Kyle Dietrich
Executive Director and Co-Founder
My roots are in the Ozarks of northern Arkansas. My heart is everywhere I’ve ever lived. I like to think of Peace in Focus as the culmination of our collective life experiences working around issues of education, youth development, human rights, and peacebuilding. My own education, though far from finished, has been enhanced by a BA in Languages and Anthropology, several years spent living in Mexico, Brazil, Morocco, Turkmenistan, and Burundi, and a firm grounding as a result of working with the Peace Corps, the US Agency for International Development, the Carter Center, and the United Nations.

Kate Fedosova
Director of Operations and Co-Founder
After spending the first part of my life growing up on the Black Sea coast in Odessa, I moved to the United States at age ten. I quickly embraced my new culture, and this dual identity greatly fueled my passion for international dialogue and cooperation. I see photography as a unique and powerful tool to overcome linguistic barriers and communicate the human experience - whether the photograph captures treasured childhood memories or documents complex global crises. My approach to creative conflict resolution has been shaped by my experience working as a studio photographer, as well as an advocate of human rights in the non-profit sector and with the United Nations. I received my B.A. in Diplomacy & World Affairs and French from Occidental College, where I wrote my thesis on, “Conflict Photography: Instrument and Impediment to Conflict Resolution.”
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Danielle Martin
Boston Program Facilitator
I work with organizations to create holistic communications and organizing strategies for integrating participatory media and digital storytelling tools into educational, advocacy, and development projects. As a media consultant, I have worked as an after-school youth media facilitator, and curriculum developer, supporting Peace in Focus as well as MassIMPACT, the Charlestown Boys & Girls Club Computer Clubhouse, StoriesforChange.net, and as an AmeriCorps VISTA Volunteer at UMass Boston’s Transmission Project. In 2009 I graduated as a Master in City Planning from MIT, and continue to partner with MIT@Lawrence and the Center for Future Civic Media. All this comes together on my blog: VerdeSmoke.com. 

More about me: I VALUE VOICE...individual, authentic, unrestrained, equal and celebrated. I VALUE CHANGE...making some sort of impact...using my hands and my brains and a camera…and probably some geeky homegrown tools. I VALUE COMMUNITY…deep in it...on the ground...surrounded by that dynamic noise of the personalities who value the same things I do.

Joseph Mukozi
Burundi Program Coordinator, Trainer
My nickname is Musore. I’m Burundian. Burundi, my country, is very poor and has been affected by a civil war since 1993. I recently finished my studies at the public university in the Faculty of Arts and Social sciences, the department of English language and literature. I’m also a member and Deputy Chairman of the non-profit youth association called Jamaa, which means “Friends” in Swahili. We work to strengthen peace and stability in our community, and our strategy is to focus on a variety of issues that must be addressed if peace, stability, and development are to prevail. In spite of the obstacles mentioned above, we strive to do our best and our partnership with Peace in Focus has strengthened our vision. I believe, and hope, that we shall overcome, because where there is a will, there is always a way. So join us and let’s build a peaceful world!

Eric Nsengiyumva
Director of the “Akarusho +” Youth Journal, Trainer
I am the oldest son in a family of seven children. I was born in Burundi to a Burundian father and a Burundian mother. I am journalist, and I have been working for peace and reconciliation since 1997. There are numerous achievements with this work; some of the most important among them is the training of youth, the reintegration of former combatants, the education of youth organizers in peace and reconciliation, the construction of houses for indigenous groups (the Twa tribe in Burundi), raising awareness of repatriation in refugee camps, advocacy against using children as soldiers, as well as peace and sport journalism.

I was Vice President of the Burundian non-profit organization Jamaa. As a journalist and the head of Jamaa Info, the monthly newspaper for Burundian youth, I report on national and international news, and I had the opportunity to cover first-hand the conflicts in Kenya, Zimbabwe, Sudan, Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda. Additionally, I serve as a trainer in peace photojournalism for underprivileged Burundian youth through joint Peace in Focus/Jamaa projects. Right now, I am the Director of Publications of Jamaa Info and Akarusho +. As a result of my experience with conflict and peaceful conflict resolution, my desire is to participate in peace education because it lies at the core of everything.

Dero Sanford
www.thinkdero.com
Communications Director and Photography Trainer
I wish I could photograph the faces of people the moment they learn I grew up with 14 siblings and a horde of exchange students. My parents adopted my brother and me when I was about 9 years old. We grew up in an old school on the outskirts of Russellville, Arkansas. Great adventure and grace filled our home and my childhood.

Over 20 years later I found myself performing photographic services to advertising agencies, architecture firms, companies, and other clients. It has been a great journey to find the tools that I have been given to help others whether it was for an ad campaign or a non-profit photo assignment. Through doing so, I have had the honor of gaining great friends whom I have gotten to know over the years.
View Dero's Peace in Focus Gallery