Our people
Across our various offices and programmes, we have over 75 dedicated and professional staff, interns, associates and volunteers who contribute their skills, creativity and passion to the Institute’s work.
This talented and multicultural team, working in close collaboration with our various partners, are the heart and soul of who LPI is. LPI is governed by its seven-member International Board comprised of wise leaders from across the globe. The International Advisory Council, comprised of globally respected peacebuilding practitioners, academics and researchers, provide advisory support to the LPI programmes and team.
“I am here as an intern and I must say I've been so impressed with the warm environment that one is exposed to at LPI. I can also not underestimate the room one is given to develop and the availability of all staff to help you achieve that.” Former LPI Intern
“The people at LPI, and the people I have met through LPI, are easily the best thing about being part of the LPI family. I’ve met people who are some of the most intelligent, passionate and inspiring people I have ever come across, for which I feel very fortunate.” Susanna Sebelius
Board of Directors
Eva Christina Nilsson, President - Hailing from and based in Sweden, Eva Christina has a lifetime of dedication to advocacy and public service. From her time in the national youth movement to many years spent working on development policy and strategies, Eva Christina has over the years enhanced ecumenical collaborations breaking many gender glass ceilings. With a background in history and political science from the University of Uppsala, and an extensive experience in Eastern Europe, she held different positions including Director of the Lutheran World Federation Department for Theology, Mission and Justice. She also served as the first woman head of the Swedish Mission Council, and also worked as an advisor to the Mission Commission of the World Council of Churches. She is serving as president since 2023.
Dr. Angela Muvumba Sellström, Vice President Dr Angela Muvumba Sellström is a Senior Researcher at the Nordic Africa Institute (NAI) and affiliated to Uppsala University´s Department of Peace and Conflict Research, Sweden. She has contributed to policy research in Africa, Sweden and internationally for over 20 years. She is a member of the Swedish Women´s Mediation Network appointed by the Swedish government in November 2021. Between 2000 and 2010, she specialized in Africa´s peace and security, including the African Union (AU) and civil society organisations, at policy research institutions in New York, Cape Town and Durban. Her doctoral dissertation (Uppsala University, 2015) examined the causes of armed group impunity for sexual violence. She has been Director of Uppsala University´s Department of Peace and Conflict Research´s International Training Programme in Dialogue and Mediation between 2018 and 2020, in cooperation with the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation. At the university, she carried out multiyear research on conflict-related sexual violence, focusing on preventive approaches taken at the level of armed actors and organizations in Africa. Dr Muvumba Sellström is also on the Advisory Council of the non-governmental organization Fight for Humanity, and a non-resident fellow of the International Peace Institute.
Member of the LPI board since 2020, is appointed for four years 2020 - 2023.
Dr. Myra Blyth, Myra Blyth is based in the United Kingdom and is a member of the faculty of theology at the University of Oxford. Christian perspectives on restorative justice has been the focus of her research and publications over the past ten years with particular reference to the meaning and place of forgiveness in restorative justice. The current focus is on re-integration of victims and offenders. Current research also includes leading on a UK-China dialogue around restorative justice in east and western contexts. Between 1988 and 2000 Myra Blyth worked at the World Council of Churches in Geneva as Europe Secretary and then as Director of the Commission on Inter Church Aid. From 2000-2004 she served as Deputy General Secretary of the Baptist Union of Great Britain. From 2004-2020 she worked in academia as a fellow, tutor in theology and chaplain at Regent’s Park College Oxford. She now continues her association with the college through research activities. In addition, she is a research associate of the Oxford Global Prospects and Development Institute and a founding member and trustee of the Oxford Centre for Restorative Practices. Member of the LPI board since 2012, is now nominated for four years 2022 - 2025.
Dr. Asia Abdulkadir, a highly accomplished advocate for women's rights and a sought-after expert in gender mainstreaming, brings over two decades of experience to her diverse endeavors. Driven by a deep understanding of gender dynamics and a passion for positive change, she navigates seamlessly between research, program management, and training, empowering communities and building capacity across the Horn of Africa and beyond.
John Katunga Murhula, John Katunga is Africa Technical Advisor – Peacebuilding and Justice, Catholic Relief Services (CRS), Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). He is based in Kinshasa and provides technical assistance to CRS peacebuilding and justice programs in Africa. Prior to joining CRS, he served as acting director of Nairobi Peace Initiative-Africa. John Katunga has 25 years’ experience of promoting human rights, dialogue, social cohesion, and reconciliation in different conflict settings on the continent of Africa. He is a consultant Mediator for the Office of Compliance Advisor/Ombudsman of the World Bank, currently mediating a case in West Africa. John Katunga worked as an Open Society Institute (OSI) Africa Policy Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (WWICS), Washington, DC, where he offered high-level trainings in negotiation, mediation and cohesive leadership building to national parliament, senior military and police command structures in DRC and Burundi. He has developed skills in mediation and negotiation for high-level women leaders and Religious leaders in the Great Lakes Region, East and Central Africa. He has taught peacebuilding, social cohesion and reconciliation courses in Europe, America and Africa.
Member of the LPI board since 2020, is appointed for four years 2022 - 2025.
Stig Lundberg - Based in Uppsala, Sweden. Public accountant by profession. Work experience from Ethiopia for ten years as Finance Director and advisor in the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus. Also worked one year at the end of the 1990-ties with Life & Peace Institute as administrative head of the Horn of Africa Program in Nairobi. Since 2002 worked in management and advisory positions in the international work of Church of Sweden, for example Executive head for the long-term development work and church relations in Africa and Middle East, as well as senior advisor for Church of Sweden relations to World Council of Churches and Lutheran World Federation 2013-2020. He is nominated for the LPI board for four years 2022 - 2025.
Shamsia Ramadhan, has over 15 years of working experience and extensive field operations in peacebuilding, conflict transformation, and Africa´s security issues. She has worked in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Egypt, Nigeria, Niger, Ethiopia, South Sudan and Somalia. She has extensive experience in conducting peace and security assessments. Her areas of experience and interest include community peacebuilding, inter-religious peacebuilding, and action, conflict-sensitivity, research on peace and security issues and peacebuilding and preventing/countering violent extremism. Shamsia has authored and co-authored several publication/articles and training manuals on peacebuilding and preventing/countering violent extremism. Shamsia holds a Master´s Degree in International Peace Studies from the Joan B Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame and, a Bachelor´s degree in Social Transformation from Tangaza University College, Nairobi. Previously, she worked for LPI as a programme advisor for the Somalia programme and editor of the Horn of Africa Bulletin.
Member of the LPI board since 2017, is appointed for four years 2020 - 2023.
Stein Erik Horjen Stein Erik Horjen is working with multilateral issues in Norad, NorwegianAgency for Development Cooperation. From the late nineties he was immersed in Sudanese studies and he was a Special Advisor on Peace and Reconciliation at Norwegian Church Aid. In 2006, he began working for the Norwegian Government as a Development Advisor and later as a diplomat in Khartoum, Juba, and Nairobi. Horjen has a master's in theology from the University in Oslo and has been an ordained Minister in the Church of Norway since 1989.
Member of the LPI board since 2020, appointed for four years 2020 - 2023.
Dr. Njoki Wamai is an Assistant Professor at the International Relations Department at the United States International University in Nairobi, Kenya. Previously, she was a post-doctoral research associate at the Centre for Governance and Human Rights (CGHR) at the University of Cambridge Politics and International Studies Department where she attained her PhD as a Gates Cambridge Scholar in 2018. Her doctoral research focused on understanding the Politics of the International Criminal Court (ICC) intervention in Kenya. Her research interests include Critical peace and security studies, Women, Peace and Security, Transitional Justice and human rights intervention, African feminisms and politics of knowledge production. She has worked on peace and justice needs of the victims in Kenya after the post-election violence. She was also a member of the steering committee for the National Action Plan on women, peace and security in Kenya and the Women, Waging Peace Network in East and Central Africa. She is still involved in work with peace networks including the Usalama/Peace Network in Kenya and the Community Peace Voices.
Member of the board since by-election 19 Feb 2021.
International Advisory Council
Dr. Mohammed Abu-Nimer Professor at American University, Washington, DC https://www.american.edu/sis/faculty/abunimer.cfm Right Reverend William Kenney CP Auxiliary Bishop for the Archdiocese of Birmingham, UK https://www.birminghamdiocese.org.uk/faqs/bishop-william-kenney
Dr. John Paul Lederach Senior Fellow at Humanity United https://humanityunited.org/team/john-paul-lederach/
Florence Mpaayei Consultant Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding, Nairobi, Kenya
Dr. Thania Paffenholz Executive Director, Inclusive Peace thania.paffenholz@inclusivepeace.org Hippolyt Pul Coordinator, Catholic Relief Services, Africa Justice and Peace Working Group, Tamale, Ghana https://www.crs.org/
Tom Bamat Peacebuilding Consultant in Latin America Quito, Ecuador
Fulata Moyo Founder of Thimlela-STREAM, a Malawi/USA registered non-profit organisation responding to sex-trafficking through the accompaniment of survivors.
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