Professor Jim Torczyner, MMEP Founder and Director
Jim Torczyner joined McGill University in 1973 after obtaining his D.S.W. from the University of California, Berkeley. In 1975, he founded Project Genesis, a community-based grassroots organization that empowers people from diverse backgrounds to advocate for entitlements, to change social policy, and to develop alternative community organizations. In 1990, Professor Torczyner founded the Montreal Consortium for Human Rights Advocacy Training (MCHRAT) which extends multi-disciplinary expertise to groups that have traditionally lacked access and power such as the disabled, members of minority groups, and homeless youth. In 1994, Professor Torczyner refocused his attention primarily on the Middle East and founded The McGill Middle East Program in Civil Society and Peace Building (MMEP) with a belief that the reduction of inequality and the promotion of civil society are intricately related to peace building.
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Professor Torczyner has served as a council member of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, is currently an editorial board member of The International Journal of Social Welfare, and leads a four-country study evaluating the impact of the rights-based practice approach established in Israel, Jordan, and Palestine. He is the recipient of numerous awards and medals: most recently, he was awarded the Gold Medal of the Jordan Red Crescent and the Canadian Bureau of International Education Award for extraordinary contributions to the field of international education.
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Program Staff
david [dot] leduc [at] mcgill [dot] ca (David Leduc )
Associate Director, MMEP
Following a combined Honours Degree in International Development Studies (IDS) and Spanish Language at Dalhousie University in 1997, David spent 4 years living and working across the Middle East. As Oxfam-Quebec’s Representative in Lebanon between 1999 and 2002, David secured over $400 000 from various funding agencies to implement a unique empowerment program connecting Palestinian refugees across the Middle East, two capacity-building centres and a regional conference on self-assessment...
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His fully sustainable development model was later adopted by programs in Jordan, the West Bank and Gaza. Shortly after his return to Canada, David worked as a Community Organiser where he coordinated the launch of Community outreach programs and delivered educational workshops and seminars in the Montreal communities of Parc-Extension, St-Laurent, St-Michel, and Villeray. His extensive work with youth and empowerment brought him to the YMCA to direct one of Canada’s oldest residential camps where he successfully remodelled the leadership programs, recruited and supervised a staff of 75 employees and was responsible for the safety and security of over 800 camp participants.
In 2004 David joined MMEP. Since then he has managed the McGill Middle East Program and the ever-growing network of MMEP centres in the Middle East. He oversees the program’s strategic development, all of its regional activities and has worked extensively with regional partners to develop a 10 year organizational strategic plan. David recently completed his MBA at McGill University, bringing new strengths to the table as the program is brought to scale in the Middle East.
jhm [dot] mmep [at] mcgill [dot] ca (Jodi Michaels)
Director of Communications
After graduating from Stanford University with a degree in Human Biology, focused on health in the developing world, Jodi spent a year volunteering in Israel before studying Fine Arts in New York. While there she continued her focus on community service, teaching environmental science in inner city schools. She then lived and worked in Jerusalem for several years, both as an artist and as communications coordinator...
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at the New Israel Fund. In the Middle East Jodi worked with a broad spectrum of civil society organizations, honing communications strategies. She moved to Montreal in 2003, where she began coordinating the Empress Cultural Centre project to return an old theatre to community use before joining MMEP in 2005. She has worked with our fellowship cohorts, on special projects and in her communications role.
anastasia [dot] pokholok [at] mcgill [dot] ca (Anastasia Pokholok)
Administrative Coordinator
Anastasia graduated from McGill University in 2011 with a degree in Finance and Environmental Sciences from the Desautels Faculty of Management. She joined the MMEP in 2008, working as an accounting assistant while still a student at the university. During her time at McGill, Anastasia pursued initiatives dealing with local art and culture, social corporate responsibility and the environment. Her interests lie in participative governance, community building and environmental sustainability.
mmep [at] mcgill [dot] ca (Marlise Armstrong)
Administrative Assistant and Volunteer Coordinator
Marlise completed a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Psychology at McGill in 2011. She has been involved with MMEP for several years, first as a volunteer in the Montreal office, then as an intern at centres in Nablus and Amman; she has now returned to serve as MMEP's volunteer coordinator at McGill. She is interested in social justice, intercultural communication, and international law and politics.
nora [dot] parr [at] mail [dot] mcgill [dot] ca (Nora Parr)
Regional Correspondent
Nora has an MA from the Institute of Islamic Studies at McGill University, where her research on identity in Palestinian fiction brought her to the West Bank in 2006, and ultimately to MMEP the following year, where she joined first as a volunteer. Between 2008-11 Nora worked as the program’s researcher and reporter from the Middle East, based in the West Bank. She has recently embarked on studies toward a PhD in London, England, at SOAS.
International Executive Committee Co-chairs
Gretta Chambers, C.C., O.Q., Chancellor Emerita, McGill University (Co-Chair)
Gretta Chambers, with over 30 years experience in the media, is a columnist and political commentator. Ms. Chambers has served in many public-interest capacities, including Chancellor of McGill University from 1991 to 1999 and Governor of McGill University since 1978 (emeritus since 1988). Ms. Chambers was named a Member of the Order of Canada in 1994. Ms. Chambers is a founding member of the MMEP.
The Honorable Herbert Marx (Co-Chair)
The Honorable Herbert Marx, co-chair and one of the founding members of the MMEP, started out working in industry. He then returned to school to study law at the age of 32 and was professor at the Université de Montréal for ten years before entering politics. During his term in the Quebec National Assembly he served as Minister of Justice and Attorney General. He then served as a Superior Court Justice for more than seventeen years before his recent retirement. He remains an active member of a variety of non-profit boards beyond MMEP, including Governor of Tel Aviv University, President of the Association for Canadian Studies, and Member of the Board of the Tolerance Foundation.