Nobel Peace Laureate Coming to Kalamazoo to Lead
Great Lakes PeaceJam Conference Festivities
Kalamazoo (Michigan) – Great Lakes PeaceJam, in partnership wit
h co-presenting sponsors, ISAAC, YWCA, Planned Parenthood, NAACP and SHARE, will welcome 2011 Nobel Peace Laureate Leymah Gbowee to Kalamazoo on April 14-15, 2018, as part of PeaceJam’s youth conference events at Western Michigan University (WMU). Gbowee is a Liberian peace activist responsible for leading a women’s movement that helped bring an end to the second Liberian civil war in 2003. More than 300 elementary, high school and college-age youths from Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio will join Gbowee during the two-day conference.
Leymah Gbowee will also speak to the public at PeaceJam’s Public Address on Friday, April 13th at 7 p.m. at WMU’s Bernhard Center. The address is entitled It’s Time For Women To Stop Being Politely Angry. This event is also open to the media and provides the greater Kalamazoo community an opportunity to learn about Gbowee’s non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work. A question and answer session will follow Gbowee’s speech. A suggested donation of $15 per guest is requested. Tickets may be purchased at the door or online at www.greatlakespeacejam.com.
Additionally, the Nobel Reception honoring Leymah Gbowee will take place on Friday, April 13th at 5:30 p.m., also at the Bernhard Center at WMU, just prior to her public address. The $50 per person admission includes hors d’oeuvres, an opportunity to meet Gbowee, entry to the public address and a cash bar. Tickets for the Nobel Reception must be purchased in advance at www.greatlakespeacejam.com.
100% of the proceeds from the Nobel Reception and Public Address directly benefit the PeaceJam program in Kalamazoo.
BACKGROUND
Women’s rights and full participation in democratic processes are critical to ensure lasting peace. In Liberia, bloody civil wars had ravaged the country since 1989 when Leymah Gbowee called together women from different ethnic and religious groups in the fight for peace. Dressed in white T-shirts, they held daily demonstrations at the fishmarket in Monrovia. Supported by financial donations, Leymah led a delegation of Liberian women to Ghana to put pressure on the warring factions during the peace-talk process. These actions played a decisive role in ending the war in 2003.
Leymah Gbowee was born and raised in Liberia. She educated herself as a social worker and worked tirelessly to help those who suffered psychological trauma during the country’s civil war, including child soldiers. After having led the women’s peace movement, she received a degree in her field from an American university. Leymah Gbowee is currently head of the Women, Peace and Security Network Africa, based in Ghana. She has six children.
ABOUT PEACEJAM
The conference is one component of PeaceJam’s year round programing for elementary, middle, and high school-aged youth throughout the four-state region of Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. Young people meet in clubs and classrooms exploring issues of violence and prejudice and to study the life and work of Leymah Gbowee as a role model for becoming civically engaged to foster peace and justice in the world. Action is a major factor of the PeaceJam program. In addition to participating in the curriculum and attending the conference, PeaceJam participants are charged with identifying a local or global need and creating a service project to make a difference. During the conference, each PeaceJam club will present its work to Leymah Gbowee, stating club members’ commitment to inspiring change in the world. Further information on the service projects are available to the media upon request.
With 20 years of experience around the world, the PeaceJam Foundation is a global leader in developing engaged, informed and compassionate young leaders. Its mission is to empower disenfranchised and at-risk youth to generate positive change in themselves, their communities and the world through the inspiration of
13 Nobel Peace Laureates who directly work with PeaceJam to pass on the spirit, skills and wisdom they embody. The PeaceJam Foundation achieves this mission through multicultural social inclusion curriculum, transformative youth leadership conferences with Nobel Peace Prize Winners and our One Billion Acts of
Peace Campaign – a global citizens movement that gives young people the tools to tackle pressing issues facing humanity and the planet. Since 1996, 1.25 million youth have been impacted by PeaceJam’s programs, creating 42.7 million service projects and participating in 350 youth conferences hosted around the world with our Nobel Peace Prize winners. PeaceJam has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize eight times by Desmond Tutu and seven other laureates for its power to transform the lives of our youth.
Great Lakes PeaceJam, based in Kalamazoo, is administered by Seeding Change and supported through a partnership with Western Michigan University. We serve the youth of Indiana, Illinois, Ohio and Michigan.
Thousands of young people have participated in Great Lakes PeaceJam programs since its inception in 2002.
Funding for Great Lakes PeaceJam includes the Kalamazoo Community Foundation, Irving S. Gilmore Foundation, the Youth United Way, the Western Student Association, and through the generosity of individual donors and businesses.