Berkley Center

Ashima Kaul is an independent peace practitioner and journalist, as well as executive director of Yakjah Reconciliation and Development Network, a network of youth, women, and religious leaders in Jammu and Kashmir. She has conducted workshops encouraging interfaith/interethnic/intercommunity cooperation for children and youth, using media such as film, theater, and art as tools to promote dialogue and leadership. She is also consultant for Women Building Peace Constituencies in Kashmir, a project of Women in Security, Conflict Management, and Peace (WISCOMP) at the Foundation for Universal Responsibility in New Delhi. She coordinates Athwaas, a WISCOMP initiative for conflict transformation in Jammu and Kashmir provinces, which organizes Kashmiri Women Writers Meet to use literature to bring together women from conflicting perspectives. She directed Athwaas: The Journey, a film about her work produced by Public Service Broadcasting Trust in India. Kaul holds a bachelor's degree and a diploma in business management from Jammu University.