Christina Barruel
Head of Peace Education
(School Programmes)
Manager and Trainer [Christina Barruel] Christina has trained thousands of student peer mediators and teachers during her 24 year association with Cool Schools both as a School Programme Coordinator and in her present position as School Programmes Manager and Trainer for The Peace Foundation. In this role she leads a team of trainers who work in schools throughout New Zealand empowering students and staff with life-long conflict management skills for both personal and professional use. Christina has also introduced the programme to schools in Fiji, Hong Kong, Iceland and, more recently, Los Angeles, USA. Christina comes from a primary teaching background. She has had over 25 years teaching experience in both primary and secondary schools. Her contribution to The Peace Foundation has been invaluable. She has worked at developing a world-class peaceful conflict resolution and peer mediation programme for schools. During 2011, Christina was recognized for her contribution to peace education in New Zealand and was awarded a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship. This enabled her to spend time with an organization in Seattle, Washington State, USA, who also provide a successful peer mediation programme for schools. “This amazing experience equipped me with lots of ideas and strategies. These have really helped to enhance our own Cool Schools Peer Mediation Programme.” Christina continues to remain passionate about her work. She considers it a privilege to work in schools teaching peaceful conflict resolution and peer mediation skills ... what she loves most. Furthermore, she says, "I have the opportunity every day to remind myself... I must practise what I preach!" Christina enjoys cycling and yoga to keep in good shape. She loves listening to a variety of music, singing and dancing ... "food for the soul". Her regular social activities with family and friends always bring great joy and happiness.
Alessandra Kuribara is The Peace Foundation's Web Developer. She is originally from Sao Paulo, Brazil, and has pursued a career in Information Technology (IT) after graduating from Centro Universitario da Fundacao de Ciencias Aplicadas with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. In her drive to acquire deeper knowledge and skills in this sector, she enrolled at the University of California, Irvine, in 2008 to obtain a certification in Oracle Database Administration. She has also worked as a DBA intern with EMPOWERTRAIN in California. In the course of her IT career, Alessandra has held various positions in Sao Paulo including as a Programmer with Telefonica, a Systems Analyst with ABN AMRO Bank and a Senior Systems Analyst with Consist Software. In Sao Paulo, she ran her own business, FEAST CATERING. Since arriving in Auckland in May 2015, Alessandra has completed a course at Cornell Institute of Business and Technology, graduating with a Diploma in Software Development. She joined The Peace Foundation in October 2015, initially as an IT intern. Alessandra enjoys travelling and baking in her spare time.
Alyn Ware is the International Representative of the Peace Foundation. He is also the International Co-ordinator for the Parliamentary Network for Nuclear Disarmament, and Consultant for the International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms.
Lisa is a qualified teacher, devoted mother of two teenagers, coordinator and trainer of the Peaceful Family Communication Programme. Her background involves a teaching and training career both in NZ and Europe; she has taught in Switzerland, France and UK for six years, primarily with children and young adults. She has worked for other social enterprise organisations such as Great Potentials Foundation in leadership/training roles as well as educating parents and caregivers in brain development during the early years. Her interest in self-development has led her into gaining qualifications as a Master Practitioner in NLP, Multiple brain integration coach and as a Transforming Communication trainer. She is passionate about education and her mission in life is to help people become more authentic in communication with themselves and each other. She feels inspired and honoured to work with like-minded people at the Peace Foundation in their collective desire to create a more peaceful world.
