Elad Vazana, celebrated peacebuilding practitioner, grew up in Israel after his parents emigrated from Morocco in the 1950’s.  Like most Jewish Israelis, he served in the Israel Defense Force, which proved to be one of Elad’s most trying times of his life. This ordeal led him to not only devote most of the last 15 years to humanizing the ‘other’ but also to diligently work toward peacebuilding in all aspects of his life and the world that surrounds him. Elad has taught and managed projects for:Youth Leading Change, Sulha Peace Project uniting thousands of Arabs and Jews, Gevim North - Mediation Center, and Makom Balev, a shelter for at-risk youth. Most recently, Elad has gathered youth from Palestine and Israel for one-week desert journeys to build relationships and learn to identify with all humankind and Earth. He was a strong force in the 2007 Palestinian-Jewish Family Peacemakers Camp and in the 2009 citizen initiative to send needed supplies across the Gaza border to citizens following the war.