community arts practices that stimulate social awareness and honor diverse cultural values, and develop the critical thinking skills necessary to be creative and solve problems. As a networking group, the coalition strives to provide a safe place for persons of all ages and backgrounds to gather and achieve a sense of belonging and respect within a larger community and to explore arts-related skills in a facilitated environment.

The Goals of the Cultural Arts Coalition are to:

• Provide spaces and opportunities for persons to engage in dialogue, experiences, and research that expand the definition and understanding of the role of the arts in enriching our daily lives in community and academic settings.
• Examine and explore "guiding arts practices" of programming that meet the needs of an integrated community.
• Celebrate and feature projects and programs at regular meetings as well as larger, community focused forums. Our intent is to help others, whether children, teens, people of middle age or older adults, to use the arts as a mean by which they can explore "the human condition" (including her or his own condition) in and through time.
• Document and publish methods and examples of successful cultural arts delivery in academic and community settings.
• Generate connections across an expanding network of individuals and groups who embrace the mission and goals of the Cultural Arts Coalition.

Our Mission: To build an integrated empowerment process for the American Muslim community through civic education, participation, community outreach, and coalition building; to forge positive relationships with other institutions outside of our community, that will ensure and facilitate the protection of civil rights and liberties for American Muslims and all Americans.