Charles grew up in Pennsylvania, a place with enough German heritage to offer it as a language course in public schools. This is how Charles ended up studying in Berlin for his second year of undergrad and falling completely in love with the city. Although working towards his social work degree, the international nature of Berlin brought him into contact with the field of peace and conflict studies. He continued with his program, but switched his specialty to politics and became active in New York University’s student government after his time abroad. This included acting as vice chair of NYU’s Global Humanitarian Issues Committee, tackling the school’s response to the Uighur genocide and the Fall of Kabul. Before returning to Berlin to pursue a Master’s in International Affairs at the Hertie School, Charles worked as a social worker with CWS Jersey City, resettling refugees from countries as far as Angola, Afghanistan, and Cuba.
From a young age, Charles has also been fascinated by story-telling. He reads an incredible amount and occasionally writes his own stories, ranging from shortform to campaigns for Dungeons & Dragons. He is currently working on a comedic science fiction story set in the far future.
Given this background and his passion for conflict resolution, CRISP is a perfect place to start pivoting from social work to peacemaking. Charles is thrilled to contribute his unique social work perspective to the interesting and valuable projects being developed at our organization. We are excited to have him on board and look forward to his contributions to our mission of promoting conflict transformation, youth empowerment, and adaptation strategies in the face of global challenges. Welcome, Charles!
