MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota — Living to a hundred years old is an impressive accomplishment that many celebrate and very few achieve. To commemorate this milestone, most people have a party to celebrate their century of life, but for Katheryn Wasserman Davis, starting a peace foundation seemed to be the right move. Davis Projects for Peace is an organization that funds around one hundred student-led projects aiming to make a positive impact around the world.
As a foreign affairs scholar, a philanthropist and a political activist, starting Projects for Peace was fitting for Davis. “She was feeling urgency about an elusive goal in her long life: peace in the world… she felt frustrated that her generation and those that followed had failed in that great quest,” wrote Program Director of Projects for Peace Betsy Vesgo in an interview with The Borgen Project, quoting Founding Director of the Program Philip Geier.
Unique Foundation Provides Rare Opportunities
The foundation focuses on funding collegiate-level students whose education focuses on how they themselves can impact the world. “[They] participate in classroom discussion about tough issues and to imagine how they will ‘change the world’ once they graduate,” continued Vesgo, “Projects for Peace requires students to think in concrete terms about what is required for social change and to test themselves and their ideas.”
Grants of $10,000 provide young adults with the rare chance of flexibility, creativity and responsibility. With no clear definition for “peace”, grantees are asked to explore what it means to them, how they are going to contribute and to implement plans to make their vision come true. Vesgo highlights the numerous benefits that derive from the participation in the program such as learning their true capabilities and about peacebuilding, creating strong connections within their chosen community and developing more leadership skills.
Many grantees have turned their projects into thriving independent organizations. A notable grantee is Joseph Kaifala, a Sierra Leonean and recipient of a Projects for Peace grant in 2007 while a student at Skidmore College. He used his $10,000 to construct a library in his hometown to help expand educational opportunities for women and girls of Sierra Leone. Since his work with Projects for Peace, he has founded “the Jeneba Project, which supports girls’ education in his home country and The Center for Memory and Reparations.”
In May 2023, Kaifala became the inaugural recipient of the Projects for Peace Alumni Award, which aims to help grantees who continue to pursue their work for peace either in academia, volunteer, or professional work with a $50,000 grant. Kaifala will use the award to expand education of transitional justice mechanisms for children through visits to the Sierra Leone Civil War Memorial in hopes of promoting a culture of peace and nonviolence.
What It Means to Invest in the Future
Projects for Peace demonstrates the positive example of investing in younger generations. Youth participation is a key component in many successful nonviolent movements and campaigns. They bring creative and tactical innovation to the movement whether it be via online platforms or on the streets. However, multitudes of movement coalitions often marginalize youth participation by not giving them the proper chance to exercise their ideas, minimize their work, or deter them from active participation. Movement coalitions should allow youth to flex their skills and prioritize their goals.
Young adults are future leaders, changemakers and citizens. They should be given the opportunity to breathe new life into our stagnant world where issues of peace and justice are often left unresolved. With fresh ideas and minds, our world has the potential to reach previously thought unattainable goals.
– Kenzie Nguyen
Photo: Flickr