alumni profiles

Sarah Beller '98, soon to receive her MA in International Peace and Conflict Resolution at American University in Washington DC, has a very daunting thesis question ahead of her: how can one measure the impact of arts-based conflict resolution initiatives?  This is a question that stems out of her long-time interest in the field of conflict resolution, or, as Sarah calls it, "conflict transformation."  READ MORE »

Igor Timofeyev '91 was the first person to serve in the position of Special Advisor for Refugee and Asylum Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), where he subsequently also became Director of Immigration Policy.  Following his graduation from Williams College, he obtained a M.Phil. in Russian and East European Studies at Oxford University and a J.D. from Yale Law School, where he served on the Yale Law Journal, the Yale Journal of International Law, and the Russian and East European Law Forum.   READ MORE »

Ben Wizner ’88 has spent more time at Guantanamo Bay than the average Brooklyn resident. As staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) for the past 7 years, Ben has focused almost exclusively on national security and human rights cases. A few weeks after Ben took the job at the ACLU, the attacks of September 11th occurred. There were new challenges to confront like discrimination against Arabs, Muslims and South Asians; surveillance of non-violent peace groups; and the torture of prisoners in U.S. custody.
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Tova Serkin '97 spends her days working to strengthen Jewish Peoplehood. As Executive Director of the international not-for-profit organization KolDor, based in Israel, she supports a global network of emerging Jewish leaders who are committed to shifting the existing paradigms in the Jewish world and leading change in Jewish communities worldwide. KolDor's model is innovative, offering a platform for Jewish connections. One flagship project that emerged from KolDor's network is Jewish Social Action Month - a month devoted to tikkun olam (repairing the world) and Jewish unity globally.  READ MORE »

Ari Lipman, BYFI '95, is an activist and organizer. As founder of Faith Vote Columbus in Ohio, he is leading an interfaith coalition of religious congregations, neighborhood associations and labor unions committed to increasing voter turnout in urban precincts. 

Faith Vote Columbus connects to 130 precincts, mostly low-income neighborhoods, where voter turnout in the 2004 presidential election was below 50% of registered voters. Right now, they're working with Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner to ensure that the November 2008 election run smoothly, without the long lines in urban precincts that marred the 2004 elections. His organization hopes to maximize the political power of disenfranchised communities.

Ari first developed a passion for social justice as a student at Harvard. There, he helped start the Harvard Square Homeless Shelter. "All of a sudden," he says, "I moved from a nice D.C. suburb to Cambridge. Twenty yards away from my dorm, people were sleeping on grates."

Working with the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization, Ari helped build a coalition of religious leaders advocating for social change in Massachusetts. With the support of over one thousand volunteers from Boston's religious communities, GBIO successfully pressured the Massachusetts government to enact statewide universal health care. In May of 2007, the progressive alliance Take Back America acknowledged Ari's role in this work with its Maria Leavey Tribute Award.  READ MORE »

Randi Cairns BYFI '87, is an expert multitasker - mother of four children ranging in ages from 3 to 13, working freelance jobs while her husband Captain Ian Cairns is stationed in Afghanistan tasked with training the Afghan National Police, studying full-time towards an MS in Human Services, and working to get her budding not-for-profit organization Home Front Hearts off the ground.

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