On November 9, 2023, the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) hosted an “Indigenous Peace Building and Youth, Peace, Security Strategy Workshop” which gathered Indigenous youth leaders from around the world in conjunction with the White House Tribal Youth Forum. This event mindfully organized participants into tables with a mixture of Indigenous youth leaders, government representatives, and peacebuilding working professionals to open opportunities for dialogue on the meanings of peace and traditional resources for peacemaking within a variety of cultural contexts. Through conversation, participants were able to share stories about their communities including traditional spaces for dialogue, mediation, and decision-making. When discussing the meaning of peace, some common themes across the cultures represented included peace as being connected with community, related to nature, dignity, and compromise. Participants often discussed the importance of shared safe spaces and of collective decision-making, including centering traditional Indigenous practices.
I recently conducted a facilitation on the ideas of resilience, being a good teammate and friend, and finding validation within oneself with some of the adolescents that play at the volleyball club I coach for. I was given this avenue through the Shinnyo-en Fellowship I received a year ago. During my time as a fellow, I also have to create an impact project that be related or unrelated to the work I do at the organization of my choosing. I had a couple ideas bouncing around for this project, and ultimately decided on facilitating a dialogue in the volleyball club I coach for.
… in a responsive way instead of a directive one? If we approached local mediators as bearing duties and not just watchful spectators and advisers holding rights? If we supported reconciliation structures by putting insider mediators at their heart?
In the Summer of 2022, all MHCR undergraduates were awarded research funds through the Undergraduate Research Scholars Program (URSP) within George Mason's Office of Scholarship, Creativity, and Research (OSCAR). Expanding from this, these awardees–Hannah Adamson, Merisa Mattix, and Greta Roberson–applied and were accepted to present at the 2023 National Conference for Undergraduate Research (NCUR) in Eau-Claire, Wisconsin. This conference included 3,600 undergraduate students and faculty from across the country. The MHCR students reflect on their experiences presenting and participating in the conference.
On the morning of May 2, 2023, the Mary Hoch Center for Reconciliation (MHCR) hosted a webinar titled, Negotiating with the Terrorist: Lessons Learned from Mediation Attempts with al-Shabaab. MHCR Director Antti Pentikäinen moderated the event, and the panelists were individuals he had previously worked alongside during high-stakes negotiations in Somalia.
How do the experiences of insider mediators differ from those working on the outside? How might their needs differ from outsider peacebuilders? And what can be done to support insider mediators during their work? These and other crucial questions guided MHCR’s recent participation in the Peer Exchange on Improving Support for Insider Mediators.
On the evening of Tuesday, March 7th, 2023, the Mary Hoch Center for Reconciliation hosted a virtual webinar, Learning from Latin America: Successes of Transitional Justice, featuring guest experts: Dr. Jo-Marie Burt, Associate Professor at GMU’s Schar School for Policy and Government and Senior Fellow at the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), and Eduardo Gonzalez, MHCR Research Affiliate and Think Peace Convener. This event was moderated by MHCR Communications Officer and Shinnyo Fellow, Amanda Peña.
For two weeks, I conducted fieldwork in Nairobi and Diani Beach, Kenya, as part of MHCR’s ongoing grant projects with the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A group of us—including MHCR Director, Antti Pentikäinen, and Programs Officer, Hannah Adamson——also met with colleagues and collaborators on these grants to plan and implement a three-day Co-Creation Workshop on Integrating Mental Health/Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) and Peacebuilding throughout the Horn of Africa.
Walking into the auditorium, there is a woman dressed in a pink sweater, pink belt, and pink boots. She sits with others as she prepares to speak to the crowd. On the evening of October 27th, the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict held its inaugular Vernon M. and Minnie I. Lynch Lecture, and the first in-person Lynch lecture since the outbreak of COVID, with Medea Benjamin, co-founder of CODEPINK.
On Thursday, November 17th, 2022, MHCR team members Merisa Mattix and Cam Cassar traveled to the Reformed Church of Bronxville (RCB) in Bronxville, New York to present the work of the Mary Hoch Center for Reconciliation (MHCR) to congregants of the church and friends of the Center. The Reformed Church of Bronxville was where Mary Hoch herself attended church before her tragic passing a few years ago. This event was filled with congregants of the church and members of the Mary Hoch Center for Reconciliation Board and featured a light dinner with our presentation.
At the end of September, USIP convened a meeting to discuss what it means to be an Insider Mediator, how Insiders can be better supported, as well as their challenges and opportunities.
The closed event, entitled "Insider Mediators in Peace Support Processes," brought together many mediators and reconciliation experts from around the world to discuss the critical topic and was led by Dr. Juan Diaz Prinz, USIP's Senior Expert on Mediation and Dialogue. To preface the open group discussion, the group hears from UN Undersecretary General on Genocide Prevention Alice Wairimu Nderitu as Keynote, Joseph Sany presenting on USIP's behalf, and Antti Pentikainen with Natia Channkvetadze on their compiled literature review.
The webinar “A New Realm of Peacebuilding: Exploring the Intersection of Community, Play, Wellbeing and Resilience,” hosted by MHCR in collaboration with TPP on September 20th as a part of the Fall 2022 Carter School Peace Week. This event featured TPP’s Board of Directors as panelists: Ana Goffe, Reed Walter, Ron Holgado, Kesi Michael, and Nick Sherwood (who also serves as MHCR’s Associate Director). The event was moderated by MHCR Communications Officer and Carter School MS Candidate Cameron Cassar.
The goal of this event was to discuss how methods of play can be a huge benefit to community resilience and the field of peacebuilding as a whole. The peacebuilding field can be very technical in nature and because of that, practitioners can sometimes lose sight of the joy that initially brought them to the field in the first place. This is why the work that the TPP does, integrating their methods of community-building, and hosting events like these are so important.
Amanda Pena is a graduate from George Mason University where she majored in both Government & International Politics, and Conflict Analysis & Resolution with a concentration in Global Engagement. Amanda is the current Shinnyo Fellow for the 2022-2023 year where she is pursing to learn more about her interests within the Peacebuilding field, and is excited to be with MHCR. She is especially interested in transitioning justice practices. Amanda is ecstatic to be working and learning alongside individuals who share the passion of peacebuilding
