GCJ Leadership
All GCJ directors and staff volunteer their time. Our heartfelt thanks to all.
Susan Partnow, Founder & Executive Director
Susan has lived and worked abroad in Israel, France, Vietnam, Liberia, Ghana, Nigeria, Switzerland, Cuba, Guatemala, India, Japan, Germany and Mexico and has traveled to Turkey, Azerbaijan, most of the EU, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Scandinavia. She speaks Spanish, French and some German.
She founded Partnow Communications in 1986 to provide organizational development and training services in the public and nonprofit sectors. She worked as a Sr. Organizational Development Consultant at Swedish-Providence Health Services for over eight years. Susan teaches communication skills and works with clients to release and transform the energy locked in conflict to creative change, wise outcomes and enhanced relationships.
She specializes in facilitating dialogue and large group processes, using such cutting-edge techniques as Open Space, World Cafe, Appreciative Inquiry and Sustained Dialogue. A former teacher and speech pathologist, Susan received her M.A. in Communication Disorders from Northwestern University where she was a Rearwin Fellow, and B.A. with honors from the University of California at Berkeley.
Susan has served as Board President of Kadima Community School and the Earthstewards Network, board member of Global Peoples Assembly, Earth Charter Community Summit-Seattle, The Compassionate Listening Project, Transpartisan Alliance, National Coalition on Dialogue and Deliberation, and African American Jewish Coalition for Justice. She is the co-founder of Conversation Café, Compassionate Seattle, Compassion Games and Let’s Talk America. She is Sr. Certified Trainer for The Compassionate Listening Project and apprenticed under Dominick Barter in the practice of Restorative Circles.
Email Susan at susanpartnow@gmail.com
Project Directors
- Joel Dimiyen Bisina, Nigeria Host Country Director. | Bio | email
- Mary Ella Keblusek, Nigeria Project Director. | Bio | email
- James Kainyiah (Nana Kaka Bulla II), Ghana Host Country Director, founder WHH. | Bio
- Barbara Gilday, Ghana Co-director. | Bio
- Richard & Maryanne Ward, Ghana Co-directors. | Bio | email
- Emmanuel G.V. Dolo, Liberia Host Country Director | Bio | email
- Prosper Ndabishuriye, Burundi Host Country Director | Bio | email
- Sister Lucy Kurien, India Host Founder of Maher
- Gaus Sayyad and Mangesh Pol, India Host Country Co-directors
- Irene Michon, Kashmir Project Co-director
- Mehran Khan, Kashmir Host Project Director,
Board of Directors
- Susan Partnow, President
- Mary Ella Keblusek, Vice President
- Jeannine Florence, Secretary
- Jim Peckenpaugh, Treasurer
- Irene Michon, Director
- Leah Green, Director
Team Leadership
- Keerthi Sudevan, Social Media and Communications | email
- Jim Peckenpaugh, Accounting Support | email
