Academic Bridges Across Disciplines

Olympism For Humanity Alliance is an academic consortium of prominent experts from premier institutions that uses Olympism and Sport to address local and international issues. We combine sport, education, and culture to support societal change and the improvement of human welfare. O4H Alliance embraces the relationship between the ancient Olympic idea and the modern world by cultivating international collaborations, to educate youth and people of all ages through life-long learning, entrepreneurship and civic engagement. We work with a variety of groups and individuals, from non-governmental organizations, humanitarian agencies and academics, to researchers, teachers, and universities, among others. Housed and supported by the Center for Intercultural Education and Development (CEID), we comprise notable experts from Georgetown University, International Olympic Academy, CARDET, Yale Center of Analytical Sciences, University of Thrace, Santa Clara University, University of Montpellier, Harvard University and other prominent institutions across the globe.

Olympism For Humanity Alliance Board of Directors

Dr. Alexis Lyras:  Dr. Alexis Lyras is the founder and President of Olympism for Humanity Alliance and holds an Academic Fellowship at the Conflict Resolution Program, Department of Government at Georgetown University since August 2012. Dr. Lyras is an International Olympic Committee scholar with the Olympic Solidarity and has a distinguished record in the emerging field of Olympism for Humanity in Action (the intersection of Sport and physical activity with Olympism, Peacebuilding and Sustainable Development). This framework has served as a blueprint for Lyras’ MA and PhD work, with scholarship received from the Olympic Solidarity, and was established through 30 years of field-based interventions, teaching and research blended with sport programing and policy, coaching, as well as training and certification of coaches, physical educators and sport administrators. He has initiated and implemented a number of Olympism-based Education, Conflict Resolution and Development projects in local, regional and global communities. As a grantee and Principal Investigator, he has received 670,000 USD in funding from the Olympic Solidarity, I.O.C., E.U., U.N.D.P. and Charity Foundations to implement research-based cross-cultural youth peace-building initiatives and more than 2,000,000 USD in collaborative projects focusing on inter-ethnic collaboration, social perspective taking, change agent efficacy, youth engagement, and global citizenship. Over the last 30 years Dr. Lyras have established Olympism for Humanity (O4H) Theory and Sport for Development Theory, (SFDT), the first and most widely used Applied Olympism and Olympic Education interdisciplinary theories. O4H and SFD Theories provide sound theoretical foundations and practical recommendations that are being utilized for the design, delivery and evaluation of Olympic values-based interventions, educational programs, curriculum design, professional/vocational training, academic courses and student engagement initiatives. Lyras’ SFDT and O4HAT are being used by various scholars and youth humanitarian programs across the globe and was validated in various settings such as (a) inter-group conflict and peacebuilding interventions, (b) inclusion and integration of homeless youth and refugees, (b) HIV and Health Prevention interventions, (c) Gender roles and inclusion policy evaluation, (d) at risk youth non-formal education, and (e) youth and student engagement ventures.  A synthesis of his 30 years field work and long-term vision can be found in his most recent publication at the APA Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology . More information about his work can be found at  www.alexislyras.com

Mr. Lucian Wagner. Lucian has a truly global outlook with an extensive set of contacts in North America, Europe, and Asia. He is currently a General Partner at EuroUS Ventures LLC, Chairman & Co-founder of Launch in US Alliance, LLC and EuroUS Accelerator, Inc. and his main focus now is helping European companies gain traction in the US. In this function, he lectures frequently at events throughout Europe and the US and helps organize study trips and visits to Boston and Silicon Valley. Before joining EuroUS Ventures in 2005, he was a co-founder of several US tech business. He is a current and past member of the Board of several European ICT companies and advises them on Marketing, Financing and General Strategy issues. Previously, Lucian spent more than 20 years in the semiconductor equipment industry, holding a series of positions in Sales and Marketing, based out of Switzerland and then Boston, MA. Lucian was born in Germany, educated in the French school system, and went on to earn a B.Sc. in International Economics from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University (with a minor in Russian) and an MBA from INSEAD in 1981. He met Dr. Lyras at a Georgetown Alumni event in late 2013 and attended the O4H Praxis Summit in 2014 in Olympia. Since that time, he has been actively involved in growing the O4H Alliance.

Dr. Laurence Chalip: Dr. Laurence Chalip is the Brightbill/Sapora Professor at the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign), where he serves as Head of the Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism. He earned his Ph.D. in policy analysis from the University of Chicago. Prior to taking his current position, he served as Professor and Coordinator of the Sport Management Program at the University of Texas (Austin). He has been a visiting faculty member at universities in Australia, China, Korea, New Zealand, Spain, and Venezuela. He has co-authored or co-edited three books, four monographs, over a dozen book chapters, and over one hundred peer reviewed articles. He was the founding Editor of Sport Management Review, and also served as Editor for Journal of Sport Management. He is an Associate Editor for Journal of Sport & Tourism, as well as North American Editor for the International Journal of Event and Festival Management. He serves on the Editorial Boards of nine other scholarly journals. In addition to research, he consults widely to industry. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Leisure Sciences, and a Research Fellow of the North American Society for Sport Management, from which he has also won the Earle F. Zeigler Award, which is their highest award for scholarly contribution to the field. He was a founding board member of the Sport Management Association of Australia and New Zealand, and has also won their Distinguished Service Award. In 2000, he was named to the International Chair of Olympism by the International Olympic Committee and the Centre for Olympic Studies.

Advisory Board  and Mentors

Dr. Fathali M. Moghaddam is a professor in the Department of Psychology and the director of the Interdisciplinary Program in Cognitive Science at Georgetown University. Dr. Moghaddam was born in Iran, educated from an early age in England, and worked for the United Nations and for McGill University before joining Georgetown University in 1990. He returned to Iran in the spring of revolution in 1979 and was researching there during the hostage-taking crisis and the early years of the Iran–Iraq War. He has conducted experimental and field research in numerous cultural contexts and published extensively on radicalization, intergroup conflict, human rights and duties, and the psychology of globalization. His most recent books include The Psychology of Dictatorship (2013), Multiculturalism and Intergroup Relations (2008); How Globalization Spurs Terrorism (2008); The New Global Insecurity (2010); Words of Conflict, Words of War (2010, with Rom Harré); Psychology for the Third Millennium (2012, with Rom Harré); Psychology of Dictatorship (2013); Psychology of Democracy, (2016); Mutual radicalization: How groups and nations drive each other to extremes (2018). Dr. Moghaddam is the editor of Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, and he has received a number of recognitions for his scholarly contributions, the most recent being the Outstanding International Psychologist Award for 2012 from the American Psychological Association’s Division of International Psychology. More about his research can be found on his website: www.fathalimoghaddam.com.

Chantal Santelices, CIED’s Executive Director, came to Georgetown University in 1989 and has served the Center in several leadership roles, including as Director of the CASS Overseas Program and as CIED’s Associate Director. She brings in-depth global expertise in international training, organizational development, small business development and export promotion. Ms. Santelices provides strategic leadership to CIED and works closely with the Program Directors to ensure the highest quality management for all of CIED’s programs. She also leads the dynamic growth of CIED’s Gateway program by working with the Program Director and Georgetown University Professors to offer cutting edge international training. She works closely with the Director of Finance and Administration to oversees CIED’s human resources and financial audits. Raised in South Asia, Europe, and Latin America, she began her career as a Regional Development Specialist for the Organization of American States. Ms. Santelices holds a B.A. in Economics from Marymount College and an Executive MBA from the University of Maryland. She is a Certified Research Administrator (CRA). More information about Ms. Santelice’s work can be found at http://cied.georgetown.ed

Christine Bosse is a Danish businesswoman with a global mindset. She has distinguished herself by her dedication to ambitious company goals, growth and sustainability and by the remarkable results she has achieved through strong leadership, clear governance and efficient turnarounds. Today Chritine Bosse works full-time as board member in international orientated companies. She serves as director of the board in Allianz and TDC and as chairman of BankNordik, Tele Greenland and Nunaoil. Additionally, she serves as chairman of BØRNEfonden and The Danish European Movement as well as she is actively engaged with Copenhagen Business School, Norwegian School of Economics and the European Council on Foreign Relations. Successful loyalty programs, digitization and growth in top and bottom line are the key issues associated with her career in operational and top management. In her latest book ‘The Boss – about balanced leadership’ (2014) she generously shares her thoughts and experiences from her many years with Executive Management in Tryg, where she served as Group CEO from 2003 until 2011 – for facts and figures about Tryg in the years she served as CEO please read this analysis. Christine Bosse has a high ranking within the financial sector and her success with turnarounds, listing and establishing effective Risk and Revision Committees has been widely required across various industries. She is the former chairman of The Royal Danish Theater, Flügger, The Danish Insurance Association as well as she is former director of the board in Nordea Bank, Aker ASA and Grundfos. In 2010 the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, appointed Christine as Advocate for the Millennium Development Goals and two times she has been appointed one of The Most Influential Business Women In The World Christine is considered an inspirational thinker on leadership and innovation, and she is recognized for her approach to diversity, customer focus and organizational involvement and for her direct and no-nonsense communication. Christine Bosse holds a Master of Laws and is also mother of two daughters. More information about Christine Bosse’s work can be found on her website https://www.bosse.biz/en/

Dr. Tassos C. Kyriakides (Ph.D., Yale University, 1999): Tassos is an Infectious Disease Epidemiologist/Biostatistician. Born and raised in Cyprus, he received a Fulbright Scholarship and completed his B.Sc in Biochemistry at UCLA in 1993. He has worked as a biostatistician on numerous national and international medical research projects. He is a statistical consultant/analyst on numerous research protocols, has served on US and Canadian scientific evaluation committees and is a statistical reviewer for the Lancet Infectious Diseases. He is an Associate Research Scientist, Yale School of Medicine (Internal Medicine-AIDS Program) and Yale Center for Analytical Sciences (Yale School of Public Health); he is also a Biostatistician at the Department of Veterans’ Affairs Cooperative Studies Program, West Haven. His primary research focus is in the area of infectious diseases with particular emphasis on HIV/AIDS and its prevention and treatment. He also has an interest in the history of medicine, social determinants of health and the socio-cultural dimension of the benefits of Greek/Mediterranean nutrition. He is a fellow at Saybrook College, Yale University.

Barbara M. Burns, Ph.D. Santa Clara University, Santa, Clara, CA  USA. Barbara M. Burns is a developmental psychologist and Professor of Liberal Studies (PreTeaching and Child Studies) from Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, California. Burns has a passion to promote family resilience and increase school readiness especially in children from families experiencing poverty and extreme stress.  Burns’s research has been focused on children’s risk and resilience and the complex relations among child temperament, attention skills and motivation. Her research has shown that family factors, such as parent-child interactions, maternal temperament and mental health, impact young children’s attention and self-control skills related to school readiness. Burns’s research has underscored the need for effective science-based early intervention in at-risk families. Specifically, she has suggested that effective resilience-strengthening programs should focus on strengthening children’s attention skills and executive functioning, parents-child attachment, and skills to manage child and family stress. Together with a large team of students and colleagues, Burns has established the Resilient Families Project, a series of 6 workshops for high-risk families which focus on increasing young children’s resilience through mindful parenting.  The Resilient Families project has been tested across years of previous work with families experiencing homelessness at the Wayside Christian Mission at Hotel Louisville in Louisville, KY USA, and with orphanage staff at the Hope Mission Orphanage in Botswana, Africa. Dr. Burns and her team appreciate the opportunity to share our resilience-strengthening intervention with faculty and students at Olympism For Humanity.

Dr. Evangelos Albanidis, Professor, Democritus University of Thrace, Teaching Sports History in ancient times, History of modern Olympic Games, as well as Philosophy and Sociology of Sports in the Department of Physical Education and Sport Science of Democritus University of Thrace. Teaching also Sports History in Greek antiquity in the International Post Graduate program of the University of Peloponnese and the International Olympic Academy.  He is the President of the European Committee of the History of Sports and co-editor of the Journal “European Studies for Sports History”.  He was one of the main educators in the implementation of Olympic Education in Greece (2001-2006) and co- author in the relevant book for the Primary and Secondary schools. He has published 30 papers in international and 36 articles in national scientific journals. He has also published two books on the history of sport in Greek language.  His main focus of research is the athletics in Greek antiquity as well as the political and cultural dimension of modern Olympic Games.  More specifically he focused on the study of history of sports in northern areas of Greece such as Macedonia, Thrace, Black Sea as well as in the ancient iso-Olympic Games which were held in places apart from Olympia in Peloponnese.  Furthermore, he also studied the social origin of ancient Olympic victors and the coexistence of “barbarians” and Greeks in ancient Greek Gymnasium and in the Pan-Hellenic sacred Games.

Dr Arnaud RICHARD is an Associate Professor in Linguistics. He is the former head of the linguistics department (biggest and oldest linguistics department in France) at University Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3, affiliated with the research unit LHUMAIN (University Montpellier 3,) and LangSÉ (National University of Haiti). His interests include the social representations of sport and Olympic-Paralympic Games in the media with an analysis of racial or nationalistic discourses, and the commemoration of major historic events in the Francophone world.  Dr Arnaud RICHARD is the President of the French National Olympic Academy since 2017 and founding member of the French Center for Olympic Studies (in 2011). He is Vice-President of the French University Sport Federation (2005-2009 and since 2013). He is Education committee member of FISU (International University Sport Federation) (2012-2015 and since 2019) and Gender Equality Committee member from 2015 to 2019. Dr Arnaud RICHARD has published more than 40 scientific articles (in 5 different languages) and presented in more than 120 scientific conferences and academic events.

Dr. Andrew Yiannakis: Andrew Yiannakis is Research Professor in the Sport Administration Program and an Adjunct Professor (part time) in Sociology at the University of New Mexico. Prior to joining UNM he served as Director of the Laboratory for Leisure, Tourism & Sport at the University of Connecticut and Director of the Clemson International Institute for Tourism Research & Development at Clemson University, South Carolina. His research areas include the effects of sports and exercise on socio-psychological growth and development, statistical forecasting in sport,  the ancient Olympic Games, international tourism, and travel and exploration in the ancient world. His work has appeared in publications including the Sociology of Sport Journal, the Annals of Tourism Research, the Journal of Sport Management and the International Review for the Sociology of Sport. He is also senior editor of Applied Sociology of Sport and Contemporary Issues in Sociology of Sport.  Currently, he is working on a history of the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport and on a paper about the Leonidas Expeditions to Thermopylae.  Prof. Yiannakis has taught courses on the Ancient Olympic Games and in 2004 led a guided tour to Olympia, Athens, Delphi, Corinth, Sparta and Rhodes. Prof. Yiannakis is the senior founder and 1st president of the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport and a recipient of the society’s 2002 NASSS Distinguished Service Award.

Dr Craig Zelizer, Twitter: @CraigZelizer Craig is the Founder and CEO of PCDN, the go-to hub for global social change (pcdnetwork.org). His areas of expertise include working with youth from violent conflict regions, civil society development and capacity building in transitional societies, program evaluation and design, conflict sensitivity and conflict mainstreaming, the connection between trauma and conflict, the role of the private sector in peacebuilding, and arts and peacebuilding. He has published several articles, and co-edited the book Building Peace, Practical Reflections from the Field (Kumarian Press, 2009). His most recent publication is an edited volume Integrated Peacebuilding: Innovative Approaches to Transforming Conflict (Westview Press, 2013). He was one of the co-founders and a senior partner in the Alliance for Conflict Transformation, a leading non-profit organization dedicated to building peace through innovative research and practice. He has worked for or served as a consultant with many leading development and peacebuilding organizations including the United States Institute of Peace, Rotary International, and USAID. He has received a number of fellowships and awards, including serving as a Fulbright Junior Scholar in Hungary for two years and as a National Security Education Program Fellow in Bosnia-Herzegovina. He currently serves on the Editorial Boards of the African Peace and Conflict Journal, Journal of Conflictology and the Journal of Peacebuilding and Development. He also serves on the boards/advisory boards of several organizations including: Masterpeace, TechChange, International Peace and Security Institute, The Amani Institute, and Move this World.

Dr. John Sugden: John Sugden, Ph.D. is an emeritus professor of the sociology of sport at the University of Brighton. He established the University of Brighton’s pioneering undergraduate program in sport journalism, and he is co-founder and director of Football 4 Peace International, a multi-dimensional research, education, and social engagement platform at the University of Brighton that uses sport to promote peaceful coexistence. An award-winning author, Dr. Sugden has researched, taught, and written extensively in the area of sport and peace-building in divided societies and is widely considered to be one of the subject area’s founding figures and leading authorities. His most recent book, Sport and Peace-Building in Divided Societies: Playing with the Enemy, was published in 2017. He is also very well-known for his work on the sociology of boxing. His book, Boxing and Society: An International Analysis, is based on the research he undertook while pursuing his Ph.D. in the sociology of sport at the University of Connecticut. Dr. Sugden is also acclaimed for his critical investigative work on FIFA, which helped uncover the corrupt regime of Sepp Blatter, the organization’s former president. He is co-author of Football, Corruption and Lies: Revisiting ‘Badfellas,’ a book FIFA tried to ban. “I draw from my own extensive portfolio of research and fieldwork to animate my teaching and, in so doing, inspire my students to draw upon their own experiences and bring them into the classroom to contribute to lively, evidence-based debates with fellow students.

Dr. Charalambos Vrasidas: Dr. Charalambos Vrasidas is co-founder and Executive Director of CARDET – Centre for the Advancement of Research & Development in Educational Technology (http://www.cardet.org), a non-profit research and development centre based in Cyprus with partners around the world. He is also Associate Professor of Learning Technologies and Innovation and Associate Dean for elearning at the University of Nicosia. He held positions at academic institutions and research and development centers including Western Illinois University, Arizona State University, Satellite Education Network, and the Center for the Application of Information Technologies, in Illinois. He currently serves on the Executive Committee of the International Council for Educational Media, an UNESCO affiliated organization, focusing on Educational Media design, distribution, standardization, and use. A former school teacher and Fulbright scholar, he holds a Bachelors in Photography and Film, an M.Ed. in Instructional Technology and Telecommunications and a PhD from Arizona State University in Educational Media and Computers with emphasis on instructional design and evaluation for e-learning. He has received grants to design, develop, implement, and evaluate research and development projects from major funding agencies and corporations including the National Science Foundation, USAID, Europe Aid, European Solidarity Funds, the Cyprus Research Promotion Foundation, The Pew Charitable Trusts, United Nations, Microsoft, the US Department of Education, and the European Commission. He has developed and evaluated innovative social justice project, technology projects and e-learning initiatives for various contexts and has consulted with private companies, and Ministries and Departments of Education in Asia, Europe, and the United States. He has published 6 books and more than 100 articles in international journals and edited volumes. He currently serves as Editor-in-Chief for Educational Media International, and on the editorial board of journals like Quarterly Review of Distance Education and International Journal of Learning Technologies. A well-known speaker, he has presented more than 200 papers at national and international events. (http://www.cardet.org – www.vrasidas.com)

Mr. Derek Peaple has been working as an educational consultant and advisor since September 2020, following twenty years’ experience as a successful secondary school headteacher. Under his leadership Park House School in Newbury developed as one of the country’s most successful Specialist Sports Colleges, subsequently being identified in the top 100 state schools in the country for continuous improvement.  Derek has played a leading role in national and international sports education initiatives. He developed resources for the London 2012 Get Set Education programme and additionally contributed materials to the BBC World Olympic Dreams initiative. In 2012 Derek was appointed as the first Chair of the Youth Sport Trust’s national Headteacher Strategy Group and received the inaugural Sir John Madejski Award for Outstanding Contribution to Education and Sport. As a result of the breadth of his work, Derek was recently shortlisted for the Times Education Supplement National Headteacher of the Year Award. Derek is a graduate of Oriel College, Oxford University where he studied Modern History. A former subject leader in that curriculum area, he is a textbook author, adviser and examiner and has recently been appointed as Head of Education for Sporting Heritage in the UK. 

Dr. Dhafer Malouche is a Professor of Statistics and Applied Mathematics at The University of Carthage. He earned his Ph.D. in Statistics and Applied Mathematics from Paul Sabatier University in Toulouse, France, in October 1997, and a Master’s Degree in Applied Mathematics from the same university in June 1994. He started his academic professional as Assistant Professor in Sousse in Tunisia. In September 2003, Dhafer moved to the Higher Engineering School of Statistics of the University of Carthage. He was successively promoted to Associate-Professor in 2011, later to Professor in 2018. He had taught there several statistical and data science courses. He had supervised five Ph.D. in Applied Statistics. Dhafer has authored and co-authored more than 50 research papers in many topics related to applied statistics and mathematics. Dhafer was a Fulbright scholar at Stanford University and the University of Michigan. On several times he was a visiting scholar at Yale University and in prestigious colleges in Canada and France. More information about his work can be found on his website: https://malouche.github.io/myCV/pdf_cv.html

Mr. Spiros Avgoustis has been working as a Teacher in primary education schools in Athens since 1986. He conducted numerous seminars for parents and teachers with the topics related to diversity and mutual understanding, the management of emotions and conflicts, the strengthening of self-confidence, the relation of technology with universal values, the relation of the urban way of life with the environment. Mr. Avgourstis has extensive experience related to Olympic Values and cultural educational programs and has initiated national and regional programs in close collaboration with the Hellenic National Olympic Academy connecting sports with education and culture. He has initiated and designed educational material related to the Olympic values and continuously support and collaborate with volunteer groups for the development of degraded areas and underserved communities. Mr. Avgoustis actively participate as a special partner in social-cultural events of the Authentic Marathon run of Athens; the route of truce path in Ancient Olympia; the Athens science festival and as a special collaborator of the Greek focal point for the safety of young and old (Healthy workplaces for all ages). Lastly, Mr. Avroustis has contributed in the design and implementation of the Greek version of the non-violence project, which aimed to train students in resolving intra-school and family conflicts.

Dr. Hisashi Sanada studied the history of the ancient Olympic Games and modern Olympic Games. He wrote the anthropological history of the modern Greek Olympic Games as a doctoral dissertation from the viewpoint of culture and education. Dr. Sanada has also studied the philosophy and the achievements of Prof. Jigoro Kano, who was a founder of Kodokan Judo and the first International Olympic Committee member from Japan. Dr. Sanada is a director of Center for Olympic Research & Education (CORE) at University of Tsukuba, which was founded in 1910 for the 150^th anniversary of Jigoro Kano’s birth. He has served for practice of Olympic Education with teachers of laboratory schools of University of Tsukuba. He has organized international symposium for the Olympic Education several times. He is chairman of Tsukuba International Academy for Sport Studies. In 1981, he was MPE of University of Tsukuba and became a professor in 2008 at Faculty of Healthy and Sport Sciences, University of Tsukuba. He went on in 2010 to be director of Centre for Olympic Research and Education, then in 2014 counselor to CEO of TOKYO Organizing Committee of Olympic and Paralympic Games as well as the vice president of the Japan Olympic Academy.

Dr. Eric Langenbacher is a Teaching Professor and Director of Honors and Special Programs in the Department of Government, Georgetown University. Langenbacher studied in Canada before completing his PhD in Georgetown’s Government Department in 2002. He has also taught at George Washington University and the Universidad Nacional de General San Martin, Buenos Aires, Argentina, and has given talks across the world in places such as Spain, Germany, the UK, China, and Qatar. He was selected Faculty Member of the Year by the School of Foreign Service in 2009 and was awarded a Fulbright grant in 1999-2000 and the Hopper Memorial Fellowship at Georgetown in 2000-2001. His publications include Power and the Past: Collective Memory and International Relations (co-edited with Yossi Shain, 2010), From the Bonn to the Berlin Republic: Germany at the Twentieth Anniversary of Unification (co-edited with Jeffrey J. Anderson, 2010), Dynamics of Memory and Identity in Contemporary Europe (co-edited with Ruth Wittlinger and Bill Niven, 2013), The German Polity, 11th edition (co-authored with David Conradt, 2017), and The Merkel Republic: The 2013 Bundestag Election and its Consequences (2015). Langenbacher has planned and run dozens of short programs for groups from abroad, as well as for the U.S. Departments of State and Defense on a variety of topics pertaining to American and comparative politics, business, culture, and public policy. He is also Managing Editor of German Politics and Society, which is housed in Georgetown’s BMW Center for German and European Studies.

Dr. Kathy Babiak is an associate professor of Sport Management and director of the Michigan Center for Sport & Social Responsibility at the University of Michigan School of Kinesiology. Dr. Babiak’s main line of research focuses on sport and social impact. In this area, she explores how organizations devise social responsibility strategies to maximize the value and benefit to both organizations and to society. She has also explored strategic factors motivating sport organizations to enter into partnership relationships with other organizations in the non-profit, government and private sectors. Dr. Babiak has published numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Sport Management, Sport Management Review, Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, and the Journal of Business Ethics (JBE). She is associate editor for the European Sport Management Quarterly, and on the editorial board of numerous sport management journals. Dr. Babiak has received more than one million dollars in grant funding from organizations such as the Women’s Sport Foundation and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.  More information about Dr. Babiak’s work can be found on her website https://www.kines.umich.edu/directory/kathy-babiak

Pratik Kumar: PRATIK KUMAR has a career spanning over two and a half decades in the UN, International NGOs, Indian Government and the private sector. In September 2016 he moved on from his role as the Executive Director at Magic Bus Global after seven years with the organisation to pursue his passion in the social sector as an independent consultant. He was responsible for taking the Magic Bus Sport for Development and Peace program across four countries and Asia and two in Africa. Earlier he was the CEO of Magic Bus India Foundation and responsible for scaling the organisation from a small programme in Mumbai to 23 states in India, reaching out to 400000 children and youth. A substantial part of his career was spent as a civil servant with the Indian government. This was followed by a three year stint in the United Nations handling programmes across six South Asian Countries. He has worked very closely with bilateral donors, UN agencies, international NGOs, corporate industry and foundations, print and electronic media. He has vast experience of programme management, leadership development, change management, setting up systems and processes for large scale delivery, M&E, etc. He has developed policies and led advocacy efforts on various issues and has extensive experience in the areas of Sport for Development, Education, Health, Gender, Nutrition, Water & Sanitation, Youth Development and Livelihood. He firmly believe that sports has the power to change the world and intends to dedicate himself to contribute to this space. He has B. Tech degree in Electrical Engineering from IIT Delhi and from the 1992 batch of the Indian Civil Services.

Wolfgang Dietrich: Wolfgang Dietrich holds the UNESCO Chair for Peace Studies at the University of Innsbruck/Austria and he is program director of the MA Program for Peace, Development, Security and International Conflict Transformation at the same University. He is member of the Austrian UNESCO Commission and visiting professor at the Institute for Political Science at the University of Vienna, at the Centre for Peace and Development Studies at the University of Castellón/Spain and at the United Nation’s Peace University in Ciudad Colón/Costa Rica. Born in Innsbruck in 1956 and Austrian citizen, Wolfgang Dietrich was educated in Austria and England, received a Ph.D. in history and literature at the University of Innsbruck in 1980 and a D.S.J. at the same University in 1984. In 1990 he was promoted to the degree of “Universitätsdozent” in Political Science according to the Austrian Law of Higher Education (UOG). Wolfgang Dietrich has spent most of the eighties in Central America. He was president of the Austrian section of amnesty international from 1989 to 1991. In the nineties he did field research in Latin America and the Caribbean, India, Eastern Africa and Southeast Asia. He was director of the European Peace University from 1995 to 1998 and academic director of the Austrian Institute for Latin America from 1995 to 2007. He speaks, writes and reads German, English and Spanish. He understands some French, Italian and Maya-Kakchiqel. He has taught in departments for political science, history and law at universities in Europe, USA, Latin America, Africa and Asia.

Dr. B. Christine Green is a Professor in the Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism at the University of Illinois, USA, where she directs the Sport&Development Lab. The main focus of her research is sport and development.  She brings expertise in marketing, program design and evaluation, volunteer recruitment and retention, positive youth development, and the use of sport and recreation for community development through her research, consulting, community engagement, and mentoring activities. She is currently the President of the North American Society for Sport Management, and Associate Editor of the Journal of Sport Management and the Journal of Sport & Tourism.  Her research has been published widely, and she speaks at conferences throughout the world. Her recent work explores the effects of context on development through sport.

Ms. Jay Mafukidze: Jay has a strong background in international development through sport. She has lived and worked in a variety of countries with her main focus being Sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean.  She has extensive field experience in the area of sport and development and combined her practical experience and academic background to design the world’s first undergraduate and graduate degrees in Sport for Development. She has designed curriculum for, and taught at, universities in Namibia, Zimbabwe, Trinidad and Tobago and Canada.  Jay is currently teaching at the University Regina in Canada, and completing her PhD entitled An Interpretive-Theoretical Model for Development through Sport in Sub-Saharan Africa.  She continues to work with partners around the globe designing alternative systems of education for sport for development that combine theory and practice.

Dr. Manuela Picariello is an Assistant Professor in the School of Health Promotion and Kinesiology at Texas Woman’s University (Denton, TX, USA). Her background is in Engineering, she received a BS in Management Engineering at University of Napoli, Federico II. She continued her education and received a master in Sport Management at University of San Marino. Later on, she completed her higher education by earning two PhDs, one in Management Engineering at the University of San Marino and one in Sport Management at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. She attended the Olympism for Humanity (O4H) Praxis Summit in 2013 in Olympia. Dr. Picariello’s main area of research focuses on career development (human resources management, diversity, gender equity, organizational behavior), sustainability and corporate social responsibility within sport organizations in US and internationally. Her most recent work focuses on mentoring of women in professional sport and CSR in Italian soccer league, Serie A, as well as capacity building and assessment of sport programs that work with refugees and communities in need.

Olympism For Humanity Allies & Supporters in Alphabetical Order

Dr. Jeffrey Pratt Beedy: Dr. Beedy is a global leader in the field of sport-based teaching and learning. Jeff has committed his life to understanding how children learn and develop and how to create learning environments where people are known, needed, cared for, and have an opportunity to shape their environments. After skiing professionally and playing in rock bands, Jeff found success teaching and coaching at a small boarding school in New England. Jeff’s success with teaching adolescents led him to Harvard University where he studied with moral psychologists Carol Gilligan, Lawrence Kohlberg, Robert Selman, and taught with Pulitzer prize winner Dr. Robert Coles. Dr. Beedy’s research at Harvard on Understanding the Interpersonal world of Youth Sports was pioneering and helped shape the current field of sport-based teaching and learning. Jeff’s original thesis was groundbreaking and it charted the cartography of a new domain – the domain of sports as moral pedagogy, built on a foundation of research and experience. In 2000, Dr. Beedy teamed up with youth sport pioneers Brenda Bredemeier and David Shields and conducted an ethnographic study of the role of competition in building character in elite basketball players in a New England Basketball team. In 2003, Dr. Beedy conducted groundbreaking research on the impact of sports on children’s development. The research resulted in the creation of a new domain, sport-based learning and a new book Sports PLUS: The New Science of Sport-based Teaching and Learning. Jeff’s PLUS Method is used throughout the world including the Olympic Doves project that seeks to establish peace between the Greek and Turkish children on the island of Cyprus. In 2006, Jeff teamed with Harvard’s Programs in Afterschool Education and Research (PEAR) to analyze the best practices of after-school youth development programs resulting in the shaping the field of sport-based youth development. In 2010, Jeff became the founding headmaster of the Korea International School on Jeju Island, which is a part of Korea’s 2 billion dollar Global Education City. Along with his wife Karyn, Jeff recruited 50 faculty from around the globe, enrolled 370 students, and created the Total Human Development Approach to Global Education. Jeff implemented both the PLUS Global and Learn to Lead Service program in Cambodia, Thailand, China, and South Korea.

Dr. Simon M. Pack. Simon is an adjunct professor for several universities across the United States and teaches seminars to professionals around the world on topics related to sport management. His emphasis is on the programmatic, logistical and operational aspects of sport management. Simon has worked in both the public and private sectors spending several years in collegiate athletic administration in the United States and in government and municipal sport departments in Israel. He has been instrumental in helping to development sport associations in Israel including the Israel Curling Federation for which he current serves as the Secretary General. After starting a non-profit of his own called Blue, White, and Gold he works to promote sport for development programs in Israel by assisting athletes, funding programs, and working with the under-served Jewish and Arab populations. These programs have received funding from both domestic and international agencies, governmental agencies, and private/corporate sponsors. Simon also designs corporate and employee wellness programs. In this capacity he has advised universities, corporations, and small businesses on implementing bike share programs to improve employee health, increase productivity and morale, and decrease absenteeism.

Constantine Psimopoulos: Constantine Psimopoulos or Professor ‘Ψ’ Psi as his students call him is a dual citizen (Greece & USA). Psimopoulos is an Olympism For Humanity Ally since 2012 and had served as the President of the Massachusetts Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (MAHPERD). His day job is within Harvard Athletics, where he directs fitness at the Hemenway Gymnasium, which is at the Law School campus and teaches classes for the Harvard community. He is also affiliated with the Prevention Research Center for Physical Activity policy at the Harvard School of Public Health. Coming from an academic background (PhD studies and research at OSU and Democritus) and having taught as an Assistant Professor of Kinesiology, Physical Education, and Sport Science in Ohio, NY and then MIT respectively, Constantine or Coach ‘Ψ’ Psi as his athletes know him, has travelled the equivalent to 5 times the earth’s circumference on his bicycle as a former Olympic level cycling champion.

Dr. Jimoh Shehu: Professor Shehu teaches Physical Education and Sport Studies at the University of Botswana, where he has worked since 2004. He has been Head of Department since 2008. He received his B.Ed. from Ahmadu Bello University in 1988, and his M.Ed. and Ph.D. from the University of Benin in 1990 and 1997 respectively. He has previously worked at the University of Benin, Kenyatta University, University of Dar es Salaam, and Centre for Advanced Social Science in Port Harcourt. His research interests are in physical education and sport pedagogy as well as sociology of sport and development. He has authored/co-authored over fifty papers in scholarly journals. He is editor of Gender, Sport and Development in Africa (CODESRIA, 2010).

Robert White is the Founder of PR Matters and Fight Spin, a nonprofit activist group launched in December 2015. He has worked in PR and communications for over 20 years, working with a variety of organizations, from global brands to startups and nonprofits. He advises Olympism For Humanity Alliance, Inc. on its communications and content. Robert is committed to PR as the process of helping organizations and individuals to manage, protect and grow their reputations through building credible relationships with those that matters most to them. Such relationships must be predicated on integrity, transparency and compelling, evidence-based content. Robert cares deeply about ethical communications and is a member – and abides by the codes of conduct – of the UK professional associations, the National Union of Journalists and the Public Relations Consultants Association.

Dr. Gregor Wolbring: Dr Wolbring is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Calgary in the Faculty of Medicine, Community Health Sciences, Community Rehabilitation and Disability Studies. Further titles of Dr. Wolbring include a fellow with the Institute for Science, Policy and Society at the University of Ottawa, Canada; an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Critical Disability Studies, York University, Canada; a part time Professor Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa, Canada; and the founding member and affiliated scholar with the Center for Nanotechnology and Society at Arizona State University, USA. Dr. Wolbring is also the past president of Canadian Disability Studies Association and member of the board of the Society for Disability Studies (USA). His interests are ability governance, Social, ethical, legal, economic, cultural and governance issues of new, emerging and converging sciences and technologies (S&T) such as nanoscale S&T, molecular manufacturing, aging, longevity and immortality research, cognitive sciences, neuromorphic engineering, genetics, synthetic biology, bodily enhancement S&T, in vitro meat, artificial intelligence and robotics;  Impact of S&T on: marginalized populations especially disabled people, Sports; human security, human right, personhood, concept of  disability impairment, ableism, rehabilitation and models and determinants of health; global health, tele-health, health- (technology assessment, law, care and policies);  medical anthropology; history and foresight studies, bioethics issues, biochemistry, role of different stakeholders and evaluation of existing S&T discourses, professional identity, energy and water ethics.