Irene Hasenberg Butter is a well-known peace activist, Holocaust survivor, and Professor Emerita of Public Health at the University of Michigan. She is a frequent and favored inspirational speaker, talking about her experience during World War II and stressing the importance of “never a bystander” and that “one person can make a difference.” Irene is a co-founder of Zeitouna, an organization of Jewish and Arab women working for peace, and a founder of the Raoul Wallenberg Project at University of Michigan, which honors the Swedish diplomat who saved thousands of Jews with fellowships and an annual award for peace workers such as the Dalai Lama, Elie Wiesel, Desmond Tutu, and Aung San Suu Kyi. She received a PhD in Economics from Duke University.
John D. Bidwell is consulting editor of Monique and the Mango Rains, the critically esteemed book authored by his wife Kris Holloway that chronicles their time in the Peace Corps with the Malian midwife Monique Dembele. He is a branding and marketing executive and consultant, a frequent presenter, and has lectured and taught at the University of Michigan, University of Massachusetts, Smith College, and Marlboro College. John has his BA from McGill University.
Kris Holloway is author of the critically acclaimed Monique and the Mango Rains: Two Years with a Midwife in Mali, which has been called “a respectful, unsentimental portrait [and] a poignant and powerful book.” (Kirkus, Starred Review). She has delivered hundreds of presentations, and the book remains a favorite “common read” and is used in 150+ college and university courses. Kris is President of CISabroad, a leading education abroad organization responsible for sending thousands of students to study and intern abroad worldwide. She holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Michigan.