Conor Grennan
Founder, Next Generation Nepal (USA, Nepal)

Conor spent eight years at the EastWest Institute (EWI), both in Prague and the EU Office in Brussels.

During that time, Conor developed and managed a wide variety of projects focusing on issues such as peace and reconciliation in the Balkans, community development in Central Eastern Europe, and harmonizing anti-trafficking policy at the highest levels government in the European Union and the former Yugoslavia in cooperation with the top experts in the field. In 2001 he was made Deputy Director of EWI’s Program on Security and Good Governance, and served as the Advisor on EU Affairs to EWI’s Worldwide Security Program.

Conor left EWI in 2004 to travel and volunteer in Nepal, where he spent six months working at the Little Princes Children’s Home (LPCH) in the village of Godawari. He divided his time between caring for the children and working with local NGOs, international organizations, and the Nepali government to find solutions for trafficked children in Kathmandu, as well as to fight child trafficking in Nepal. He is an active member of the French association, Karya, a close working partner of NGN.

Conor is a citizen of the U.S. and Ireland and was been based in Kathmandu, Nepal until October 2007. He is now based in New York City, is attending NYU Stern School of Business, and is finishing a book about his experience in Nepal that will be released in February, 2011 with HarperCollins.

Wayne Harvey
Comptroller, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) (USA)

Wayne Harvey, CPA, joined RFE/RL in November 2006 as Comptroller.  With over 30 years of experience in both corporate and nonprofit settings, Wayne’s expertise includes finance, administration, human resources, information technology and purchasing.

Before joining RFE/RL, Wayne’s most recent role was as Director of Finance & Administration with The Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR), a nonprofit legal advocacy organization dedicated to promoting and defending women’s reproductive rights worldwide.

Wayne's diverse experience includes an international think tank, the world's only flying eye hospital, a United Nations agency, two circuses, and manufacturing firms. He has directed finance, administration, information technology, purchasing, and human resources departments. Wayne was the Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Orbis International, Inc., a global organization dedicated to the elimination of avoidable blindness. Before joining Orbis, Wayne was the Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at EastWest Institute, a think tank that provides policy advice on economic, security and political issues in Central and Eastern Europe, Russia and Eurasia. Wayne has also held finance positions with the U.S. Committee for UNICEF, the Big Apple Circus, SmithKline Bioscience Laboratories, and other corporations.

Wayne holds a BS in accounting from the University of Maryland and a CPA certificate and is based in Washington DC.

Sasha Havlicek
CEO and Director, Institute for Strategic Dialogue (UK)

As founding Chief Executive Officer and Director of the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), Sasha Havlicek has been responsible for the strategic development of this London-based think tank heading up programs, research and policy work in the fields of social cohesion and counter-radicalization, European neighborhood and Russia policy, cultural and media dialogue with Muslim communities and the Arab world. She also oversees the Institute's Weidenfeld Scholarships and Leadership Program launched with Oxford University in 2007.

Sasha previously served as Senior Program Director at the US think-tank, the EastWest Institute (EWI), where she developed a prominent portfolio of border management and cross-border conflict mitigation projects, setting up and running field operations across the Balkans, Eastern Europe and Russia. Sasha also served on a Task Force of the Stability Pact for Southeastern Europe in the aftermath of the Balkan wars.

Sasha sits on the Board of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF), which she helped found. She also serves on the board of the Women without Borders SAVE Initiative.

A British national, educated at undergraduate and Masters levels at the London School of Economics (LSE), she also holds a graduate diploma from the Institut D'Etudes Politiques (IEP), Paris.

Antje Herrberg
Director for European Policy, Crisis Management Initiative (Belgium)

Dr. Herrberg joined Crisis Management Initiative (CMI) as Director of European Policy in 2004. She is responsible for advocacy work vis à vis EU institutions and foundations, policy analysis, directing the activities of the CMI Brussels office, and bringing CMI's work closely into the EU fold.

Committed to contributing to sustainable peace efforts in this world, Dr. Herrberg joined the Crisis Management Initiative/Office of Martti Ahtisaari as the Director for European Policy in 2004. She is responsible for advocacy work vis à vis EU institutions and foundations, policy analysis and bringing CMI's work closely into the EU fold. She continues to work on specific assignments including the Aceh Peace Agreement, CMI's private diplomacy initiative and several actions in the field of civilian crisis management.
Antje Herrberg also represents the International Peacebuilding Alliance (Interpeace) to the EU, and has over 14 years of experience in the public, private, policy and
non-for profit sector.

Dr. Herrberg is a native German speaker, but works also in French, English and Russian. She is currently based in Brussels.

Mark R. Shulman
Assistant Dean for Graduate Programs and International Affairs, Pace Law School (USA)

Mark is Assistant Dean for Graduate Programs and International Affiliations and Adjunct Professor of Law at Pace Law School.

Prior to joining Pace, Dr. Shulman directed the Worldwide Security Program at the EastWest Institute. He has previously practiced corporate law at Debevoise & Plimpton and taught at Yale, Columbia, and the US Air War College.

Dr. Shulman has published numerous books and articles in the fields of history, law and international affairs. He received his BA from Yale, a master’s degree from Oxford, a Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley. He received his JD from Columbia where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Transnational Law on the board of which he continues to sit. Until January 2006, he also served as an officer and board member of the New York-based Asian University for Women Support Foundation, a non-profit building a world-class women’s college in Bangladesh.

Mark is based in New York City.


Melissa Upreti
Legal Adviser for Asia, Center for Reproductive Rights (USA)

Melissa Upreti is a human rights lawyer and currently a Senior Regional Manager and the Legal Adviser for Asia in the International Legal Program at the Center for Reproductive Rights, New York.

Melissa spearheads the Center’s work in Asia and is responsible for developing and implementing legal initiatives and accountability strategies for the recognition and protection of women’s reproductive rights in the region. She has conducted fact-finding missions to investigate and document the harmful impact of criminal abortion laws in countries such as Nepal and the Philippines. She has designed and conducted human rights trainings in countries across Asia and is involved in pioneering litigation initiatives aimed at combating gender-based discrimination and other abuses in the context of reproductive health care. More recently, she has been involved in securing the constitutional recognition of reproductive rights in Nepal. Melissa is widely published and frequently quoted for her expertise on women’s rights. She has been internationally recognized for her advocacy to promote women’s reproductive rights and was recently honored as a “Hero” by Marie Claire (UK) for her work in Nepal. Prior to joining the Center for Reproductive Rights, Melissa was a legal program officer at The Asia Foundation in Nepal.

Melissa grew up in the U.K., India and Nepal and has law degrees from India and the U.S. She lives in New Jersey with her husband and two children.