Buidling a culture of Peace

I am writing today to tell you some (I believe exciting) news, and make a request.

Many of you may have already heard, but I have quite recently taken the job to be the Executive Director of The Peace Alliance (USA). This is the organization that is lobbying the US federal government to create a US Department of Peace. What this would do among other things is allow a funding stream for all kinds of "peacebuilding" work both in the US and beyond. This is a campaign that I have been working with since it began, and it was really learning NVC that made be believe that 1) peace is possible and 2) that funding peacebuilding activities (like NVC in schools and prisons, and in battered women shelters etc would create a critical mass of people who know how to resolve conflicts and listen compassionately to others in ways that resolve conflict peacefully.

This organization is now primed to not only lobby directly over half of the US Congress in March of 2009. We have taken our proposals to Obama and his team, and expect to see some investments in this direction in the next year or two and wanted all of you who are actively training others in NVC the funding possiblities to take NVC to a much wider scale.

At the time I took this project on we were in debt so I have told the Board of Directors that I would raise my own salary for the first three months and I have nearly 2/3 of it raised just going to my family and close friends. I am writing today to ask you to make any size contribution to my salary to make this transition and work to a culture of peace a reality. I determined to raise at least 10k more to cover salary taxes and a travel budget. If you click on this link you can make any size donation to the organization on my behalf, with your credit or debit card.

NVC has become a cornerstone of my life, as I know it is for all of you. It is the reason that I believe that we can accomplish this goal of getting about 10 Billion US dollars into peacebuilding, and create a new climate in Washington DC where needs are the core language of policy debates. Over the past several years a number of you have been training the volunteers of this campaign in NVC which has allowed them to become a cadre of volunteer lobbyists that know that connection is the key to any relationship and that we can establish partnership even when we don't really agree on everything. This ability to connect has made it possible for our network to have many positive meetings with Members of Congress and their staff. Currently we have 70 plus members in the House of Representatives endorsing the bill. We expect to pass our first funding stream in the are of youth. It would include funding for training in schools to reduce school violence, restorative justice, juvenile delinquent facilities and gang violence prevention. We anticipate that this could pass in the next two years for multiple millions of dollars. This kind of funding would allow many of you to take your skills out into the world and sustain yourselves and your teams.

Lobbying for social change requires some funding. And I am hoping that you will make an investment in this dream

Thank you all for the work you are doing in the world. Knowing each of you has given me much hope and the courage to take this campaign.

You can learn more about what we are doing at our web site thepeacealliance.org. You can also register to attend our national conference planned for March 20-23, 2009. I would love to deepen the partnerahip between this network and those of you who practice and know NVC. The impact of this partnership is hard to imagine really and could forward the day when all the worlds conflicts are solved by meeting needs rather than through domination and control.

If you would like to talk with me about any of this or my work in Africa please call me at 360-791-2957 or email me at lynn@thepeacealliance.org.

With much love and gratitude,

Lynn McMullen