5. David Kozar

Sponsor Club: Manhattan, Kansas USA, District 5710

 

Dave Kozar comes to us from Manhattan, Kansas where he has lived with his family since they immigrated to the United States from the former Yugoslavia.

Before commencing his Peace Fellowship at the University of Queensland, Dave completed a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish as well as a secondary degree in International Studies at Kansas State University. While working on his Master of International Studies (Peace and Conflict Resolution) at the University of Queensland he has simultaneously been working to complete a second post-graduate program in Conflict Resolution from Kansas State University, as well as taking specialized training courses from both the Australian Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies (ACPACS) and Griffith University in Brisbane.

Since 2001, Dave has spent much of his time working with children’s programs in post-conflict countries –creating programs in divided communities throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo. Dave is currently serving as the Country Coordinator for programs in Kosovo as well as on the Board of Advisors with the non-profit organization Training Workshops International for the Children. During his time in the Balkans, Dave has also worked as the U.S. Coordinator for the Campaign to arrest Ratko Mladić and Radovan Karadžić for the Center for Balkan Development, as well as producing a documentary film focusing on the effects of protracted conflict in divided communities.

Dave recently returned to Brisbane from Mae Sot, Thailand where he was working with migrant and refugee communities on the Thai/Burma (Myanmar) border. While in Mae Sot, he worked with the community-based organization Social Action for Women (SAW) providing alternative dispute resolution training as well as writing child protection policies. The success of his work with SAW was recognized by The International Rescue Committee (IRC) and World Education, allowing him to work with both these organization in the Mae La and Umpium Refugee Camps respectively. Dave also spent time volunteering at the AGAPE Learning Centre, working with orphaned and street children from the area.

Currently Dave is working with the Queensland Government Department of Justice and Attorney-General as an Intake Officer at the Dispute Resolution Centre, leading the work on an Alternative Dispute Resolution Program for the Department of Housing and Homelessness.

After graduating from the University of Queensland Dave would like to continue his work in post-conflict countries looking at how Alternative Dispute Resolution can best be utilized through a hybridization of prescriptive and elicitive training models.