Spring 2024 Speakers

Alpaslan Özerdem is Dean of the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution (formerly known as the School for Conflict Analysis & 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 years of field research experience in Afghanistan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, El Salvador, Indonesia, Kosovo, Lebanon, Liberia, Nepal, Nigeria, Philippines, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan and Turkey. Dr. Özerdem has undertaken numerous research projects that were funded by the UK’s Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC); British Academy, US Institute of Peace, and various US and European Union funding schemes.

Dr. Özerdem has also taken an active role in the initiation and management of several advisory and applied research projects for a wide range of national and international organizations such as the United Nations and international NGOs. He also runs tailor-made and in-country professional training programs for a wide range of audiences from humanitarian aid practitioners to civil servants and policy makers.  Dr. Özerdem is a frequent speaker and workshop leader for events organized by the private sector, higher education institutions, international organizations and governmental authorities. He is a member of the Anna Lindh Foundation Scientific Committee, and received his Professor Extraordinary in Politics title by Stellenbosch University in 2017 and visiting professorship to the Jiangsu University and Coventry University in 2019.

Tom Davis is a partner at the Holland & Knight law firm, where he focuses his practice on handling a variety of congressional and regulatory affairs, including congressional investigations, land use and legislative strategy.

Tom served 14 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing the 11th Congressional District of Virginia. He served as chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform from 2003 to 2007, where he led a number of high-profile investigations. In addition, Mr. Davis was elected chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee and served in that role from 1999 to 2002.

While in Congress, Mr. Davis was a chief author of more than 100 pieces of legislation that became law, including the Services Acquisition Reform Act (SARA), Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA), and Federal Acquisition Reform Act (FARA).  As chairman of the House Government Oversight Committee, he presided over 150 hearings and investigations.

Prior to serving in Congress, Tom represented Mason District as a supervisor on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors from 1980 to 1994, and as the board chairman from 1991 to 1994.

Tom has served as a director on the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) and Rector (Chairman of the Board) at George Mason University, where he is also a distinguished professor of Public Policy at the Schar School of Policy and Government.

He is the author of a book, The Partisan Divide: Congress in Crisis, which he co-wrote with former Democratic Congressman Martin Frost about the polarization of the U.S. Congress, and is often asked to appear on network television political shows to discuss the current political landscape.

Mr. Davis holds a B.A. from Amherst College (cum laude) and a J.D. from the University of Virginia Law School.

Stephanie Murphy is a businesswoman, policy expert, and former U.S. Congresswoman

PRIVATE SECTOR

In strategy and investment roles, Murphy worked with businesses across a range of industries. As an executive at an investment firm, she evaluated business opportunities and worked with management teams to navigate regulatory and business risk. She provided strategic advice to senior executives at multinational companies while at Deloitte Consulting. In addition, she was an instructor of finance at Rollins College and helped launch the social entrepreneurship program on campus.

NATIONAL SECURITY

Murphy was a national security specialist at the U.S. Department of Defense, where she received numerous awards for her service, including the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Civilian Service. She helped to shape U.S. policy in the Asia Pacific by fostering cooperation in capacity building, disaster preparedness, special operations, and counterterrorism. Murphy led the effort to set the Defense Department’s strategic direction and priorities for security cooperation and contingency planning. She also worked on budget and acquisitions for the U.S. Navy.

U.S. CONGRESS

In Congress, Murphy was known as an effective legislator cutting through partisan gridlock to establish an exceptional record of legislative success.  Murphy was consistently named one of the most effective and bipartisan members of Congress during her three terms (from 2017 to 2023).  She led the bipartisan effort to lift the federal gun violence research ban and created the tax benefit that enabled businesses to retain and rehire workers during the pandemic.  Murphy was a key player in delivering historic infrastructure and climate investments.  She also carved out a role as a leading Congressional voice on trade and national security policy.

Murphy served as co-chair of the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of House Democrats focused on fiscal responsibility, a strong national defense, and a principled and pragmatic approach to legislating. She also served as a Chief Deputy Whip of the House Democratic Caucus and on the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee. In these roles, Murphy helped to shape the House policy agenda. In addition to her leadership roles, Murphy served on the powerful Ways and Means Committee, the House Armed Services Committee, Small Business Committee, and the historic Select Committee to Investigate the Jan 6th Attack on the Capitol.  

Andy Shallal is an artist, social entrepreneur and founder/CEO of Busboys and Poets, a restaurant group in the Washington Metropolitan area where art, culture and politics intentionally collide over mindfully sourced food, drinks, books and event programming. With six, soon to be seven locations in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia, Busboys and Poets has become a home for progressives, artists, creatives and intellectuals, including such notables as Harry Belafonte, Danny Glover, Alice Walker, Angela Davis and the late Howard Zinn.

Busboys and Poets is a focuses on sustainable business initiatives and employment practices. As a business on the forefront of environmental stewardship, Busboys locations are 100% wind-powered with local sourcing, including many plant-based and gluten-free friendly options. As a leader in the sustainable food movement, Busboys has been recognized locally and nationally for its innovative, conscious cuisine. Under Shallal’s leadership, Busboys has received numerous awards including the Mayor’s Arts Award, Employer of the Year from the Employment Justice Center and the Mayor’s Environmental Award.

Shallal is a 2018 Frederick Douglass 200 award winner for those who best embody Douglass’sspirit, TedX speaker and founder of severalpeace and justice organizations. He is on the board of trustees for the Institute for Policy Studies, Race Forward, the Anacostia CoordinatingCouncil and a founding member of Think Local First DC, a local business association serving in advisory and leadership roles to advance progressive business and labor practices. Shallal recently was chairman of DC’s Workforce Investment Council and ran for Mayor of Washington, DC in 2014. He continues to strive to make his hometown of Washington, DC a more livable community.

Shallal received his B.S. in biology from Catholic University of American and attended Howard Medical School and Robert Smith’s University of Maryland School of Business. He is a husband and father of four.

Nicole Rowsell currently serves as Acting Vice President and Special Assistant to the President at the National Democratic Institute. Ms. Rowsell has more than 20 years of experience supporting democratic transitions, with particular emphasis on complex conflict transformation, inclusive political processes, and evidence-based policy development to promote and protect democratic values.

Prior to her current role, Ms. Rowsell served as Senior Advisor for the Middle East and North Africa, Senior Country Director in Lebanon and Tunisia, and has coordinated organizational change processes including review of the Institute’s vision, mission and values, and global strategic objectives. Since joining NDI in 2006, Ms. Rowsell has designed, implemented and provided overall leadership for efforts to enhance political parties’ responsiveness, strengthen citizen oversight of political processes and create openings for women, young people and other marginalized groups to effectively engage their representatives and improve governance. An opinion researcher, Ms. Rowsell has also designed and prepared numerous qualitative and quantitative studies to inform policy-makers, government officials and political and civic leaders. Ms. Rowsell co-edited Civic Participation Terminology: A Guide to Frequently Used Terms and Phrases, authored Tunisia: Foundations for Democratic Compromise and Tunisie, deuxième république: chronique d’une Constituante, 2011–2014.

Ms. Rowsell has also held senior positions with Partners for Democratic Change and World Learning, contributing to community organizing and advocacy efforts throughout the Middle East and Central Asia.  She holds a bachelor’s degree in international relations and a master’s degree in conflict analysis and resolution.

Keith Allred became the Executive Director of the National Institute for Civil Discourse on January 1, 2019. He was recruited to lead NICD because he had recently launched CommonSense American, a new organization that brings Republicans, Democrats, and Independents together from across the country to find and champion solutions with broad support. Impressed by the successful five-year state pilot, leadership invited Keith to make NICD the platform for CommonSense American and to integrate it with NICD’s other programs to revive civility and enhance problem solving across the partisan divide.

The Common Interest, the state-level pilot organization, operated in Idaho from 2005 – 2009. Its major legislative achievements led the Idaho Democratic Party to make the unusual move of asking him, as an independent, to be their nominee for Governor in 2010.

Prior to returning home to pilot the citizens’ group, Keith became the first professor of negotiation and conflict resolution hired by Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He started his academic career as a professor at Columbia.

Keith has also served in a variety of business leadership roles. Most recently, he was a partner at the Cicero Group, ranked the 12th best boutique management consulting firm in the world by Vault.com. Prior to Cicero, he served as COO of Health Catalyst. Keith’s leadership there played a critical role in attracting a major investment by Sequoia Capital. He is a member of the Board of Directors for Midas Gold, which trades on the Toronto Exchange (TSX: MAX).

Keith earned a PhD in Organizational Behavior from UCLA and BA in American History from Stanford. A fifth-generation Idahoan who grew up working summers on the family cattle ranch, Keith finished eighth in the world standings of the National Cutting Horse Association in 2017 after competing in the World Finals in Fort Worth. He and Christine are the proud parents of Anna (16), Dan (14), and Cate (11). The kids are still deciding if they’ve forgiven their parents for moving them from Idaho to DC this summer.

Justin Gest is a professor of policy and government at George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government. He studies immigration and the politics of demographic change. He is the author of six books:

He also coedits the Oxford University Press book series, Oxford Studies in Migration and Citizenship. He has authored peer-reviewed articles in journals including Comparative Political Studies, Ethnic and Racial Studies, the International Migration Review, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and has edited special issues of Citizenship Studies and Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies.

He has provided reporting or commentary for ABC, BBC, CBC, CNN, the Guardian, the Los Angeles Times, NPR, the New York Times, Politico, Reuters, Vox, and the Washington Post.

In 2014 and 2020, Gest received Harvard University’s Joseph R. Levenson Memorial Teaching Prize and the George Mason University Teaching Excellence Award, respectively each university’s highest award for faculty teaching. In 2013, he received the 2013 Star Family Prize for Student Advising, Harvard’s highest award for student advising. In 2007, he cofounded the Migration Studies Unit at the London School of Economics (LSE).

Leo Hylton, MS is a PhD student at George Mason University’s Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution.  His education and work are based in trauma-informed, healing-centered Restorative Justice practices, and are focused on Social Justice Advocacy and Activism, with a vision toward an abolitionist future.  Toward that end, he is working as a Visiting Instructor at Colby College, co-teaching AY346 – Carcerality and Abolition. He is a lead facilitator of Maine State Prison’s Restorative Practices Steering Committee, serves on Colby College’s Restorative Practices Team, and provides consultation to RJ practitioners in the US and abroad. Leo is a core organizer of the Carter School Working Group on Forgiveness and Reconciliation, creating spaces of co-learning, growth, and trauma healing in the context of forgiveness and reconciliation. He is also a columnist for the publication The Bollard (formerly Mainer), where he writes a monthly column to raise public consciousness around the existence and power of humanity in carceral spaces. Leo’s education, work, and research are informed by his experience as a currently incarcerated citizen in Maine State Prison. For more, read, “Trauma, Spirituality, and Healing: A Journey through the Lens of an Incarcerated Person”.

Dr. Russ Wigginton serves as the President of the National Civil Rights Museum. He assumed this role on August 1, 2021, and brings vast experience in education, fundraising, operations, and community engagement. Prior to assuming this role, Wigginton served as the Chief Postsecondary Impact Officer for Tennessee State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) from 2019-2021, where he led the organization’s work for postsecondary access, retention, and completion.

Previously he served as vice president for student life and dean of students at Rhodes College from 2017-2019, where he oversaw the college’s co-curricular experience for students. From 2006-2017, Russ served as vice president for external programs and vice president for college relations, where he helped establish and implement institutional strategy for the college’s engagement in Memphis and beyond, and oversaw the college grants, foundations and government relations, alumni relations, communications, career services, and continuing education departments. Russ taught eight years in the History department at Rhodes, specializing in African American and community history. He has published a book entitled, The Strange Career of the Black Athlete: African Americans and Sports as well as articles and essays on African American social and labor history.

Russ has served on numerous civic boards and advisory committees, including the National Civil Rights Museum, Memphis Zoo, New Memphis Institute, ArtsMemphis, Overton Park Conservancy, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Ballet Memphis, St. George’s Independent Schools, KIPP Schools, and Facing History and Ourselves. Russ graduated from Rhodes College with a BA in History and earned a PhD in History from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He also has a son, Ryan, a 2022 graduate from the University of Richmond, and is married to Tomeka Hart Wigginton, Managing Director for Blue Meridian Partners.

Charles E. Davidson directs the Political Leadership Academy and is research faculty at George Mason University’s Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution.  He is also scholar-practitioner of conflict resolution focusing on civil war, insurgency, and vulnerable populations with over a decade of experience in economic peacebuilding in war-torn countries working most recently in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and previously in Iraq, Afghanistan, Uganda, Colombia, and Burundi.  He has conducted scholarly research in Iraq, Jordan, Indonesia, Tunisia, and across Europe. Charles joined the Carter School as research faculty in June of 2020 after completing his Ph.D. at the same institution.  His doctoral research focused on insurgent group collective action frames among Iranian Kurdish rebels.  His past research also included Syrian refugee / government relations in Jordan, religion in the United States, and community level peacebuilding in war-torn societies.

He is also the co-founder and co-director of the Carter School’s Praxis Conference of peacebuilding scholars and practitioners and has organized multiple international peacebuilding conferences and educational experiences for American college students. Charles also serves as the director of the international peacebuilding organization ForgottenSong, sits on the board of a community development organization in Arkansas, served as an English Teacher for NATO in Kabul, Afghanistan, and is a published children’s book author.  

Born and raised in North Carolina, one of Thom’s roles at the State Legislative Leaders Foundation is to translate for President Lakis when he goes south of the Mason-Dixon Line. Tom has been studying, working and teaching state legislative leaders for more than thirty years since he served as a 20 year old legislative intern in the 1985 North Carolina General Assembly. After earning his Ph.D. in Political Science with a focus on legislative politics, Tom taught for ten years at American University and the University of Texas at Arlington before starting to work with the State Legislative Leaders Foundation. For more than twenty years, Thom has served as SLLF’s Director of Curriculum Development and Research where he has coordinated programs on everything from biotechnology to crisis management. He has also written case studies on state legislative leadership in states from Alabama to Ohio.