WHO FOUNDED PEACEJAM?
The PeaceJam program was launched in February, 1996, by co-founders Dawn Engle and Ivan Suvanjieff. Suvanjieff conceived of the idea for PeaceJam in the summer of 1994. Suvanjieff was talking with some gang members from his neighborhood in North Denver when he discovered that these gun-toting youth not only knew who Archbishop Desmond Tutu was, they appreciated his nonviolent efforts toward social change. An artist, Suvanjieff merely connected the dots between these disaffected youth and the notion of putting them together with Nobel Peace Laureates as new role models for positive change. His colleague, Dawn Engle, had met the Dalai Lama during her years of work for the U.S. Congress, where she lobbied on behalf of the Tibetan cause. Engle and Suvanjieff then were granted an audience with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, who liked the idea.

The Dalai Lama suggested that the duo bring in other Nobel Peace Laureates on this youth-oriented project. Engle and Suvanjieff discovered that a vast majority of the Nobel Peace Laureates were interested in the idea of peace education for youth, but as they were tied-up with the huge amount of work surrounding each of their own efforts or causes, they had not had the time to act fully on this concept themselves. PeaceJam ultimately provided the Nobel Peace Laureates with a programmatic vehicle to use in working together to teach youth the art of peace.

To date, 14 Nobel Peace Laureates, including the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Rigoberta Menchú Tum, Dr. Oscar Arias, Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Máiread Corrigan Maguire, Betty Williams, José Ramos-Horta, Aung San Suu Kyi, Sir Joseph Rotblat, Jody Williams, and Shirin Ebadi serve or have served as Members of the PeaceJam Foundation.

PeaceJam is the only foundation in the world to have such a large number of Nobel Peace Laureates working together in such a close and continuous way.

DOES PEACEJAM HAVE A POLITICAL OR RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION?
No. The 14 Nobel Peace Laureates that PeaceJam works with are from different countries, have differing spiritual views, as well as differing political views. All 14, however, do agree that it is necessary to teach peace, conflict resolution, tolerance, acceptance, etc., to youth around the world, and that PeaceJam is the vehicle to deliver these lessons.

For a complete chronology of PeaceJam, visit the PeaceJam Foundation's web site.