The Space in the Middle: Peace, Purpose, and Possibility. Member Spotlight: Marcia E. Moncrieffe

Marcia Moncrieffe speaks about peace the way some people speak about home. It is lived, practiced, and protected. Her story stretches across countries, professions, decades, and yet it is grounded by a consistent inner compass that has guided her from childhood curiosity in Jamaica to a life of mediation and mentorship globally.

Born and raised in Jamaica, Marcia describes herself as deeply shaped by movement and exposure. She now lives in the United States, but her life has been anything but static. She has spent time in several parts of the world, including the United Kingdom, and those experiences have reinforced a worldview rooted in openness rather than rigidity. “When you chart your journey, sometimes you must be flexible,” she says, reflecting on a life that required adaptation without losing personal standards. Through her travels, she observed one constant across borders. “Through my travels, one thing is the same, what will bring people together is a smile.”

Marcia does not resist change. She welcomes it as part of growth. “I do not resist the changes that life brings to me,” she explains. That mindset has allowed her to settle in Texas with intention, bringing with her a global perspective shaped by culture, curiosity, and human connection.

Her commitment to peacebuilding began long before she had language for it. Peace, for Marcia, is personal before it is professional. “Peace for myself is a very special thing, it’s something I cherish,” she says. As a child, she was drawn to order and solutions. Chaos unsettled her, and she instinctively looked for ways to restore balance. Remarkably, she wanted to be a lawyer from the age of four, despite not knowing any lawyers at the time. What drew her was not prestige, but the possibility of helping people navigate problems.

Math was her favorite  subject in school, not because of numbers alone, but because of the structure and reasoning behind working the problems. She loved the analytical process and the satisfaction of problem solving. That affinity later translated seamlessly into the practice of law and mediation. “You need to have peace within yourself, and know how to garner the peace within yourself,” she says, noting that external resolution is impossible without internal clarity.

Asked about moments that shaped her approach to peacebuilding, Marcia points not to a single event but to a lifelong awareness of self. “I have always been aware of who I am, very early on,” she says. She credits her upbringing with giving her the space to speak, reflect, and grow. “I was allowed to use my voice, it allowed me the space to think and grow.”

Even before formally becoming a lawyer, she found herself mediating disputes and helping others find solutions. Once in the legal field, those instincts were refined through experience. The vast majority of her cases were resolved through negotiation rather than litigation, reinforcing her belief that resolution often lives between extremes. Her legal focus spanned economics, education, environmental law, and human rights law. “In order to have peace, you need to have facts, and education helps us to do that,” she explains.

Marcia often describes mediation using the image of a Venn diagram. Each party arrives with their own circle of truth, emotions, and perspective. Her role is to help them find the space in the middle where dialogue can happen, with the aim of finding a resolution and/or gaining better understanding. Even when advocating for one party, as a lawyer, she would caucus with clients and look for common ground. At the core of it all is a simple affection she returns to often. “I love to help people.”

When defining peace within communities, Marcia begins again with the individual. “Peace starts internally and it blossoms to one person, one community at a time,” she says. She believes in a ripple effect, where small, intentional acts grow into broader change. “The little seeds you plant turn into things that turn into bigger things.”

Her work is not without challenges. Emotions, particularly anger, often surface in mediation. Marcia meets them with steadiness rather than defensiveness. “So much easier if you are settled with yourself,” she says. When faced with frustration, she reminds herself that it is not personal. “Anger from people, it’s not about me it’s about a state of frustration and I don’t let that in.”

She has developed a personal philosophy that guides how she navigates resistance. “I accept nos readily, I accept yeses with caution,” she says. “When someone tells you no, sometimes you’re being protected.” She is also clear that timing matters. “Forcing people into a space of  resolution when they are not ready isn’t good.”

Marcia often personifies people through nature, recognizing that different environments require different approaches. “Challenges in different spaces are different, it is about understanding the dynamic,” she explains. Listening, she believes, is the most powerful tool. “A best way to deal with challenges is to listen to people. People just want to be heard.”

Her sensitivity to dynamics is rooted in a multicultural upbringing. Growing up in Jamaica, she was surrounded by global influences shaped by British schooling and a diverse family. “In my family I have people from different parts of the world,” she says. She resists narrowing her identity to a single category. “If I pick one area, I will exclude people I love.” Instead, she chooses a broader lens. “I can love people just because they exhibit decency and dignity. My lens is your spirit.”

Success, for Marcia, is deeply human and intentionally subjective. She describes professional roles  as “a lawyer, certified mediator, and certified life coach,” but titles matter less than impact. “I get a type of joy from helping people find solutions,” she says. She has mentored students across the world and continues to look for opportunities as they arise. “Look for the opportunities that come to me,” she notes, recalling recent civil mediations she conducted in Scotland.

She never minimizes the concerns people bring into a room. “I don’t diminish the importance of an issue a person has, it must be significant to them,” she says. Preparation, to her, means both readiness and humility. “Preparation means being flexible and also saying I don’t know but I can find out.”

Ultimately, success in mediation is not about credit. “Success in mediation is less about me,” she explains, “but more so, did I do the work to bring them to a place where they can smile at each other or say sorry, or leave the space with better understanding of themselves, the other person or the situation.”

Over time, her perspective on conflict has softened without losing strength. As a child, she was driven by curiosity. As an adult, she is guided by service. “Being helpful one person at a time, whatever opportunities present themselves to you, you see what you can do about it,” she says. She has learned not to attach expectations to outcomes. “You should have no expectations of how another person would react.” Even when generosity is met with disappointment, she refuses to erase the good. “If I had the joy of helping a person, and they turn on me, I won’t erase the happiness I had to help them.”

Hope, for Marcia, is found in listening, compassion, and connection across generations. She draws inspiration from young people, her children, those she has mentored, and everyday encounters. “A lot of wonderful people are in the world,” she says. “Every generation has wonderful people.” Her life experiences, her husband, her teachers, and even “meeting a stranger who does not end up being a stranger” continue to affirm her belief in humanity.

Marcia is also an author. She has written two inspirational books: 1)  Grow from Life’s Yeses, Nos, and Waits, which provides daily gift messages; and  2) People are Poems, which personifies people through nature. Both were written under the pen name Elizabeth George, capturing the philosophy that has guided her life and work. They are fitting reflections of a woman who sees peace not as an endpoint, but as a practice, cultivated patiently, one conversation at a time.

Article by Shamailah Islam, MBBI Writer