Principal Staff

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J.E. Rash
President and Founder

J.E. Rash is a lecturer, writer and consultant in dialogue, NGO development, conflict resolution and education. His career includes studies in law, religion, and alternative medicine, work in professional

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theater and media, and the design of educational training programs for inner and outer leadership. Entrepreneur, innovator, and visionary, Mr. Rash has founded and leads four organizations, each with a 40-year record of success.

His flagship organization, Legacy International, (http://www.legacyintl.org), is a U.S.-based international non-governmental organization, dedicated to equipping emerging leaders with the skills to transform their values and vision into sustainable success.

Utilizing cutting edge methods for professional development Legacy international focuses on a values-based approach to capacity building, catalytic leadership, network thinking, socially responsible entrepreneurship, diversity training, conflict prevention, and youth and women’s empowerment. Under Mr. Rash’s direction, Legacy international has become a global leader in Helping People to Help Themselves and Others in navigating the challenges of a global society.

Throughout his work, Mr. Rash seeks to build bridges of understanding and to develop practical interfaces among people of diverse backgrounds by emphasizing universal values, social responsibility, mutual respect and tolerance.

In 1987, he received the Friends of the United Nations Environment Program 500 Award for outstanding contributions to the environment. He has presented at the United Nations, the World Bank, the Asian Conference on Religion for Peace; Islamic Unity Conference; University of Colorado’s Golda Meir Center for Political Leadership; and International Symposia on Science and Consciousness in Olympia, Greece and Cancun, Mexico. He has addressed numerous college and academic audiences and served on Ph.D. committees at Virginia Polytechnic Institute (VPI).

Known also as Shaykh Ahmed Abdur Rashid, he is an authorized teacher in five traditional schools of Sufism, offering a unique approach for the contemporary seeker, which he calls: Applied Sufism. Author of more than 40 publications, Shaykh Ahmed Abdur Rashid’s articles and speeches have been translated into Arabic, Turkish, Russian, and Kazakh.

He sees himself as a change agent striving to create a positive Legacy for future generations who will be faced with planetary challenges and opportunities of heretofore unseen magnitude. He often quotes: “you cannot change a community until you change yourself.’ And seeks to encourage people to balance their outer life and goals with a rich and contemplative inner life and practice.

Leila Baz 
Senior Program Officer & Human Resources Coordination

As Program Director for various Legacy adult professional exchange programs, Ms. Baz has designed and delivered numerous projects for citizens from Azerbaijan, Morocco,

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Egypt, Belarus, the Republic of Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Ukraine. Focuses have included NGO development, education reform, youth advocacy, conflict resolution, public health, and civic education & citizen engagement. As Staff Director for Legacy’s annual Global Youth Village, she oversees seasonal staff hiring, and coordinates the day to day operations and risk management for this residential program. She also spearheads all outreach and screening for both temporary and permanent staff for Legacy.
Mike DuVall
Professional Fellows Program Manager

Mike works for Legacy's Professional Fellows Program on economic development for the MENA Region. For more than a decade Mike has been working with groups to create space for learning, growth, and

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dialogue. He has directed programs at two summer camps, taught high school in the U.S., and facilitated peace education in Ireland. Mike directed leadership development for a program working with Irish and Northern Irish college students. Mike has a BA in Religious Studies from the College of Wooster and a Masters in Philosophy in Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation from Trinity College Dublin.

Marlene Ginsberg
Vice President: Professional Programs

Ms. Ginsberg has 35 years non-profit experience, including 20 years directing professional development programs for citizens of Azerbaijan, Belarus, the Republic of Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia,

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Tajikistan, and Ukraine. Topics included NGO development, religion and society, business development, women’s issues, and civic education and engagement. With activities both in the US and in the counterpart country, she has wide travel experience and is fluent in Spanish, conversant in Russian and French. In addition, she has produced two documentaries that have aired on the Discovery Channel.
Mary Helmig
Vice President: Development

Ms. Helmig has 30 years non-profit experience, including directing U.S. Department of State Exchange programs,  professional development initiatives and youth leadership programs.  Her work in Indonesia,

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Iraq, across the MENA region and with many US Embassies worldwide has addressed topics of  NGO development, social cohesion, religion and society, business development, women’s economic prosperity, STEM training, and civic education and engagement. With activities both in the US and in the counterpart countries, she has experience leading US speaker and training groups abroad. Ms. Helmig is involved in the design, funding, and program and financial administration of Legacy’s projects.   

Theresa Kozelka
Professional Fellows Program Coordinator

After graduating from the University of Notre Dame with a BA in Philosophy and a Minor in Peace and Conflict Studies, Theresa went on to join the U.S. Peace Corps in Thailand.

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During her 2+ years in Thailand, Theresa worked as a Youth in Development Facilitator working in conjunction with local government and community organizations to create leadership opportunities for local youth with an additional emphasis on gender equality. While in Southern Thailand, she also co-developed a local Youth Council, whose function is to give young people a voice in local government.

Bernadette LaMontagne
TechGirls Program Coordinator

Bernadette is committed to supporting the empowerment of individuals, communities and institutions worldwide. She has 10 years of experience in the field of international exchange, including for

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programs such as the State Department International Visitors Leadership Program and Iraqi Young Leaders Exchange Program. In support of international exchange programs (and to hone her French and Arabic skills), Bernadette has travelled to Morocco and the West Bank. She has background in International Studies and Political Science at the University of Connecticut, where she completed her  MA and PhD. Bernadette is excited to return to her passion for implementing international exchange programs at Legacy International. 

Atefeh Leavitt
Senior Project  Director

Atefeh's work at Legacy has included program coordination and training in civic involvement and project planning for youth and adults from Indonesia, Iraq, and the Persian Gulf. She is also part of the development and public

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relations team and is responsible for the website and other media outreach. A native of Virginia, Atefeh has traveled and worked in Bahrain, Egypt, France, Indonesia, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, and Morocco. She has an MPA in public administration and non-profit management from George Mason University in Fairfax, VA. and a BA in Political Science from Randolph Macon Woman’s College in Lynchburg, VA.

Leah Passauer
YLP On Demand Program Coordinator

Leah brings more than 6 years’ experience as an English Education specialist, starting as a Peace Corps University TEFL instructor in China, an English Teaching Fellow in the West Bank, English Teaching Coordinator at SEED

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in Madagascar, Education Manager and Teacher Trainer in Burundi, and English Language Fellow in Vietnam for the U.S. Department of State since 2019 where she worked at a university and conducted teacher training workshops throughout the country. She was called back to the USA when COVID hit and continued her work as a Virtual English Language Fellow for Vietnam developing and facilitating 6- and 8-week virtual courses. We were first introduced as she was hired to join our TechGirls 2020 program as a trainer before it was postponed. Last summer, she worked with World Learning as a digital trainer for The Experiment Digital, an 8-week virtual exchange program for teens.

Hayley Pottle
TechGirls Program Coordinator

Hayley is dedicated to providing leadership development experiences in cross-cultural mentoring. Her experience involves program development for higher education, non-profit and governmental

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organizations. She has a deep love for the Arabic language and recently returned from Jordan where she acted as the Project Development Manager for Hopes for Women in Education. She has previously served as an Education Consultant for the Office of Multicultural Affairs and Program Coordinator for the Office of Scholars and Fellowships at the University of Richmond, Administrative Coordinator for Virginia Commonwealth University's Emerging Leaders Program, and has been a part of TechGirls since 2017. Hayley holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from VCU in Mass Communications & Business Studies.

Mitra Nafissian Rash
Senior Program Officer

Mitra holds an MA and AbD in International Relations from New York University. She has worked at the United Nations in New York at the Center on Transnational Corporations and at the Department of Public

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Information. At Legacy, Mitra acts as project director for professional development programs in public health and education. She also directs Legacy's NSLI-Y Arabic Language Institute in Morocco, an initiative of the U.S. State Department. A native of Iran, Mitra has lived in the United States for over 30 years and has taught Middle Eastern Studies at Randolph College in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Jason Scott
Director of Innovation and Entrepreneurship 
As lead developer of innovation and entrepreneurship programs, Mr. Scott engages Legacy's global alumni network to share best practices, support local initiatives and scale-up

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projects.  He administers and directs professional development programs focused on NGO development, business development, women’s issues, and civic education and engagement.  Mr. Scott is also Legacy's lead trainer on social media for community impact and developer of Legacy's on-line learning management system. He has traveled with US delegations to Kuwait, Morocco, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Tunisia. He holds a Masters of Public Administration in Nonprofit Management from the University of Delaware.
Shanti Thompson
Vice President: Director of Training & CFO

Ms. Thompson is involved in the design, funding, and program and financial administration of Legacy’s projects. She has over 35 years’ experience directing initiatives, developing training programs and

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curricula in leadership, pluralism, conflict prevention and resolution, cross-cultural communication, and civic education. Ms. Thompson has authored three published curricula and has directed projects in the U.S., Spain, Russia, and Ukraine. She has visited 23 different nations, and worked closely with adults and teens from Israel and Palestine, Northern Ireland, South Africa, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Russia and Ukraine.