Imagine Center for Conflict Transformation
About Us
Mission and Goals
The Imagine Center for Conflict Transformation (Imagine Center) is an independent, non-political organization and is dedicated to positively transforming relations and laying foundations for lasting and sustainable peace in conflict-torn societies.
Goals of Imagine Center
- Transform negative attitudes of conflict-torn societies towards the conflict and each other and promote cooperative and mutually beneficial view of the conflict
- Generate joint learning, analysis and ideas that take needs, concerns and hopes of all sides into consideration and that can be used in the peace process
- Create and sustain networks of professionals across conflict lines committed to peace building process
Imagine Center's Activities
- Creating opportunity for constructive dialogue among various groups in conflict torn societies and positively transforming attitudes through innovative dialogue program
- Engaging young leaders and professionals in conflict transformation work by providing skills and building networks
- Encouraging and enabling collaborative work in studying and analyzing conflict between researchers and civil society leaders from countries in conflict.
History
Imagine was started by conflict resolution practitioners from Armenia, Azerbaijan and the U.S. in an effort to address the absence of communication between the people of Azerbaijan and Armenia. Determined to bring together the representatives of two countries for an open dialogue about needs, concerns, fears and hopes of two sides, the founders put together a retreat and dialogue program.
First Imagine took place in May of 2007 with support from the United States Department of State six young professionals from Azerbaijan and six from Armenia participated in a 10-day dialogue and retreat program in Maine, U.S. During the program, the participants explored their understanding and thoughts about the conflict and each other and discussed the opportunities and challenges presented by the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Since then, the Imagine Program has come a long way. The one time dialogue project has been transformed into a network of young Azerbaijanis and Armenians committed to working across borders towards creating linkages and improving understanding of their societies. The Imagine network has grown to be a uniting platform for joint work and is always expanding its reach into other areas of conflict and initiatives such as conferences and educational projects.
'Imagine' is a non-political organization and has no particular position or preference in regard to the final settlement of the Armenian - Azerbaijani conflict.
The Team
Philip Gamaghelyan
Philip Gamaghelyan has been with Imagine Center for Conflict Transformation since 2007. Philip lectured at Tufts University Experimental College and worked as a trainer and conflict group facilitator with Armenian-Azerbaijani, Turkish-Armenian, Arab-Israeli, Indian-Pakistani and Afghan groups.
He is the author of the articles "Intractability of the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict: a myth or a reality?' published in Peace and Conflict Monitor in 2005 and 'Beyond Politics: rethinking the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict', upcoming in the International Negotiations Journal in 2009. Philip's research is focused on the role of memory and history in identity-based conflicts. He has a MA degree in Inter-communal Coexistence from Brandeis University and a BA in Political Science from Yerevan State Linguistic University (Brusov).
Jale Sultanli
Jale Sultanli has been with Imagine Center since 2007 and worked as Azerbaijani facilitator at Imagine Retreat and Dialogue in 2007 - 2009. Jale has experience designing and managing international development projects with focus on training and capacity building in civil society for more than 8 years. She has worked with a number of international organizations such as Academy for Educational Development, Eurasia Foundation, Chemonics, etc.
Jale has been involved in and managed a number of regional projects in the South Caucasus. She holds a Master's Degree in Social and Public Policy and a Certificate in Conflict Resolution and Peace-building from Duquesne University
Diler Erdengiz
Diler Erdengiz has been with the Imagine Center since 2008 and is a co-facilitator for Imagine projects. She worked and researched the topic of missing persons and other transitional justice issues in her undergraduate career at Tufts University. In 2007, Diler served as the assistant to the ambassador for the Observer Mission of the OIC to the UN, and prior that, as a research assistant for the Committee on Missing Persons in her Native Cyprus. She is currently receiving training in mediation, conflict and development at Brandeis University.
Chris Littlefield
Chris has been with Imagine Center since the first dialogue project in 2007. Chris has varied and broad experience in designing and leading programs that create understanding and trust between youth and adults from cultures in conflict. Working for Seeds of Peace and Friends Forever Peace programs Chris has direct experience in the development and implementation of conflict resolution programs between Israelis and Palestinians, Indians-Pakistanis, Greek and Turkish Cypriots, and Catholics and Protestants from Northern Ireland.
Chris is also a skilled trainer. He spent the last two years leading anti-bias and harassment trainings for the Center for the Prevention of Hate Violence in Portland, Maine. He has received research and service awards for his work with the Seeds of Peace Program, the Caroline Briggs Award for contributions to diversity from UNCA. Chris received his BA in "Global Interactions" from University of North Carolina Asheville
