Board of Directors



Diane Eleftheriades, President/Founder...contact@bridgepeace.org

Karen Bailey Bebert, Vice President

Cindy Mariani, Treasurer

Mary Casella, Events

Master Sgt. Robert Bruce, US Military Representative

Howard B. Leibowitz, B.L.Howard Productions, Event Planner...howard@blhowardproductions.com voice:347-254-6753

Marianne Riscoe, Art Director

Toni Ann David, Promotions

Michael Grau, Events

Theresa L. Battagliotti










Advisory Board



Fr. Louis Marie Navaratne, OSB Holy Face Monastery, Prof. of Theology

Mayor Kennedy O'Brien, Sayreville, New Jersey

Michael Frisch, Liberty State Park Project Engineer, Teamwrks.org

Assemblyman John Wisniewski, New Jersey Legislator

	Diane Eleftheriades "Diane Ele" President, Founder contact@bridgepeace.org Education: BS - Computer Science - New Jersey City University, NJ USA MA Courses - Media Studies/Film Directing - The New School, New York Diane started Bridges of Peace from a vision in the late 90's in an effort to help foster peace in this world through music events and help children whose lives have been troubled by the ills of war and poverty. Over the years through many long hours as a labor of love through her hard efforts she has been able to recruit many good people to the cause. This includes the trusted Board of Directors as well as many wonderful artists both famous and non famous. Famous artists include Pete Seeger and Jon Bon Jovi. Diane has worked as a producer and entertainment reporter for several websites including her own, plasmachannel.com where she hosted a show and has interviewed many famous music artists since 1999. Through these interviews she used the opportunity to ask questions on "How the artist would change the world?" and if "they felt the power of music can build a Bridge towards Peace?". This effort was to try and raise awareness for peace and love through music and inspire change. She feels that music is a powerful resource in creating understanding which can bring change to our world. She says that "The ‘Power Of Music’ is so great that it can move people to new ways of thinking. We wish to reach the souls of people through music. The artists are the ones to reach them and open their hearts; we are just the ones to put them all together for a unified purpose of love, peace and kind works of charity.” ~Diane Eleftheriades is quoted in the Aquarian Magazine about their first Bridges of Peace Jam Concert held on Nov. 23 2008. Items were collected for their "Help a Child through a Soldier" Dirve to aid the children of Iraq to be sent and distributed by our US soldiers building a Bridge of Peace between them. Diane has also created several spiritual videos and prior to creating her own Internet Entertainment Media Website by profession is a computer professional and has worked in the past for over 11 years in the corporate world as a Computer Programmer and Systems Analyst for IBM, UPS and Prudential. Bridges of Peace became incorporated in January 2004 and is a 501c(3) tax exempt charity organization. Diane is married and the mother of 2 children.
	Karen Bailey Bebert Vice President Education: BS - Accounting - University of Hartford, CT USA Karen was crucial in the formation and incorporation of Bridges of Peace and is the Vice President of the Organization which raises awareness for Peace and Love through music and the arts and helps children whose lives have been adversely affected by war and poverty. She is a great organizer and leader and is crucial to the organization's efforts in planning with a hands on approach putting her heart and soul into the efforts. She has been actively involved for many years in leadership roles for various non profit organizations within her community and church. She has been the President of the Council of Catholic Women for her parish for 4 years as well as Vice President for 2 years. She was also the Achdiocsese Treasurer for 2 years. She has been the PTO president for 2 years for the upper elementary school of Sayreville, NJ which houses 900 students and also the president for 2 years of the Arleth School PTO. She also is founder and president of the Love Life group in her parish. Karen had worked as a public accountant for several years. Currently, she works for and manages her family owned business. Karen resides in New Jersey with her 2 children Wayne and Kristy.
	Mary Casella Fundraising/Event Organizer Mary has been very active in many philanthropic and non-profit organizations throughout the years. She has co-founded "Project Appalachia", a church organization, that provides school supplies, food, clothing, and other necessities for the needy in Harlan and Wallen's Creek, Kentucky. She is currently involved with Bridges of Peace in putting together a concerts for Peace in New Jersey. She works for a publishing company, United Communications Group, in the energy division. Mary resides in New Jersey with her husband, Mario and three children, James, Matthew and Andrew.
	Howard B. Leibowitz, B.L.Howard Productions Event Planner howard@blhowardproductions.com voice:347-254-6753 Howard B. Leibowitz attended grade school with Arlo, Joady and Nora Guthrie, the offspring of American music icon Woody Guthrie, where he learned to appreciate music and the arts. Howard has been involved with New York City’s music scene since the age of 11, when he snuck out of his Brooklyn home to catch a rock and roll show at the legendary Brooklyn Paramount Theatre and then became President of the Brooklyn chapter of disc jockey “Cousin” Bruce Morrow’s fan club when he was just 13. For three decades, Howard was in the financial services industry, serving in product and marketing roles for two Fortune 500 global financial service companies. Concurrent with his full-time duties, he kept active in the entertainment field, with free lance stints as a published photographer, writer, promoter and tour manager. Howard also worked for a time with legendary photographer David Gahr and some of his work was published in the Robert Hilburn biography, Bruce Springsteen (Rolling Stone Press). Other work appears in the biography, “Magic in the Night: The Words and Music of Bruce Springsteen” published by St. Martin’s Press in Mach of 2009. In the mid nineties, Howard produced free concerts for The Seaport Merchants Association at the South Street Seaport, culminating in “100 Nights of Music,” a jam-packed series of free shows that ran on Pier 17 from May to September. He booked a diverse array of talent, from Irish rockers The Corrs to Kid Creole & Coconuts and Orleans, from a broad span of genres such as folk, rock, jazz, blues, and world music. In addition, he reeled in sponsors including radio stations Z-100, WKTU, WNEW FM and WLIR, as well as Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Evian. In the summer of 1995, Howard helped to bring a trial edition of ESPN’s X Games Road Show to the Seaport. As music consultant for Visit Florida, USA (the official tourism marketing corporation for the State of Florida), he secured music talent for travel media events in the Northeast region. Today, Howard is Advertising and Promotion Director for Elmore Magazine and an active member of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy, serving on the committee for the annual summer film series, “Movies With A View”. He is also a member of community organizations including the Nottingham Association and The Prospect Park Alliance, and is a founding member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Howard is presently working on planning fund raising events for the non-profit charity organizations Bridges of Peace, Holiday Express and the Brooklyn Bureau of Community Service.

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Published on: 2004-05-25 (4241 reads)