Daphne Roberts Bell has worked in social work, community development, and philanthropy and has served nine years on the local council, along with supporting settlement services for Hawai’i’s community. She advocates for effective action on climate change locally and nationally and encourages and supports able younger women to stand for council.

After joining the Peace Corps in Nepal, Jonathan (Jon) Bensky began his career in the U.S. Foreign Service, State & Commerce Departments, in Vancouver, Madras/Chennai, Colombo, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, New Delhi, Singapore, and Brussels. Now retired and living in Seattle, he is involved in local volunteer activities, including domestic politics and international affairs.

Arvinder (Ari) Brara likes to spend his time writing articles and books and has a great interest in health and environment-related matters. His future interests are in health and the environment, and he would like to collaborate with the East-West Center to plan an international conference focused on environmental issues.

As an APLP Generation 4, Charles Chen is currently teaching, researching, and publishing in the Social Science and Science Citation Indexes, the European Reference Index for the Humanities, and the Arts and Humanities Citation Index journals. In the future, he is interested in collaborating with other EWC colleagues in publishing works in more of these journals.

Gaye Christoffersen is the editor of Russia in the Indo-Pacific: New Approaches to Russian Foreign Policy, Routledge (2022), and author of “Russian Thinking about CSTO Peacekeeping: Central Asia, China, and the Ukraine War,” The Asan Forum (May 2022). She is currently working on co-authoring a book titled Russia’s Turn to the East.

Moushumi Das Purkayastha has a long professional experience in supporting the cause of marginalized women and children in the fields of education, women, and child rights through various top-level NGOs. She is now working in the field of business and continues to support small groups of young woman entrepreneurs.

Gulbadan Habibi worked for UNICEF as a Program Officer. She was instrumental in drafting committees of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities. Her work focuses on protecting the rights of children, women, and refugees.

Najma Haque is a retired government officer of the Ministry of Education in Bangladesh and is now working with some EWC friends for social uplift-ment in some of the villages there. With the help of her fellow EWC colleagues, she hopes to create something more permanent. She believes young, talented Bangladeshi’s can work wonders with a little help and encouragement.

David Hickey is now retired from the University of Florida Smathers Libraries, as an Asian Studies Bibliographer. Currently, he is continuing to pursue research and avocational interests in Chinese Studies, films, and reading. In the future, he would like to support EWC endeavors, such as hosting possible grantee visits to the University of Florida.

Reza Hoshmand is a Senior Advisor at the Global Institute of Service Leadership and former Director of General Education at Hong Kong Baptist University. In the future, he hopes to collaborate with EWC colleagues to discuss the economic development in the Asia Pacific Region.

Ishfaq Hussain is a current video journalist. In the future, he hopes to progress and work for a renowned organization.

May Imamura is a Special Ed. Teacher from Waipahu Elementary with 35 years of experience writing curriculum for American Samoa, Western Samoa, Fiji, and Tongan culture. She is also a donor to the East-West Center and offers scholarships for current EWC students. Since retiring in 2000, she likes to spend her time traveling.

Greg Knudsen is a former Director of Communications at the Hawaii State Department of Education, as well as a former magazine editor and Peace Corps volunteer. Now retired, he enjoys photography, traveling, and mental health support. He is also an EWC alumni and a Hawaii Chapter board member of the East-West Center Association.

Dayaprasad Kulkarni is the founder and director at Aarogya Seva. Dr. Kulkarni is also a medical doctor, public health specialist, entrepreneur, artist, and development consultant. He would like to collaborate with his fellow EWC colleagues on addressing healthcare problems with innovative solutions, as he has initiated several health-tech solutions.

Claire Langham has done field study in many different countries as a Fulbright recipient. She has 12 years of experience in the U.S. Diplomatic Service and is a former chapter leader of the EWCA Southern California Chapter. She looks forward to upcoming EWCA SoCal Chapter activities and the EWC International Conference.

Cheryl Lee is an environmentalist interested in community building, policy analysis, and social innovation.

Maria Manlagnit’s past and current works include economic research and policy analysis in the fields of monetary & banking, development economics, women empowerment & racial equity, and housing and urban economics. She is looking forward to participating in new EWC programs, particularly in the Washington D.C. area, and furthering the mission of the EWC.

Ingeborg Kendall Maranto is currently interested in sustaining growth and encouraging and enabling cooperation.

Lawrence (Larry) Meacham teaches American and World Politics in the University of Hawaii system and volunteers at the Democratic Party of Hawaii and in election campaigns. In the future, he is looking forward to constructing information and community networks for seniors, as well as mentoring students.

Linda Menton is a retired professor of education at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa. At the alumni conference, she hopes to catch up with her former EWC classmates.

Dr. Linda Miller is a retired educator who does re-enactments. In 2020, she provided the East-West Center a $25,000 scholarship for students. Her future interests include preserving the legacy of the USS Nevada in World War II, as well as collaborating with the EWC Art Department.

Yukiko Miyazato has conducted research within the cruise industry, international trade and Education. In the future, she would like to coordinate with scientists and researchers on international networking and educator’s exchange.

Fumiteru Nitta is interested in intercultural interaction between Americans and Japanese and multicultural interactions among Asians, Pacific Islanders, and Americans.

Regina Ordonez is a facilitator of human and management development workshops for multiple projects. She is also a former professor at the Asian Institute of Management and DeLaSalle University in Manila. She hopes to help resolve education challenges of Filipino students and parents and address the broken values of virtual environments among its voter population due to social media.

Rebecca Ovitt conducts support group classes for divorced, widowed and separated individuals. In the future, she will continue her work in the same field- reaching out to broken-hearted people.

Shafiqur Rahman is a Bangladesh TV Producer, Mass Media Professor and Chairman at Mississippi Alcorn State & South Carolina State Universities. In the future, he hopes to collaborate with his EWC colleagues on media management, press freedom, social media cyber security, and other similar topics.

Ronald (Ron) Richmond is a former Fiji grantee and geologist. He started the EWC Soccer Team and is a Hawaii Rugby Union Representative. In Fiji, he was the Director for Mineral Development and founder of the South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission. He is also a member of the Scientific Review Board. He is now retired and interested in climate change-related topics.

With a unique focus on business strategy and operations, Cerell Rivera has developed new business models and managed global programs in a variety of industries, including Fortune 100 enterprises, start-ups, and nonprofits. She is passionate about creating opportunities for people to achieve their full potential- personally, professionally, and economically.

Cindy Yoshiko Shirata is the former Secretary-General of the Science Council of Asia in 2010 and 2011. In 2005 she helped organized the EWC Tokyo Conference. In the future, she hopes to collaborate with EWC colleagues to discuss the East-West Center’s Leadership Program from a Japan Management point of view.

Mohammad Sohail has held positions as a director of a research institute, a university lecturer, a socio-political advisor, and a security analyst. His areas of interest are political economy and economic security in South Asia, international relations, policy studies, security studies, women’s rights, and human rights.

David Stilwell has served 35 years in the US Air Force, including as the Defense Attache to the People’s Republic of China, and transitioned to the State Department as Assistant Secretary for East Asia and the Pacific. He would like to collaborate on improving K-12 education and working to get news outlets back to reporting news and information.

Sri Liana Suryo-Atmojo’s enduring interests have been in anthropology and teaching languages, especially English as a second language to immigrants to Canada. She plans to continue nurturing her interests in anthropology, languages and history.

Since retiring from a career in advertising, Richard Tillotson has published two novels, produced a play, and written several (unproduced) screenplays. He has also written newspaper columns on climate change. In the future, he hopes to collaborate with EWC colleagues to discuss more creative writing and the future United States elections.

Takashi (Taka) Tsuchiya is a former CLI grantee and used to assist Japanese companies’ overseas business with Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO). Though he is now retired from his full-time job, Tsuchiya is a Japanese Licensed Guide Interpreter and may facilitate interchange of visitors to Japan.

Since leaving the East-West Center, Representative Gene Ward served 12 terms in the Hawaii House of Representatives. He now serves on the EWC Board of Governors and helps to make the East-West Center into the best thought leadership and cross-cultural instrument for better relationships in the world.

Michael Zdanovich currently teaches English for Academic Purposes at George Mason University, Korea. He wishes to discover more about the history of the Japanese and Korean people in the Pacific islands and has interests in the archaeological record of the Pacific islands.