UN DPI/NGO Conference National Organizing Committee

Dr. Soon Heung Chang

Co-Chair 66th UN DPI/NGO Conference National Organizing Committee,
President, Hangdong Global University

Dr. Soon Heung Chang is the president of Handong Global University (HGU) in South Korea. His educational emphasis on creative project base and whole-person education has impacted university higher education at the global level with the university slogan “Why Not Change the World?”
Dr. Chang received his Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1981 and was a professor and a provost of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, KAIST. Dr. Chang served as a member of International Nuclear Safety Advisory Group, IAEA and Commissioner of the Korea Nuclear Safety Commission as well. Also, he was one of the five members of the International Advisory Expert of the Investigation Committee for the Fukushima Accident.

Il-Ha Yi

Co-Chair 66th UN DPI/NGO Conference National Organizing Committee,
President, Good Neighbors International; President, National Council of NPO Korea

Il-Ha Yi is the current President of National Council of Non Profit Organizations (NPO), Korea and also President of Good Neighbors International. Mr. Yi has been an NPO field worker since 1973. He founded Good Neighbors International in 1991, which is currently operating in 35 countries worldwide. Mr. Yi has contributed extensively for the eradication of global poverty and the advancement of NPOs in Korea and the international community. His experience also includes advisory committee member for Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), establishing Korea NGO Council for Oversears Development Cooperation (KCOC), and Standing Representative for Volunteering Korea.

UN DPI/NGO Conference Planning Committee Co-Chairs

Jeffrey Brez

Co-Chair 66th UN DPI/NGO Conference Planning Committee,
Chief, NGO Relations, Advocacy and Special Events
Outreach Division, Department of Public Information

In this capacity as Chief of NGO Relations, Advocacy and Special Events in the Department of Public Information, Jeff oversees the relations with non-governmental organizations, the Messengers of Peace Programme, the Creative Community Outreach Initiative and Special Events. His work in international humanitarian aid and development assistance has spanned more than a decade and covered a range of issues including children’s and women’s rights, refugee assistance, child soldiers, health, education, sustainable agriculture and food security, environmental sustainability, anticorruption and climate change. His experience includes all aspects of strategic communications and campaign planning, social media, video and photography, development of knowledge products and events as well as global, multi-stakeholder policy consultation processes and relations with civil society. He has worked for four United Nations entities (IFAD, OCHA, UNICEF, and UNDP) and the World Bank Group, and been posted in Albania and Côte d’Ivoire. Previously, he spent a decade working in television production, both in front of and behind the camera, on live and taped events, including numerous satellite broadcasts. He has lived on four continents and speaks English, French, Italian and Japanese fluently. He holds a Master of International Public Policy from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, where he studied international economics and development.

Dr. Scott Carlin

Co-Chair 66th UN DPI/NGO Conference Planning Committee,
NGO Representative to the United Nations for LIU Post and the International Society of Doctors for the Environment Representative at the United Nations

Dr. Scott Carlin is an associate professor of geography at LIU Post. Dr. Carlin teaches in LIU Post’s new master’s program in environmental sustainability and coordinates their Campus Sustainability Committee. Over the past two decades, Dr. Carlin has worked on a variety of sustainable development projects on Long Island including breast cancer and environmental mapping, green buildings, wastewater management, climate change, renewable energy. Dr. Carlin is a national advisor to the Graduation Pledge Alliance and recently served as co-chair of Southampton Town’s Sustainable Advisory Committee. At the UN, he is an NGO representative for LIU Post and the International Society of Doctors for the Environment. Dr. Carlin was a presenter and panel organizer at the 2014 UN DPI Conference in New York City and the 2011 UN DPI Conference in Bonn, Germany. For several years he worked on Climate Caucus.net, an outgrowth of the 2007 UN DPI conference, Climate Change: How It Impacts Us All. Dr. Carlin earned his Ph.D. from Clark University (1995).

Dr. YuKang Choi

Co-Chair UN DPI/NGO 66th Conference Planning Committee
Head of the Secretariat, National Organizing Committee Korea
NGO Representative to the United Nations for Dream Touch for All

YuKang Choi is the founder and CEO of Dream Touch for All (DTFA). As CEO of DTFA, Choi has expanded educational support to improve access to quality education for underprivileged students. He has broadened DTFA’s international reach, advocated for increased funding for low-income students and North Korea refugee students, launched DTFA Flipped Classroom, the online high school math learning project for low performing students. He also served as the Special Advisor of the ‘World Education Forum’ which was held in Songdo, Republic of Korea in May 2015. DTFA has been recently presented with the Best NPO of the Year from Asia Philanthropy Award (APA) in 2015. The organization also won the Best Afterschool Program Award in 2014 and the Best Education Donation Award in 2015 from the Ministry of Education, Republic of Korea. Choi received his bachelor’s degree from Handong Global University in 2004, his master’s degree (2007) in public policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, and his doctoral degree (2013) in community-based learning from the Peabody College of Education and Human Development Vanderbilt University.

Co-Chairs of the 66th UN DPI/NGO Conference Subcommittees

Expert Sub-committee:
Dr. Mary E. Norton
Felician College
Email: nortonm@felician.edu

Daniel Perell
Baha’i International Community
Email: dperell@bic.org

Paul Lim
Vanderbilt University
PAUL.LIM@VANDERBILT.EDU

Programme Sub-committee:
Bruce Knotts
Unitarian Universalist UN Office
Email: bknotts@uua.org

Jean Trudel
Wittenberg Center for Alternative Resources
Email: jean@peaceday365.com

Jae-Chun Won
Handong Global University
jwon@handong.edu

Workshop Sub-committee:
Brian Muzas
School of Diplomacy, Seton Hall University
brian.muzas@shu.edu

Dr. Mary E. Norton
Felician College
Email: nortonm@felician.edu

Wongon Park
United Nation Academic Impact (UNAI) Korea
Email: wonpark@unaikorea.org

Outreach Sub-committee:
Chuck Hitchcock
Enda Tiers Monde
Email: hitchcock.charles@gmail.com

Sylvia Wittmer
Deutsche Model United Nations e.V.
Email: sylvia.wittmer@googlemail.com

Exhibits, Events, & Networking Sub-committee:
Elisabeth Kofler Shuman
Association for Childhood Education International
Email: Eshuman@earthlink.net

Justine Ahn
The Secretariat of the National Organizing Committee of Korea
Email:justine.ahn@66undpingoconference.org

Off-Site Event
Youljin Lee
Hangdong Global University
Email:youljin2@hotmail.com

Resources Sub-committee:
Patrick Sciarratta
International Association for the advancement of Innovative Approaches to Global Challenges (IAAI) Austria
Email: Patrick.Sciarratta@un.int

Press Sub-committee:
Fannie M. Munlin
National Council of Negro Women
Email: fnnmnln@aol.com

Anne Riccitelli
Syrian Orthodox Church In America
Email: aric@nyc.rr.com

Sungha Han
The Secretariat of the National Organizing Committee of Korea
Email: sungha.han@66undpingoconference.org

Intergenerational Sub-committee:
Judy Lerner
Peace Action, NY
Email: judylerner13@yahoo.com

Steve Chiu
Peace Action, NY
firstchiu@gmail.com

Youth Sub-committee:
Calisher Perry
Olof Palme Peace Foundation International
Email: cperry@oppfi.info

Juan Pablo Celis
The United Nations Association of New York
Email: jcelis@unanyc.org

Saphira Rameshfar
Baha’i International Community
Email: srameshfar@bic.org

Yunkeum Chang
Sookmyung Women’s University
Email: yunkeum@sookmyung.ac.kr

Logistics Sub-committee:
Younjin Ahn
Dream Touch for All
Email: younjin.ahn@dreamtouchforall.org

Access Sub-committee:
Jin Ah Chang
Heart to Heart
cja@heart-heart.org

Yuri Lee
Miral Welfare Foundation
Email: yurilee@miral.org