The power of community was on full display December 19 at the first Spark, a global virtual event attended by more than a hundred alumni, parents, supporters, current and former staff around the world.
Hosted by alumni Mahmoud (2007 Palestinian Seed) in Haifa, Moses (2014 Maine Seed) in California, and Pooja (2018 GATHER Fellow and Director of GATHER International) in Bangalore, the event was truly a global celebration. Participants spanning at least 14 time zones had the chance to reconnect, look to the next chapter of Seeds of Peace, and hear stories of hope from more than a dozen alumni who are lighting the path forward in their communities.
They included voices of 2021 program participants like Dalia, a 15-year-old who said she joined the Jordanian Core Leadership Program earlier this year in hopes of reversing the increasingly antagonistic relationships between religious groups in her country, and Arnon, a musician and GATHER Fellow who organized a GATHER program for Israeli musicians to diminish fears of speaking out against injustice.
“As musicians we have the power to mobilize and influence, and even if it’s on a small scale, this sort of change can really add up,” he said.
Courage and speaking out was a recurring theme of the evening, with keynote speaker Jodi Kantor, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, best-selling author, and 2021 Seed Parent, drawing parallels between her work and that of Seeds of Peace and its alumni.
“Even though my work is very different, I think what they ultimately have in common is the truth,” she said. “And as somebody who has devoted her whole life to the truth and recognizes in some ways the truth is having a hard time right now, it still cuts through and I’ve never seen anything that matches its power.”
LOOKING AHEAD
Spark also offered a glimpse into the next chapter of Seeds of Peace, including:
- Global Institute: a new core program that will bring international delegations of alumni ages 18-25 to Washington, D.C. for two weeks this summer to with senior government officials, discuss global issues, and hone their skills to be public leaders for peace. (Learn more ››)
- The launch of a GATHER membership program, summit, and return of the Fellowship program.
- Codifying and expanding programs to reach more people.
- New partnerships in the U.S. South and Midwest: Though COVID-19 restrictions have again prevented international delegations at Camp in Maine, new delegations from Ohio, Michigan, Georgia, and Alabama will allow U.S. Campers to deepen their work on bridging their country’s political, racial, religious, class, and urban/rural divides.
- The formation of regional advisory boards (soon to be announced) to further root Seeds of Peace in the places we work.
As Seeds of Peace looks to expand and reach a new generation of changemakers, Spark 2021 was a recognition of the vital role that each member of the community plays in bringing about a more just and equitable world—and what can be accomplished when those thousands of sparks of hope come together.
“In our polarized worlds it would be so easy to stay in our bubbles with people just like us, but what gives me hope is that more and more young people are realizing that to create change, to create world we want to live in, requires working in solidarity across lines of difference,” said Executive Director Josh Thomas. “Every time a young person chooses to take that first step to reach across those deep divides, to take the more difficult path, our world comes one step closer to peace.”
Watch Spark in its entirety ››