Peacejam - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The PeaceJam Foundation is an international organization whose missions statement is "to create young leaders committed to positive change in themselves, their communities and the world through the inspiration of Nobel Peace Laureates who pass on the spirit, skills, and wisdom they embody." The PeaceJam program was launched in February 1996 by co-founders Dawn Engle and Ivan Suvanjieff to provide the Nobel Peace Prize

Nobel Peace Prize

The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...

Laureates with a programmatic vehicle to use in working together to teach youth the art of peace

Peace

Peace is a state of harmony characterized by the lack of violent conflict. Commonly understood as the absence of hostility, peace also suggests the existence of healthy or newly healed interpersonal or international relationships, prosperity in matters of social or economic welfare, the...

.

To date, 12 Nobel Peace Laureates, including the 14th Dalai Lama

14th Dalai Lama

The 14th Dalai Lama is the 14th and current Dalai Lama. Dalai Lamas are the most influential figures in the Gelugpa lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, although the 14th has consolidated control over the other lineages in recent years...

, Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Desmond Tutu

Desmond Mpilo Tutu is a South African activist and retired Anglican bishop who rose to worldwide fame during the 1980s as an opponent of apartheid...

, Rigoberta Menchú Tum, President Oscar Arias

Óscar Arias

Óscar Arias Sánchez is a Costa Rican politician who was President of Costa Rica from 2006 to 2010. He previously served as President from 1986 to 1990 and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987 for his efforts to end civil wars then raging in several other Central American countries.He is also a...

, Adolfo Pérez Esquivel

Adolfo Pérez Esquivel

Adolfo Pérez Esquivel is an Argentine sculptor, architect and pacifist. He was the recipient of the 1980 Nobel Peace Prize.-Biography:Pérez Esquivel was born in Buenos Aires to a Spanish fisherman who emigrated to Argentina...

, Mairead Corrigan Maguire, Betty Williams, José Ramos-Horta, Aung San Suu Kyi

Aung San Suu Kyi

Aung San Suu Kyi, AC is a Burmese opposition politician and the General Secretary of the National League for Democracy. In the 1990 general election, her National League for Democracy party won 59% of the national votes and 81% of the seats in Parliament. She had, however, already been detained...

, Sir Joseph Rotblat

Joseph Rotblat

Sir Joseph Rotblat, KCMG, CBE, FRS , was a Polish-born, British-naturalised physicist.His work on nuclear fallout was a major contribution to the agreement of the Partial Test Ban Treaty...

(Emeritus), Jody Williams

Jody Williams

Jody Williams is an American teacher and aid worker who received the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize jointly with the campaign she worked for, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines...

and Shirin Ebadi

Shirin Ebadi

Shirin Ebadi is an Iranian lawyer, a former judge and human rights activist and founder of Defenders of Human Rights Center in Iran. On 10 October 2003, Ebadi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her significant and pioneering efforts for democracy and human rights, especially women's,...

serve as Members of the PeaceJam Foundation. On September 15, 2006 ten of the Nobel Laureates launched the PeaceJam Foundation's Global Call to Action with the youth of the world as a part of PeaceJam's 10th Anniversary Celebration.

The PeaceJam Foundation was a nominee for the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize.

History

The story of PeaceJam began in the summer of 1993 when Ivan Suvanjiff had a discussion with four neighbors of his who were carrying guns. Ivan found out that these youth were inspired by the Nobel Laureate Desmond Tutu, and had an idea to bring Nobel Peace Prize Laureates to youth in the Denver area. Dawn Gifford Engle, a colleague of Ivans, had contacts with the Dalai Llama. They began creating a business plan to present to the Dalai Llama. They flew to India and presented their idea to the Dalai Lama who agreed to help them. Dawn and Ivan's idea became PeaceJam.

Officially founded in 1996, PeaceJam has had more than six hundred thousand young people participate in the United States and in countries around the world. PeaceJammers have created almost one million service projects designed to address problems in their own schools and communities.

Global Call to Action

In September of 2006, ten leading Nobel Peace Laureates and more than three thousand young people traveled from all over the world to Denver, Colorado, to celebrate the Tenth Anniversary of the PeaceJam Foundation. The 14th Dalai Lama