Taiwan Peace Fellowship

Launched by the Lung Yingtai Cultural Foundation, the Taiwan Peace Fellowship invites outstanding peace practitioners from around the world to Taiwan for a three-week residency in September 2025. Through local field visits, public dialogues, and campus engagements, the fellows will gain a deeper understanding of Taiwan’s historical context, cultural landscape, and geopolitical reality. At the same time, they will bring their firsthand experience of peacebuilding in conflict regions around the world into the Chinese-speaking society—sparking new energy for peace rooted in empathy and action.

Program Mission

We support outstanding individuals from diverse backgrounds across the globe. We strengthen their
capacity to drive positive change. The Program brings together a cohort of Peace Fellows to Taiwan
for three weeks to foster intellectual growth, knowledge sharing, skill development, and promote
networking opportunities.
Our Peace Fellows are forward-thinking innovators who are deeply committed to the pursuit of peace.
They are dedicated professionals making strides in their careers and eager to broaden their
understanding of the world.

The Inaugural 2025 Taiwan Peace Fellows

France｜President, European Grassroots Antiracist Movement (EGAM)

A policy expert and peace advocate from France, Benjamin’s life has been deeply shaped by his family’s history of displacement. As a member of the Amazigh Jewish community from southern Morocco, his family was once forced to flee due to religious and ethnic conflict. This history instilled in him, from a young age, a deep awareness of the importance of dignity and compassion, leading him early on to engage in civil society and devote himself to protecting vulnerable communities and advancing justice.

Over the years, Benjamin draws on his intercultural roots and international experience to empower others through education, activism, and public policy. He has served a an advisor to the UN Under Secretary General and the French Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Justice. He has also provided strategic counsel to the World Bank and numerous international foundations across Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America.

He initiated an innovative program to support child victims of the war in Ukraine, and as long worked on the ground in regions such as Rwanda, northern Iraq, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Syrian-Turkish border, the Balkans, Armenia, Georgia, and Ukraine, embodying a peacebuilding philosophy rooted in “local action, global connection.”

Palestine | Postdoctoral Researcher and Writer from Gaza

Hazem is a Palestinian instructor, writer, and postdoctoral researcher based in Taiwan. Originally from Gaza, his work engages with themes of colonial violence, forced displacement, exile, and resistance, both in academic research and public discourse.

His forthcoming memoir, Fragments of an Unbroken Spirit: A Gaza Memoir, expected in late 2025, reflects on personal and collective experiences shaped by life under siege and in diaspora. The book brings together reflections on loss, memory, and survival in the context of ongoing occupation and dispossession.

Alongside his academic work, Hazem participates in cultural and educational initiatives related to Palestine, including public talks, film discussions, and solidarity campaigns. He believes in collective resistance and the possibility of liberation, and supports efforts to build transnational solidarity grounded in justice and historical responsibility.

As a Civic Taiwan Peace Fellow, he hopes to contribute to broader conversations about peace that begins by acknowledging structural violence and the realities of those living under its consequences.

Switzerland | Associated Digital Peacebuilding Expert, Swisspeace

Emma is an interdisciplinary designer, peacebuilder, and researcher with a focus on human-technology interaction. Her work explores how technology, history, and place impact culture and global issues. In her peacebuilding practice, she works closely with experts in gender, mediation, and transitional justice to understand how technology impacts different communities in conflict and how to leverage digital tools for greater impact. As a designer, she’s interested in how bringing friction back into digital spaces can help support resilient communities. Her project “Walking Knots” uses data physicalization and collected sounds to experiment with new ways to document and communicate about experiences beyond social media.

From 2021-2024, Emma led swisspeace’s digital peacebuilding portfolio, developing the Digital Peacebuilding Toolkit and establishing the annual course offered through the University of Basel. Other projects included a focus on archives, open source information, building trust in digital spaces, gender and conflict prevention, and inclusive dialogue. She is invested in connecting online and offline spaces and building bridges between tech and non-tech actors. A big part of her work is building networks and peace education. She delivers workshops and presents globally on process design methodologies, creative communication, and developing innovative programs and products within constraints.

Switzerland, China｜Director, Nomadic Minutes (Performance Collective), Berlin

An active theater director and playwriter in Central Europe, she has long used the performing arts as a platform for fostering peace and mutual understanding. Her works focus on historical trauma, migration, and personal experience,. Through documentary theater, multimedia installations and public space interventions, she provokes deep reflection on social transformation, gender dynamics, and intercultural dialogue. She believes that art not only has the power to heal, but also to build bridges of empathy and understanding between people.

Since 1998, Kefei has been creating works in both China and German-speaking countries. She is the co-founder of, the Beijing-based women’s art collective “LadyBird” which focuses on social issues and public spaces.

In 2023, she co-founded the Berlin-based creative group “Nomadic Minutes” with fellow artists Their debut production, To Mom, I want to…, premiered in theatres in both Berlin and Shanghai.

Currently, she is collaborating with Heidelberg University and Theater Heidelberg on a theatre project that uncovers overlooked historical narratives from the Chinese Civil War. The project centers on personal experiences and collective trauma across both sides of the Taiwan Strait aiming to promote reflection and reconciliation across generations and regions.

Japan｜Director, Ocean Nexus Center & Professor, University of Rhode Island

Yoshitaka is a professor in the Department of Marine Affairs at the University of Rhode Island and the director of the Ocean Nexus research center, supported by the Nippon Foundation. His longstanding research focuses on ocean governance, social anthropology, and public policy, with a commitment to promoting ocean management approaches grounded in equity and justice.

As global warming alters marine resources, international conflicts over fisheries have intensified. In response, he introduced the concept of “ocean equity,” which he defines as “social justice at sea,” Arguing that current marine policies are often shaped by privileged few who profit from the seas, while coastal communities and Indigenous peoples- those who rely most on the ocean for their livelihoods are left to bear the consequences of pollution, resource depletion, and exclusion from decision-making.

Through the Ocean Nexus network, he leads collaborations with over a hundred researchers worldwide, integrating perspectives such as racial justice, intersectionality, and decolonization into research and policy. His work challenges traditional governance structures and advocates for the inclusion of more authentic, local, and experienced voices in shaping the future of ocean decision-making.

Venezuela｜Partnerships & Research Coordinator, Refugee Self-Reliance Initiative, Latin America

Born in Venezuela and currently based in Mexico City, Daniela previously worked with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). As the Associate in External Engagement, she led efforts to combat human trafficking, smuggling, and enforced disappearances, and served as a key liaison between UNHCR and other UN entities. She also headed initiatives under the Venezuelan Refugees and Migrants (R4V) and the UN Inter-Agency Mobility Task Force (GIMH).

Earlier in her career, Daniela worked on the ground in shelters and informal settlements, offering legal counseling and actively participating in local protection working groups and advocacy efforts across South and Central America.

Her work centers on the challenges faced by refugees and displaced communities. Through advocacy and multi-stakeholder collaboration, she is committed to countering hate speech and promoting a cultural of peace and mutual understanding. She firmly believes that “migration and cross-border mobility” should not be viewed as a social burden, but rather as a powerful force for diversity and societal enrichment.

Israel｜Director, School for Peace, Wahat al Salam

Roi has long promoted political dialogue and critical peace education between Palestinians and Jews. With expertise in conflict transformation and political pedagogy, he is dedicated to designing programs that confronts war, structural violence, and democratic crisis.

Roi emphasizes the importance of creating a space for honest, confrontational dialogue that do not shy away from conflict. Even in face of war and institutional pressure, he remains committed to facilitating deep engagements between individual with opposing perspectives. He has led dialogue in universities, hospitals, and mixed cities and communities, helping people confront fear, grief, and political alienation.

Under his leadership, the “Change Agents” courses have trained professionals from fields such as urban planning, education, mental health, and law, grounding the principles of justice and equality in everyday practice.

Internationally, Roi participates in various Israeli-Palestinian dialogue initiatives and collaborates closely with European civil society organizations. He believes that comparative learning across conflict zones is essential for cultivating resilient global citizenship.

Key Activities

The Taiwan Peace Fellowship Program is a three-week, full-time residency based in Taipei, running
from September 7–29, 2025.

Fellows will gain personal development, access platforms to share experiences with the Chinese
speaking world, and expand network through the following activities:

Visiting key organizations focused on peace and resilience-building
Participating in discussions with local and international experts
Sharing personal peacebuilding stories through the “Tell Us about You” program and the weekly
salon
Engaging with students through master classes and panel discussions
Exploring historical sites significant to peace and conflict resolution