ACG Founding Director | Applied Anthropologist

 Dr. Elizabeth Snyder, Founding Director of Applied Culture Group, is a lifelong peacebuilder. Her career spans 25+ years in research, fieldwork, activism and education. Elizabeth has led and served on peacebuilding projects in Central and South America, South Asia, Africa and the Middle East. She is an alumna of the Academy for International Conflict Management and Peacebuilding at the U.S. Institute of Peace, where she completed practitioner courses in conflict analysis, negotiation, security institutions, adaptive leadership, identity-based differences, peacebuilding organizations, and trauma and peacebuilding. MORE 

ACG Project Manager | Career Special Forces

Master Sergeant (Ret.) Thomas Cunningham served 26 years in the United States Army with 24 of those years dedicated to the Special Forces Regiment as a Medic, Team Sergeant, Battalion Medic, Operations Sergeant, and First Sergeant. Thomas strives to increase trauma understanding and healing by connecting and informing Health Practitioners and Survivors of Combat or other Trauma at the individual, community, and national levels.  He advocates for greater Soldier and Veteran care through multiple pathways including the foundational Responses to Trauma (R2T) initiative. MORE

Our Partners

Author, Speaker, Innovator | U.S. Air Force (Ret.)

Emille M. Bryant is the author of Start With A Sparkle and the Innovator of Brazen Creativity. As an author and innovator, Emille tirelessly seeks ways to share his insight into leadership, motivation, self-development and creativity. He is a passionate advocate of independent thinking and believes America's edge in business, conflict resolution, military engagement and humanitarian endeavors is in its ability to draw on multiple perspectives and points of view at will. His engagement requires a level of in-depth thinking and willingness to confront personal and collective fears that unlock the power of an individual and organization. MORE

Certified Trauma Trainer | Foreign Service Officer (Ret.)

A skilled foreign affairs professional, Angela spent 25 years in the U.S. Foreign Service, both abroad and domestically. She has significant experience in more than 30 countries across Southeast Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Angela is now an independent consultant and trainer, specializing in negotiation and mediation as well as peacebuilding and peacekeeping, to include protection of civilians in conflict situations. MORE

Integrative Health Coach | Continuing Medical Education

Karen is an Integrative Health Coach trained and certified at Duke Integrative Medicine.  Karen's personal mindfulness practice serves as the foundation for coaching adults cultivating mindfulness skills for stress reduction and wellness. Karen coaches individuals and groups engaged in realizing their vision of health.   Karen is an experienced health care advocate, health educator, and trainer. As a coach, Karen helps clients explore and discover how the whole you can be supported as they work with health conditions such as cancer, diabetes, IBS, nutrition and weight, or when preparing for surgery. MORE

Clinical Psychologist | Military-Community Trauma Specialist

 William Goble, PhD works at the Fayetteville Family Life Centers and is a military family life consultant who has also served as a clinical counselor for The Resource Center in Asheville, New River Behavioral Healthcare in Boone, at Broughton Hospital and has served as a Parent/Infant Educator for the North Carolina School for the Deaf. He has served as a member of the Association for Treatment and Training in the Attachment of Children (ATTACh) and has additional training in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Military Family Issues, Women in the Military, Child and Adolescent Issues, Bipolar Disorders, Learning Disabilities/ADHD and Domestic Violence. MORE 

International Peace & Security Consultant | U.S. Army (Ret.)

Colonel (Ret.) Christopher Holshek is an international peace and security consultant and a senior civil-military advisor at Narrative Strategies, Protect the People, the International Peace & Security Institute, the Alliance for Peacebuilding, and the United Nations Association of the National Capital Area, as well as a U.S. Global Leadership Coalition “Veteran for Smart Power” and a Director in the Civil Affairs Association, including its annual cycle of symposia and roundtables around the creation and publication (as co-editor) of annual Civil Affairs Issue Papers on subjects of future force development. His National Service Ride to promote citizenship, community, public and national service, and social responsibility in and beyond America is based on his book, Travels with Harley – Journeys in Search of Personal and National Identity. MORE

PhD Candidate, Communications Studies | U.S. Air Force

Sonny Kelly is a scholar, performer, storyteller, motivator, speaker, and comedian. Currently, his research is focused on Critical/Performance Ethnography, Critical Pedagogy, and Youth Activism/ Empowerment. Sonny is currently pursuing UNC’s Graduate Certificate in Participatory Research (GCPR). During the Summer of 2015, he started research doing performative ethnography work youth in Fayetteville, NC, funded by the GCPR Seed Grant. He seeks innovative and effective approaches to addressing the Achievement Gap between thriving and marginalized students and the School-to-Prison Pipeline that threatens marginalized youths in the United States. MORE

Certified Trauma Trainer | Founder & Executive Director, Minnesota Peacebuilding Leadership Institute

Donna is the founder and executive director of the nonprofit Minnesota Peacebuilding Leadership Institute. She is committed to its mission to instigate, train, and support racially, culturally, ethnically, religiously, and economically diverse individuals and organizations to become trauma-informed, resilience-oriented, and restorative-focused empowering communities in Minnesota, the USA, and around the world. She is a Certified STAR Trainer with national and international experience, a Restorative Justice 101 Trainer, and develops and facilitates custom trainings for organization staff development. MORE

Military Family Life Counselor | Advisory Board, Center for Economic Development & Empowerment

Monica Brown-Stanford has over 26 years of experience in the field of mental health. Monica is employed by MHN Government services as a psychotherapist. Monica Brown-Stanford provides individual, family, and couples counseling to military service members and their families. She is actively involved in her community through volunteer work at local shelters, food banks, nursing homes and schools. She organizes community walks to bring awareness to health issues such as diabetes, heart issues and hunger, and supports youth and youth forums across the Fayetteville / Fort Bragg region. Monica Brown-Stanford serves on the women’s advisory board for the NC Center for Economic Empowerment and Development. MORE

Military Family Life Counselor

Regina R. Wesley is a North Carolina Licensed Professional Counselor with over 27 years of experience.  She specializes in the clinical treatment of children, adults, couples, and families for depression, anxiety, relational issues, grief, job changes, and chronic mental health issues. She is a graduate of Fayetteville State University, receiving a Bachelor of Science Degree in Sociology, with a minor in Social Work; and a graduate of Liberty University, in Virginia, with a Master’s Degree in Professional Counseling. MORE