Meet the Rational Games Board

Dr. Mark YoungNegotiation Expert, RGI President
Dr. Mark Young, the founder of Rational Games, is an independent author, trainer and consultant with many years´ practical and academic experience in the area of negotiation, mediation and conflict management skills. His theoretical work is tempered by practical lessons learned as a negotiator in government (US Department of Commerce) and in the field of corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions in the US and Europe. Mark divides his time between Cambridge, Mass, Washington, DC and Berlin, Germany.

Raymond CyrTreasurer
Raymond is a finance professional active in the controllers division of an international bank. Raymond’s experiences in both the nonprofit and for-profit business sectors come together to support the mission of Rational Games, Inc. Eager to support initiatives locally and globally which further work being done in the fields of conflict management, negotiation and mediation, Raymond is delighted to be serving Rational Games, Inc. in his capacity as Treasurer of the organization.
Ray is fluent in English and German.

Wayne LifshitzGrantee Relationships
Wayne Lifshitz is a 20 year professional with executive and senior level management experience in the non-profit, start-up and Big 5 consulting industries, and has worked with several large and globally recognized brands which have included CARE, Booz Allen, Nike, and WorldShop. Wayne is an entrepreneur, inventor, and strategic connector. He began his career in international development focused on social change where he was the Founder and Director for CARE’s Sport for Social Change Network [grant program] and later led a large grant portfolio for Booz Allen. At present, Wayne is the CEO of Kennin Co,. an entrepreneur and small business consulting firm, that is focused on COO as a service, strategy, strategic connections, general business consulting, KPI and project management and new business development. The firm works with tech start-ups, consumer goods manufacturers and non-profits on projects that improve short and long term growth and sustainability. He is also the inventor of the Piggyback Rider and other successful consumer products and works closely with LifecycleVC and Piranha Tank that help start-ups get seed funding.
Wayne obtained his Bachelors of Arts in Economics from the University of California at Berkeley and also holds a Master’s degree from Boston University. He has completed an MBA leadership certificate course at Cornell University and is a PMP and Certified Partnership Broker. In his free time, he’s a sailor, father, jujitsu blackbelt and USA National and World Team Judo competitor.

Norm ThomasNegotiation Trainer, Strategic Partnerships
Norm Thomas is a recognized industry leader in technology for professional services firms. He spent 8 years with Microsoft as Director of Industry Market Development for the Legal and Professional Services solutions business, focusing on customer engagement and channel-building in the services sector globally. Before joining Microsoft, Thomas was a Client Partner for Cambridge Technology Partners in enterprise-scale project management and client development, and before that was President of Softec Solutions, Inc., a systems integrator for small- and medium-sized manufacturing companies.
He holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from USC and an MBA in Finance from the University of Washington and is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of Washington.

Dr. Christina Horváth-Stenner Mediator, Board Member, Secretary
Dr. Christina Horváth-Stenner is a certified mediator dedicating her expertise to political peace processes. She serves as Mediation Support Officer at the OSCE Conflict Prevention Centre in Vienna, providing mediation advise with a focus on process design and mediation strategy mainly in the contexts of Moldova, Ukraine, Central Asia and the Balkans. Prior to joining the OSCE, Horváth-Stenner worked as Research Fellow at the Center for International Peace Operations (ZIF) Berlin, and as Lecturer at the University in Witten/Herdecke, Germany, on conflict resolution, mediation and negotiation. Before that, Christina Horváth-Stenner worked for the CSSP Berlin Center for Integrative Mediation in Egypt and the Balkans, as well as for UNHCR in Bosnia & Herzegovina and the OSCE Mission to Serbia. Christina Horváth-Stenner completed her Ph.D. at the University of Witten/Herdecke, Germany where she also studied Economics, including studies in Japan. As a believer in the nexus of practice, policy, and research, she currently studies on a continuing education basis the Master Mediation in Peace Processes at the ETH Zurich with support of the German Federal Foreign Office.
Christina is fluent in German and English and is conversational in Japanese and French.