Leaders from around the globe

International Cities of Peace is a nonprofit, volunteer organization. If you would like to start a City of Peace initiative in your community contact us for more information at: info@InternationalCitiesOfPeace.org

OUR ACTIVE BOARD OF DIRECTORS, representing five continents, Europe,  Asia, Africa, North America, and South America:

J. Frederick Arment (Chair), Dayton, Ohio

Founder and current Chair and Lead Facilitator of International Cities of Peace. Arment’s novels include the philosophical orphan’s tale, “Backbeat: A Novel of Physics,” and a political thriller, “The Synthesis.” His nonfiction work, “The Elements of Peace: How Nonviolence Works,” was released by McFarland Academic Publishers in 2012. In addition, “The Economics of Peace: Freedom, the Golden Rule, and Broadening Prosperity” was published by McFarland in fall of 2014. After an early career as a teacher, Arment founded a successful writing and marketing firm and began lecturing at Wilberforce College and Wright State University. In 2017 as the result of an International Cities of Peace alliance for Southeast Asia, Arment was engaged as Distinguished Researcher for the Institute for National Memory and International Peace Studies and honored with the title of Honorary Citizen of Nanjing, China.

Inés Palomeque, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Founder and President of Mil Milenios De Paz (MMP, or the Thousand Millennia of Peace), which has over twenty “Cities Committed to Peace” in South America. Inés is also Project Director for the Culture of Peace Art Ecology and Peace Foundation and Founding Member of the Peace Council of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Argentina and the Peace Council of Argentina. In 2021, she was elected President of the Honorable International Council of Peace Ambassadors.

Mabwe Lucien, Fizi, D.R. Congo
A Bishop of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Congregations, Lucien is Chair of the Consortium of twenty-one organizations throughout D.R. Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, and Tanzania for Peace in the Great Lakes Region of Africa. Bishop Lucien named his organization MLECI, which in his native language means “a sense of mother who raises her son with love and care”. The group is currently building a school for children suffering from the ravages of war.

Liu Cheng, Nanjing, China

Liu Cheng, born in 1964, is Professor for History and  holder of the UNESCO Chair of Peace Studies for China. He is Director of Institute for Peace Studies, in School of History, Nanjing University and holds concurrent posts as the following: vice president of Society of World History of Jiangsu Province, member of China British History Association, vice director of The Center for Collaborative Innovation in the South China Sea, director of Peace Studies Center in The Institute of Nanjing Massacre History & International Peace, senior researcher of The Charhar Institute, vice president of Peace Culture Research Association of Hunan Province, member of the executive committee of Northeast Asia Regional Peacebuilding Institute, member of Asia-Pacific Peace Research Association, member of China in Transcend International.

Ayo Ayoola-Amale, Lagos, Nigeria

Dr. Ayoola-Amale is the International Cities of Peace liaison for the Lagos State Network, which includes a team of legal practitioners in Lagos, including Judges, Barrister and Mediators. Ayo has been a Mediator for years and will further strengthen the pro bono services in Mediation for the poor in the Ikorodu community to promote peace and non-violence with the support of ICP Lagos Network of Mediators to help in building peace in that community and other communities in Lagos.

Gabriela Pickett, Ph.D.

Born in Mexico with dual citizenships in that country and where she resides in the United States, Gabriela is an artist with exhibitions in Mexico, U.S., Belgium, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, and Estonia. She is Founder and Curator Missing Peace Art Space, President of the Unitarian Fellowship for World Peace, and a Board Member of the Human Relations Council of Dayton. An advocate for immigrant populations in the United States, Gabriela is a member of the Dayton, Ohio School Board.

Lonnie Franks, Dayton, Ohio
After serving in the U.S. Air Force and receiving his B.A. in Mathematics from the University of Northern Iowa, Lonnie Franks rose to Director of Engineering, General Manager, and Vice President for NCR Corporation. Lonnie has decades of experience in software development, process improvement and accounting. Currently, Lonnie is a Consulting Software Program Manager. He served on the Board for the Dayton International Peace Museum and on the Board for the International Network of Museums for Peace.

Katherine Li, Ph.D., Honolulu, U.S.; Dhaka, Bangladesh

Dr. Li is Director, Office of External Affairs, as well as Assistant Professor of English and Modern Languages at North South University in Dhaka, Bangladesh. She also serves as a Lecturer for Educational Foundations at the University of Hawai’i at Mänoa, Honlulu. Katherine holds a Ph.D. in Educational Foundations from the University of Hawai’i. In addition, she holds a Master of Arts in International Educational Development from Columbia University, New York and a Bachelor of Arts in Asian Studies from the University of Hawai’i. She resides in both Honolulu and Dhaka.

SPECIAL DISTINGUISHED ADVISORS

Peter vanden Dungen, Ph.D, Bradford, England

Foremost scholar and author of the definitive paper on cities of peace, “Idee und Geschichte der neuzeitlichen, Friedensstadt”. Peter is General Coordinator of the International Network of Museums for Peace and author of many books including “Pacifism,” “Peace Movements and Political Cultures, Vol. I (co-edited),” and “Twentieth Century Peace Movement.”

Jainjun Zhang, Nanjing, China

Jainjun Zhang is Director of the Memorial Hall for Victims of the Nanjing Massacre and the Institute of Nanjing Massacre History and International Peace. Zhang is the chief editor of the academic journal Japanese Invasion of China History Research, and popular journal on history Purple Grass.

 

ADVISORS/VOLUNTEERS

Professional Advisors

Cities of Peace, Inc., is currently looking for professional partners to provide pro bono support for accounting, bookkeeping, grant writing, and other professional capabilities. If you are interested in working with a successful peace organization, please contact the director.

Official Facilitators

  • Lead Facilitator: J. Frederick Arment
  • Human Resources: Ayo Ayoola-Amale
  • Development: Lonnie Franks
  • Online Opportunities: Miomir Rajcevic
  • Outreach: Danielle Henson
  • Systems: Supplier Jeff van Fleet
  • Compliance: Open
  • Communications: Open

Special Advisory Council

  • Dot Maver, National Peace Academy; River Phoenix Center for Peacebuilding
  • Rita Marie Johnson, Founder, Rasur Fondation, creator of the BePeace Practice
  • Glenn D. Paige, Ph.D., Founder of Center for Global Nonkilling (in Memoriam)
  • Anoop Swarup, Ph.D., Vice Chancellor of Jagran Lakecity University, Chair of Center for Global Nonkilling
  • Carol Rank, Ph.D., Coventry, England, City of Peace and Reconciliation
  • Kazuyo Yamane, Ph.D., Kochi University, Japan
  • Hend Farouh, Ph.D., Cairo University, Egypt
  • Balkrishna Kurvey of Nagpur, Ph.D., India, President, India Institute for Peace
  • Mitra Sen, Toronto, Canada, Founder of International Peace Tree Day
  • Patrick Hiller, Hood River, Oregon, War Prevention Initiative
  • David Adams, PhD, Coordinator, Culture of Peace Initiative
  • Avon Mattison, Pathways to Peace
  • Dennis Wong, Rotarians for International Cities of Peace

VOLUNTEERS FOR INTERNATIONAL CITIES OF PEACE:

There are many dedicated volunteers that have been working with International Cities of Peace for years, even decades. A new Strategic Plan for the future of the organization is available in the Documents section of the website. Positions, position descriptions, titles, etc. are detailed.

Above all, thanks to all the volunteers, facilitators, donors, mentors, and advocates for the Cities of Peace movement at the core of our vision.