newsletters
May 2024
Seek peace within yourself and others • Reach out in service • Protect the environment • Respect diversity • Be a responsible citizen of the world
Jimi Hendrix: “When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace.”
WORLD CITIZEN PEACE WELCOMES NEW BOARD MEMBER, JOYCE BONAFIELD-PIERCE
World Citizen Peace Board of Directors is proud to announce a new Board member, Dr. Joyce Bonafield-Pierce. As a licensed psychotherapist (LICSW) with an Ed.D in Educational Leadership and Public Policy, as well as an MAS in Peace and Conflict Studies from the Austrian Centre for Peace Studies (a UNESCO program), Joyce brings deep experience in mental health, peace education, peace building, conflict resolution, international partnerships, and much more to World Citizen Peace.
For over fifteen years, her work with the Ghana Scholarship Fund (incorporated in 2010) helped support a total of 244 students with tuition through high school and university, creating a cohort of Ghanian leaders for the future.
Joyce writes, “I’m excited to be a candidate for the Board of Directors of World Citizen Peace, an organization with a promising vision of creating peace in our schools, workplaces, and communities and developing partnerships with international organizations that have similar goals. Building networks locally and partnering with international groups seeking citizen empowerment can help us create the infrastructure of democratic peace globally. The world is undergoing a time of great change, and needs such a vision (and the 5 Peace Actions!) as it works its way to a new global balance, one of greater peace, justice and inviting the voices of all.”
Welcome, Joyce!
WELCOME WORLD CITIZEN PEACE'S NEWEST STAFF MEMBER!
Ms. Karen Polzin will be joining World Citizen Peace as our Salesforce Administrator.
“I am a Salesforce Administrator and a proud mother of two wonderful children. I have a strong background in managing Salesforce systems and improving business processes. My husband’s work has taken us to a few fun places including most recently England for the past few years. We now reside back stateside and are loving life in sunny New Mexico. I enjoy hiking and DIY projects around the home when I have the time. I take pride in both my career and family life, and I am excited to have the opportunity to work with World Citizen Peace. I have already received a very warm welcome and am eager to work with you all!”
PEACE SPOTLIGHT
LYONS CLARIFIER COMMUNITY MOSAIC
World Citizen Peace is proud to share this example of a community that had a vision and worked for years to bring it to fruition. With the determination of dedicated volunteers, this landmark piece of art creates a positive impact for all. Aligning with our Five Peace Actions, the Lyons Clarifier Community Project in Lyons, Colorado, became an International Peace Site in 2022.
WORLD CITIZEN PEACE NEWS
WEST MAPLE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
INTERNATIONAL PEACE SITE AND ZEN GARDENS
Earlier this month Peace Ambassador and Teacher Madeleine Parthum and her students at West Maple Elementary School in Michigan established a Peace Site and built a Zen Garden to help learn and teach about peace. Empowered by a World Citizen Peace Erdahl Peace Scholarship, Madeleine and her students:
- held a PB & J food drive
- made blankets for the unhoused
- wrote letter to seniors
- created diversity bulletin boards
- made bug houses for their school garden.
All of these wonderful activities promote our Five Peace Actions and help to make a more just and peaceful world.
YOU MAKE IT POSSIBLE
Thank you for your donations to World Citizen Peace. You enable us to do the work we do, engage with Peace Ambassadors, and encourage International Peace Sites like West Maple Elementary School.
INTRODUCING BETSY BORRE,
WORLD CITIZEN PEACE'S NEW DIRECTOR OF SOCIAL MEDIA
When asked to pick three words to describe myself, it took some thought. Typically, when asked this question, I respond with “optimistic, friendly and independent.” However, for World Citizen Peace, I felt compelled to add two to this list: Montessorian and educator. Why? Well, I spent the first 12 years of my life as a Montessori student not to mention the fact that my mom was also a Montessori guide. You could say Montessori is a part of my DNA. Despite not being a relative of the Maria Montessori, I do accredit her teaching method as the cornerstone of my optimistic, friendly and independent nature.
Through Montessori I learned Spanish at a young age. That, and the decision to earn a degree in International Relations, eventually led me to an opportunity to teach English in Spain following my graduation from Michigan State University in 2019. Those three years were incredible, despite the COVID-19 restrictions on travel. A lot has happened since I moved back from Spain in 2022. I now own my own home and work remotely pursuing my passions and spreading peace. I am grateful for this opportunity to work with World Citizen Peace as Social Media Director and will do my part to empower people to make the world a more peaceful place.
If you haven’t already, visit our Facebook page to find our latest events, Peace Ambassador accomplishments, newsletters, and learn about World Citizen Peace. And feel free to like us as well.
PEACE SPOTLIGHT
Peace Ambassador, Julie Lillie, is a peace & justice educational consultant in Arizona, who centers the Five Peace Actions in her life and work. Founder of The Peace Pad, she welcomes opportunities to collaborate with peace-seeking people, leaders, organizations, schools, businesses and learning spaces. The Peace Pad offers in-person and virtual peace & justice centered offerings from peacelearning programs, professional learning & development, workshops, speaking, coaching, strategic planning, grant writing, leadership guidance and project management to writing, content creation, video, curriculum & learning design.
The Peace Pad believes that peacelearning is for all ages and stages of life! Peacelearning (yes, no space there!) is a powerful word that demonstrates the compound and interconnected nature of learning and peace. Pursuits of peace cannot be separated from learning. Julie’s educational consultant services and partners connect, align and resonate with the Five Peace Actions.
Julie has over 15 years of experience in diverse school settings as a teacher, literacy and equity coach, curriculum developer and leader. She is co-author of the forthcoming book, Empowering Peace and Justice Education: An Actionable Framework for Elementary Educators and Learners. This professional learning book has a flexible framework (the Five Peace Actions!) and is rooted in hope and empowerment, culturally relevant pedagogy and trauma informed care. In addition to featuring perspectives from diverse peacemakers (many of them fellow Peace Ambassadors), the book has over 100 lessons and practices for creating cultures of peace. Stay tuned for its release!
We invite you to access The Peace Pad’s free newsletter, peacelearning resources, lessons and to connect with Julie via www.thepeacepad.org
PEACE FACTS
Did you know that World Citizen Peace has been around for over half a century? We were envisioned by Lynn Elling who witnessed the destruction of the Second World War firsthand. Those events kindled a determination to find a way of encouraging young people to solve problems in a peaceful way. Not long after its founding, the Board of Directors of World Citizen Peace authored our Five Peace Actions, which still guide us and our Peace Ambassadors worldwide.
