About Us
Our Vision
We envision a Los Angeles that utilizes “bridge-building” as a core organizing principle, making LA an effective global model for addressing conflict as it emerges, healing and holding communal differences, and cultivating a healthy and functional civic culture.
Our Mission
The Los Angeles Bridge Builders Collective mobilizes our collective expertise and resources to promote the practice of “bridge building” as indispensable social infrastructure for addressing Los Angeles’ greatest challenges.
What is Bridge Building?
By transforming seemingly intractable conflict into opportunities for empathy, inclusion, consensus, and shared governance, bridge builders not only address the challenges of polarization, division, and hatred, but build healthier, effective, and more resilient people and communities.
Effective bridge building has been shown to improve problem-solving, to increase creativity and productivity, and to elevate a sense of “belonging,” which is key to a functioning community and society.
Meet the Collective Founders
The Los Angeles Bridge Builders Collective was founded by six bridge building leaders whose expertise crosses sectors and audiences.
Aziza Hasan
Executive Director – NewGround: A Muslim Jewish partnership for Change
Aziza Hasan, named an influencer by the Chronicle of Philanthropy, is the executive director of NewGround: A Muslim Jewish Partnership For Change. She has extensive experience in program management and coalition building. An experienced mediator and conflict transformation practitioner, she has co-facilitated with multiple groups. Aziza’s work has been featured on Ozy, Yahoo News, MSN, Public Radio’s “Speaking of Faith” with Krista Tippett, the United States Institute for Peace, Arabic Radio and Television, and the LA Times. Aziza serves on Los Angeles Mayor’s Interfaith Advisory Council.
Daniel Wehrenfennig, Ph.D.
Founding Executive Director – Center for International Experiential Learning (CIEL)
Daniel Wehrenfennig, Ph.D. is the founding executive director of the Center for International Experiential Learning (CIEL), an immersive education and travel organization. He has worked in global education for over a decade as the executive director of the Olive Tree Initiative, an award winning experiential learning program based in the University of California system and housed at UC Irvine. He also created the Certificate Program in Conflict Analysis and Resolution and served as the Vice-Chair of the Chancellor’s Advisory Council on Campus Climate, Culture and Inclusion at the University of California, Irvine. His recent work has been published by Peace Review, Communication Theory, the University of California Press, Lexington Books and Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism.
Elissa Barrett, Esq.
Executive Director – Western Justice Center
Elissa Barrett, Esq. comes to her role as Executive Director of the Western Justice Center as a respected innovator and advocate. Elissa was honored to be part of the team at Bet Tzedek Legal Services for more than a decade, first as Director of the Sydney Irmas Housing Conditions Project then as Director of Pro Bono Programs and finally as Senior Vice President and General Counsel. Her achievements include the passage of significant anti-slum housing legislation, the formation of a multi-agency coalition to combat consumer abuses during the foreclosure crisis and the creation of the Holocaust Survivor Justice Network, which has recovered more than $25 million in reparations for survivors in 31 cities across North America; inspired parallel efforts in Europe, Australia and South America; and received the American Bar Association’s Pro Bono Publico Award.
Maia Ferdman
Founder and Principal – Bridges Intergroup Relations Consulting
Maia Ferdman is the founder and Principal of Bridges, an intergroup relations consultancy that supports organizations and communities to build vibrant spaces of belonging – spaces where we celebrate our complex identities, explore our differences productively, and build resilient relationships between groups. She is a skilled facilitator and educator who brings energy, nuance, and heart to all her work. Maia has developed and facilitated innovative programs on policing, interfaith connection, race relations, and more. Maia is also the Assistant Director of the UCLA Luskin Center for History and Policy, and she previously staffed the City of Los Angeles Human Relations Commission.
Reena Hajat Carroll
Executive Director – The California Conference for Equality and Justice (CCEJ)
Reena Hajat Carroll serves as the Executive Director of the The California Conference for Equality and Justice (CCEJ), a nonprofit dedicated to eliminating bias, bigotry, and racism through education, conflict resolution, and advocacy. She is a seasoned Executive Director with more than a decade of experience facilitating, teaching, and strengthening nonprofit operations and governance. Reena has trained over 11,000 people throughout the United States from the corporate, education, and nonprofit workplaces. What drives her commitment to social justice is experiencing first-hand the collective impact within a community when dialogue rather than debate becomes the norm.
Shaphan Roberts
Director, Online Programs and Adjunct Professor – Pepperdine Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution
Shaphan Roberts leads online programs at the Pepperdine Caruso School of Law, and teaches in the Pepperdine Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution. He was previously the Director for Los Angeles City Attorney’s Dispute Resolution Program and Adjunct Professor for cross-cultural negotiation at Pepperdine University where he earned his MBA from the PKE program. Mr. Roberts manages the coordination of all programmatic aspects of the Dispute Resolution Program, including community mediation, the award-winning Community Police Unification (CPU) Program, and the growth of the program in line with the goals of the City Attorney’s Community Justice Initiative. Additionally, he manages the recruitment, training, and certification of the DRP’s volunteer mediator workforce and is often requested to train city departments and community organizations on conflict management, de-escalation, and cross-cultural communication.
How we got started
In response to the reckoning with racial justice in Summer 2020, six bridge building leaders in Los Angeles began convening regularly to discuss their roles and responses to this important historical moment. They identified numerous shared values, skill sets, and challenges, and realized that banding together could elevate their individual and collective work.