Our Team

ANDREW CARSWELL

Andrew Carswell is a lawyer and former military officer whose career is dedicated to improving respect for international humanitarian law (IHL). He worked for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC, 2006-2019), in the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the US, as a delegate to national armed forces and, in some contexts, non-state armed groups. He was three times director of ICRC’s senior-most annual course for national armed forces and served as the ICRC’s representative to Canada (2015-18). He is currently writing his doctorate on transforming the working methodology of the UN system to more effectively address international peace and security. He continues to serve as a consultant on IHL, especially as applied to military tactics, techniques and procedures, and on humanitarian diplomacy designed to protect vulnerable populations. 

PAUL DARVASI

An educator and researcher who lectures, keynotes, writes and consults on the intersection of digital games, simulations, narrative, social justice, culture and learning. He holds a PhD from York University’s Language, Culture and Teaching program, examining the reasons for the popularity among high school students of Grand Auto Theft 4. He designed The Ward Game and co-designed Blind Protocol, an Alternate Reality Game (ARG) to instruct high school students on privacy and surveillance. He has written a UNESCO paper on digital games to support conflict resolution and he hosts the website Ludic Learning.

KAREN FINKENBINDER

Dr. Karen Finkenbinder is the Chief of Publications at the George C. Marshall Center. She is the former Peace Operations and Rule of Law Advisor at the Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute (PKSOI) and served as the Course Director for the Army War College Peace Operations Course. She also taught criminal justice courses at Shippensburg University and Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Finkenbinder served as the U.S. Professor of Peacekeeping to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam’s Peacekeeping Center as it built its capabilities and capacities to train, deploy, sustain, and regenerate peacekeepers. She also served as the Chief of Research and Publication at PKSOI. Additionally, she was a U.S. expert for community policing to the United Nations, as well as a municipal police officer, state police training and education specialist, and military police officer. 

PEGGY MASON

President of the Rideau Institute. She served as Canada’s Ambassador for Disarmament and has frequently proved advice and played roles on NATO exercises on peace and stability operations. 

BENOIT (BEN) MAURE

Inspector Ben Maure is a serving police officer with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) with over 33 years of experience in areas such as public safety, national security, and international policing, especially UN peacekeeping. In 1999, Ben completed a one-year tour of duty as a UN Peacekeeper in Guatemala. Between 2009 and 2013, he acted as a Police Liaison Officer (First Secretary) at the Embassy of Canada in the Dominican Republic, with one duty being to liaise with police staff in MINUSTAH (United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti). Ben is fluent in French, English and Spanish and has a command of German. He holds a Bachelor of Technology degree from the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) and a M.A. degree in Social Justice from the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV). Ben is a recipient of the Governor General’s Meritorious Service Cross (M.S.C.), the result of a special assignment that took him to Afghanistan in 2008. Ben is the author of Leading at the Edge: True Tales from Canadian Police in Peacebuilding and Peacekeeping Missions Around the World (2020). Website: www.benmaure.com.

ISAIAS MEDINA III

Edward S. Mason fellow MPA/MLD graduate at Harvard University, Isaias is an international lawyer, environmental and humanitarian activist. He served as former Venezuelan UN Diplomat and legal adviser at the Security Council (UNSC). Expert in UNSC sanctions, International Humanitarian Law, Human Rights Law and Counter-Terrorism.

CHARLOTTE SENNERSTEN

Dr. Sennersten is a 3D Systems Researcher, and Team/Project Leader in Mineral Resources at Commonwealth Scientific Industry and Research Organisation (CSIRO) in Australia. She has a PhD in Computer Science – 3D Game Development and a Master in Cognitive Science. Her PhD work was in joint collaboration with Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI), Blekinge Institute of Technology (BTH), Uppsala University and Karolinska University Hospital – The Bernadotte ‘Eye & Vision’ Laboratory.  She assisted with Sweden’s multinational exercise on peace operations called EX Viking.

DAVID VALENTE

David Valente is an experienced cross-disciplinary leader who is passionate about creating innovative and engaging solutions to address real-world challenges and inspire positive change. David is the owner and operator of Valente Productions, a consulting and project management company that specializes in corporate and community planning for diverse industries such as gaming, film, tourism, hospitality and entertainment. Additionally, he holds a postgraduate degree in Game and Interactive Media Design, with over 15 years of experience in project management, operations, sales, and business development. David is collaborating on a wide variety of educational and recreational community projects. Organizations include Heatwave for SickKids, The Hospital for Sick Children, Tourism Toronto, George Brown College, McMaster University, Humber College, Canadian Forces College, Ontario Volleyball Association, Volleyball Canada, Helping Hands Jamaica, Canadian Olympics & Special Olympics Committee and the City of Toronto Parks, Forestry & Recreation Department. David’s roles in the development of the Peacekeeping Simulations have included Game Design & Development, Administration and Partnerships.