Alumni Peacebuilders // Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies // University of Notre Dame

Chernor Bah, M.A. ’11

Chernor Bah is the Minister of Information and Civic Education of Sierra Leone, and is the Co-founder and former CEO of Purposeful, an organization that supports and empowers adolescent girls in the global south to spark and sustain movements for change in the developing world.

Jorge Vargas-Cullell, M.A. ’94

Jorge Vargas-Cullell is the Director of Estado de la Nación (State of the Nation), a Costa Rica-based center of thought that conducts research on sustainable development in Costa Rica and in Central America.

Myla Leguro, M.A. ’10

Myla Leguro is Technical Advisor for Social Cohesion and Church Engagement at Catholic Relief Services (CRS) in the Philippines, and founder of the Mindanao Peacebuilding Institute.

Bina D'Costa, M.A. ’97

Bina D’Costa is professor of international relations and a peace and conflict studies specialist at the Australian National University. She is actively engaged in humanitarian peacebuilding efforts around the world. Her research and practice focuses on the intersections between politics, human rights, and security in Asia, with particular emphases...

Bear Guerra, B.A. ’95

Roberto (Bear) Guerra is a photographer whose work focuses on globalization, human rights, social justice, and environmental justice.

Amollo Amollo, M.A. ’08

Amollo Amollo is Technical Director for the Africa Region at Mercy Corps.

Valerie Hickey, M.A. ’00

Valerie Hickey is Global Director for Environment, Natural Resources and the Blue Economy at the World Bank.

Zhu Qing, M.A. ’19

Zhu Qing is a social entrepreneur whose business, Pumbaa Eco, promotes sustainable investment and the concept of positive peace in China and around the world.

Michael McDonald , M.A. ’15

Michael McDonald is a National Director of Communications for L'Arche Canada and an independent filmmaker whose passion for visual storytelling developed during his studies at the Kroc Institute.

Josh Moore, M.A. ’04

Josh Moore is Senior Director of Global and Immersive Learning and Co-Director of the Weissberg Program in Human Rights and Social Justice at Beloit College in Wisconsin. His work lives at the intersection of racial justice, international education, and human rights. Josh credits the Kroc Institute for helping him to...

Brittney Nystrom, B.A. ’98

Brittney Nystrom is Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Utah. Her work focuses on advocacy for civil rights and civil liberties in Utah. She will return to the University of Notre Dame campus in October 2021 to receive the Kroc Institute’s 2021 Distinguished Alumni Award.

Caleb "C.J." Pine, B.A. ’17

Caleb “C.J.” Pine is Peace Process and Programming Specialist Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations, U.S. Department of State

Kamar Yousuf, M.A. ’99

Kamar Yousuf is the Head of the Private Sector Unit at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The Unit functions as the coordinating hub for UNEP’s engagement with businesses and facilitates strategic partnerships.

Shamsia Ramadan, M.A. ’10

Shamsia Ramadan is Program Manager for Catholic Relief Services’ (CRS) Capacity for Inter-religious Community Action, an organization working in six African countries to help communities deal with conflicts.

Emil P. Bolongaita, M.A. ’89

Emil Bolongaita is Distinguished Service Professor of Public Policy and Management at Carnegie Mellon University and the head of its campus in Australia, while simultaneously working to help establish an international anti-corruption court modeled after the International Criminal Court.

P. Carl, M.A. ’90

P. Carl has spent his career exploring the power of story and the arts to create policy, to facilitate dialogue, and to transform people and systems. As a longtime artistic director and theater advocate, now a nonfiction writer and Distinguished Artist in Residence at Emerson College...