Phyllis Carter
Administrative
Specialist

Phyllis Carter is a native of Greensboro and brings deep community roots and experiences to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. She has always been passionate about any role she takes on, be it marriage, parenthood and career. She takes seriously the values of respect and kindness and is always willing to help her fellow man.

In her spare time, Phyllis enjoys the regular fellowship of her book discussion group and she loves to create customized gift baskets.

After graduating from Dudley High School, Phyllis attended Greensboro Technical Community College where she learned many skills that have helped with her administrative career. She hopes to attend a local college in the near future to acquire a degree in Organizational Management.

Phyllis wants to be a part of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission because she feels that the universe rewards truth - thus, the saying, "the truth will set you free." But our great country has difficulty embracing hard truths, a shortcoming that limits the freedom that we claim as our ideal. It is only through a commitment to humility and unity that we will embrace the truth and move closer to achieving our ideas.

Emily Harwell
Research
Director Dr. Emily E. Harwell (Ph.D. Yale University, B.S. The University of the South) comes to us from the East Timor Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation. Emily served as research coordinator in the early stages of the East Timor Commission, and later as senior researcher, writer and editorial advisor for the final report on the Commission's findings.

As research coordinator, Emily helped develop the research plan for the East Timor Commission's mandate to document human rights abuses from 1975 to 1999, including special research attention to massacres and forced disappearances, political imprisonment, famine and forced displacement, the conflict's effects on women and children, and the special role of international actors, such as the United Nations, governments, media and activist organizations. She focused her own research and writing for the final report on social and economic violations, including the rights to health, education, housing, and livelihood.

Prior to joining the East Timor Commission in 2002, Emily worked since 1996 in Indonesia where she conducted anthropological and historical research on ethnicity and conflicts over natural resources. She lived for two years in a remote indigenous community longhouse while doing her doctoral dissertation on ethnic identity and ongoing conflicts between two neighboring ethnic groups and the Indonesian state. The outbreak of a brutal ethnic war during her fieldwork inspired her to focus more directly on research and advocacy for human rights and good governance. Emily worked with Indonesian community organizers and public interest lawyers to author a book on community rights and conflicts with the Indonesian state, and joined Human Rights Watch in to research and write a book on human rights violations in the Indonesian pulp & paper industry. She has also taught at George Mason University and Middlebury College on violence, human rights, identity and the environment.

Eli(jah) Mungo
Research
Assistant

Eli(jah) Mungo (B.A Business Management, NC State University) is a native of SE Greensboro and is member of the 1991 graduating class of Grimsley High School. He is coming back to Greensboro after spending the last 14 years in Raleigh. He came back to Greensboro with the specific intention of working with the Commission.

During his time in the capital city, Eli held a number of different positions in the computer and biochemistry sectors.

Eli is a self-described "curious child," always looking to learn more. He is an avid fan of all things music and computers. Upon finishing his work with the Commission, Eli has hopes of opening a spot where he can introduce the masses to new types of music.

Joya Wesley
Communications
Director Joya Wesley (B.A. Sociology, Stanford University) comes to us from the staff of the group that brought this independent Commission into being, the Greensboro Truth & Community Reconciliation Project (GTCRP). She spent a year working to publicize through the media the GTCRP's work of rallying the community to a constructive dialogue about Nov. 3 using the truth and reconciliation process.

As she did for the GTCRP, Joya works half-time, continuing other work as a freelance writer, editor and PR consultant.

Having grown up in California, Joya came to Greensboro after graduating from college to work as an intern with the News & Record. She left in 1989 to work for the Associated Press, which she served in Milwaukee, New York and Raleigh as an editor, writer and news manager.

She returned to Greensboro in 1995 and has since served in a wide variety of roles including editor of the Carolina Peacemaker, the African American newsweekly, public relations writer for N.C. A&T, jazz and talk radio host at WNAA (90.1 FM), and community liaison for the East Market Street Development Corp. She currently freelances for publications including the Peacemaker and News & Record, where she previously worked in roles including editorial writer, night editor and copy editor.

Jill Williams
Executive
Director Jill Williams (M.A. Conflict Resolution, Antioch University McGregor; B.A. Religion, Davidson College) comes to the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission from Davidson College, where she most recently spent four years as the Assistant Director of the Programs for the Theological Exploration of Vocation and the preceding two years as the Assistant Coordinator of the Community Service and Bonner Scholars Programs.

Prior to her work at Davidson College, Jill collected oral histories about the desegregation of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School System for the Museum of the New South (Charlotte, NC); researched clergy and community responses to a tragic shooting in Davidson, NC; and created a directory of community resources in the Lake Norman area of North Carolina.

Outside the office, Jill spends time mediating family and community disputes; facilitating difficult meetings for non-profit organizations; and teaching conflict resolution, facilitation, and oral history theory and techniques.