Call our helpline at 1-884-497-3223
Call our toll-free helpline at 1-844-49-PEACE (1-844-497-3223) or email us at help@parents4peace.org. We operate our helpline Monday - Friday, from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm (Eastern). In case of emergency, please contact 911 or 988 immediately.
The moral force behind Parents for Peace is a unique network of fathers and mothers who have been impacted by extremism. They include relatives of people who: died fighting with extremist groups; were killed in extremist incidents; or are now serving jail sentences for extremism violence. They also include former extremists and reconciliation advocates. These diverse individuals come together united in a commitment to help other families get help in time.
Our parent committee members include: Mohamed Ahmed, Saliha Ben Ali, Nicola Benyahia, Abdirizak Bihi, Julie Boada, Christianne Boudreau, Melissa Buckley, Daryl Davis, Dave Fortier, TM Garret, Deqa Hussein, Latifa Ibn-Ziaten, Monica Mansfield-Steelman, Arno Michaelis, and Ahmed Patel.
A native of Morocco, Nadri-Churchill has over 30 years of experience as a psychotherapist working in a variety of settings in the U.S. and internationally. She began her career in southern France, where she intervened with first- and second-generation North African immigrants trafficked into sex-work in Marseille and facilitated group therapy at a juvenile detention center in Nice. After relocating to the United States, she worked as a group therapy counselor in an inpatient dual-diagnosis unit at Beth Israel Deaconess. With several certifications in life- coaching, she has maintained a professional coaching practice in Monaco and delivered leadership training programs with the Institute Regional Administration in Nantes.
Nadri-Churchill’s unusual combination of intervention and coaching experiences shaped the unique methodology of the Parents for Peace helpline. She has helped hundreds of American families successfully intervene to rescue loved ones falling into extremism. A leading international expert on deradicalization, her unique work has been profiled by Reuters, NPR, and the Washington Post, and she has presented at the European Parliament, Harvard University, Twitter corporate headquarters, and on Capitol Hill.
Diána Hughes, M.A. is the Senior Director of Strategy and Operations at Parents for Peace. Diána oversees its operations and administration within the organization, including federal and foundation grants.
Before joining the team, Diána worked at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Emergency Preparedness, Research, Evaluation, and Practice (EPREP), contributing to research related to extremism, radicalization, terrorism, and human trafficking. Her academic research has mainly focused on the psychology of violent extremism and terrorism. Diána has coauthored several publications on these topics.
A native of France and a graduate of Georgetown University, Jouenne has served as a first – responder for Parents for Peace’s family helpline, assisting hundreds of families in need of support in cases of radicalization. As part of her helpline work, she advanced case codification methodology and standardized intervention protocols. In April of 2022, she testified to Congress on radicalization and rehabilitation before the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee.
Pardeep Kaleka is an expert on addressing communal trauma who has worked with survivors, former extremists, community partners, policymakers, law enforcement, mental health practitioners, and educational staff.
He co-founded the public health organization Serve2Unite in response to the 2012 Sikh Temple hate crime outside Milwaukee, during which his father was murdered. He co-authored the memoir “The Gift of Our Wounds: A Sikh and a Former White Supremacist Find Forgiveness After Hate” (St. Martins Press).
As an intervention specialist with Parents for Peace’s helpline, he has successfully assisted American families of diverse backgrounds in rescuing loved ones from extremism.
In high school, Elizabeth Moore was recruited into the Heritage Front, Canada’s largest hate group at the time. From 1992-1995 she was a prominent spokesperson in the organization, but fortunately she had a change of heart and deradicalized in 1995 with the help of Bernie Farber and the Canadian Jewish Congress. Today, she is a passionate speaker, writer, and educator on racist extremism. She has conducted keynote addresses, lectures, and workshops for prominent government, education and community groups including the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General’s Office, York University, McMaster University, and the Toronto Board of Education, among others. In 2019 she testified at the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights about online hate in Canada. Her written work addressing racism and equity issues, including radicalization methods, hate in the armed forces, and the impact of hate crimes on individuals and communities, has appeared in school textbooks, learning guides, government reports, and mainstream media publications. In addition to her involvement with Parents For Peace, Elizabeth also sits on the steering committee for Enhancing Social Justice Education, which promotes the greater inclusion of antisemitism awareness and Holocaust studies in all levels of education.
A native of Georgia, Buckley is a former KKK member who now helps deradicalize young people caught up in extremism. After serving in the US Army in Afghanistan, Buckley joined the Georgia White Knights as an Imperial Nighthawk, drawn in by the movement’s anti-Muslim and racist values. Thanks to an intervention by former white power skinhead Arno Michaelis and Kurdish refugee Dr. Heval Mohamed Kelli, Buckley was able to exit extremism. He works with Parents for Peace to provide direct interventions with individuals of concern and also created the Trauma & Recovery Program to provide positive coping skills to veterans and police officers. Buckley has been featured in The Washington Post, CNN, and Bloomberg Magazine; been the subject of the documentary “Refuge”; and testified to the United States Congress.
A native of Toronto, Shaikh is former jihadist extremist who now helps deradicalize young people caught up in extremism. His journey into extremism began in Canada and eventually brought him to Pakistan. After the 9/11 attacks challenged his extremist worldview, he studied Arabic and Islamic Studies in Syria and deradicalized. Back in Canada, he was recruited by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service to participate in several undercover counter-terror investigations. An internationally-recognized expert in violent extremism, he serves as a Professor of Public Safety at Seneca College is the subject of a permanent exhibit at Washington D.C.’s, New International Spy Museum.
Dr. Schouten is the Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.
Ms. Meyer is the daughter of Holocaust survivors and former board member of the Kindertransport Association who teaches conflict resolution and cultural diversity.
Dr. Fraser is the counter-extremism expert and professor at Yale and The Citadel.
Ms. Batten is the director of the Community Resilience Initiatives Program at the University of Maryland’s Center for Health and Homeland Security.
Mr. Chakravarty is the former Assistant US Attorney (prosecutor of Boston Marathon bombing case) & partner at Snell & Wilmer.
Mr. Davis is a legendary African-American blues pianist (backing icons like Chuck Berry and B.B. King) who gained renown as a civil rights advocate befriending KKK members and helping them exit extremism.
Mr. Michaelis is a speaker, filmmaker, author of My Life After Hate, co-author of The Gift of Our Wounds, and Director of Serve 2 Unite.
Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School
legendary African-American blues pianist (backing icons like Chuck Berry and B.B. King) who gained renown as a civil rights advocate befriending KKK members and helping them exit extremis.
CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts
counter-extremism expert and professor at Yale and The Citadel
director of the Community Resilience Initiatives Program at the University of Maryland’s Center for Health and Homeland Security
former Assistant US Attorney (prosecutor of Boston Marathon bombing case) & partner at Snell & Wilmer
daughter of Holocaust survivors and former board member of the Kindertransport Association who teaches conflict resolution and cultural diversity