Session 3

Mateja Stanislava Rot

Coordinator of International Relation
University Women SUUW, Slovenia

She is a Cultural Researcher and Urbanist, contributing towards open future commons, building powerful smart solutions for urban communities and improving the livelihood in neighborhoods around Europe. She works in the field of social, cultural innovation and collisions of contemporary art, architecture and science.

She was selected for MIT GE Bootcamp Brisbane 2017. In July 2017 she completed a month-long Advanced Entrepreneurship program at Stanford University and has established a network of contacts for future collaboration in AI, neuroscientific research, IoT, design thinking and innovation. In September she was selected for Future Innovators Summit at Festival Ars Electronica: Artificial Intelligence - The Other she where she worked in the group of Future Home. She is very interested in peacebuilding actions in urban context.

Mateja Stanislava Rot

Lakshitha Saji Prelis

Co-Chair, Global Coalition on Youth, Peace and Security
Director, Children & Youth Programs, Search for Common Ground

Mr. Prelis has over twenty years’ experience working with youth movements and youth focused organizations in conflict and transition environments in over 35 countries throughout the world. In 2010 he co-founded and has been co-chairing the first UN-CSO-Donor working group (Global Coalition on Youth, Peace and Security) that helped successfully advocate for the historic UN Security Council Resolution 2250 (in 2015) Res 2419 (in 2018) and Resolution 2535 (July 2020).

Mr. Prelis is also the director of children & youth programs at Search for Common Ground (SFCG), an international conflict transformation organization. Prior to joining SFCG, Mr. Prelis was the founding director of the Peacebuilding & Development Institute at American University in Washington, DC. Over eleven years at the university resulted in him co-developing over 100 training curricula exploring the nexus of peace building with development.

Mr. Prelis received the distinguished Luxembourg Peace Prize for his Outstanding Achievements in Peace Support. Mr. Prelis obtained his Master’s Degree in International Peace & Conflict Resolution with a Concentration in International Law from American University in Washington, DC.

Lakshitha Saji Prelis

Prof Dr. Massimo Sgarzi

Group Leader Technical University,

Dresden Germany

Prof. Massimo Sgarzi

Group Leader Technical University,

Dresden Germany

Massimo Sgarzi obtained his MSc degree in Photochemistry and Chemistry of Materials at University of Bologna, Italy, in 2008. He received his PhD degree at University of Bologna in 2014 defending a thesis about the characterization of optical transduction-based molecular systems and nanoparticles for the development of chemical sensors, under the supervision of Professor Luca Prodi.

Subsequently, he obtained a one-year postdoctoral fellowship in the same laboratory, continuing the work on the photophysical characterization of fluorescent chemosensors and silica nanoparticles for biological and environmental applications. In 2015 he moved to Dresden, where he joined the Nanoscalic Systems group guided by Dr. Holger Stephan at Helmoltz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf.

His research focused on the development and characterization of luminescent systems for use in bioimaging and sensor applications, dealing in particular with upconverting nanoparticles and ligands for lanthanide and actinide ions. At the end of November 2018, he joined Prof. Gianaurelio Cuniberti's group at Technische Universität Dresden as a guest scientist, planning to work on the application of nanoparticles and chemosensors for wastewater treatment. Since August 2019, he is leader of the Environmental Nanotechnology group, dealing with the synthesis and characterization of nanostructured materials and nanocomposite for the photocatalytic degradation and the adsorption of organic and inorganic pollutants contained in wastewater.

Arthur Taylor

CFO, Coleman Powermate Inc., USA &
Director – Innovation, MIT World Peace
University, Pune, India

Arthur Taylor has earned four university degrees in total.

He has been admitted to practice law in three United states, Utah, Nebraska, and Kansas. Mr. Taylor has passed the Certified Public Accountancy Exam. He has worked for Price Waterhouse, USA and served as Chief Financial Officer of various US companies, including Coleman Powermate, Inc., a subsidiary of the Coleman Company.

During his tenure revenues were grown through acquisitions and organically from USD $50 Million annually to over $250 Million annually. Throughout the entire growth period profitability achieved was the highest throughout all the Coleman Company, over 20% EBITDA. Negotiated and completed at least five business acquisitions, growing revenues, profits, and product offerings.

Prof. Omid Wali

Professor and Peace Fellow, Nangarhar University Afghanistan

Mr. Omid Wali is also Professor of English and Peace Studies at Nangarhar University,
Afghanistan. Mr. Wali also works as a Senior Program/Policy Manager for Afghans
Coordination Against Corruption (AFCAC), the only specialized Anti-Corruption NGO iAfghanistan. He pursued his B.A. degree in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) from Nangarhar University with the partnership of San Diego State University, USA. He pursuedhis first Master’s degree in English Language Teaching (ELT) from Andhra University, India while he obtained his second Master in Policy and Public Administration from the same institution. He is Ph.D. candidate at Aligarh Muslim University, India.

Wali was awarded with the prestigious Fulbright fellowship where he taught Pashtu language at the University of Georgia, Athens, USA. Besides this, he was a trainee at the University of Notre Dame, USA. He was also entitled with the Rotary Peace Fellowship where he studied Peace and Conflict Resolution at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand with field studies in Myanmar, Laos, Malaysia and Indonesia. During his time at Chulalongkorn University, he wrote his individual conflict analysis paper on ‘The Conflict and Peace Talks of Afghanistan’.

Furthermore, Mr. Wali is the proud Alumnus of (Indian Council for Cultural Relation ICCR, and Kautilya Fellow Program, India). He is the author of Portfolio Development Project and the co-translator of Peace and Conflict Studies. He further presented numerous papers in various national and international conferences. His speech at the 5th World Parliament of Science, Religion and Philosophy organized by MIT World Peace University, Pune, India brought the honor of MoU to Nangarhar University. He is a social activist for peace, education, human rights and women rights in Afghanistan.

Hon'ble Prof. Omid Wali

MR.DHIRAJ SINGH

Georgia Van Cuylenburg

Actress, TV host, comedian, producer, activist and philanthropist

Georgia Van Cuylenburg is an actress, TV host, comedian, producer, activist and philanthropist who has dedicated her life to working with individuals and communities born into an unjust experience of our world. She is endlessly inspired by the people she works with to use neuro and social science, entertainment, education, innovation and philanthropy to create a thriving future for everyone and believes art and a true love for all beings is our path to peace.

She is the founder of the the 501(c)3 social justice organization Arts Bridging the Gap (ABG), which uses trauma informed care, neuroscience and art to bring youth, artists, educators and community organizations together to create arts education experiences for children in under resourced areas in order to improve their self-efficacy, their environment and ultimately their academic success. Through ABG she had painted 66 mural with disenfranchised communities as peace building actions and has created an Empathy Curriculum to ensure this work expands to other organizations. She founded Hearts 4 Community Action (Uganda) - empowering youth and families with agricultural, health and education support; and Women's Community Leadership Program (Ethiopia) – uplifting women in poverty into their own enterprise as well as being owner of I am Spartacus Entertainment. She is also the interim Director of Operations for the non profit POPS the Club and the US ambassador for the Indian social service organization, Serve Needy in Hyderabad.

In 2017, Georgia started the aeroponic produce initiative ‘Our Farm at The Los Angeles Mission’ as a way to provide fresh, healthy produce to the Skidrow community as well as generating income and sustainable life skills. It is tended by the men and women in of skid row.

Georgia is a passionate advocate for the right of all children and ending childhood trauma, and speaks internationally on the platforms of children's rights, poverty alleviation, youth empowerment, the power of art to create change and ending homelessness. She is also a global advocate for the auto immune condition Alopecia Areata and vocal supporter of mental health awareness.

She is the voice of several prominent video game and animation characters as well as hosting and producing children’s television and writing and producing an award winning play about mental illness and three award winning feature documentaries. Georgia obtained her Public Relations degree from RMIT University.

She has a master’s degree in Leadership in Global Sustainable Development from Queensland University, a Certificate in the Neuroscience of Happiness from Berkley University as well and Interpersonal Neurobiology from the Mindsight Institute and an Advanced Masters in Treating trauma from the National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioral Medicine. She is a graduate from the New York Center for Non Violent Communication.

Lakshitha Saji Prelis

Co-Chair, Global Coalition on Youth, Peace and Security &

Director, Children & Youth Programs, Search for Common Ground

Mr. Prelis has over twenty years’ experience working with youth movements and youth focused organizations in conflict and transition environments in over 35 countries throughout the world. In 2010 he co-founded and has been co-chairing the first UN-Civil Society-Donor working group (Global Coalition on Youth, Peace and Security) that helped successfully advocate for the historic UN Security Council Resolution 2250 (in 2015) on Youth, Peace and Security. As a result of the Global Coalition’s advocacy, two additional Security Council Resolutions Res 2419 in June 2018 and Resolution 2535 in July 2020 were unanimously adopted.

Prior to joining Search for Common Ground, Mr. Prelis was the founding director of the Peacebuilding & Development Institute at American University in Washington, DC. Over eleven years at the university resulted in him co-developing over 100 training curricula exploring the nexus of peace building with development.

Mr. Prelis has served as an adviser to governments and governmental agencies in over a dozen countries. He has also played an advisory role to the Commonwealth Secretariat and Commonwealth Ministers on youth and peacebuilding. In June 2017, Mr. Prelis received the distinguished Luxembourg Peace Prize for his Outstanding Achievements in Peace Support. In March 2019, he co-organized the first global symposium on youth participation in peace processes in partnership with the Govts. Of Finland, Colombia, the State of Qatar, the United Nations and other key actors and is currently co-leading the process for a Heads of Government/State level conference on the topic in 2022 in Doha, Qatar as a follow up to the Helsinki Symposium. In September 2019 he was invited to facilitate a high-level workshop in the role of women in peace and transition processes with the former High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission Federica Mogherini.

Mr. Prelis obtained his master’s degree in International Peace & Conflict Resolution with a Concentration in International Law from American University in Washington, DC. He is from Sri Lanka.