Susan Safranek

Susan Safranek served on the Board of Directors for two nonprofit organizations in Westchester County, NY for nearly twenty years while also teaching Yoga part time and raising her three sons full time before relocating to Bucks County in 2018. Susan began employment at The Peace Center in 2019, then served on the Board of Directors as Treasurer (October 2025-June 2026) before joining the staff again as Co-Director.

Susan holds an MS in Nonprofit Leadership from La Salle University and BA from Barnard College, Columbia University (Cum Laude).

Barbara Simmons

Barbara Simmons, Mediator, Facilitator and Educator was the executive director of The Peace Center for over 30 years. She created and implemented programs focused on prevention, intervention and tertiary methods to address conflict, violence, racism and bigotry in over 300 schools, businesses and communities in the tri-state area. Her work in coalition-building (such as Pennsylvania’s Attorney General Task Force and Bucks County Violence Prevention Task Force) helped the community view violence as a public health issue related to the cycle of trauma.

Simmons has been a Professor at Arcadia University’s International Peace and Conflict Resolution master’s program for the last 20 years, teaching Advanced Mediation, Conflict Facilitation and Restorative Justice. She has delivered trainings and workshops in Rwanda, South Africa and Northern Ireland in healing such as HROC: Healing and Rebuilding Our Communities, Multi-Track Diplomacy, and Peacebuilding & Reconciliation.

Simmons was founding creator and producer of audio documentaries to bring awareness of peacebuilding in Nagasaki & Hiroshima, Japan, Israel & Palestine, Rwanda, South Africa, Vietnam, Northern Ireland, Canada and throughout the US. The PeaceTalks programs aired on National Public Radio, Public Radio International and many other stations across the country. Veteran journalist Walter Cronkite hosted several of the programs. She also traveled with the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers to Dharamsala, India to meet with the Dalai Lama.

Simmons served as Ambassador to WALKING WHILE BLACK: L.O.V.E. Is The Answer, to address both the fear and reality of police violence against people of color through the use of dialogue and collaborative art projects such as murals (we have painted 4 murals to date in Bucks County); she serves on the Board of the Nakashima Foundation for Peace, the Executive Committee of the NAACP, co-chair of the MLK Peace & Justice Summit, and several other peace and justice efforts in Bucks County. She is rising Clerk of Newtown Friends Meeting.

Donald Bogan

Donald Bogan is a retired Social Studies Teacher from the Bensalem School District, where he taught for 42 years. Since then, he has been a Facilitator for the Peace Center, bringing peace education into classrooms across Bucks County.  

Don’s passion has been his work as a Basketball Coach for 9th grade and Junior Varsity Boys 1979-1989, a Softball Coach Bensalem Varsity 1984-2010, a Basketball Coach for Varsity Girls, Bensalem 1989-2019 and presently coaches AAU Basketball for the Bucks County Wildcats, Lower Bucks Lightning, and Hoops Heat. 

Ellen Ervin

Ellen Ervin has a BA in Sociology and MSW from University of Hawaii, and is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. Ellen has worked in various inpatient and outpatient mental health settings with specializations in sexual assault, family therapy, addictions, and adolescents.  She has provided therapy, consultation, supervision, and program development.

Ellen has been a consultant/trainer in a program helping individuals leave the sex industry and has presented workshops/seminars on the human/animal bond. She is a support group leader with a pet loss group and she is also a volunteer mediator. Ellen’s passions are theater, film, reading, and she is a life-long learner who has become a valued Peace Educator.

Gayle Evans

Is a peace educator and creator of the INVEST Student Success program. She brings to The Peace Center Board a rich and varied background working in both the for-profit and non-profit world. Gayle has managed programs and grants, (doing amazing work in the Bristol community in a leadership capacity with United Way) and was an adjunct teacher with Bucks County Community College. She also led the Diversity office of BCCC. Gayle is a graduate of the University of South Carolina and Holy Family University. She lives in Newtown with her husband and is the mother of six daughters, and has just become a grandmother.

Nancy Kleinman

Nancy Kleinman has been a Peace Educator for almost 16 years. She has facilitated all the educational programs of The Peace Center, leading STAR groups for second and third graders, Celebrating Me Celebrating You for fourth and fifth graders, Girls Unlimited for seventh grade girls and THRIVE for high school students. 

She has been co-facilitating the InVEST program over the past two years, which focuses on social and emotional learning. Nancy has been a part of the MLK Teen Peace and Justice Summits over the years as well as Walking While Black; LOVE is the Answer community workshops. She is trained in Restorative Justice and Listening Circles. 

She spent her career as a professionally trained social worker, centered in a variety of non-profit settings, which include community centers, child welfare programs, and family and children’s agencies. 

Nancy lives with her husband in Lower Makefield for 30 years and share 4 sons, 2 daughters-in-law, 3 grandchildren and 2 dogs.

Michele Lewis

Michele Lewis is a Peace Educator who considers her work with the Peace Center to be “a true labor of love”!  She enjoys delivering the various social emotional learning programs, from elementary through high school, where she is passionate about helping young people navigate difficult emotions and build healthy relationships.  

Michele comes to the Peace Center with a background in early child development.  She began her career as an elementary teacher in the Fairfax County (Virginia) public schools.  She has also served the State of New Jersey as a consultant for its Project TEACH programs, alternative high school settings for pregnant and parenting teens.  Her expertise involved creating developmentally appropriate curriculum for Project TEACH’s on-site infant-toddler nurseries, providing staff development training and overseeing licensing compliance.  In addition to her career as an educator, Michele has taken great pleasure in her other profession.  As a Nurse-Midwife, she has provided OB-GYN care for women across the lifespan for over 30 years.  The greatest delight, and the most poignant moments of Michele’s life, was delivering 2 of her 6 grandchildren!

Outside of her work, Michele cherishes time with family and friends.  She is an avid skier, who delights in downhill racing and challenging herself on the Western slopes of the United States— as well as those abroad.  Besides traveling to ski, Michele has made it her mission to see as much of the world as she can.  She recently completed her goal of visiting all seven continents, including Antarctica, but is nowhere near ready to hang up her suitcases and her traveling shoes!

Richard McLaughlin

Richard McLaughlin is a life-long resident of Bucks County. He served in the Army for three years as a carpenter of the 76th Engineer Battalion where he earned the rank of corporal. He has a Master’s degree in Psychology from Temple University, 1996. He is a retired school teacher after teaching for 37 years as a special education teacher.

Richard is an award-winning performer.  His work with students along with his music earned him the Pennsylvania’s Conservation Educator of the year award in 2000. He has a published book called, “The Skunk With a Stinky Attitude.” The book teaches children about emotionally disturbed children through an anthropomorphic story. His performance as Eco-Man is well-known in the Bucks County area. Eco-Man teaches children about the basics of ecology, the environment and peace.

Richard has been involved with the Peace Center since 1989. He served on the board as secretary, and now he is a Peace Educator.

Sylvia J. Morris

Sylvia J. Morris is a graduate of Morgan State University with a BS in Urban Planning. She is a retired insurance specialist with over thirty-five years of experience in Mediation, negotiations and litigation. Sylvia’s work with the Peace Center spans over ten years, working with students elementary though high school in programs such as Respecting Me Respecting You, Girls Unlimited, STAR, and Thrive. She is also a facilitator in Restorative Justice processes. 

Debra Radin

Having lived in the Princeton area since college, Debra has created deep roots in her community. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Public Relations, Early Childhood Education, and Sociology.

Debra has been with the Peace Center since 2014, acting as a facilitator for all our educational classes as well as a trainer for new facilitators.

Debra is an accredited Camp Director, earning a certification from The American Camp Association, with over 20 years’ experience in the industry. Each summer, she works with more than 300 children and supervises over 80 staff members. She additionally is trained in QPR, behavior modification, and intervention.

Debra has provided decades of community service in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey for many charities and nonprofit organizations. She has served on several boards of directors in her community with primary goals of raising funds, developing grants, and chairing fundraising events.

In her spare time, Debra enjoys reading while at the beach with her family, making event centerpieces, and playing with her dog, Oliver!

Nancy Riley

Nancy Riley moved to Newtown, PA from Maine, where she spent over 30 years teaching at Bowdoin College teaching sociology and public health. Her work has focused on issues of gender, reproductive politics and the experience and history of Asians in the US. She has lived and worked in Asia, mostly in China but also in the Philippines (where she worked in public health as a Peace Corps Volunteer). She is excited to be working as a Peace Educator.

Melanie Talbert

Melanie Talbert retired in 2023 from Pennsbury school district as a paraprofessional, and loved her work with the teachers and students.  She trained to be a Peace Educator knowing it would be extremely helpful and necessary position in any school district.  Melanie has always seen our children as our future, and deserve to learn from all the tools that will help them in life. She is a life-long learner and sees the value of building peace locally, which leads to peace globally.