Google’s Summit Against Violent Extremism

Frank Meeink, former skinhead gang leader, director of Harmony Through Hockey. A former skinhead gang leader, Frank Meeink describes his adolescent crimes as ‘[like] that movie ‘A Clockwork Orange’’. His childhood was spent moving between two drug-addicted parents, his adolescence rising up the gang’s ranks; by 18 he was in prison. There Meeink befriended convicts from different ethnic backgrounds, and once paroled he defected from the white supremacist movement. He is the founder of Harmony through Hockey, an urban hockey league that promotes racial equality

Nolan Arreola, board member of Sin Fronteras, a group that works to prevent youth violence

Imam Nurayn Ashafa, once incited violence against Christians, now co-founder of the Interfaith Medication Centre. Imam Nurayn Ashafa is the son of an Islamic scholar from a line of Muslim clerics dating back 13 generations. As an adult he saw members of his family killed by Christians and has himself incited violence against the Christian community. In 1995, Ashafa and Pastor James Wuye formed the Interfaith Mediation Centre (IMC). The IMC encourages dialogue among young people, women, religious leaders and government

Sammy Rangel, former member of Maniac Latin Disciples gang, now a youth outreach worker at the Safe Streets Outreach Program. Sammy Rangel grew up in deprived circumstances in Texas, leaving home at an early age and becoming involved in drugs and theft. He spent several years in prison in his twenties, but, towards the end of his sentence, Rangel undertook a drug and alcohol rehabilitation programme. Once out of prison he began volunteering with an anti-gang crime organisation. He was later hired full-time and is now a youth outreach worker and law enforcement consultant

Maajid Nawaz, ex-member of Hizbut-Tahrir, now executive director of Quilliam Foundation. British Pakistani Maajid Nawaz was formerly involved in the leadership of the extremist party Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT), which he joined after suffering racist attacks. He was a member for almost 14 years, ultimately serving four years in an Egyptian prison. While in prison Nawaz’s views changed, and he renounced his extreme ideology while retaining his Muslim faith. Nawaz is now involved in social activism, writing and debating. He is co-founder of Quilliam, a counter-extremism think-tank, and founder of Khudi, a counter-extremism youth movement in Pakistan

Aicha El Wafa, mother of Zacarias Moussaoui, the 20th 9/11 hijacker. Aicha has joined Phyllis Rodriguez, whose son died in the terrorist attack, to speak out against retributive violence

Mubin Shaikh, ex-Islamist and undercover agent for Canadian Security Intelligence Service, now a PhD student. Mubin Shaikh was born and raised in Canada, and at age 19 turned to fundamentalist Islam. After 9/11, convinced that the west was out to destroy Islam, Shaikh moved to Damascus for two years, and almost left to fight against US forces in Iraq. In 2004 he was recruited by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) to work as an undercover agent. Mubin infiltrated a group planning to bomb the offices of CSIS, the stock exchange and parliament buildings in Ottawa. He later appeared as a witness in the court case, resulting in the conviction of 11 terrorists

Angela King, former racist skinhead, now works as a consultant and keynote speaker. Angela King’s childhood was unsettled by her parents’ divorce, and by frequent moves and school transfers. After being taken in by a skinhead gang, she dropped out of school at 17 and moved to Florida, living with the gang in a house that flew Nazi flags from the roof. In the course of five years, King moved from state to state, attempting to recruit members; she was arrested numerous times and eventually imprisoned. While in prison, she renounced her views on race. She now has an MA and works as a public speaker encouraging racial tolerance

Sheikh Abu Muntasir, founder and chief executive, JIMAS, a UK educational charity. Sheikh Abu Muntasir (Muhammad Manwar Ali) has been educating different groups about Islam for 25 years. His work with JIMAS, the British educational charity he founded, includes providing guidance for various Islamic Society committees in universities and training in Islam for social workers, establishing study circles across the UK and delivering lectures

Arno Michaels, ex-lead singer of a 'race-metal' band, now author of ‘My Life After Hate and executive director of Life After Hate. Arno Michaels was a skinhead whose ‘hate metal’ band, Centurion, sold 20,000 CDs. For seven years he was involved in violence against other ethnic groups and against gay men. Michaels then began to distance himself from the skinhead movement, and, in 2010, he published +My Life After Hate+, a memoir. He now runs the monthly e-publication at Lifeafterhate.org and has also launched an initiative called Kindness Not Weakness in partnership with Sammy Rangel, Frank Meeink, and T.J. Leyden to address bullying and drug abuse

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of Simon Wiesenthal Center and Museum of Tolerance, and head of the center’s 'digital hate' project. The Simon Wiesenthal Center and its Museum of Tolerance is a Jewish human rights organisation with more than 400,000 family members. For three decades, Rabbi Cooper has overseen the Wiesenthal Center's involvement in improving interfaith relations and the promotion of tolerance education

Imam Muhammad Sani Isa, imam, Waff Road mosque, Kaduna, Nigeria; now at Interfaith Mediation Center. Imam Muhammad Sani Isa works with the Interfaith Mediation Centre to combat Islamist extremism

Paul Carrillo, former gang member, now part of the Save summit’s steering committee and executive director of Southern California Crossroads. Paul Carrillo was raised in poverty in Los Angeles, in an environment dominated by violence and abuse. His family’s involvement in gangs meant Carrillo soon fell into the lifestyle but the murder of a close friend and the imminent birth of his first child compelled Carrillo to start anew. For the past decade he has worked to prevent young people following his pattern of social deprivation and criminal involvement. Carrillo carries out outreach work in juvenile detention centres, jails, schools, hospitals and on the streets of Los Angeles County

Tim Zaal, former skinhead, is now a consultant for Simon Wiesenthal Center. Zaal is a former racist skinhead. Fuelled by white supremacist theories, Zaal physically assaulted a gay teenager living on the streets. Several years after being convicted for a separate hate crime, Zaal met with the man he attacked. Their friendship has resulted in joint lectures given in conjunction with the Museum of Tolerance, the educational branch of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles

Carie Lemack, whose mother died on 9/11, is now co-founder/executive director at Global Survivors Network. Global Survivors Network helps victims of terror to speak out against terrorism and radicalisation. Lemack also co-founded the organisation Families of September 11 after her mother, Judy Larocque, was killed. Lemack received an MBA from Stanford University in 2004 and an MA from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government in 2006. She is a visiting fellow at the Center on Global Counterterrorism Cooperation and a term member at the Council on Foreign Relations