TOPIC: Connecting for Peace: Linking Different Generations to Pursue a Common Dream. Drawing on experiences and research spanning more than 15 states in the U.S. and 18 countries, Patricia will explore how, post-Pandemic, we might be truly primed for peace. If true, perhaps 2023 could be a turning point that shifts the world from increased polarization to increased social cohesion by tapping into a latent, longing for greater connection that was exacerbated during COVID-19. Join us, and share your view, too.

PATRICIA SHAFER is Senior Fellow for Peace Education at the Washington, DC-based Alliance for Peacebuilding and Executive Director of international nonprofit NewGen Peacebuilders. In 2022, she was a recipient of the prestigious Melanie Greenberg Award for Excellence in Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding. Under Patricia’s leadership with NewGen Peacebuilders (NGP), more than 6,000 high school and university students on four continents have received peace education, training, mentoring, and certification. In its first two years of operation, the Youth & Peace in Action (YPA) initiative powered by NGP was available to 1,000 high schools in the United States and Caribbean. Previously, Patricia held senior positions in leadership development, change management, communications, and corporate affairs in two global Fortune 100 companies. She holds an MSc in Consulting and Coaching for Change – a joint-venture of Oxford University, UK, and HEC France; MBA, Northwestern University Kellogg Graduate School of Management; and MA, Journalism from The Ohio State University. Patricia is also a Rotary Peace Fellow, Rotary Positive Peace Activator, and global ambassador with the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP).