our mission
To create cultures and infrastructures of positive peace that nurture connected:kinship, deep trust, and are self-determined through integrated strategies.
our co.founders
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Emily is an anthropologist, peace innovator, and social entrepreneur whose work bridges private, nonprofit, and civic sectors. She is dedicated to uncovering the root causes of complex socio-political issues through deep ethnographic fieldwork and specializes in designing strategic infrastructures for healing and sustainability with communities navigating deep structural and cultural divides. Emily has led and consulted for social change organizations across the US and globally.
Co-Founder: Cultures of Peace (Core Council). Director, Programs & Research: Peace Innovation Initiative.
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Shalonda is an omnipreneur and architect of transformation and community empowerment. As a dynamic leader and innovator, Shalonda is passionately dedicated to community, culture, and impactful change. Founder: Born Brown: All Rights Reserved®; United State of Consciousness; Nursha Project and its program New Stained Glass. Co-Founding Member: Empowering the Next Economy at Zebras Unite; Cultures of Peace (Core Council). Membership Affiliation: Bricks & Mortals, Public Democracy America (Fellow).
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Preston is a peacebuilder, scholar, and practitioner specializing in positive peace, infrastructures and cultures of peace, and spatial peace. He holds a PhD in Peace and Conflict Studies, where his research focused on measuring positive peace and translating peace theory into tangible, community-level impact. His work bridges academic research and real-world application, helping communities understand how peace is shaped not only by policy and politics, but also by the environments we inhabit, the relationships we cultivate, and the ways we listen to one another.
trusted advisory council
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Dr Steven Kirnon
Program Director of Pepperdine University’s Social Entrepreneurship & Change MA Program
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Aviva Lund
Neuroscience and Peacebuilding Innovator and Researcher
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Dr. Andrea Baldwin
Professor at the University of Utah’s School for Cultural and Social Transformation
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David Newman
Winnipeg Peace Advisor & Rotary Peace Partner
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Dr Chip Hauss
Senior Fellow for Innovation and Emeritus Member of the Board of Directors of the Alliance for Peacebuilding
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Lindsay Poggemiller
Professor in Red River College Polytechnic School of Indigenous Education’s Social Innovation and Community Development Program