Michael and Sonja Saltman co-founded the Saltman Center for Conflict Resolution in 2003. Mike Saltman is a well-known local developer, a Distinguished Nevadan, member of the Board of Governors of the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada, a UNLV Foundation Trustee, and former Chair of the Council for a Better Nevada, among many other activities. He holds a B.A. from Michigan State University and a J.D. from Wayne State. Sonja Saltman is a co-founder of the Existential Humanistic Institute in San Francisco and Honorary Consul for Austria in Las Vegas and is also a Distinguished Nevadan.  Her many activities include serving as a member of the Executive Board of the Anti-Defamation League, and the boards of Nevada Women’s Philanthropy and the Black Mountain Institute.  She earned her master’s degree in psychology from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.    

Together, Michael and Sonja Saltman have worked for greater peace around the world.  They have not only made generous financial contributions to various organizations, but also engaged in hands-on activities supporting world peace.  For example, they have run a basketball program to encourage good relations between Israeli Jewish and Arab teenagers [link to Streetball Hafla] and rebuilt homes and bridges in ravaged Bosnia.  They provide inspiration and ideas to the Saltman Center for Conflict resolution every day.