OUR TEAM
The MHCR family comprises not only its student-employees and Carter School faculty but everyone dedicated to “breaking the barriers that separate people… to overcome differences and heal wounds of the past.” Below, you can learn more about and connect with our current staff.
LEADERSHIP & ADMINISTRATION
AL FUERTES
Chair of Board of Advisory
Dr. Al Fuertes' fields of interest and specialization include facilitation and intercultural/interreligious dialogue; global education and cross-cultural experiential learning; conflict resolution/transformation and peacebuilding; community-based psychosocial trauma healing as a component of peacebuilding and community development; refugee and internal displacement; sustainability of indigenous communities in Southeast Asia; anti-human trafficking, ecumenism, and spirituality; theology of struggle/people’s theology/liberation theology. Dr. Fuertes holds a PhD in Conflict Analysis and Resolution (2007) from George Mason University, and an MA in Peace Studies (1997) from the Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Indiana, USA. He finished his Bachelor of Theology (magna cumlaude) from Silliman University Divinity School, Philippines.
ANTTI PENTIKÄINEN
Director & PROFESSOR of practice
Alongside leading MHCR, Antti (he/him) is working as a visiting scholar at the US Institute for Peace. Before his work at MHCR, Antti established the Network for Religious and Traditional Peacemakers with the U.N. (2015-2019) while also serving as the special envoy for Finland’s Prime Minister on the Refugee Crisis (2015-2019) as well as advisor to the U.N. Assistant Secretary-General on Prevention of Genocide (2017).
For over a decade, Antti led the efforts of Finn Church Aid (2004-2015) as its executive director, and assumed multiple leadership positions including Special Advisor for President Ahtisaari, director at Crisis Management Initiative (2000-2004) and Religions for Peace (2010-2011). Antti holds experience in peace processes and reconciliation in Somalia, South Sudan and Libya. His efforts now focus on developing support mechanisms to connect insider reconcilers with state level political processes.
ROWDA OLAD
Associate Director & Insider Reconciler Fellow
Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution
Rowda Olad (she/her) is the Associate Director for the Mary Hoch Center for Reconciliation and Ph.D. student at George Mason University's Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution. In her role as Associate Director of MHCR, Rowda supports the Director in overseeing MHCR's research, practice, and administrative initiatives. Rowda is a psychotherapist and founder of Maandeeq Mental Health Without Borders. Rowda leads psych-educational trainings for government institutions and regional leaders in Somalia and has designed and implemented Psychological Rehabilitation Programs for high risk inmates and defectors. She has also been working with key actors throughout Somalia in elevating the mental health and psychological rehabilitations within the context of state building, political stability, social healing.
SEUNG GYO KIM
Assistant Director (Arts and reconciliation incubation)
Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution
Seung Gyo Kim (he/him) is a master student at George Mason University’s Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, specializing in Opera, Art Song, Narrative, and Peacebuilding. Bringing a sound based music-making approach into the field of peacebuilding, he uses Korean Art Song and a narrative approach to bridge cultural divides and highlight diverse perspectives within divided social contexts.
His professional journey includes serving as a research assistant at the United Nations Office for Sustainable Development (UNOSD) and as the 12th president of College Leaders: Korea at the UN (CLUN) under the World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA).
Additionally, he is recognized as an esteemed alumnus of the American Diplomacy House Seoul (ADH Seoul) and a special lecturer at the 2025 Young Trilateral Leaders (YTL) Regional Workshop Series for Korean, Japanese, and American youth, aimed at creating dialogue in the public sphere about navigating the challenges facing the trilateral partnership. Currently, he is working on reconciliation efforts of historical issues between Korea and Japan by leading Korean Art Song-based problem-solving workshops, where youths engage with the sentiments expressed in these contexts together while imagining the future of bilateral relations.
RESEARCH (TRANSFORMATION & RECONCILIATION)
& PRACTICE PROGRAMS
LEO HYLTON
Transformation & Reconciliation Lab Manager
Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution
Leo Hylton (he/him) is a PhD student at George Mason University’s Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, currently incarcerated in Maine State Prison. His education and work are based in trauma-informed, healing-centered Restorative Justice practices, with a vision toward an abolitionist future. To that end, he is working with Think Peace Learning & Support Hub as a Restorative Justice Consultant in support of transitional justice work, toward truth telling, racial healing, and reconciliation. Leo is also 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. In addition to his work and practice, he is also a columnist for the The Bollard (formerly Mainer), where he writes a monthly column to raise public consciousness around the existence and power of humanity in carceral spaces.
AVA PARKER
MHPSS Research Assistant & MHPSS Impact Coordinator
George Mason University College of Public Health, B.S. Community Health, Concentration Global Health
Ava (She/Her) is an undergraduate research assistant on youth mental health working with MHCR to further her studies in Community Health. Ava is a member of George Mason University’s nationally ranked Forensics team, where she uses her skills in public speaking and speech writing as a platform for advocacy. After spending her 2024 spring semester abroad in Madrid, Spain at the Charles III University of Madrid (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid), Ava continues to work towards her bachelor’s degree in Community Health with a concentration in Global Health through the College of Public Health. While she works with MHCR, she wants to use epidemiological methods to study how social determinants and historical trauma affect public health outcomes, integrating healing-centered frameworks. Outside of MHCR, Ava is a Global Women’s Health Virtual Research Assistant for the School of Global Health, Faculty of Medicine at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand. Here, she collaborates with ongoing research on the reproductive implication of Mpox with the goal of becoming a PI and first author of personal research. Ava also works as MHPSS Impact Coordinator, where she collaborates in coordinating logistics, engaging stakeholders, and ensures that each initiative meets its objectives. After graduating, she plans to pursue a Masters in global emerging infectious diseases, with an emphasis on integrating healing-centered frameworks into eradicating biased methods of practice in medicine.
JONATHAN FANG
Research assistant / impact Support intern
Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, B.S. Conflict Analysis and Resolution
Jonathan Fang (he/him) is a Research Assistant / Impact Support Intern at the Mary Hoch Center for Reconciliation, where he supports research on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) in peacebuilding and conflict prevention. His role includes conducting literature reviews, data collection and analysis, report writing, and leading psychoeducation sessions that incorporate MHPSS models through facilitated discussions and interactive activities. Jonathan is pursuing a B.S. in Conflict Analysis and Resolution with a concentration in Justice and Reconciliation at George Mason University’s Carter School, where he is also an Honors College student and Carter Ambassador. Having lived in China for over a decade, Jonathan brings a global perspective to his work and is dedicated to bridging divides through dialogue, research, and community engagement.
BROOKS MUNNS
INSIDER RECONCILER ASSISTANT
College of Public Health, B.S. Community Health
Brooks (He/Him) is an undergraduate research assistant working with MHCR to further his studies in Community Health. Before working at MHCR, he served as a peer educator through the ADL’s No Place for Hate program and as a committee head at his local chapter of Key Club. Currently, he is working toward his bachelor’s degree in Community Health at the GMU College of Public Health. While he works with MHCR, he hopes to apply community health-based approaches to understanding the impacts of conflict and peace on the body, mind, and community.
ANA RODO ARAUZO
Communications Manager & Indigenous support team
Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, Masters in Conflict Resolution
I am Ana Rodo (she/her), a Research Assistant at the Mary Hoch Center for Reconciliation (MHCR) and a current master's Student in Conflict Resolution, specializing in Inclusive Conflict Engagement at George Mason University’s Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution. At MHCR, my work focuses on peacebuilding practices within indigenous communities and developing educational materials for insider reconciliation initiatives in the Horn of Africa.
I am originally from Peru and hold a B.A. degree in International Relations from Peru and Peace and Conflict Resolution from George Mason University, specializing in Peace in Divided Societies and Collaborative Leadership. Professionally, I have worked for the International Rescue Committee (IRC) as an immigration intern and also at Just Neighbors. Additionally, I am an Assistant Editor for the Hispanic Culture Review at George Mason University.
My present research interests are centered on positive psychology and peacebuilding, with a particular emphasis on how IDPs utilize rituals, storytelling, and art to foster resilience and facilitate the trauma healing process.
AVERY BUTLER
Communications Manager and Research Coordinator
Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, B.A. in Conflict Analysis and Resolution
Avery Butler (he/him), MHCR Research and Administrative Officer, seeks deeper connections to the practice of peacebuilding and reconciliation as he finishes his B.S. in conflict analysis and resolution at George Mason University’s Carter School. He actively participates in facilitations and research around insider-reconcilers and trauma healing. Avery developed much of his skill in group facilitation as an intern for the Carter School’s Dialogue and Difference Initiative and as a peer advisor for GMU’s Global Gateway program, in which he was once a participant when he studied abroad in Madrid, Spain. After graduating, he will pursue a master’s degree and continue healing and group facilitation work with local and international communities.
DR. NICHOLAS SHERWOOD
Insider reconciler research lead
Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution (Alum)
Nicholas (Nick) Sherwood (he/him) took his B.A. (psychology and political science) from Christopher Newport University and his M.A. (anthropology of peace and human rights) from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He is a Ph.D. candidate in conflict analysis and resolution from George Mason University’s Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution. Prior to this role, Nick was the Former Associate Director (from 2020-2023).
IMPACT & PRACTICE
MORGAN COLTRAIN
FUNDRAISING & DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANT
College of Engineering & Computing; BS Mechanical Engineering, Concentration in Aerospace Engineering
Morgan (she/they) is a Funding and Development Assistant at MHCR with a community and alumni outreach, and military, background. While working on her Bachelor’s, Morgan is the Treasurer of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers chapter, a Mechanical Engineering Student Advisory Board member, and a summer intern with the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Dahlgren, VA. While working with MHCR, she hopes to build greater renown for the centre and deepen her understanding of the military's role in reconciliation, as well as its impact on peace and conflict.
