coaches and Trainers
Dear Readers: We will be developing this section over the next month or so to include biographies of our wider DPC Trainer network. It is amazing to know that this network now stretches across the world and we are excited to share their backgrounds with you….so keep posted.


Colin Craig
Northern Ireland

Colin Craig, along with his partnership with Jaap van der Sar, has been central to the development of the DPC methodology since its inception in 2005. He has over 50 years of experience working locally and internationally, in the field of peace building and conflict management. Colin currently acts as the lead Coach/Trainer for the ongoing development of DPC and was the main author of the Navigating Conflict and Change DPC Handbook published in 2009.
 
He was the Centre Director of the Corrymeela Community from 1990 though to 2000. He then founded and co-directed TIDES Training and Consultancy for 12 years. He has also been a Director of Different Tracks Global, an independent training and consultancy organisation. In 2014 he returned to Corrymeela as their new Executive Director retiring then in September 2017. 
He remains passionate about how we can further building the necessary knowledge and skills to meet those personal and cultural narratives that continue to fracture our social and ecological worlds.
 
In 1996, Colin was awarded a MBE for his contribution to peace and reconciliation and is a fellow of the Winston Churchill and British American Fellowships.

Stephen Law
Nova scotia, canada

Stephen Law is an internationally certified mediation coach in Dialogue for Peaceful Change. Stephen has offered trainings in Northern Ireland, India and North America. Stephen was the past chair of Peace Brigades International and has trained international accompaniers in conflict areas around the world. Stephen has mediated conflicts in community-based organisations, family structures and cooperative social enterprises and offered programming which builds bridges between groups, communities and organisations.

Stephen was the Social Transformation Program Coordinator with the Tatamagouche Centre and is an Associate of the Coady International Institute where he has taught the Community-Based Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding course at St. Francis Xavier University. He designed and delivered the Welcoming Ambassador Program to support the integration and inclusion of Syrian newcomers to Nova Scotia.
He is also the author of the novel, Tailings of Warren Peace,  which was shortlisted for in the 2013 Atlantic Book Awards. His latest novel is, Under Her Skin (Roseway, 2017).

Courtnae dunn
usa/sweden

Courtnae Dunn is a certified Dialogue for Peaceful Change coach. As an educator and process facilitator, she is passionate about bridging the interdisciplinary field of leadership development with peacebuilding in order to deepen the effectiveness of conflict transformation practices.
 
Courtnae has spent over 15 years in peacebuilding efforts in the global north and south, with a majority of her work concentrated on supporting South East Asian peace processes. Based at the Centre for Peace & Conflict Studies (CPCS) in Cambodia, she lead the design and facilitation of the organisation’s Transformative Peace Leadership Programme. The programme supported senior level leaders of key actors in the peace processes in Myanmar, Sri Lanka, The Philippines and Cambodia. She also served as faculty for CPCS’ Master’s Programme in Applied Conflict Transformation Studies.
 
Prior to CPCS, she worked with community mediation in Northern Ireland. While in Northern Ireland, she began her active work with the DPC methodology, and since then she has led DPC trainings in the United States, Europe and the Middle East. Courtnae is now based in Stockholm Sweden and involved in the work of embedding DPC into local peacebuilding efforts through the work of Fryshuset, a Swedish NGO working with local conflict transformation efforts.

shona bell
northern ireland

Shona Bell is the Programme Manager for Sectarianism for the Corrymeela Community in Northern Ireland.  She has worked in the field of Peace and Reconciliation for over 20 years.    
 
Shona initially qualified as a teacher in Scotland in the 1990’s and came to work in the field of education for the Corrymeela Community. In 2003, Shona joined TIDES Training and Consultancy in NI, and supported a range of key developments and training packages supporting the unfolding peace process in Northern Ireland.
 
In 2014 she returned to Corrymeela holding a number of key positions in relation to the strategic development of the organisation. Shona has a passion for collaborative approaches to peace building and an on-going commitment to communities and structures who want to find positive ways for dealing with conflict and change. 
 
In 2005, Shona supported Colin Craig in the development of the initial DPC training methodology.  She has worked internationally as a Coach and Trainer with Dialogue for Peaceful Change and has trained at home and in India, Pakistan, Israel/Palestine, the USA, Africa and Canada.  She is currently part of the International Coaching and Coordination Team for DPC.

Jaap van der sar
Wageningen, netherlands

It is with our deep sadness that Jaap lost his battle with Pancreatic Cancer in March 2022 this year. We will leave his picture and short biography up as our memorial to him.
Throughout his whole career, Jaap van der Sar has worked on the way people could effectively deal with their differences and hopes together. Jaap carried many leadership roles within  organisations working across the national and international ecumenical movement.
In 2004, he and Colin formed a partnership to directly support the development of the ‘Dialogue for Peaceful Change’ [DPC] methodology. Without his commitment, drive and wonderful organising skills DPC could never have developed in the way it has. He remains loved and cherished by all of us. 

Ishbel munro
​Nova scotia, canada

Ishbel Munro is a certified mediator trainer in Dialogue for Peaceful Change (DPC). She is also a certified mediator through Henson College, Dalhousie University. Ishbel has mediated conflicts in community based organizations, families, co-ops and across cultural groups. During her work with Coastal Communities Network, she utilized these skills to successfully bring together people from rural communities including fishermen, First Nations, African Nova Scotians, Municipal Councilors, women’s groups, religious organizations and many others.

Ishbel was the Program Director at the Tatamagouche Centre, working collaboratively to create programs that transformed people’s lives. She brings a range of experience working in community development, with First Nations, fishermen, youth and women. Ishbel is currently the Coordinator of Apji-wla’matulinej (Righting Relations) and Women of First Light. Both organizations work with Wabanaki women on healing, empowerment and restoring Clan Mother ways of being.

jim hyde
california, usa

Jim Hyde has 31 years of law enforcement experience with four California police departments. He retired as the Police Chief for the city of Antioch.
 
During his career in law-enforcement, Jim always studied in fields related to the consequences of the work. How to deal with delinquency, how to support professionals with a trauma treatment program for emergency service, how to guide organisations with their critical incident management. He has taught and developed peer support programs for public safety agencies across the U.S and overseas. He was the lead trainer for the Peer To Peer Combat Stress Program for troops deploying to and returning from the Middle East. He is a recipient of the California National Guard’s Medal of Merit and the Association of the United States Army’s Patrick Henry Distinguished Service Award.

Jim was a board member and co-founder of Helping Hands Produce, a non-profit that raises and donates over 1 million pounds of produce annually to the food banks of Northern California. Approximately 220,000 hungry people per month benefit from this work. ​
 
Jim was a presenter at the past UN Peace Conference at The Hague, Netherlands where the application of DPC in Antioch, CA, USA was the subject. He is the lead U.S. Dialogue for Peaceful Change trainer/coach.