Maria & Toshiya Abe

Toshiya is originally from Osaka, Japan. After he studied to become a cameraman he went to Montreal, Canada. There he met Ana Maria, from Mexico, both were studying English for a short time, what a coincidence! They were living in Japan for several years and they had one boy and one girl. Now they are living in Leon Guanajuato, Mexico. He is working for a Japanese company and she is a Spanish teacher for foreigners. Toshi is now so happy to film all the activities about Six Billion Paths to Peace. In Leon the Six Billion Paths to Peace group, basically are families with children between 4 to 17 and youth from 18 to 29 years old. They are very enthusiastic, and like to serve others, especially if they are with their family and friends. They organize and participate in activities that help the environment like “Ojo de Agua”. “Ojo de Agua” is a project they have organized to keep a local lake clean and free of litter. They are also a part of a government program to help to plant trees in different parts of their city. They volunteer at the Regional Hospital and share food and drinks with people who are patients there. They also organized an event in their church and to celebrate children’s day with a pantomime show. We still have many ideas and want to help and collaborate with love, service and heart, this is our PATH TO PEACE.   More…

Nan Peterson is the Director of Service Learning at The Blake School and a Shinnyo Senior Fellow. Her path to peace is to model and encourage service locally and globally.

This summer she has organized a trip for her students to Kenya with a service and science focus. Eleven Blake Upper School students and four adults will be staying at the Light of Hope Children’s Center in Naivasha.   More…

Shannon Malone graduated from Hamline University earning a BA in Anthropology and Spanish. She has worked in the non-profit and youth services community. Most recently she worked as a Program Manager for Cesar E. Chavez Service Clubs in the Bay Area. Shannon is currently volunteering with Safe Passage, Camino Seguro in Guatemala.  More…

Mark Farr is Senior Director of Faith Engagement at the Points of Light Institute, the organization founded and chaired by former President George H.W. Bush; and Co-Director for the Institute for Faith & Service which he also founded with national faith leader Erik Schwarz. Mark is also founder and former President of The Institute for Progressive Christianity, a growing Washington, DC think tank. He is an Episcopalian Priest and a psychotherapist. He holds degrees from the Durham University, Oxford Brookes University, and Cranmer Episcopal Seminary in the UK.

Mark lives in Washington, DC, with his wife Laura, daughters Sadie and Sienna, and their cat, Gigi.  More…

Kyleigh Khun graduated from UC Berkeley with a BA in Peace and Conflict Studies. As an undergrad she worked as a teaching assistant for Jerry Sanders a Professor at UC Berkeley in the Peace and Conflict Studies Department. She founded Pennies for Peace — Making Change Work, a student-to-student humanitarian program inspiring students to organize their schools’ student body to collect pennies and spare change for converting minefields into safe schools and playgrounds in war-torn countries. She also worked with Roots of Peace to transform a tent school housing 60 students to a five-room schoolhouse in the village of Mir Bocha Kot, Afghanistan which was later named the Kyleigh Kuhn Roots of Peace School by the Afghanistan Ministry of Education. Kyleigh is also a 6 Billion Paths to Peace Ambassador.  More…

Kyleigh Khun Katie Boehnlein was a summer intern at the Shinn-yo en Foundation and just recently graduated from Seattle University with a BA in Environmental Studies and English. Her personal interests include environmental education, peace studies education, and women’s issues as well as singing and cooking. After college, she hopes to travel as well as study environmental education on the graduate level.  More…

Gordon Greaves graduated earned a BA in Psychology from Seattle University. During his time at Seattle University Gordon organized and participated in several community service projects. In 2009, Gordon was selected as a Shinnyo Fellow and received funding to organize a men’s group on campus known as “Men Committed to Serving the Community”.  More…

Stephanie was a summer Shinnyo Fellow from Stanford University summer 2009 and will be entering her junior year in the fall. Stephanie is involved in various activities dealing with issues such as homelessness, education, and Japanese language and culture. One of Stephanie’s many pastimes includes playing the violin. More…

Born in Peru, David moved to New York at age 17, after finishing high school. He went on to attend John Jay College of Criminal Justice where he majored in criminal justice and minored in English, becoming a Thurgood Marshall Scholar in the process. Since graduating with honors in 1997, David has worked as a court advocate and mitigation expert and currently with Defense Advocacy Services (DAS), a small criminal-justice agency founded in 1997, which he joined as a partner in 1999. His work has been to advocate, orally and in writing, for indigent and private clients in state and federal cases to receive reduced or alternative-to-incarceration sentences based on their unique personal histories and special characteristics. When David is not working he enjoys time with friends, art, writing, politics, soccer and mixed martial arts. His medium to long term goals are to publish his English translation of Peruvian poet Cesar Vallejo’s poetry; to complete and realize a couple of screenplay projects he started based on my work and adventures with friends; and to enter the field of policy advocacy in the areas of criminal-justice, immigration and possibly education. As a practicing Buddhist, David is inspired by the Shinnyo-en Foundation’s Six Billion Paths to Peace initiative and has been trying to spread its message of self-realization and harmonious, altruistic action to friends and colleagues. More…

Sara Mizner received her BA in Peace & Conflict Studies with a Minor in Global Poverty & Practice from UC Berkeley. As a student and Shinnyo Fellow, she was an active leader in her department by co-teaching a service-learning course entitled “Global Citizens & Avenues to Peace” that was based on a course designed by Shinnyo-en staff and previous Shinnyo Fellows. Through her Global Poverty and Practice Minor she worked as a volunteer coordinator for Program Sofía, a summer camp for vulnerable children. In addition to her many achievements, Sara is also the recipient of the 2010 William Sloane Coffin Award for her moral courage in the face of injustice and the Outstanding Woman Student Award from Sacramento City College in 2003. Sara is a native Californian and has spent the majority of her life engaged in public service. More…

Steve, an ordained Catholic Deacon, has been teaching religious studies for the past 34 years. Currently he is a teacher at Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose, CA. During his summer breaks Steve is a part of the Six Billion Paths to Peace Project by facilitating interfaith immersion trips involving teens and adults from the Catholic Dioese of San Jose with teens and adults from the Shinnyo-en Buddhist Order. Steve serves as member of the Board of Directors of the Interfaith Council on Economics and Justice, and is a Global Fellow with Catholic Relief Services. More…

Kim Keller is a strong voice for the Six Billion Paths to Peace initiative through her training and facilitation with Youth to Youth. She has worked with youth and communities for over 20 years in harnessing and promoting the power of young people to create change in their communities and in their own lives. Kim has assisted in integrating the Six Billion Paths to Peace philosophy into community based programs and events that challenge individuals to understand their own unique paths to peace, as well as their ability to influence others.

Kim’s background is in youth development, drug and violence prevention, team building, communication skills, group dynamics and personal growth. More…