Madhawa “Mads” Palihapitiya is a conflict early warning expert with over twenty years of experience in atrocities prevention in several global hotspots. He is a practitioner of “third generation” citizen-based conflict early warning with notable academic work in the areas of conflict early warning, technology for non-violence, and religion and the arts for peace building. Over the years, Mads has developed several geospatial early warning tools that emphasize the need to bridge the warning-to-response gap. Mads is also an expert in Mediation/Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) methods, particularly ADR research and dispute systems design. He is an expert in evaluation, particularly needs assessment, asset mapping and participatory methods. Currently, Mads is the Associate Director and Research Director of the statutory state dispute resolution, Massachusetts Office of Public Collaboration, a Senior Fellow at the Center for Peace, Democracy, and Development; an adjunct professor at the John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies at UMass Boston, and a co-convener of the Trust Network.
