Fellows program invests in emerging changemakers and their projects
NEW YORK | Seeds of Peace has made a Commitment to Action at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) to accelerate local social change endeavors that have the potential to positively impact the dynamics of conflict in and between communities in the Middle East.
The $1.5 million three-year commitment was presented by Seeds of Peace Executive Director Leslie Lewin at the 2015 CGI Middle East & Africa Meeting held May 5-7 in Marrakech.
“This is big step forward for the organization and its ability to accelerate the impact of changemakers in conflict areas,” said Lewin. “We are honored to be sharing the commitment at the Clinton Global Initiative, and for the continuing support of President Clinton for our work with emerging leaders.”
Under the commitment, Seeds of Peace will launch two fellowship programs that offer technical and financial assistance to 60 select civic leaders, artists, and educators who demonstrate the greatest potential to make positive differences in their home communities.
The first program, the New Visions for Peace Fellowship, will be awarded to educators and artists of proven accomplishment or unusual promise who are putting forward fresh and practical ideas that contribute to advancing change in regions of conflict.
The Fellowship will further projects that use education and the arts to encourage critical thinking, cross-cultural understanding, civic engagement, and conflict transformation.
The 2015 Fellowship will launch in June and will include a week-long program in Cyprus over the summer. It is made possible by The Germanacos Foundation and by Jim and Nora Orphanides.
The second program, the GATHER Fellowship, builds on the success of GATHER+962, a Seeds of Peace summit that convened over 200 changemakers from more than 20 countries in Jordan earlier this year.
The 2015 GATHER Fellowship also starts in June and includes a program in London in the fall that offers learning opportunities on topics such as effective team-building, design thinking, leveraging technology in startups, pitching, fund-raising, storytelling, and public speaking, and provides Fellows with access to London’s world-class network of investors, businesses, and social change organizations.
The GATHER Fellowship is open to alumni of Seeds of Peace and other emerging leaders and entrepreneurs with compelling local social change projects. It is made possible by support from the Pershing Square Foundation, the Blackstone Charitable Foundation, the Moses Feldman Family Foundation, and Red Sea Ventures.
About the Clinton Global Initiative
Established in 2005 by President Bill Clinton, the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), an initiative of the Clinton Foundation, convenes global leaders to create and implement solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges.
CGI Annual Meetings have brought together more than 190 heads of state, 20 Nobel Prize laureates, and hundreds of leading CEOs, heads of foundations and NGOs, major philanthropists, and members of the media. To date, members of the CGI community have made nearly 3,200 Commitments to Action, which have improved the lives of over 430 million people in more than 180 countries.
About Seeds of Peace
Seeds of Peace is an international leadership organization committed to identifying, inspiring, and cultivating new generations of leaders. We equip them with the skills and relationships they need to accelerate the social, economic, and political changes essential for peace.
Since 1993, Seeds of Peace has provided exceptional young people and educators from regions of conflict with an otherwise impossible opportunity to meet their historic enemies face-to-face at our Camp in Maine. There are now over 5,000 Seeds and Educators from 27 countries who prove that solutions exist, peace is possible, and there is reason to have hope for a better future.