The Berkeley Rotary Center
Rotary World Peace Scholars
2004 - 2006

Rotary World Peace Scholars, Class 2004- 2006

Sheila's formative years were shaped around the events and culture in Basilan, Mindanao, where she grew up, and which for decades has served as the battleground of Muslim armed secessionist uprisings and fratricidal wars. From the Claretian missionaries, the Catholic order assigned to the island, Sheila learned to appreciate the importance of peace. The Claretian missionaries deep immersion in interfaith dialogue and analysis of global issues laid the groundwork for Sheila's keen interest in development and peace issues. Before coming to Berkeley, Sheila was an Assistant Professor at the University of Perpetual Help System in her native Philippines, where she received her Bachelor's degree in Political Science cum laude, and her Master's degree in Education. During her thirteen years as a teacher, Sheila witnessed how conflicts destroyed villages and shattered lives. Structural inequities within the local communities, state sponsored violence, and lingering cultural, political and religious bias all permeated her academic discussions.

Sheila considers her graduate study in peace and conflict at UC Berkeley as a leap of faith which will help her contribute towards the establishment of peace in her country.

Saeed Ahmed Rid, Pakistan

Saeed is using his double M.A. in Political Science and International and Area Studies (Peace Studies) at the University of California, Berkeley to focus on people-to-people contact and Multi-Track Diplomacy (MTD) as an option for conflict resolution between India and Pakistan in resolving the long-standing Kashmir dispute. Every conflict has a human element, which is often unacknowledged by traditional peace building actors. Saeed believes in the potential of the human element as a powerful means to resolve conflict, and through the skills he has developed and experience he has gained over the past years, he is determined to work on enhancing this aspect with the conflict resolution and peace process between India and Pakistan. Saeed interned with the Friends of South Asia (FOSA) - a Bay Area organization of Indian and Pakistani immigrants. As part of his internship, Saeed went to Pakistan to interview Pakistani peace marchers who marched from New Delhi to Multan from the 23rd of March to the 11th of May, 2005. By working on this project, Saeed had the opportunity to directly interact with the peace activists on both sides of the border. This gave him invaluable insight on how the spirit of the common people can bridge the divide and help improve Indo-Pak relations. Saeed earned his Master's degree in International Relations from Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan, and completed his L.L.B. from Shah Abdul Latif University Khairpur, Pakistan. Prior to coming to Berkeley, he worked as a lecturer of International Relations in Mumtaz College Khairpur. He also served with several local NGO's on community development programs, and as a human rights activist in the local chapter of Amnesty International.

Jeyashree Nadarajah, Malaysia

Prior to coming to Berkeley, Shree worked as a Business and Direct Execution Services Assistant for the United Nations Development Program in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, supporting regional programs such as the Asia Pacific Development Information Program and The Urban Governance Initiative. Having partnered with Rotary for 12 years as a Rotaractor, Shree has worked on countless projects relating to children and youths. Shree was also awarded the Paul Harris Fellow by the Rotary Club of Oakland, Tennessee when she was a GSE team member. Shree's research focuses on children affected by armed conflict, particularly in Sri Lanka, Nepal and Myanmar. With additional experience gained and networks established from her internship with the United Nation's Office of the Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Shree's resolve to work in the field has strengthened. She is particularly interested in implementing program interventions and policies which take into account long term prevention and education elements,with the ultimate objective of ensuring the protection of children exposed to armed conflict. Shree earned an Honors Bachelor's degree in Accounting and Finance from Middlesex University, London UK and a Masters in International Management from Bremen University of Applied Sciences, Germany. She is currently pursuing a Master's in Asian Studies as a Rotary World Peace Scholar at the University of California, Berkeley.

Paulo Jakutis, Brazil

Paulo Sergio Jakutis is a federal judge and a professor of law at the Centro Universitario Unicapital and Unibero - Centro Universitario Ibero Americano in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where he has taught since 1996. From 1989 to 1994, he worked as a labor lawyer associated with the office Jakutis & Rossi, focusing on issues involving collective bargaining, union disputes and employment contracts. He has worked as a federal judge since 1995, in a district court in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where he decided conflicts between employers and employees, unions and corporations and undertook judicial review of arbitrations and other questions involving labor and employment law. Paulo Sergio Jakutis received his J.D. from the Law School of the University of Sao Paulo in 1986 and became a specialist in Labor and Employment Law in 1991, when he finished the specialization course at the same University. In 2000 he received his Master's Degree in Employment and Labor Law also from University of Sao Paulo. In 1995, Paulo Sergio Jakutis was approved as a federal judge in a public contest, and in 2002, was promoted as the judge responsible for the 18a District Labor Court of Sao Paulo. Since 1990 he has worked as a volunteer in a non profit organization dedicated to helping poor children in Sao Paulo, and to developing the northeastern of Brazil, the region of the country that has chronic problems with child malnutrition. He is using his Rotary Peace Fellowship to pursue a L.L.M./J.S.D. course at Boalt Hall, UC Berkeley.

Lee-Anne Mulholland, Northern Ireland

Lee-Anne, having grown up during the 'troubles' in Northern Ireland, is certainly no stranger to conflict. Indeed, Lee-Anne a graduate of Queens University of Belfast, began her career at the Bar of Northern Ireland, working as a practicing Barrister-at-Law focusing mainly on the establishment of post-conflict justice and human rights in a society badly wrought with discrimination, sectarianism and violence vis-à-vis the litigation of cases in both domestic and international courts under the post-Good Friday Peace Agreement Human Rights Act. Her contribution included work on the infamous 'Bloody Sunday Inquiry' which questioned the actions of state officials surrounding the death of 13 unarmed civilians during a civil rights march in Derry Northern Ireland following the deployment of British troops in the jurisdiction. As Lee-Anne became more aware of the international role of terrorism, occupation, and the damaging effects of the abuse of human rights to the stability of international relations, she sought to provide the lessons learned by those dealing with terrorism and conflict in her own country to the world community at large, and this has been a defining theme of hers as a Rotary World Peace Fellow. Lee-Anne has pursued her Master's Degree in Law at Berkeley and focused her Master's thesis on the provision of international justice for those that have been subject to state inflicted human rights abuses under the banner of a war on terrorism, the effects of the lack of such provision on the attempted expulsion of international terrorism at large and asserted that the action was indeed counter-productive to the establishment of peace and security. This year, as she pursues her J.S.D. (doctorate) in law, Lee-Anne shall suggest possible avenues of transitional justice in a post-conflict society such as Iraq, in a bid to find a legal answer to the increasing support base for international terrorism and the provision of peace and security.

Jonathan Kolieb, Australia

Jonathan, a community-minded, Australian attorney has developed a passion for conflict resolution over many years of study and experience. Committed to exploring and assisting in the resolution of conflicts around the world, his primary focus is the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Complementing this passion, Jonathan takes a keen interest in Middle Eastern history and politics, as well as mediation and other conflict resolution skills. Jonathan has worked with Israelis and Palestinians on various peace-building projects in Jerusalem, and has studied under some of the most eminent authorities in Israel, Australia and the USA. He has worked at a negotiation consultancy firm, taught educational courses on the Arab-Israeli conflict, and has delivered papers at conferences around Australia. Most recently he has worked with Human Rights Watch, in New York and Jerusalem. Jonathan's commitment to his community is reflected in his voluntary involvement in several organizations, including the University of Melbourne's International Conflict Resolution Centre, the Jewish Holocaust Centre, and various community legal services. Jonathan also established a non-profit group, "Aleinu" (Hebrew for "It is upon us"), in an effort to promote peace-thinking amongst the Australian Jewish community. Aleinu's projects include the "Blanket of Peace", and a Jewish-Palestinian Dialogue Circle. Currently, Jonathan is completing a Master's in International Law and a Master's in Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.

Rún Ingvarsdóttir, Iceland

Rún's academic focus has been on immigration, ethnic and international relations, as well as gender issues. This summer Rún did an internship with the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in Santiago de Chile. There she worked on a project for women immigrants in Latin America and the trafficking of women and children, an issue that will be the topic of her Master's thesis at Berkeley. Rún's former work experience includes being the office manager of UNIFEM, Iceland (The United Nations Developing Fund for Women) and a project manager at the Sports and Youth Council of Reykjavik. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Social Anthropology from the University of Iceland and is currently pursuing a M.A degree in Latin American Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. In addition to Icelandic, Rún speaks English, Spanish, Portuguese and basic Danish.

2002-2004 Scholars

2003-2005 Scholars