Ann A. Rudnicki retired from a long career in the human services sector she began in 1978 working with street kids in New York City. At the beginning of this Century, she took a mid-life break to achieve a Ph.D. in Public & International Affairs and to conduct research in Russia. Since her retirement, she has pursued her interest in international affairs, first a Peace Corps assignment in Poltava, Ukraine, where she served as a management consultant to a multi-program social service agency centered around services for people with HIV. Since then, she has studied the Palestinian/Israeli conflict and has done some time volunteering in the West Bank, including during a time of high conflict.