Raised in the US and based in Israel since 2011, George Stevens is co-founder and Managing Director of WeAreMENA, a first-of-its-kind network of moderate, youth-focused organizations across the Middle East and North Africa. Residing on the Gaza border, George’s home was attacked on October 7, 2023. His experiences informed his development of “peace realism,” an approach that bridges idealism and pragmatism in the pursuit of sustainable regional coexistence. George founded WeAreMENA’s “Journey from Hate to Hope” program, a groundbreaking initiative that brings teachers from Arab countries to Germany and Poland to train them in Holocaust education. The program was recently nominated by the AJC for the Simon Wiesenthal Prize for Holocaust Education. George has spoken before parliamentarians, diplomats, and civic leaders from over 20 countries, and his work has been published in outlets across Europe, the Middle East, and North America. He holds degrees with distinction from Stanford University and Tel Aviv-Yafo College.