Catalyst for Peace is not just a collection of individuals asking that question for ourselves individually. We are interested in answering that question collectively – programmatically and organizationally. How can we BE and CATALYZE a community of peace?
We would say that programs and organizations catalyze communities of peace when they:
- Allow the courage, grace and the will of ordinary people in the midst of the most difficult circumstances to provide leadership for the whole
- Recognize, honor and build upon local culture(s) and context(s) while drawing lessons, strength and support from the global community
- Through emergent design, co-create programming with clearly articulated goals and built-in opportunities for reflection, learning, revision and change
- Create partnerships between groups with diverse experiences and skills, where partnership can lead to synergy and bring out the best in each party
- Develop long-term, sustainable programs and systems that will ultimately thrive without outside funding
- Document stories of hope and healing to share with the larger community
- Reach out to and support women and foster women’s leadership
- Respect the unique contribution of spirituality and faith in the process of healing and building healthy communities
- Model honesty, integrity, humility, boldness, and authenticity, and value the living out of these qualities more than the size or scale of a project.
Blog banner image (c) Sara Terry for Catalyst for Peace
