Who We Are
LPM Board Directors
Dr. Kimberly Baker is an art, culture and heritage educator. She holds a PhD from The University of British Columbia, Faculty of Education, Curriculum Studies with a specialization in art and museum education. Her work has taken her to sub-Saharan Africa to research culturally responsive museum education practices in Malawi and Indigenous peace heritage traditions in Kenya. In 2018, Kimberly founded The Living Peace Museum in Canada. She aims to encourage cultural understanding and peace initiatives through arts, culture and heritage education.
Kimberly Baker
Chair
Ken Inaba is an Employment Coach for Work BC who reaches out to businesses to encourage inclusive employment practices for individuals with disabilities. The work entails relationship building, dialogue and collaboration between many players. Ken’s mentor, Daisaku Ikeda, is a Buddhist philosopher and peacebuilder of the Soka Gakkai lay Buddhist organization in Japan. He has encouraged Ken to dedicate himself to fostering a culture of peace in the world. Ken brings to the LPM a Communications Coordinator position, and his dedication to human rights through community collaboration projects. He is always open to having a heart-to-heart dialogue with anybody interested in contributing to self-development and creating a positive, safe community.
Ken Inaba
Brooke Lees is a museum professional that specializes in exhibit design and content development. Her work is inspired by local history, contemporary socio-cultural issues and environmental concerns. Brooke uses community engagement, research and design to help make complex issues understandable and relevant to public audiences, and feels that a successful museum experience can challenge belief sets and foster change. In a world where many are fighting for survival, justice and equality, Brooke believes that the Living Peace Museum has a unique opportunity to help communities understand complex histories, achieve mutual respect and work towards reconciliation.
Nadin Hassan,
Curator of Exhibits
Nadin Hassan is a museum professional who holds an MA degree in Museum and Artefact Studies from Durham University, IK. Her background is in exhibitions, content development, and public programming. She has worked with the Audain Art Museum, Museum of Anthropology, and Museum of North Vancouver, and is now a Curatorial Assistant with the City of Richmond. Nadin is passionate about the role that museums play in sharing complex histories and diverse cultural perspectives, promoting open dialogue around contemporary issues, and contributing towards reconciliation.
Golmehr Kazari is a museum professional who holds an M.A degree in Performing Arts from Tehran's University of Arts and is an award-winning author and researcher. Golmehr held the position of International Relations Officer of the Tehran Peace Museum for more than four years before immigrating to Canada in 2016. Since 2018 she has worked with the Richmond Museum and Heritage Services on public programs and special events. Her Iranian upbringing in a family of cultural business owners, and her education and international exposure of travelling to 20 countries have made her passionate about diversity, peace, and education.
Golmehr Kazari
Brooke Lees,
Vice Chair
Timothy Nishibata,
Treasurer
Timothy Yasuhide Nishibata is a first generation Japanese Korean Canadian that operates a local family owned landscaping company established by his father. During his youth he had spent time abroad and studied in Japan at Soka University. The University is dedicated to fostering capable leaders in their communities. Once returning to Canada he has made efforts to plant greenery and present the inherent beauty and value of nature, to create a hosting space for creativity and dialogue, and to carry out his father's life long determination to be a creator in sustaining a land of peace.
Lomudak Okech
Lomudak Okech was abducted at an early age and became a child soldier in South Sudan. He fled the war and became a refugee in Uganda. Okech immigrated to Canada, where he studied Special Education and worked as a teacher assistant in the Surrey school district for four years. Currently, he is a behaviour support worker with Hollyburn Family Services. In 2014 Okech founded the Community Museum for Peace of the African Child Soldier (CMPACS) in South Sudan. He is of Acholi cultural heritage and coordinates traditional peace and healing ceremonies at the CMPACS museum for former child soldiers. He is a board member of the Living Peace Museum in British Columbia, Canada.
Christian Steckler,
Secretary
Christian’s professional career has furnished opportunities to learn about and live with various cultures. After founding and acting as Executive Director of a Surrey/Delta branch of the Immigrant Services Society of BC, he taught ESL at
Douglas and Kwantlen Colleges. From there, he moved to an Arctic village, serving as their Community Adult Educator. That experience prepared him to found and lead a program for indigenous students in a Vancouver high school. His teaching career later allowed him to live in China, Qatar and Japan, and he eventually retired from Capilano University. During his teaching career, Christian had the good fortune to meet Sultan Somjee, the renowned ethnographer and author who has inspired the creation of the Living Peace Museum. He found in Somjee a man of like mind and spirit.
Christian is honoured to have been brought onto the Board of the Living Peace Museum, as it will allow him to be active in promoting understanding of cultures
through their traditional stories and the materials that define their ways of life, and their aesthetic, social and spiritual values. If peace can come through understanding, Christian wants to be part of the process.
