Izzeddin Hawamda is a high school teacher at Maples Collegiate. He completed his education certification at the University of Manitoba in 2011, where he also completed a degree with a teachable major in History and a minor in Geography. Since then he has completed a Master of Arts Degree from the Political Studies Department and a Post-Baccalaureate Diploma in Education. He is currently working on his PhD in Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Manitoba. He is passionate about teaching and learning.Human rights advocacy is an area of particular interest of him as he has seen, first-hand, the impact of advocacy groups and individuals who act as advocates on situations where human rights are lacking or are being violated. He was born and raised in the West Bank, Palestine and came to Canada as a refugee at the age of 15. Since coming to Canada, he has had the opportunity to work with different organizations and families that have experienced human rights violations and have come to understand both the personal and political significance of these violations as well as the role of advocacy.He has founded an inter-faith dialogue group called GASER גֶּשֶׁר, Bridge, جِسْر in Winnipeg in 2019 aiming at the Conflict Transformation in Palestine and Israel (Perspectives from Both Sides of the Conflict).