Nelu Burcea serves as the IRLA’s liaison to the United Nations in New York and Geneva, and as its representative within the international community of civic and political leaders. He was the General Manager of Hope Channel Romania (2003-2009) and producer of the TV program “The Right to Hold an Opinion” for over 200 episodes – with the purpose of promoting human rights. He has been involved in academic research since 2011 by organizing international scientific conferences. He was the founder and editor of the Journal for Freedom of Conscience.

Dr. Burcea has a PhD in Economics specializing in Management Business Ethics, a Masters degree in Management of Business Development, and a Theology degree. He has also completed postgraduate study in Media and Marketing and Diplomatic Protocol and Communication and a Postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University focusing on the area of religious freedom.

Thierry Valle has been an active advocate for human rights for more than two decades. He has extensive experience concerning freedom of religion and belief around the world. He organized numerous symposiums on religious freedom in France. Thierry has been a participant of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) for the last ten years, speaking on issues relating to freedom of religion and restrictions on human rights as they relate to anti-terrorism laws in Europe. He has also written numerous reports for the OSCE. The Coordination of the Associations and the People for Freedom of Conscience is an European NGO with United Nations Consultative Status, created two decades ago and dedicated to protect the Right of Freedom of Religion and Belief. Developing their expertise for 20 years, defending religious minorities against discrimination, they produce reports on religious freedom issues and organize events, conferences, and meetings to unite minority religions to counter discrimination in Europe and worldwide. Thierry also takes part in the European platform for Fundamental Rights, for which he has made numerous reports on violations of religious freedom in Europe.

Julia M. Puaschunder, PhD – was educated as a behavioral economist with doctorates in Social and Economic Sciences and Natural Sciences, and Master’s degrees in Business, Public Administration and Philosophy/ Psychology as well as training in Global Political Economy and Finance. Before starting a Prize Fellowship in the Inter-University Consortium of New York at The New School with placements at Columbia University and Princeton University, she held several postdoctoral positions at Harvard University and the Vienna University of Economics and Business. She has published numerous books and journal articles, and was awarded the 2018 Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. Since 2018 she is a Marquis “Who’s Who in America and in the World” listee among the top 3% of professionals around the globe. Currently, Julia dedicates interest to Humanness, Automated Control and Artificial Intelligence Ethics in the digital age.

Ms Shazia Nasir is one of the leading Soft Skills Expert in Pakistan. She delivers talks on Conscious Communication across all industries, educational levels and cultures. Conscious Communication is based on the belief that good soft skills are the foundation of relationships and the lifeblood of effective leadership, teamwork, and organizational performance. In general, people’s leadership and organizational effectiveness are a result of their ability to communicate.

She is a people’s person with a very positive approach towards them and thus she loves helping them grow personally and professionally. She strongly believes in Continuous Improvement and Change for the Better, be it the people or the organization itself.

Currently a PhD scholar from UiTM Malaysia, she started her career as a Montessori teacher, and the field of education became her obsession. Then there was no looking back and today, as a teacher/ corporate trainer, she loves sharing ideas, concepts, experience and case studies with the trainees to help them become more productive at work, to get work satisfaction and to be more valuable for their organization so that they can achieve their personal and overall company goals. She has also presented research papers at various national and international levels.

Titus Corlăţean, PhD, is a legal scholar, diplomat, lawmaker and an educator. He holds a
BA and a PhD in Law from the University of Bucharest, and has conducted advanced
studies in International Relations and Diplomacy at the International Institute for Public
Administration in Paris, and at the National Defense College in Bucharest. Most recently,
Dr. Corlăţean was appointed visiting scholar at Harvard University, where he conducted
research on European values and secular governance related to the freedom of conscience
and religion. He is the author of several books in the field of human rights, and of
numerous scientific papers in the fields of law, human rights, and post-Soviet
secessionism. Currently, he teaches International and European Human Rights as
Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law and Administration of “Dimitrie Cantemir”
Christian University in Bucharest, Romania. In terms of political activity and public
service, Titus Corlăţean is a member of Social Democratic Party, and since 2004, he has
served as an MP, first as a deputy in the lower house of the Romanian Parliament, and
then as a Senator. Between 2005 and 2006 he was an observer in the Committee on Civil
Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, and in the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the
European Parliament. Between 2007 and 2008 he served as first Vice-Chairman of the
Committee on Legal Affairs and member of the EU-Romania, a member of the European
Parliament, and served in Moldova Parliamentary Cooperation Committee. Between
2012 and 2014, Dr. Corlățean served as Romania’s Minister of Justice, and as Romania’s
Minister of Foreign Affairs. During 2017-2018, he served as President of the Romanian
National Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and also as
Vice-President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). In
2018, he was elected Chairman of the special joint Committee of the Chamber of
Deputies and the Senate to coordinate the parliamentary activities related to Romanian
Presidency of the Council of the European Union. In January 2019, Senator Corlățean
was unanimously elected member of the Romanian Parliament Delegation to the PACE
on behalf of two PACE committees: the European Commission against Racism and
Intolerance (ECRI), and the Council of Europe’s Committee of Experts on the Evaluation
of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism – MONEYVAL. In
September 2019, Dr. Corlățean was elected Vice-President of the Senate of Romania, and
in January 2020 he became Vice-President to PACE for the election of judges the
European Court of Human Rights. In February 2020, he was elected interim President of
the Senate of Romania. Currently, Dr. Corlățean is the Rapporteur of the Parliamentary
Assembly on the Middle East Peace Process for the Committee on Political Affairs and
Democracy, as well as the General Rapporteur on the abolition of the death penalty on
behalf of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights. He also serves First Vice-
Chairman of the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy/PACE, and is a member
of the Committees on European Affairs, and on Constitutional Affairs within the
Romanian Senate.

Denise E. Burrill, PhD, is Assistant Professor in the School of Business and Technology
of Fitchburg State University, in USA, and Associate Researcher at the Corhis Research
Center of Paul Valéry University Montpellier 3, in France, where she received her PhD.
Dr. Burrill is a co-founder of IPSEC and the Chair of its Board of Trustees. She holds a
Masters of Liberal Arts in Management with a Nonprofit Administration concentration
from Harvard University, and is the recipient of the Harold V. Langlois Outstanding
Scholar Award for “demonstrated exceptional academic accomplishment and promise as
a manager,” and the recipient of the Dean’s List Academic Achievement Award from
Harvard University. Her research focuses on management information systems, religious
phenomena, inter-religious networking and dialogue, culture, organizations and communication.

She has more than fifteen years of experience working in the financial
and technology sectors. She is a coeditor of several volumes including The Phenomenon
of Migration: Proceedings of Harvard Square Symposium Vol.2/2016 Cambridge, MA:
The Scientific Press, 2016; The Holistic Society: Multi-Disciplinary Perspectives:
Proceedings of Harvard Square Symposium Vol.3/2017 Cambridge, MA: The Scientific
Press, 2018, and of several peer-reviewed papers. Most recently she published together
with former PhD adviser, Professor Mihaela-Alexandra Tudor, a seminal research paper
titled “Culture, structure, and rational interests in interdenominational networking: a case
study of Romanian Orthodox Seminarians” Journal of Beliefs & Values, Vol. 41, Issue 2,
2020.

Marian Gh. Simion, PhD, is a political scientist and a religious historian with a wide
array of expertise ranging from social sciences and humanities to policymaking and
management. He holds a PhD in international politics, policy, and law from Northeastern
University in Boston (where he studied public policy and political leadership with
Michael S. Dukakis, the former Governor of Massachusetts and 1988 Democratic
Nominee for President of the United States), and completed postdoctoral research at
Harvard University in religion and diplomacy. Dr. Simion is a Cambridge University
author and published several books including Research Methodology in Orthodox Peace
Studies – University Textbook (Cluj–Napoca: Presa Universitară Clujeană, 2016);
Religion and Public Policy: Human Rights, Conflict and Ethics (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2015); Just Peace: Orthodox Perspectives (Geneva: WCC Publications,
2012); Religion and Political Conflict: From Dialectics to Cross-Domain Charting
(Montréal: Presses internationale polytechnique, 2011), and others. His teaching
experience goes back for almost two decades both in the US and abroad. Most recently
Dr. Simion taught courses on government at Harvard University, ethics at Boston
College, research methods at Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, and
economics and management at Fitchburg State University, and lectured around the world
on international security, conflict resolution, and religious diplomacy in Romania, China,
Korea, Syria, Germany, UK, South Africa, and others. As a practitioner, Dr. Simion has a
strong experience in international conflict transformation, human rights, international
public policy; working in countries such as North Korea, South Korea, China, Syria,
Egypt, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and others. Currently, he splits his time on three
continents working as a Field Education Supervisor and President of the Institute for
Peace Studies in Eastern Christianity at Harvard Divinity School in Cambridge, MA, as
Visiting Professor at Fitchburg State University, in Fitchburg, MA, and as honorary
Foreign Affairs Advisor at the Parliament of Romania in Bucharest, and as Associate
Fellow at the University of Pretoria in South Africa.

Prof. Amal Nagah Elbeshbishi is an International Professional Staff Member working as a Chief of Employment and Skills for Sustainable Development Section for the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) – Office for North Africa, Rabat- Morocco. She is also a tenured Professor of Economics at Faculty of Commerce- Mansoura University, Egypt [on sabbatical leave (national assignment) to work for UNECA]. Prior to joining UNECA in 2005, Prof. Elbeshbishi lectured at universities in Bahrain, Egypt and the United States of America. She has also worked with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UNESCWA) and the Egyptian Cabinet’s Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC). Prof. Elbeshbishi is the author/co-author of many research papers and books on several economic and social development issues. She holds a Master’s and a Ph.D. degree in Economics from Fordham University- New York, United States of America; and a Master’s degree in Economics from Mansoura University, Egypt.

Dr. Carlos Biaggi is the Dean of the Faculty of Business Administration at Middle East University, Beirut, Lebanon. He is Associate Professor of Management and Accounting, and Academic Advisor of the MBA program. He hails from Argentina and brings 20 years of experience in the not-for-profit sector and academia in Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, the Philippines, and Lebanon. He is a CPA in his country, holds an MBA from Universidad Autónoma de Asunción (Paraguay), and a PhD in Business from the Adventist International Institute of Advanced Studies (Philippines). Carlos is passionate about utilizing the latest technologies in business in a context of integrity and ethics. He lives in Lebanon with his wife Silvana and their two children, Giuliana and Giovanni. His research areas are business ethics, spirituality in business, strategy, human resources management, entrepreneurship, and qualitative research. Carlos serves as reviewer of the Asian Qualitative Research Association; International Forum; and the Journal of Management, Spirituality & Religion.