Alpaslan Özerdem
Dr. Alpaslan Özerdem is the Dean of the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution and professor of peace and conflict studies. Prior to his appointment as Dean in August 2019, Dr Özerdem was Associate Pro-Vice- Chancellor for Research at Coventry University in the UK. Dr Özerdem specializes in conflict resolution, peacebuilding and post-conflict reconstruction. With over 20 year field research experience in Afghanistan, Bosnia- Herzegovina, El Salvador, Kosovo, Lebanon, Liberia, Nigeria, Philippines, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan and Turkey.
Bob Mitchell
Bob Mitchell is the founder of the Michigan Political Leadership Program that has been operating at Michigan State University for the last 26 years and now volunteers as Founder and President the Bipartisan Leadership Project. Bob is an educator and business innovator having initiated the nation’s first independent electric transmission company. He has had an extensive partisan career in campaigns and government service in the cabinet of Gov. Blanchard, Chief of Staff of US Sen. Gravel and heading an agriculture agency in Michigan for President Carter.
Charles Davidson
Dr. Charles Davidson is the Executive Director of the PLA and serves as Research Faculty at the Carter School. He is also the founder and President of Innovations in Peacebuilding International, an organization which works to creatively accompany peace in war-torn countries. His current professional pursuits with IPI include the economic reintegration of former child soldiers in the Eastern D.R. Congo. He has also worked and/or researched in Iraq, Afghanistan, Uganda, Burundi, Colombia, Lebanon, Jordan, Tunisia, Indonesia and across Europe.
Linda C. Mathes
Linda is the Special Advisor for the Bipartisan Leadership Project (BLP) which equips public servants and a new generation of leaders with fundamental skills necessary to work collaboratively for the common good. She supports the BLP’s partnership with the Political Leadership Academy at George Mason University’s Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution. She manages the community Working Group assisting Fairfax County Public Schools in creating the John Lewis leadership program to prepare students
Current Instructors
Past Instructors
Jamie Raskin, U.S. Representative for Maryland’s 8th Congressional District
Paul Ray, Administrator, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
Charles Chavis, Assistant Professor of Conflict Resolution and History, Carter School
Qasim Rashid, US Congressional Candidate for Virginia’s 1st District
Mara Schoeny, Associate Professor and Director of Undergraduate Programs, Carter School
Allison Silberberg, Former Mayor of Alexandria
Antti Pentikäinen, Director and Research Professor, Mary Hoch Center for Reconciliation, Carter School
Patricia Maulden, Associate Professor and Student Engagement Coordinator, Carter School
Barbara Favola, Virginia State Senator
Sara Cobb, Drucie Cumbie Professor and Director, Center for the Study of Narrative and Conflict Resolution, Carter School
Terri Freeman, Executive Director, Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture
Howard Ross, Author of Everyday Bias and ReInventing Diversity
Tavares Floyd, Civil Rights Attourney