Dottie Indyke, Executive Director

For 35 years Dottie's work has focused on nonprofit management, media, and the arts. Most recently she was president of her own communications firm, specializing in marketing, public relations, and planning for nonprofits. For a decade she was a freelance journalist and art critic for national, regional, and local publications.

Dottie was founder and director of Children's Radio Theatre, a children's radio drama production company whose programs were broadcast on 150 National Public Radio stations across the country and were the recipient of numerous honors, including a Peabody Award and National Education Association Award. She was vice-president of programming for the National Cable Television Association and the volunteer coordinator for the Smithsonian's Festival of American Folklife. She has served as a trustee of the University of Georgia's George Foster Peabody Awards, AID & Comfort of New Mexico, and Fine Arts for Children and Teens, among others. Dottie was the first president of Creativity for Peace.

Anael Harpaz, Director, Camper Program

Anael Harpaz grew up in South Africa during Apartheid. Her father, an ardent Zionist born in Palestine in 1927, frequently spoke of returning home. At 15, Anael visited Israel and took part in an ulpan program run by the Jewish day school she attended. She was caught up in the atmosphere of triumph and pride and determined to return to Israel to become a soldier. After finishing high school she and her family moved to Israel. She learned Hebrew, studied to be a kindergarten teacher, served in the army, and married a pilot in the Israeli air force.

Anael raised three wonderful children. The death of her fourth infant sparked a long spiritual journey that continues to this day. In the early 1990s, during the first Intifada in the Palestinian town of Nablus, she encountered the suffering of the 'other' for the first time. It has taken years of spiritual seeking, studying many healing modalities, and becoming a spiritual healer before she found her life's work at Creativity for Peace. She is part of two Arab/Jewish women's groups, Beyond Words and Woman of Vision, and participates in many interfaith gatherings. Anael is a poet and has written a manuscript entitled Pieces to Peace.

Silvia Margia, Director, Young Leaders Program

Silvia Margia was born and raised in Dimona, a Jewish city in southern Israel, where she established strong relationships with Jewish Israelis. After high school she moved further north and deeply connected to her own Palestinian culture, of which she is very proud.

She feels her mission today is to be a bridge between Palestinians and Israelis. Silvia states, "I believe that the existence of one part should not be a threat to the existence of the other part. The existence of these parts together enriches and empowers everyone."

Silvia has been a social worker for 16 years. She studied at the Leslie University extension in Natania in the departments of women's studies and art. Most of her professional and volunteer work is with women and teenage girls based on her belief that the strengthening of women's voices will speed the peace process world-wide.

Silvia is the visionary founder of "Women In The Center," a women's empowerment and peace center in the Arab city of Nazareth. She is a certified facilitator for Beyond Words, a dialogue group of Arab and Jewish women in the Galilee.

She is the mother of two wonderful children, Johnny and Aya.

Chrissy Schmitt, Director, Art Program

Since her early twenties Chrissy Schmitt has dedicated her life to the healing arts. She moved to Santa Fe from Annapolis, Maryland in 2004 to attend Southwestern College, where she was awarded a Master's Degree in Art Therapy. Chrissy is experienced in many spiritually focused techniques, including breath work, psychodrama, and noetic field balancing. Her work and life are committed to authenticity, empowerment, compassion, and peace. Since 2005, Chrissy has worked in numerous therapeutic settings serving individuals and groups of adults, children, and adolescents. She has served on Creativity for Peace's art staff since 2006 and maintains a private art therapy practice in Santa Fe.

Nancy Clayman, Business Manager, Middle East

Nancy was born and raised in the United States, but has lived in Israel for most of the last 35 years. After three decades in the hi-tech industry, supervising international activities and departments spread across the globe, she chose to use her managerial expertise to transition into more meaningful work. As a mother of two daughters and grandmother to four (and counting), Nancy has a vested interest in working for peace. In her free time, when not working on a Sudoku, she sails, cooks, hikes, and walks the dog.

Muna Tannous, Palestinian Coordinator

Muna Tannous was born in Jerusalem and studied at Tuson College and Lancashire Central University in Great Britain. She holds a post-graduate diploma in bilingual education and has taken numerous courses in writing, translation, and teaching English as a Second Language. For the past seven years she has taught English to adults in the West Bank. She is a resident of Ramallah and is the mother of four children, including Nahida, a Creativity for Peace camper.

Frances Salles, Volunteer Coordinator

Frances grew up in England in a family dedicated to volunteerism and peace and social justice. She has worked with many nonprofits, including Rape Crisis, Women’s Refuges, Age Concern, and the Council for Voluntary Services. Her background as a volunteer, board member, and employee makes volunteer coordination an ideal job.

Elisa Keir, Assistant to the Executive Director

Elisa was born in Alaska, has been a multi-media artist since she was 5 years old, and has worked with nonprofits for 10 years as a finance manager and bookkeeper. Previously she owned and managed a music store in Chicago. She has worked with Creativity for Peace since 2006 and believes her enthusiasm and dedication help nurture change and understanding.

Dalya Yohai, Camp House Mother

Dalya was born in Istanbul, Turkey. Her family moved to Israel when she was 7 and in 1984 she relocated to the United States. She has worked as a psychiatric social worker, an interior designer, and, for the past decade, as a ceramicist and teacher of language and clay. She currently facilitates groups working toward successful co-parenting after divorce. A mother and grandmother, Dalya works with Creativity for Peace so that her granddaughter, Siana, and future generations will know peace.

Itaf Awad, Camp House Mother

Itaf is a resident of Daburia, Israel, who holds an MA in political science from Haifa University. She managed the office of Daburia's mayor for 26 years, and served as consultant on women's affairs. She is a licensed facilitator in Marshall Rosenberg's non-violent communication method and a member of the steering committee of the NGO Circles of Listening, where she is a facilitator. Itaf also facilitates women empowerment and body and soul workshops.

Sue Barnum, Camp Therapist

Sue Barnum, MA, LPCC, is a licensed psychotherapist and psychodramatist, as well as an artist and musician. She had a thriving private therapy practice in Houston for 25 years and served for a decade on the board of the Houston Group Psychotherapy Society and the American Society for Group Psychotherapy and Psychodrama. She has traveled and taught abroad for many years, feeding her deep interest in other cultures.

Rachel Kaufman, Co-Founder

Rachel Kaufman has 40 years experience as psychotherapist, educator, and social activist. She co-founded Creativity for Peace in 2003 out of a realization that it only takes one person to change history. She has a Master's Degree in Counseling Psychology and Bachelor's Degree in Educational Psychology and has worked as a teacher of special education, and a clinical and school associate psychologist.

In 1987, Rachel and husband Rick Phillips created the Deva Foundation with the philosophy that expansion of self-awareness can aid people in reaching their full potential. She has trained over 100 facilitators from 11 countries in this transpersonal psychology work. Rachel has conducted workshops and lectures throughout the world.

Rachel began traveling to Israel and Palestine in 1973. During the Gulf War, as the Scud missiles were landing, she led dialogues on managing fear. She has worked with Palestinian and Israeli peace groups throughout the years. She conducted video histories of Holocaust survivors for Steven Spielberg's "Shoah" project and co-produced and wrote a documentary on the Holocaust that is used in American high schools and universities. The mother of two grown sons, Rachel spends her free time scuba diving, reading, cooking, and hiking in her native New Mexico.

Debra Sugerman, Co-Founder

After a year of reflection about how to help the world one teenager at a time, Debra Sugerman collaborated with Rachel Kaufman to develop Creativity for Peace. Debra is a filmmaker and an artist who believes that peace begins within each of us and that growth and change are never easy. Her documentary, "Dear Mr. President," created with five young women from the first Creativity for Peace camp, is available for screening and purchase. For updates on her work, please visit www.LiquidSugarFilms.com.