Board Members
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Tynnetta Jackson, Chair
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Vicki Berenson, Treasurer
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Erika Bach, Secretary
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Mary Kay Baum
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Judy Miner
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John Peck
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Dena Eakles
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Debra Gillispie
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Christine Olson
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Muhammad Shahzad Hussein
Tynnetta Jackson, Chair
Tynnetta is the Co-Director of Solomons Outreach and Urban Learning Sessions, Board member of Pastor’s United, a member of NAACP, Building Unity, National Council of Negro Women, Community Organizer/Advocate, CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) volunteer a on Air Radio Personality of her show “Tea Time With Ty”, and a Milwaukee Bucks Grand Dancer.
Vicki Berenson, Treasurer
Vicki has brought a lifelong dedication to anti-violence and social justice work to a variety of organizations as a volunteer or staff, currently serving as a board member for both Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice and Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice. She has worked with Vietnam and Iraq war veterans, with domestic abuse advocates and survivors, and with groups opposing militarism in schools and in our community. Vicki has been involved with food and housing cooperatives and other nonprofits providing training, outreach, administrative functions, and technology support. She is a Quaker and enjoys making pottery, reading, gardening, bicycling and innumerable other activities she doesn’t have time for.
Erika Bach, Secretary
Erika joined the WNPJ board in 2020, in the midst of the global uprising and calls for an end to state sanctioned violence. She is compelled to action in collaboration with people who support the need for justice in the interconnected criminal legal carceral systems and our educational, environmental and economic infrastructures. Erika strives to build community in solidarity with lifelong learners and facilitators of social, racial and disability justice, accessible community well-being, human rights advocacy and peace education.
Mary Kay Baum
Mary Kay grew up on a family dairy farm just North of Appleton WI. Her first political act was a letter to the local paper about the way property taxes were taxing farms for their prospective commercial value for development, forcing farmers to sell their farm. She served on Dane County Board while in college and Madison Metropolitan School Board while in law school. She did public interest law in prisons, and volunteered during the Menominee Reservation during the Takeover of the Alexian Brothers Abbey. She led what is now the Just Dane, a nonprofit primarily with formerly incarcerated persons. Her own cognitive changes led her to retire early and continue to be active in environmental advocacy. She helps set up showings/discussions of the documentary "Bad River".
Judy Miner
Judy has played many roles within WNPJ over the last 23 years. She was volunteering in the Madison office on State Street in 2001 - when an office coordinator's position opened up. She had the opportunity to be the Director of the Network for about 10 years working with dedicated volunteers and Board members. She now serves on the Board, answering e-mails, putting together the weekly e-bulletin and posting events and Action Alerts on the WNPJ website and Facebook pages. Judy's from South Dakota - and a world citizen, having spent many years traveling and living in Botswana, China, St. Lucia, and Germany. A nurse by profession, her aim is to promote international respect and peace, kindness and environmental activism. She's been arrested with Nukewatch up at ELF, at the Madison Army Recruitment center, with the Poor People's Campaign crossing a line on State Street, and for singing in the Capitol with the Solidarity Singers to protest union-busting. You'll find her hanging out with grandkids in Portland OR, Minneapolis and/or Madison.
John Peck
John grows vegetables and flowers with his partner on a 20 acre farm near Brooklyn, WI, he taught Economics part-time at Madison College, and is also the executive director of Family Farm Defenders, a national grassroots organization with a mission of promoting food sovereignty, agroecology, and socioeconomic justice. John is also a longtime volunteer of other WNPJ member groups, such as the Madison Infoshop and WI Books to Prisoners.
Dena Eakles
Dena is a writer, farmer, and activist who loves life. Board Member of the Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice and on the Executive Committee of the Wisconsin Coalition for Justice in Palestine,and president of Echo Valley Hope; Dena also writes a weekly blog LetKindnessWin. Author of The Peace Warrior, you can find radio and podcast interviews and conversations at Echo Valley Hope.org as well as links to TPRF's Peace Education Program.
Debra Gillispie
Debra, a Milwaukee native, is a dedicated wife and mother who believes that faith calls for action. As the founder of Mothers Against Gun Violence (MAGV), she advocates for media equity and actively works to amplify the voices of gun violence survivors through media and the arts.
Christine Olson
Christine (pronouns: she/her and Mama) and her spouse and are the parents of 4 beautiful wildlings. Christine is a full time stay at home parent. Her community involvement includes being a member of the core group of Northland Grandmothers for Peace where she organizes and participates in activist events and have successfully built many coalitions with other local groups around the issues of eliminating nuclear weapons and ending the genocide and occupation in Palestine. She has also organized and continued to lead weekly Women In Black silent vigils in Superior. She has also led a team that put together two “Community Education Forums for Justice in Palestine” in Superior. Christine was also recently appointed to the city of Superior Urban Forestry Tree Board (3 year term).
Muhammad Shahzad Hussain
Shahzad (he/him) belongs to the northern region of Pakistan where he spent most of his life. Trained as an Islamic scholar in the traditional Islamic seminaries (madaris), his intellectual pursuits are stretched along the lines of tradition, scholarship, and a deep commitment to global challenges. Following his graduation from the seminaries, Shahzad made a scholarly contribution by co-authoring The Untold Truth of Pakistan’s Blasphemy Law. This report not only compiles but critically examines the perspectives of traditional jurists from diverse Islamic Schools of Law on the sensitive issue of blasphemy. His academic exploration continued with M.Phil. research, where he delved into the complex topic of ISIS’ (Islamic State of Iraq & Syria) notion of excommunication, viewed through the lens of al-Ghazali, an eleventh-century theologian and Sufi. In the United States, Shahzad graduated from the University of Notre Dame, specializing in International Peace Studies. His transformative internship at the World Hunger Relief Institute in Texas fueled his passion for regenerative practices and sustainability. It is reflected in the capstone project for his master’s degree in which he developed a captivating children’s handbook on gardening, written in his national language, Urdu. Shahzad is also the co-founder of “hara bhara Haripur,” (Green Haripur) a social media campaign dedicated to raising climate awareness in his hometown, Haripur, showing his commitment to grassroot change and community engagement. In the midst of his dynamic pursuits, Shahzad finds balance and inner peace through sketching and drawing.