I started an organization called Peace First, which began as a response to the sky-rocketing youth homicide rates in the early 1990s. We work in partnership with schools to build safe, effective school climates where children learn how to be engaged and active citizens. The heart of this program is a Pre-K-8 service-learning curriculum integrated weekly into the academic frameworks of the school, taught by young adult volunteers in partnership with the classroom teacher. This work is supported by intense coaching with principals and lead teachers to deepen their efficacies at supporting academically and emotionally successful young people.
Peace First exists to teach students to become problem-solvers with the ability, and the inclination, to create social change. We work with schools to empower students with the skills, relationships, and opportunities to be engaged, positive forces in their communities and throughout their lives. We show them they have the power, creativity, and responsibility to create peace.
Sitting on my porch with my two year-old son in the springtime, eating bananas with him on my lap as the son rises.
I want to ignite the moral imagination of young people. I want students to believe that not only are they capable of changing their world, that it is their job! Each spring, Peace First students, as young as four years old, solve problems in their communities. In the past, students have painted and reclaimed walls once tagged with gang graffiti, they have created joke books for children in the hospital, and designed and implemented school-wide recycling programs. It is my dream that all students channel their creative energy to make this world a better place, and that adults support their efforts in doing this important work.
I am the Co-Founder and President of Peace First (formerly Peace Games), a national leader in violence prevention education. Peace First teaches elementary and middle school children how to create their own safe classrooms and communities by providing children with a comprehensive Social Emotional Learning curricula that focuses on conflict resolution, communication and cooperation skills, and civic engagement.
Under my leadership, Peace First has grown from a fledging organization, run by students of Harvard University in 1992, to a national leader in violence prevention education; and, has provided peacemaker skills training to more than 40,000 elementary and middle school students in Boston, New York, and Los Angeles.
I earned my B.A. from Harvard College in 1996 and M.Ed. from the Harvard School of Education in 1998. I have authored dozens of violence prevention curricula, teaching guides, and program evaluation reports that have received national recognition.
I also received the Youth Service America Fund Award for Social Entrepreneurs and was a recipient of the Pforzheimer and Echoing Green Public Service Fellowships, as well as the Ashoka Fellowship for leading social entrepreneurs. In 2008, I was selected as a Pop!Tech Social Innovation Fellow.
I am often a featured guest of national radio and television news and public service program and I am called upon to serve as keynote speaker, trainer, and lecturer in the area of peace and justice education and child development.
