Kommon Denominator, Inc. (KD) was formed in 2005 by three friends and former classmates who met while completing their Master of Arts and Ph.D. studies at the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University. Their varying personal and professional lives as social scientists, environmentalists and social justice practitioners merged through their mutual values. They agreed to form KD around their commitment to the peaceful resolution of conflict, service to their community, and seeing the good in people and individuals.

The name, Kommon Denominator represents “the ties that bind” with the logo visually representing this belief through the unification of the Arabic letters “K” and “D”.

Dr. Alma Abdul Hadi Jadallah

President

Dr. Alma Abdul Hadi Jadallah is an internationally recognized scholar practitioner in conflict prevention and mitigation. As an educator, she teaches graduate level courses in conflict analysis and resolution. She also brings extensive organizational development experience to her work coaching parties and groups to identify shared interests and enhance their abilities and skills towards collaborative attitudes and behaviors. Dr. Abdul Hadi Jadallah’s research writings and practice focus on political and organized violence, the role of third-party roles, gender, and culture. She has worked extensively in the Arab world and on regional Middle East issues. In the US her work focuses on race, ethnicity and group dynamics in the workplace and communities. In 2019, Dr. Abdul Hadi Jadallah joined the Eminent and Expert Persons advising the ASEAN Regional forum advising on preventive diplomacy and on women peace and security (WPS). Past positions included serving with the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) as the Quaker International Affairs Representative to the Middle East. In 2014 – 2015 she served as the Regional Expert and Coordinator, Panel of Experts on Yemen established pursuant to Security Council resolution 2140 (2014), Department of Political Affairs, United Nations. Prior to this role, she served with the Special Advisor to the Secretary General Jamal Ben Omar (SASG) in Yemen during the Yemeni National Dialogue. On Syria, she was involved in Track II diplomatic efforts led by the UN. She is the recipient of several business awards and honors including the 2017 Distinguished Alumni Award for the School of Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University.

Areas of expertise:

• Women Peace and Security (WPS)

• Training and Education in Conflict Prevention and Mitigation: Facilitation, mediation, dialogue, scenario planning

• Organizational development: organizational climate assessments, conflict coaching for leaders and groups

• Multi-stakeholder Process Design and intervention strategies

• Advanced Research including assessment studies utilizing USAID CAF2 and UN CDA)

  Regional expertise of the Middle East

Dr. Cynthia Irmer

Co-Founder and Senior Associate

Dr. Irmer is a conflict resolution specialist and attorney currently consulting with international organizations, national governments and non-governmental organizations supporting indigenous resilience and reducing violent conflict. Recently, she led hundreds of Thai citizens, including government officials, in a novel approach to strengthen community resilience and reduce violent conflict. Previously, as Special Assistant to the State Department's Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights (J), she led strategic planning efforts, gender equality, religion and foreign policy and public sector involvement in the Open Government Initiative for the Under Secretary. She also served with the bureau for Conflict and Stabilization Operations (CSO) and Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization (S/CRS) where she led the inter-agency in developing and using a tool for analyzing deep causes of conflict and social and institutional strengths and resilience. She has trained government ministers, armed rebel groups and ordinary citizens in peace negotiations and to act as mediators and non-violent conflict resolvers in North and Sub-Saharan Africa, South and Southeast Asia, North and Central America and Europe. She also teaches conflict resolution and peace-building to inmates in a California State Prison.

Dr. Kwaw G. de Graft-Johnson

Director of Research

Kwaw G. de Graft-Johnson is a scholar-practitioner with close to 10 years of experience in the field of conflict analysis and resolution. As the Director of Research at Kommon Denominator, he has provided technical advice and expertise on strategic initiatives aimed at strengthening global, international, national and local capacities in conflict prevention and mitigation strategies. Dr. Johnson is a skilled qualitative and quantitative researcher. His work has included managing and implementing process activities in the US and abroad.His global work experience includes field and research experiences in crisis and post-conflict settings, conducting conflict assessments, and research studies in complex settings and countries facing humanitarian crisis. Most recently, he was part of the team that helped to design a manual and train faculty from the University of Mosul, Iraq in Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (P/CVE). He received his master’s and doctorate degrees from George Mason University’s School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution (S-CAR), in Virginia.

Laila Abdul-Hadi Jadallah, BA

Director of Operations

Ms. Abdul-Hadi Jadallah develops and oversees all account and administration policies and manages multiple concurrent projects with foundation, government, non-governmental, corporate and community clients and partners; and liaises between stakeholders to ensure contract, reporting and scheduling policies are met. In addition to her work at KD, Ms. Abdul-Hadi Jadallah is a seasoned director and senior manager with experience in the arts and cultural heritage protection in the non-profit and for-profit industries. Ms. Abdul-Hadi Jadallah is currently an MA Candidate in Arab Studies at the Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University where she is also pursuing a certificate in Diplomacy Studies. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Arts & Culture from the School of Integrative Studies from George Mason University (2007), a Certificate in Photography from Spéos Photographic Institute Paris (2010) and a Certificate in Business Fundamentals from Harvard Business School’s HBX program (2018).

Gay Rosenblum-Kumar, MA

Senior Associate

Gay Rosenblum-Kumar comes to peace-building work via a dozen years of anti-apartheid work that culminated in two years as a UN Peace Observer in South Africa (1992-94) in the run up to the election of Nelson Mandela where she was awed by the work of the National Peace Accord and local peace committees.  She spent the next twenty years at UN Headquarters developing the UN’s Programme on Building National Capacities for Conflict Prevention and the UN Peace and Development Advisor cadre. Ms. Rosenblum-Kumar now serves as the UN Representative for two peace-building NGOs, Nonviolent Peaceforce and Peace Direct, and advocates for unarmed civil protection, building peace side by side with local communities, amplifying the voices of local peace-builders, and for systemic change in how peace operations and peace-building are done. Ms. Rosenblum-Kumar has an MA from School for International Training and taught Peace-building and Development at NYU’s Center for Global Affairs.  She is on the boards of New York Peace Institute, Free Yezidi Foundation, and the International Center for Assault Prevention.   She has worked in about forty countries mainly in sub-Saharan Africa.

Areas of expertise:

• Twenty-five years of experience in the development, management, and evaluation of conflict prevention/transformation, peace-building, post-conflict reconstruction, and PVE projects.

• Strong organizational and process skills; well-versed in conflict-sensitive development, facilitation, mediation, and experiential training. 

• Demonstrated experience in working with communities and facilitating intra- and inter-group processes for research, evaluation, community-building, and conducting capacity-building workshops on conflict transformation and peace-building themes. 

Full resume (PDF)

Dr. Pinar Akpinar

Associate

Pınar Akpınar is Action Research Program Manager and adjunct lecturer at Sabancı Business School. Between 2014 and 2019, she was Scholar and Program Manager at the Conflict Resolution and Mediation Stream of Istanbul Policy Center, Sabancı University. She received her PhD from the School of Politics, International Relations and Philosophy (SPIRE), Keele University. Her research interests are gender sensitive conflict resolution, foreign policy, international mediation and diplomacy, peace-building, humanitarianism, Turkish domestic and foreign policy, the Middle East, and East Africa. Dr. Akpınar taught at various universities including Sabancı University, Kadir Has University and Keele University. She advises institutions such as Turkish Foreign Ministry and Qatari Ministry of Defense on issues of mediation, conflict resolution and regional politics. She co-facilitated the Somalia-Somaliland Academic Forum (a track II mediation process carried out under the auspices of Turkish Foreign Ministry). She is a board member of and trainer for the Turkey antenna of the Mediterranean Women Mediators Network and a Women in Conflict 1325 Fellow, a women mediators network created by Beyond Borders Scotland.

Full Biography (PDF)

Susan Levin, MA

Associate

Susan Levin is a facilitator, trainer, coach, mediator and organization development consultant. She has worked with thousands of employees from a variety of organizations in the United States and abroad for more than 30 years. She focuses on maximizing individual and organizational strengths to bring out the most effective skills and approaches. Ms. Levin uses an appreciative approach to help her clients leverage their best practices to achieve their future vision. Whether abroad or in the US, she’s mindful of making sure her work is culturally relevant. She uses engaging, interactive methods that generate closer bonds within groups, and develop ways to interact and work together better than ever. She has used that approach leading training on harassment issues, including sexual harassment. For the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences of the National Institutes of Health, Ms. Levin led training on sexual harassment. She led similar training for Transition Dynamics, Inc., after conducting staff interviews and completing an assessment.  

Areas of expertise:

• Facilitation

• Instructor led and virtual training

• Organizational development

• Management and leadership

• Women in leadership

• Strategic planning

• Conflict resolution

• Diversity awareness and inclusion and harassment

Full bio (PDF)

Full CV (PDF)

Izabela Solosi, CPLP, M.Ed.

Associate

Izabela Solosi is a trainer, facilitator and certified mediator. She has collaborated with numerous conflict resolution subject matter experts to provide clients with skill-building training. From short brown-bag presentations to long multi-day programs, Ms. Solosi designs every session with the adult learner in mind. Programs topics include managing difficult conversations; mediation, negotiation, facilitation, conflict resolution, and effective communication skills; non-violent communication; and managing conflict in co-located and virtual teams. She has presented for a variety of audiences including professionals, adults with disabilities, foreign visitors, and is a recurring speaker at conferences Ms. Solosi is a Certified Professional in Talent Development (CPTD). She holds a BA in Conflict Analysis and Resolution and an M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction, both from George Mason University.

Areas of Expertise:

• Instructional design

• Training delivery

• Instructor-led and online training

Basma El Eryan, BA

Office Manager

As office manager for Kommon Denominator, Basma El Eryan is responsible for behind-the-scenes administrative tasks. She is responsible for helping research a wide variety of topics, including current events, in addition to maintaining the company’s books and files. Basma attended George Mason University, majoring in History. Her interests include political science analysis and international relations focusing on the Middle East.