Join MBBI as we engage Libby Hoffman (President of Catalyst for Peace and multi-award-winning author of The Answers Are There: Building Peace from the Inside Out) and DG Mawn (President of National Association for Community Mediation (NAFCM) and the 2023 Melanie Greenberg US Peacebuilding Excellence Award Recipient) in a conversation about Building Peace from the Inside Out.

 

As the momentum grows for people-centered efforts to build social cohesion and security for all in this multi-racial, pluralistic republic, we bring together two great practitioners, leaders with heart and vision,  who will share their experiences & wisdom and inspire collaborative action. Libby Hoffman will discuss how the unique approach of Fambul Tok (“family talk”) in Sierra Leone—anchoring reconciliation in indigenous traditions of communal truth-telling, apology, and forgiveness—restored that culture and unleashed a powerful resource for national healing. DG Mawn represents the transformative work of over 300 centers across North America and will share his perspectives on the work of the Community Mediation Centers (CMCs) in the USA. He also helped to co-create the Contemporary Dispute Resolution Graduate Certificate at George Mason University.

 

In The Answers Are There, Libby Hoffman shows us what is possible when outside aid animates, rather than obstructs, local leadership and recognizes and honors community wisdom, priorities, and resources. Through his years in leadership at NAFCM, DG Mawn has supported the work of those who are deeply embedded in the community and form a key component of the human infrastructure for social cohesion and security in the USA. DG also co-convenes the TRUST Network which is  at the heart of this enormous task of building connections across networks and sectors.

 

At this moment, the US landscape is filled with an enormous amount of activity that includes emerging organizations, networks within and across sectors, and large convenings such as the 22nd Century Initiative in MN, The American Democracy Summit in CA, NAFCM’S Assembly in VA, Moms for Liberty Summit in PA, and the Braver Angels gathering in PA. These are all ‘massively parallel processes’ energizing civic engagement and in order to build social cohesion while mitigating the risk for political violence and hate crimes.

 

This will be a 1.5-hour discussion hosted by MBBI CEO Prabha Sankaranarayan. Contributions to support US peacebuilding can be made through donations for the TRUST Network.