BEN HOFFMAN RETURNS TO THE CANADIAN INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF APPLIED NEGOTIATION (CIIAN) AS PRESIDENT

-April, 2005-

Early this spring Ben Hoffman accepted an offer by the Board of the Canadian International Institute of Applied Negotiation (CIIAN) to assume the position of President for a one year term, renewable.

Ben, who 15 years ago co-founded CIIAN with Canadian Senator Douglas Roche, returns with new energy and new directions for the Institute.

Exciting times!

Ben, who has just completed a year long assessment of the challenges to the peacebuilding field, comes to the task ready to lead the Institute into new and exciting times.

He says the challenges to the fields of violence prevention and conflict resolution are more perplexing now then they were when he and others first launched CIIAN.

"As people and organizations committed to ending violence and providing individuals with the tools to resolve conflict nonviolently, we now operate in a different context where the relevancy of our tools and techniques is often questioned - these are ideal times for the field to rise to the occasion and prove to the world that we offer viable alternatives to violence".

Ben also says that he looks forward to working with the current and new board members and all of the CIIAN team.

Building on the worldwide reputation that CIIAN has earned as a leading institute in the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and Peacebuilding field, Hoffman's keen interest is in focusing on the role of power in ending violence and mobilizing the field to rise to its current challenges.

In CIIAN's Spring 2005 newsletter Ben speaks to some of the directions that he envisions CIIAN pursuing in the coming months and years.

Click here to download a copy.