Centre For Peace & Conflict Studies

Our TEAM

OUR STAFF

Nikki Singer

Executive Director, Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies

Nikki Singer, MSW

Nikki Singer is the Executive Director of the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies (CPCS), based in Cambodia, where she provides strategic leadership to CPCS’s mission of advancing positive peace across Asia. With over a decade of international peacebuilding experience, she brings an analytical mind, deep curiosity, and a values-oriented, people-centred approach to her work — reading regional conflict trends, accompanying peace partners across Asia, and translating complex analysis into strategic direction and meaningful interventions. Her expertise spans organisational development, regional partnership engagement, fundraising and resource development, and building the operational systems that allow teams and organisations to do their best work.

Nikki has been with CPCS since 2014, holding progressive roles including Strategic Partnerships Coordinator, Director of Operations, and Program Director of the Cambodia Peace Gallery — where she led the Gallery’s establishment and opening in Battambang in 2018, including the development of its peace education programs. She holds a Master of Social Work in Social Innovation and Leadership from Boston College and a Bachelor of Science in Social Work and Psychology (Summa Cum Laude) from Western Connecticut State University, grounding her leadership in global practice frameworks and a lifelong commitment to people-centred, values-driven work.

Outside of work, Nikki is an avid reader of fiction and nature lover — equally happy on a trail spotting bird or curled up at home with a book and two very opinionated cats.

Betchak Padilla

Senior Peace Facilitator

Betchak Padilla

Betchak hails from Mindanao and joined CPCS in 2012, holding various leadership roles in the organization. She has honed her skills and experience in process facilitation and peace leadership development. Betchak is dedicated to connecting interdisciplinary work of peacebuilding and conflict transformation to deepen strategic peace work and practices. As a Senior Peace Trainer and member of the ACTS Faculty, she draws on her expertise in training and facilitating peace studies and conflict transformation sessions, teaching and developing curriculum, and supervising MA students. Betchak helps cultivate and nurture regional partner organizations by responding to tailored peace and conflict transformation training and facilitating shared learning spaces and exchanges.

For more than 15 years, she has served as a community development specialist in poverty-stricken and armed conflict-affected communities in Mindanao. Betchak holds an MA in Applied Conflict Transformation Studies (ACTS) and a BA in Sociology. She is currently based in Cambodia and is a mother of two boys.

Rachel Beleo Cabulong

Administration and Human Resource Coordinator

Rachel Beleo Cabulong

Rachel hails from the Cordillera region of the Philippines. She joined CPCS in 2019 and prior to this she worked in a corporate environment managing quality assurance teams monitoring customer experience and customer delight. Her work in CPCS is to ensure smooth and seamless logistics support to colleagues, partners, stakeholders and direct activity participants.

Rachel finished her Bachelor’s degree from the University of the Philippines Los Baños. Her involvement in development work commenced from her years as a student leader at the University of the Philippines Los Banos to her years of engagement with denominational and ecumenical youth movement, peasant groups and indigenous communities, being an Igorot herself. She finds fulfillment in logistics analysis and problem solving and in cultivation of sustainable and engaged living. She enjoys long walks, hikes, swimming, needlework and meal experiments.

Py Sokunthea

Finance Manager

Py Sokunthea

Sokunthea is Cambodian and have joined CPCS since 2012. She is the Finance Manager at the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies (CPCS). She previously worked as Accountant at Depot Ly Hang Seng and at the Quality Learning International School; was an English Teacher at the Centre for Foreign Languages, Banteay Meanchey Province, and Assistant Teacher of a Foreign languages at the Quality School of Language and IT Training, Siem Reap, Cambodia.

 She completed a short course in leadership, entrepreneurship, quality of higher education, quick book accounting and she has completed Intensive English for Academic Purposes (IEAP) at Pannasastra University (PUC) in Siem Reap. She attended Financial Management online course with Institute of Finance and Accounting-IFA and received her Master’s Degree in Accounting and Finance from Build Bright University in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Venus Mae Gatdula

Program Director

Venus Mae Gatdula

Venus joins CPCS with a strong enthusiasm for continuous learning and social impact. She serves as Program Director for the Southeast Asia Women Peace Mediators (SEAWPM), focusing on managing, coordinating, and supporting SEAWPM’s interventions and mediation efforts.

Venus holds a degree in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines. Previously, she served as a Human Resources Officer for Smarter Good Inc., a social enterprise focused on supporting global nonprofits and social sector leaders to create greater impact worldwide. An active youth leader in her church, she has held various leadership positions over the past 15 years. On weekends, she enjoys a quiet day at the beach or cooking her comfort foods.

Alison Lee

Regional Convening & Learning Lead

Alison Lee

Alison Lee is the Northeast Asia Specialist at the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies. She ideates, designs, and implements platforms that bring together stakeholders regarding the Korean peace process. Originally from Hong Kong, she has many years of experience working with non-governmental organisations and ecumenical groups in youth development, stakeholder management, and partnership development.

In 2019 when she started working with CPCS, Alison moved to Cambodia, a country with strong diplomatic relations with both the DPRK (North Korea) and ROK (South Korea). She finds joy in cultivating connections with local peace leaders and supporting them in their pursuit to enact positive changes with creative means. She is a fluent speaker of English, Cantonese, and Mandarin Chinese, with a growing knowledge of the Korean and Cambodian languages. She graduated from Paññāsāstra University of Cambodia with an MA in Applied Conflict Transformation Studies and holds a BSocSci from the University of Hong Kong.

Joseph Mariño Ajero

ACTS Program Manager

Joseph Mariño Ajero

Joseph joined CPCS in 2019 as Course Manager for the MA in Applied Conflict Transformation Studies and supported peace process facilitation work in the region, particularly in South Asia. He currently works as the ACTS Program Manager. His role focuses on strategic and operational leadership for the ACTS Program, ensuring it remains responsive to regional dynamics, practitioner needs, and evolving best practices.

Prior to this, he was a Project Manager at forumZFD Philippines, where he led programs in peace education, Mindanao history and studies, media and peacebuilding, and nonviolent conflict transformation with civil society organizations, media practitioners, and academic institutions.

Joseph’s grounding in conflict work was forged early teaching Communication and Media Studies at Mindanao State University-Marawi, volunteering with grassroots NGOs, and covering the 2017 Marawi Siege through the Peace and Conflict Journalism Network (Pecojon). He holds an MA in Applied Conflict Transformation Studies and a BA in Communication Studies (Development Communication).

Beyond his program work, Joseph is deeply interested in the intersections of trauma, healing, embodiment, and peacebuilding, particularly how these dimensions shape the inner lives of those engaged in peace work. He hopes to develop a podcast that brings together peace practitioners from across the region for honest conversations about the work itself, its challenges, leadership, and the possibilities of forward-looking practice.

Natalie Dewar

Peace Programs & Partnerships Coordinator

Natalie Dewar

Natalie Dewar serves as Peace Programs and Partnerships Coordinator at the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies (CPCS). Her work focuses on accompanying conflict stakeholders and peace partners, contributing to robust conflict analysis and research, building and sustaining the partnerships through which CPCS’s work is delivered, and supporting the design and delivery of dialogues, regional forums, and peace interventions across Asia.

Prior to joining CPCS, Natalie served as a Peacebuilding Fellow with the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) and at the Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) in New York. Originally from Scotland, she holds a MA in French and International Relations and an MLitt in Peacebuilding and Mediation from the University of St Andrews.

Natalie is drawn to the relational, grounded, and iterative work of peacebuilding. Her research and practice are animated by questions of memory and place, and by a belief in dialogue as a force for transformation. She continues to practise as a mediator, facilitator, and storyteller—attending, always, to the light.

Heng Hally

Human Resource Manager

Heng Hally

Hally is originally from Cambodia. She has been working in the field of Human Resources, both with local and international organizations, for nearly 10 years. With CPCS, she focuses on ensuring clear and up to date policies and procedures; Cambodia legal compliance; maintain and enhance the organization’s human resources by ensuring staff’s security both physically and emotionally; ensure happy and productive workplace by creating the community feeling in CPCS that staff knows their rights, responsibilities and ways to express their concerns; and HR administration.

Previously, Hally was involved in human resource development including HR strategy plan, worker relations, labour market communication, succession planning and labour payment system.

Yong Rothny

Senior Finance Officer

Young Rothny

Rothny works with the CPCS Finance and Administration team as Senior Finance Officer, supporting the peace process team by overseeing general accounting operations and monitoring and verifying financial transactions.

Rothny previously worked with Caritas in Siem Reap. She holds a Bachelor’s degree from Build Bright University and finished her Master’s degree in Accounting and Financing at the University of Southeast Asia.

Phal Keomorokot

ACTS Course Manager

Phal Keomorokot

Morokot is from Cambodia, the Course Manager for the Applied Conflict Transformation Studies (ACTS) Master’s Programme. She’s working on students registration, in person and online module, defenses and graduation. She’s joined CPCS in 2017 as Administration Assistant and Cashier. She previously worked as Internal Auditor at Vision Fund Cambodia for 3 years. She has more than 9 years of experience as a Auditor, Accountant, Cashier and Administration. She graduated from the Vanda Institute of Accounting in Cambodia with a bachelor’s degree in accounting, and she also completed Intensive English for Academic Purposes at Pannasastra University in Cambodia (PUC).