Who We Are

Dena Hawes, PHD

Dena is the Founder and Executive Director of HCRC. She has over twenty years of experience in professional research, administration, financial management, supervision, and fundraising with domestic and international nonprofits, non-governmental agencies and universities, and has held leadership roles with six domestic and international nonprofits, starting in 1995. Dena was a Professional Development Fellow with the Institute for International Education conducting Conflict Resolution and Security research in the Republic of Georgia. She is also a multimedia visual artist, and has taught courses in sculpture and performance art, contemporary art issues, professional development, and conflict analysis and resolution at the university level for five years. Dena is the author of a book entitled: Why Art Matters: Artists and Peacebuilding, VDM Verlag Publishing House. USA, UK, Germany, 2009, a book that explores and explains the contributions that artists and visual creativity have made to the field of conflict resolution and reconciliation. She also wrote a book chapter entitled "Suzanne Lacy: Oakland Projects", Artistic Bedfellows: Histories and Conversations in Collaborative Art Practice, Eds Holly Crawford, Rowman & Littlefield, 2008. Dena earned a Bachelor's degree from Indiana University, a Master of Fine Arts degree from University of California, Santa Barbara, and a Masters and Doctoral degree from the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, George Mason University, Arlington, VA. (Doctoral degree, 2007.)