On Saturday, April 25, Arcadia University welcomes human rights activist John Prendergast as part of the International Peace and Conflict Resolution’s third annual Professional Exchange event. The best-selling author, who has worked for peace in Africa for 30 years, will present at 1:30 p.m. in the Commons Great Room.

The day also includes a panel discussion by representatives from the nonprofit, private, government, and public sectors including Randy Duque, deputy director of the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations; Kisha Webster, director of Education and Community Engagement for Welcoming Schools at the Human Rights Campaign; Lee Ann De Reus, associate professor of Human Development and Family Studies and Women Studies at Pennsylvania State University-Altoona and co-founder of Panzi Foundation USA; and James Brobyn, co-founder and managing director of CauseEngine. Other events include a poster presentation by Arcadia’s IPCR students and an open networking lunch with scholars, practitioners, master’s degree candidates, Arcadia alumni, faculty, and community leaders. Registration is required for all events except Prendergast’s lecture, which is open to the public.

Prendergast is founding director of the Enough Project, an initiative affiliated with the Center for American Progress to end genocide and crimes against humanity, and has worked with the Clinton White House, the State Department, members of Congress, the National Intelligence Council, UNICEF, and the U.S. Institute of Peace. He also has collaborated with Former President Jimmy Carter and actors George Clooney, Don Cheadle, and Ryan Gosling on various human rights projects. With Clooney, Prendergast cofounded the Satellite Sentinel Project, which aims to prevent conflict and human rights abuses through satellite imagery and forensic investigations of stolen assets that fuel violence. With Tracy McGrady and other NBA stars, Prendergast launched the Darfur Dream Team Sister Schools Program to fund schools in Darfurian refugee camps and create partnerships with schools in the U.S.

Prendergast has authored or coauthored ten books. His latest, Unlikely Brothers: Our Story of Adventure, Loss, and Redemption, is a dual memoir coauthored with a little brother in the Big Brother program, in which Prendergast serves. His next book will be coauthored with Gosling and New Yorker writer Kelefa Sanneh, and will focus on the people, history, culture, and issues of the Congo. Prendergast has been profiled in several publications, including The New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Time, Entertainment Weekly, The Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times.

For more information on the Professional Exchange, contact Maja Subasic, IPCR program coordinator (subasicm@arcadia.edu, 267-620-4753).