TEAM

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Patricia is Executive Director of the international nonprofit organization NewGen Peacebuilders and the associated Youth & Peace in Action initiative. She also serves as Senior Fellow for Peace Education at Washington, DC-based Alliance for Peacebuilding and Global Ambassador with the Institute for Economics & Peace. In these roles, Patricia’s focus is on leadership for the design and delivery of peace education, training and mentoring programs that integrate leadership development, project management, and conflict resolution and sustainable peacebuilding. As of 2023, participants in 12 states in the US and 18 countries have participated and received certifications with a goal of “making learning to be a peacebuilder a rite of passage for everyone, everywhere.”

Patricia is also one of 1,500+ Rotary Peace Fellows, with her selection based on extensive nonprofit and consulting accomplishments across East Africa. For her work in South Sudan, Patricia was nominated for a UNESCO prize for girls’ and women’s literacy. In 2022, Patricia was a recipient of the Melanie Greenberg Award for Excellence in US Conflict Resolution & Peacebuilding. Previously, Patricia held senior positions in change management and communications in two global Fortune 100 companies. She holds a MSc in Consulting and Coaching for Change – a joint-venture of Oxford University, UK, and HEC France; MBA, Northwestern University Kellogg Graduate School of Management; and MA in Journalism from The Ohio State University.

Patricia Shafer

Elizabeth Peacock

DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS
Elizabeth has extensive experience designing, developing, and implementing peace education and action peace projects in the US and international locales. She is also an Institute for Economics & Peace Global Peace Ambassador. Her accomplishments with NewGen Peacebuilders have been recognized by the NC State Institute for Emerging Issues, SEED20 Initiative of Social Venture Partners – Charlotte, and The Pollination Project. She is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and former high school teacher.
Deb Semmler

DIRECTOR OF CURRICULUM
Deb is Director of Curriculum for NewGen Peacebuilders and Youth & Peace in Action. She’s a retired National Board Certified physics teacher with a BS in Chemical Engineering and MS in Engineering, and is also a Microelectronic Center of North Carolina Fellow. She developed innovative curriculum as a Yale National Teaching Institute Fellow and Charlotte Institute of Teacher Fellow. School Executive Leadership Academy graduate. Deb is the lead catalysis for the development of Pivot Academy – a new way to teach STEM in East Africa.
Jelena Jevtic

PROGRAM MANAGER
Jelena has coordinated and co-facilitated select NGP programs in the US, Bolivia, Southeast Europe, and Lebanon. She has a BA in Political Science from an HBCU Bluefield State College in West Virginia, US and a MA in Security, Intelligence and Strategic Studies from the University of Glasgow (UK), Dublin City University (Ireland), and Charles University (Czechia) as an Erasmus Mundus scholarship recipient. She is also an Institute for Economics & Peace Global Peace Ambassador and an alumna of the Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX) program, sponsored by the US Department of State.