Dr. Crystina Wyler: Founder and President

Dr. Wyler is founder and president of Art Transforms Conflict (ATC).

In 2011 while traveling in Lebanon she met a group of young Palestinian women that transformed her vision of the question, "what are your dreams?". 

ATC was born from that vision in 2015.

A highly trained communicator, coach and performer with over thirty years in television, stage and film, her creative methods open new avenues of expression and enable individuals to find ‘their voice’, transforming conflict through dialogue.
As she notes “when our creative side is engaged, our defense mechanisms are lowered, this offers the possibility, if only for a moment, to let ourselves walk in the shoes of the other. And the more we discuss our differences, the more we discover our similarities." 

Dr. Wyler completed her PhD in Conflict Analysis and Resolution in 2020 at Nova Southeastern University in Florida. Her dissertation, “Keepers of the Cultural Flame: How Syrian Refugee Women Maintain their Cultural Identity” explored how adult refugee Syrian women, forced to migrate during their formative years, are maintaining and transmitting their cultural identity in their new host communities of Jordan and Lebanon. 

Through projects with ATC and its partners, Dr. Wyler plans to continue and expand her research and work on women and youth empowerment and leadership, generational wounding, cultural identity in the 21st century, and youth marginalization and radicalization. 

Ms. Awad is a respected journalist, artist and Conflict Management and Mediation trainer using the methods of empathic non-violent communication. 

Growing up in the war-torn Lebanon of the 70s and 80s, her personal experiences led to a career in journalism, becoming a well-known figure on local TV and Arab satellite channels. Following her successful media career, Ms. Awad was part of the first group of Arabs to study non-violence  at AUNOHR (Academic University for Nonviolence and Human Rights). Her studies focused in non-violent education and mediation and went on to become a leading mediator and trainer in the field of empathic Non-violent Communication. She teaches it and works with university students, Syrian and Palestinian refugees and schools all over Lebanon, as well as international NGO's.

She is also an invited  visiting trainer in Egypt, Jordan and Iraq, and an educational trainer for the Abolition of the Death Penalty, and has also worked with death row inmates in Lebanon.

Mr. Jones is an expert in media, communications and organizational behavior with significant consulting, agency and teaching experience. 

He first partnered with Dr. Wyler in the 1999 launch of The Artful Communicator, a company focused on helping individuals and communities amplify their voice and share their unique experiences with the world. Their work together included a two-year regional television series both by and about Native America - the first of its kind in the United States. He also developed pilots and projects for PBS, NHK, HGTV and Discovery Channel. 

After earning his Masters in Communications, Mr. Jones moved to Washington DC in 2007 and began working with Fortune 500 companies struggling with change management and community outreach. Since 2008 he has also taught undergraduate courses in ethics, media, and team development - twice being recognized as Faculty of the Year.