Claudio Dangmann is Director of Programs at CIEL, based in Berlin and Los Angeles. Born and raised in Germany, he first encountered CIEL's model as a student, spending a research semester at UC Irvine with the Olive Tree Initiative, the award-winning program that was CIEL's direct predecessor. He returned to the organization years later, first as a founding team member and advisor helping set up the new organization and lead educational trips himself, then as Operations and Program Manager, before stepping into his current role overseeing all of CIEL's field programs in partnership with universities including Vanderbilt, Georgetown, Chapman, and UC Irvine. He works closely with CIEL's Executive Director Dr. Daniel Wehrenfennig to design and run faculty-led programs across active conflict and post-conflict regions, from the divided cities of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the borderlands of the South Caucasus, building itineraries that put students face to face with the people living conflict rather than reading about it from a distance. Claudio holds an M.Sc in Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Innovation from Loyola Marymount University, and a B.A. in Business Management and Psychology from Hochschule Furtwangen University. Outside CIEL, he advises organizations including TEDxBerlin and the Cinema for Peace Foundation.