Joanne Lauterjung Kelly Yangon

I have lived in Burma since 2011, and led programs such as the DRL-funded People In Need projects in Mon, Karen and Rakhine to reduce inter-communal tensions by networking and building capacity for community leaders, CSOs, and religious leaders. I have worked with UNFPA, UN World Food Programme, Myanmar Institute for Integrated Development, and the Myanmar Ministry of Social Welfare. For Karuna Center, I will facilitate intra- and interfaith dialogues, provide training of conflict mitigation skills, and mentorship to religious leaders and local peacebuilding leaders.

Karuna Center’s current project in Myanmar is working with 72 religious and community leaders on adaptive leadership skills. This approach focuses on learning to lead during times of change: encouraging cycles of listening, reflecting and cultivating creative approaches to community conflict. We begin with intra-faith workshops that allow participants to look at leadership through the lens of their own faith, and to prepare the way for interfaith dialogue and engagement in their communities.

My areas of specialty are: curriculum development, training of trainers, dialogue skills, psycho-social support, arts-based practices, and conflict transformation.