Peace in Praxis bridges theory and practice to create transformative learning experiences that help individuals and groups understand one another and engage with each other effectively across differences
What is Peace in Praxis?
Peace in Praxis is an education consulting practice led by educators with decades of experience designing, implementing, and evaluating leadership and conflict transformation programs rooted in learning theory. We have worked with universities, non-profit/community groups, philanthropic organizations, corporations, and government agencies. Our work has taken us to more than 35 countries across the US and Latin America, Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. Our audiences range from educators/academics and youth leaders to NGO leaders and security sector actors. We use human-centered design to understand gaps and opportunities that guide us in designing engagements.
Praxis is the space where theory and practice meet. It is a term often used in education, as it is the work of educators to help learners translate theoretical, abstract ideas into digestible, relatable, concrete realities. Peace in Praxis focuses on translating the theory of everyday peace into action.
What do we do?
We design and facilitate worldbuilding workshops, trainings, intergroup dialogues, and training-of-trainer programs. We conduct research, develop curricula, and coach trainers on processes that bridge divides in communities. Our work is guided by the belief that relationships matter and that curiosity is fundamental in shifting how we understand and engage with one another.
How do we do it?
We root our engagements in sound pedagogy and we design our engagements around adult learning principles. We know that interaction in a training, workshop, or dialogue is important, but interaction alone does not ensure that learning happens. We make pedagogical choices and adjust our engagements to meet participants’ evolving needs.
Our Logo
As educators working in the field of conflict transformation, we view learning as a lifelong endeavor. We know that the conversations we have now might not bear fruit for many years. Our logo is a flower with petals and seeds to reflect the idea that when we engage with people who are different from us, when we embrace perspectives other than our own, when we have difficult conversations, the seeds from those conversations may not grow for a while. In other words, an insight shared during a dialogue or a training may not resonate for us immediately. We might not make sense of that insight for days, months, or years to come. We believe that change happens over time, and those seeds are nourished at different rates for each of us, depending on our individual circumstances.
Our Team
Brie Loskota
Co-Founder, BALM Strategies
Brie has spent 25 years in higher education at the intersection of research and public engagement, including as the inaugural executive director of the Martin Marty Center for the Public Understanding of Religion at the University of Chicago and executive director of the Center for Religion and Civic Culture at the University of Southern California. She is currently a faculty affiliate at the Center for the Study of Religion and Society at the University of Notre Dame.
Her research explores how religions change and make change in the world. She was co-founder and senior advisor to the American Muslim Civic Leadership Institute and the Cecil Murray Center for Community Engagement at USC and an implementing partner for the United States Institute of Peace’s Generation Change Fellows Program. Brie was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2017 and is serving a 2-year term on the World Economic Forum’s Global Futures Council on faith in action.
Nilaya Magadish
Consultant
Nilaya is a youth researcher and consultant. As a Senior Program Assistant at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), Nilaya managed USIP’s Youth Peacebuilding Fund, contributed research to the Youth-Centered Peacebuilding Framework, and facilitated the Youth Country Liaison Initiative, a youth-led advisory group that provided critical thought leadership to executive leaders as they implemented peacebuilding programs.
Nilaya previously served as Researcher and Youth Ambassador to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification where she researched land degradation’s environmental impact on the Middle East and North Africa and proposed solutions for elevating partnerships with affected women, youth, and faith-based communities. Nilaya holds a MA in Religion from Yale University and a BA in International Studies from American University. She speaks fluent French with advanced proficiency in Hebrew and Arabic.
Alison Milofsky Mojto, PhD
Founder and Principal Consultant
Alison is an educator and trainer with 25 years of experience designing and implementing leadership and conflict transformation programs. Prior to launching Peace in Praxis, Alison was the inaugural Director of Curriculum and Training Design at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) where she oversaw the creation and expansion of education and training programs for social impact. Alison has worked with audiences ranging from educators and academics to youth leaders, civil society leaders, and security sector actors in more than 30 countries throughout Central and South America, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.
While at USIP, Alison created the Institute’s youth portfolio and co-created the Generation Change Fellows Program for emerging leaders from conflict-affected communities. She holds a PhD in Education Policy and a MEd in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages from the University of Maryland, as well as a BA in French Literature from McGill University.
Tahani Yaghshi
Consultant
Tahani is a peacebuilding practitioner and researcher with over ten years of experience in conflict-affected contexts, including Syria, Tunisia, and Sudan. Her work focuses on conflict transformation and community-based dialogues, with an emphasis on the roles of women and youth in building sustainable peace. Tahani’s research explores bottom-up approaches to peacebuilding, the role of civil society, and reconciliation processes.
Previously, she was a Conduct and Conflict Management Specialist at George Washington University where she facilitated restorative justice processes and designed and delivered conflict management workshops for students, staff, and faculty. She holds a MSc in Conflict Management and Humanitarian Action from the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies and a BA in English Literature from Damascus University. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University.
