TOPIC:  Engaging The World (or At Least Your World) – Past R.I. President Charles “Chuck” Keller was electric as a keynote speaker at the first ever Rotary World Peace Symposium, held in Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.A.  just prior to the Rotary International Annual Convention in June 2007. His comments were interrupted several times by explosive standing ovations. Brian Farr was there – and became a Rotary Peace Fellow shortly after.

Our October gathering will begin with some of Brian’s thoughts regarding the 3 main points made by PRIP Keller – 1) We need to find a new path to peace, what we’re doing isn’t working; 2) To find that path we need to better understand and address the root causes of violence; and 3) Peace is not a spectator sport – it requires the efforts of all. We’ll then turn to interactive discussion on engaging the world!

BIO:  Brian L. Farr, J. D. practiced law in both the public and private sectors for nearly forty years including thirty years at the Utah Attorney General’s Office and service as Chief Legal Counsel and Deputy Chief of Policy to the Governor of the State of Utah.

He earned a graduate certificate in Peace Studies at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand. He has been a Rotary Peace Fellow since 2008, has spoken at peace conferences in several countries, and has authored Living and Linking Your Piece of Peace, a primer on peacebuilding that focuses on engaging the grassroots.

He is currently a member of the Interreligious Engagement Advisory Council at Utah Valley University and the Faith Leaders Advisory Council of the Salt Lake Interfaith Roundtable (where he previously served as Chair of the Roundtable Board.

Brian is a past Chair of the Utah Council for Citizen Diplomacy (a nonprofit organization that hosts U.S. State Department visitors under the International Visitor Leadership Program). He served as a Board member and Chair of both the global Rotarian Action Group for Peace and the North American Interfaith Network , as well as five years as a Richard L. Evans Fellow, Office of Religious Outreach, at Brigham Young University.  At the University of Utah, he served as a member of the advisory boards of both the International Center and the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, as well at serving on the board of the Norman and Barbara Tanner Center for Non-Violent Human Rights Advocacy.

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