Dallas Peace Center Staff

Kelli Seals-Obazee serves as the Executive Director at the Dallas Peace Center. She has worked with the Dallas Peace Center on various community awareness intiatives and direct actions since 2001. In 2009 Kelli served as a Board Member of the Dallas Peace Center and Chair of the Communication and Visibility Team.

In addition, Kelli has had the privilege of serving as a Board Member for the League of Women Voters, Making Connections Inc., creating and serving as Chair of the Economic Empowerment Committee at the Potters House and starting her own non-profit organization called Innovative Social Solutions Inc. One of the goals of Innovative Social Solutions Inc. is to empower today's youth through creative hands on educational programming. A popular program of ISSI has been Teen Hype Talk Show – a conscientious discussion of critical issues by our future leaders.

Concerned about the post 911 growing hostilities toward the Muslim community Kelli reached out to partner with Hadi Jawad and served as the Executive Producer of American Muslim Voices. Kelli is the Executive Producer for her husband's show Point Blank with Tunde Obazee and supports Code Red Reggae Band with marketing. Kelli Obazee believes that her first and most important ministry is in her home. Kelli is a proud mother of six children and four amazing grand-children. Some of Kelli's other media ventures included: Promotions Manager for Rational Radio 1360 AM and later Managing a popular consumer, savings program called The Radio Shopping Show.

Kelli has enjoyed a very successful 12 year career as a III Level WAN Engineer, but make no mistake about it Kelli's passion is people, and is grateful and humbled to render to the call of full-time service for the betterment of humanity, Peace!

 

DPC Board of Directors

 

Rev. Ryan Koch — President

Ryan Koch is the senior pastor at Peace Mennonite Church. He is one of the newer members of the Dallas Peace Center and the Dallas community in general as he moved here at the end of 2009. He is a recent graduate of Duke Divinity where he received a Master of Divinity degree with a focus in political theology. Prior to Duke, Ryan attended Malone University in Ohio, a Quaker institution. It was here that he became committed to peace and social justice issues. Ryan currently serves as co-chair of the Middle East Peace Committee

 

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John  Fullinwider — Vice President
John  Fullinwider has been a part of he Dallas peace and justice community for decades as a community organizer, active on issues related to poverty, housing, education, city services, peace and justice. In addition to the DPC, he works closely with East Dallas Community Schools, Teatro Dallas, South Dallas Cultural Center, and Texas Tenants Union.
 

 

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Diane Baker

One of Diane’s earliest mentors was 1999 Peacemaker of the Year Rev. Frank Mabee, whom she met in college in 1964. She was influenced by the way Mabee stalwartly stood up to threats and scare tactics as he advanced the Civil Rights movement in Oklahoma. In 1966, Baker and her brother traveled to California to work beside members of what would soon be the United Farm Workers of America. Several years later, when she was working with a church in Claremont, Calif., she took the youth group to La Paz, a center that Cesar Chavez had developed to minister to the healthcare needs of UFW members. While they were there, Chavez showed up and sat with the junior high students talking to them at length and listening to them intently. Baker has shown the same interest and joy in interacting with children, both at home and in other countries. While on a Pastors for Peace journey to Chiapas, she was such a favorite among the local children that they would wake her up saying,  “Princesa Diana, juegue con  nosotros!” (Princess Diana, play with us!)

Baker has committed civil disobedience in Oklahoma, Texas and Washington D.C. against the illegal detonations and use of depleted uranium in Vieques, Puerto Rico. In 2005 she was arrested twice in D.C. protesting the Iraq War and the Military Commissions Act. Although Baker will unhesitatingly work outside “the system,” she also does serious work using accepted avenues of influence. She has been an activist and organizer with RESULTS since 1985, working to influence legislation through letters, phones calls and visits to congressional representatives. Her occupation is that of a hospice chaplain, providing spiritual and physical comfort as people come to the end of life. She has counseled survivors of the Oklahoma City bombing, the first Post Office massacre and hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Baker said that she is greatly aided by the souls and spirits of peacemakers she has met and worked with – she has traveled to Cuba with Rev. Lucius Walker and attended the School of the Americas protests originated by Fr. Roy Bourgeois – and those who work for peace and justice in Dallas are greatly aided by the soul and spirit of Diane Baker. In 2006 she was recognized as the Peacemaker of the Year by the Dallas Peace Center.

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Mavis Belisle

 

Mavis Belisle has been a social justice activist for more than four decades, primarily in antiwar and antinuclear activities. She is a cofounder of opposition organizations to the Comanche Peak nuclear power plant, and spent 18 years as director of the Peace Farm, adjacent to the Pantex nuclear weapons assembly plant. She has been a member of the regional advisory board for AFSC and national boards of War Resisters League and the former Mobilization for Survival. She is currently a board member of the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability

 

 

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Ian Hunter

 

Ian Hunter is an ex-South African who came to the US in 1999. His involvement in "The Struggle" in South Africa has made him a keen advocate for social justice – and reconciliation and peace. He is currently Chair of the Social Action Council at First Unitarian Church and is the Senior Director of International Expansion at Mannatech, Inc. His career as a computer scientist and management consultant has been balanced by extensive interest in movements towards a new era for global values and "governance."

 

 

 

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Sara Mokuria

Sara Mokuria is a multi-racial educator, activist and mother. Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, she was educated at Booker T. Washington High School for the Visual and Performing Arts in Dallas, Eugene Lang College- New School University in New York City, and Simmons College in Boston.

She has a BA in liberal arts, MA in Gender and Cultural Studies, MAT in Teaching High School History and is certified to teach high school in Texas and Massachusetts. She works on issues related to racial and economic justice, freeing all political prisoners, ending the prison industrial complex, women's rights, the arts and poor people's access to education.

Recently she has been involved in the Committee for Justice for Hector Rivas, organizing graduate students against racism at Simmons College, the May Day Coalition, Happy Birthday Assata Campaign, Mothers Against Teen Violence, Fhari Arts Institute and parent, student and teachers rights in Dallas. Sara now works at the Institute for Urban Policy Research at UTD as a Senior Research Associate.

 

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Aftab Siddiqui

Aftab Siddiqui has been actively involved with Dallas Peace Center for the last 10 years. He is the Co-Chair of Save Pakistan Committee that is working to stop the drone attacks in Pakistan. He is Vice Chair of Muslim Community Center for Human Services – a nonprofit that provides charitable health and social services. He volunteers with United Way of Tarrant County and sits in the Cabinet and Health Impact Council. He is a Member Executive Committee of Tarrant County Democratic Party. He played a key role in organizing Ballot Box Barbecue (2002) and Civil Rights Conferences (2003, 2004, and 2005); is currently President Elect, Muslim Democratic Caucus of Texas.

Aftab works at American Airlines and has been deeply involved with the Diversity Initiative at work. Before migrating to US, Aftab worked in production management and taught as Assistant Professor at Institute of Business Administration, University of Karachi. He has done his BS (Elect), MBA, and MPA (UT Arlington). He is married to Yasmin and has two sons – Saad Siddiqui and Asif Siddiqui.
 

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Rev. L. Charles Stovall