The boy in this “picture” is nearly four years old and is playing airplane. His roaring, jubilant engine glides on outstretched feather-like arms through the courtyard of Ogen’in, Shinnyo-en’s Buddhist temple complex in Tachikawa, Japan. His name is Keni. David, his father, likes to call him “the Kenster.”

That October morning in 2009, David tells me, was “beautiful, like Indian summer in America.” He was talking with Nik, a friend of ours, while the Kenster flew in loops, not ready for landing yet. Both Nik and David had flown in from America with their respective wives (both Japanese natives) and firstborn sons for a special ceremony. Nik had become a father earlier that year. They recall talking about how difficult it is sometimes to take young children to places, especially religious services, where the mood is usually subdued, particularly in Japan, where the culture generally tends to be more solemn than in America.

Noticing that some bystanders did not appear thrilled by the Kenster’s aeronautical display, David recalls extending a hand toward the Kenster whenever he came near, to slow him down a bit, but his flying boy went on, undeterred, engrossed in fun aerodynamic maneuvers. At some point in his conversation with David, Nik recalls, an older Japanese lady appeared in the picture, approaching the Kenster’s flight path, as if to intercept him, Nik thought. Tensing up, Nik admittedly expected the lady to stop poor Kenster and give him a talking-to. After all, the setting was not really a playground.

David also notices the lady and winces, anticipating his son’s seemingly inevitable collision with her midsection. Thankfully, the Japanese lady stops short and the Kenster halts his engine immediately, as alert and mindful as a three-year old can be. The lady, who appears to be nearly five feet tall and in her 50’s, smiles and gets down on one knee, making herself his height. Neither Nik nor David can make out what she might be saying to the now motionless boy. Then, in an instant, they see her bend down even lower to tie young Kenster’s shoelaces.

David and Nik look at each other then, pleasantly surprised by the unexpected coming together of the “solemn” Japanese lady and the flying American boy—their different generations and cultures now intertwined by one kind memorable gesture.

This is David Haro’s second contribution in a year-long “Picture of Kindness” series intended to honor Shojushin’in Sama, the model of embracement (shoju) and spiritual mother of the Shinnyo-en sangha, in the year of the centennial anniversary of her birth. They are meant as gifts: for her and those who also inspired and shared them with me, and for anyone who reads them. In sharing these gifts, these small acts of kindness performed, witnessed and honored by ordinary people, may we continue the momentum of their gentle ripples.

The IMAGINE Peace Conference took place at UC Berkeley on the 10th Anniversary of 9/11.  Open to students and the public, this major event was co-sponsored by The LIVE PEACE Institute, a think tank for Peace, along with an extraordinary group of leading Peace organizations including The Shift Network, The Peace Alliance, PeaceJam, Pathways To Peace, The Culture of Peace Initiative, CalCorps (the service and volunteering center for students at UC Berkeley), the National Peace Academy, the Center for Living Peace, and Dream University.

Eric Kasum, the event’s creator and founder of The LIVE PEACE Institute, told us, “I was inspired by the efforts of the Shinnyo-en Foundation to build World Peace, and especially by its ‘Six Billion Paths to Peace’ initiative and the Shinnyo Fellows program.  I am deeply grateful to this foundation because that’s where I got my dream to create the IMAGINE Peace Conference.”

Eric said he had a life-changing experience while he was serving as a consultant to the Shinnyo-en Foundation, where he helped to craft speeches for major events including The National Service Learning Conference and the National Conference on Volunteering and Service.  “The Shinnyo-en Foundation planted the seed of Peace in my heart,” he said.  “That seed grew and blossomed into the IMAGINE Peace Conference.  It also inspired me to create a think tank for Peace where everyone, regardless of race, nationality, or religious belief, can help to create World Peace.”

When Eric attended these major service and volunteering conferences with us and saw how many people are working for Peace, it turned his life in a whole new direction.  “I went from being a self-centered, ambitious, career-oriented person to realizing that I can have a higher purpose, a higher meaning in my life.  I can be a part of creating a better world.  I know that one person can make a difference.”  Eric was galvanized into action when he learned that 16,000 children die of starvation each day.  “That’s 6 million children each year, equal to the Holocaust, and yet it’s entirely avoidable.  We have the food to feed them.  The U.S. government actually pays farmers not to farm, because we have too much food.  The problem is that warring factions often block access to food aid, and major nations spend hundreds of billions of dollars on violent conflicts, money that could otherwise be used to feed the hungry,” Eric said.  “At that moment, I realized that I could no longer look the other way.  We are all one planet, one family.  When a child in Africa suffers from hunger, I am hungry too.  When I child in the Amazon rainforest cries with loneliness, I cry too.  When a child in Asia suffers from injury, I bleed too.  Peace begins when we believe that whatever happens to someone else, somehow happens to us too.”

Eric shared with us that he has Asperger’s Syndrome, a form of autism.  He is shy and often afraid of people.  Yet, he courageously co-hosted the IMAGINE Peace Conference.  “Being in front of a room full of people, I was shaking in my boots!” he confessed.  But he took action because, as he says, “My dreams are bigger than my fears.”

“Peace is not going to be created by perfect people,” he said.  “If we wait until we are perfect, or for the perfect moment, we will never take action.  We have to start building Peace now.  Mahatma Gandhi, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., Mother Teresa, the Buddha, they were imperfect people just like you and me with all the human faults and frailties.  What made them special was that they had the courage to push through their doubts and fears and step into their greatness.  You and I can do the same thing.”

Eric said that his work with the Shinnyo-en Foundation “transformed the way I see the world and my role in it.”  “I was so inspired by going to these major events and hearing the stories of Peacebuilders.  I met people who are creating harmony by sincere acts of service to each other,” he said.  “But I believe the most pivotal event that really changed my thinking was Shinnyo-en’s Lantern Floating ceremony in Honolulu, Hawaii.  It is a magical event that inspired me to imagine a future where all the world’s religions can work together in perfect harmony.”

The goal of the IMAGINE Peace Conference was to change the dialogue on 9/11.  Instead of being observed as a day of anger, hatred and vengeance, the Peace Conference offered a voice saying:  We have a choice.  We do not have to respond with violence.  We can love and be kind to each other, embrace people who are different from us, and create harmony by sincere acts of service to others.

Peacebuilders from all over the U.S. and even as far away as Indonesia attended the IMAGINE Peace Conference.  It was a fun and transformative event.  The speakers were entertaining and insightful, and included notable people on the cutting edge of the growing Peace movement:

• Michael Nagler – is revered and beloved in the Peace movement.  He is founder of the Peace & Conflict Studies program at the UC Berkeley and also founder of the Metta Center, a Buddhist organization that teaches nonviolence and meditation.  He is the author of two books “Search for a Nonviolent Future” and “Hope or Terror?”

• Stephen Dinan – is the visionary CEO and founder of The Shift Network.  In 2011, Stephen hosted Peace Week, an online Peace Conference that featured more than 60 speakers and over 30,000 registered participants from around the world.  He is the author of “Radical Spirit” and a forthcoming book “Sacred America.”

• Beatrice de Salles – is a survivor of 9/11.  That morning, she was on her way to work at an investment firm on the 86th floor of the World Trade Center.  Suddenly, she heard a boom and the subway jolted.  The first airplane had hit the North Tower.  Because she was late for work, she survived 9/11.  Her home was totally destroyed by the falling buildings.  She lost everything she owned except the clothes she was wearing.  Now she is married to a Muslim, who she says “Is the most wonderful man I’ve ever met.”  Beatrice told her story of heartbreak and her road to healing, and taught a workshop on healing.

• Eboo Patel – is an American Muslim of Indian heritage.  Eboo serves on President Barack Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based Neighborhood Partnerships.  A Rhodes Scholar and graduate of Oxford University, Eboo’s core belief is that “religion is a bridge of cooperation rather than a barrier of division.”  He is Founder of the Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC).  His team is building a huge movement of young people from different faiths working together to apply the core value of all faiths – service to others.  Eboo has spoken at the TED conference, the Clinton Global Initiative, and the Nobel Peace Prize Forum.  He writes regularly for The Washington Post, USA Today, and The Huffington Post.

• Rabbi Michael Lerner – is a Jewish theologian and spiritual leader of Beyt Tikkun synagogue.  A student leader in the Free Speech Movement at UC Berkeley in the 60s, he is editor of Tikkun magazine Tikkun.org and Chair of the Network of Spiritual Progressives (NSP) (www.SpiritualProgressives.org).  Rabbi Lerner recently sat on a panel with the Dalai Lama.  He is famous for proposing an Amendment to the U.S. Constitution for Environmental and Social Responsibility (ESRA).

• James O’Dea – has worked as a Peacebuilder in Rwanda, Israel-Palestine, and Northern Ireland, and served at the highest levels at non-profits like IONS and SEVA.  He was Director of Amnesty International’s Washington, D.C. office where he testified before Congress, met with U.S. Presidents and foreign heads of state.  He is the co-creator of The Shift Network’s “Peace Ambassador” certification training and author of the books “Cultivating Peace: The Art and Science of Personal and Planetary Peacemaking” and “Creative Stress: A Path for Evolving Souls Living Through Personal and Planetary Upheaval.”

• Ocean Robbins – Ocean’s father, John Robbins, is the bestselling author of “Diet for A New America,” one of the most powerful books about kindness published in the last century.  Ocean is a prodigy of Peace:  He organized a Peace rally in his elementary school at the age of seven.  At 15, he spoke to 2,000 people at the United Nations.  He has spoken at Bioneers, The Power of Nonviolence (with the Dalai Lama and other Nobel laureates), and IONS.  Ocean has been featured in Time, The Washington Post, Audubon, and The New York Times Magazine, and honored by the Giraffe Project.  “There are 6 billion paths to Peace.  You have a unique part to play,” he said.

• Aqeela Sherrills – brokered a cease-fire between the Crips and the Bloods (two rival gangs in Los Angeles).  In 2004, his son Terrell was shot to death in gang violence.  Aqeela’s friends offered to put a death sentence on the young man who murdered his son, but Aqeela said NO!  “You’ll only be killing somebody else’s son,” he said, “and I know what that heartbreak feels like.  If you do that, then the cycle of violence never ends.  We have to begin healing now.  We have to break the chain.  We must have the courage not to retaliate.  That’s my son Terrell’s legacy.  PEACE.”

• Kyleigh Kuhn – is a graduate of the Peace & Conflict Studies program at UC Berkeley and a grant recipient of the Shinnyo-en Foundation.  At the age of 14, she founded the Roots of Peace “Pennies Campaign” which raised more than $300,000 – mostly in pennies from school children – to remove land mines from school playgrounds in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Croatia.  She helped to build 6 new schools in war-torn areas.  Kyleigh is now a successful fashion model in New York City.  Her mother is Heidi Kuhn, founder of Roots of Peace.

• Capt. Paul Chappell – is a graduate of West Point.  He served as a Captain in the U.S. Army in Baghdad.  Paul says there is a growing Peace movement within the military at the highest level.  His newest book, “Peaceful Revolution,” and his two previous books, “Will War Ever End?” and “The End of War” are on the list of “must reads” for anyone who cares about Peace.  Paul is Director of Peace Leadership at the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.

• Marcia Wieder – is founder and CEO of Dream University.  Marcia devotes her life to helping people discover their passion and Dream BIG.  A bestselling author, Marcia has appeared on the Today Show and Oprah.  Oprah called her “America’s Dream coach.”  She says, “Every person on the planet is a mere 10 steps away from achieving even their wildest dreams.  If your dream is Peace, now is the time to step up to your destiny.”

• Tiveeda Stovall – is founder and Executive Director of eXcel Youth Zone (XYZ).  She is also the California home for PeaceJam, a non-profit that brought 12 Nobel Peace Prize laureates together to engage young people in its “Global Call to Action.”  EXcel Youth Zone is a non-profit which engages K-12 youth in service-learning opportunities.  Tiveeda is a graduate of UC Berkeley with a Masters degree in Social Welfare.  She is the recipient of the 2007 Congresswoman Susan Davis Award for an Adult Actively Engaging Students in Service.

• Matthew Albracht – has a heart as big as the world.  As Executive Director of The Peace Alliance, he mentors and nurtures new Peacemakers.  His “Faces of Peace” campaign is a “grassroots” movement to encourage local activism for Peace.  Along with Congressman Dennis Kucinich and Dot Maver of the National Peace Academy, Matthew is a major proponent for the creation of a cabinet-level Department of Peace.

• Vishalli Loomba – is Student Body President of UC Berkeley.  She was in grade school on the morning of 9/11; she still remembers it clearly.  For many young people, 9/11 was the first news event they recall, their first real impression of the world.  Vishalli is passionate about creating a future in which all people are treated fairly and with kindness, and “where we all help each other to thrive.”  Her major is Molecular and Cell Biology.

• Howard Martin – is Executive Vice President for Strategic Development at HeartMath^®.  He is a much sought-after speaker on the subject of how to achieve Deep INNER PEACE, reduce stress, and live a long healthy life.  “If you don’t have Peace on the inside, how can you hope to achieve Peace in the outer world?” he says.  Howard speaks internationally on the HeartMath^® approach, based on compelling scientific research linking heart function with health, emotional well-being and even intelligence.

• Dr. David Wilkinson – is a poet laureate of Peace. He is president of the International Center for Peace and Justice.  David is also the Senior Pastor at St. Francis of the Foothills United Methodist church in Tucson, AZ.  He is famous for quoting holy books and spiritual leaders of other faiths, as well as leaders of Peace like Gandhi, the Buddha, and Martin Luther King, in his sermons.  He has nurtured St. Francis church with a Peacemaker’s vision, as a center for healing and reconciliation “to restore to oneness of that which has been separated.”

• John Berry – is a Choctaw-Cherokee born in Stillwater, Oklahoma.  He opened the Peace Conference with a traditional Native American blessing and invocation.  John is a published poet and traditional “Stomp Dancer.”  He is also the Librarian of Native American Studies at the UC Berkeley Ethnic Studies Library.

• Dr. Pamela Gerloff – holds a doctorate from Harvard University.  Her article “The Psychology of Revenge: Why We Should Stop Celebrating Osama Bin Laden’s Death” was one of the most popular blogs in Huffington Post history.  It got more than 200,000 Facebook “LIKES” in only 48 hours!  At Harvard, she began to ask: Why don’t schools change? and When they do, why don’t the changes last?  Dr. Gerloff currently writes “The Possibility Paradigm: Transformational Change for Individuals and the World,” a weekly blog on www.psychologytoday.com.  She is the founder of Compelling Vision and The Global Possibility Project.

• Len & Libby Traubman – are founders of the Jewish-Palestinian Living Room Dialogues.  Libby & Len are grant recipients of the Shinnyo-en Foundation.  They have also been featured on CNN with Anderson Cooper.  Their process of deep and empathetic listening and sharing of stories is achieving profound results.  In 1984, at the height of the Cold War, they visited the Soviet Union and built deep and enduring friendships with “the enemy.”  They became convinced that:  “An enemy is someone whose story you have not yet heard.”

• Eric Kasum – is founder of the IMAGINE Peace Conference and the LIVE PEACE Institute.  He created PeaceDog, a website that empowers people to find their passion and change the world.  Eric is author of the upcoming book “The Blueprint: What the Great Movements that Changed History All Had in Common.”  As a journalist, he wrote for The New York Times magazine group, The Los Angeles Times, and CBS News.  In Washington, D.C., Eric worked at a prominent think tank.  He also wrote for the Bush White House and members of the Cabinet (1989-91), and was the personal writer for Edwin Meese, President Ronald Reagan’s White House Chief of Staff.

After the IMAGINE Peace Conference, what comes next?  The LIVE PEACE Institute is working closely with BePeace.org and the Rasur Foundation to launch a major program to teach Peace to school children in the United States.  The model they will be using has been pioneered and tested at the Academy of Peace and the United Nations’ University of Peace with the support of Oscar Arias, Nobel Peace Prize winner and former president of Costa Rica.  (Note:  Costa Rica became a leader of Peace when it constitutionally abolished its army permanently in 1949.  It is one of the few nations in the world to have a cabinet-level Ministry for Peace, and it is the headquarters of the United Nations’ University of Peace).

In addition to hosting ongoing “think tank” events to brainstorm new pathways to create World Peace, The LIVE PEACE Institute is sponsoring three new initiatives:  1) “100 Peace Conferences,” a program that will bring the IMAGINE Peace Conference into living rooms across the United States and around the world;  2) “Change the Headline” a campaign to encourage people who – at the moment they read a news article – to take immediate action to help people who are suffering (their motto:  “If you don’t like the headline, change it!”), and;  3) PeaceDog, a website designed to engage young people in the Peace process, help them to find their passion for helping others, and empower them to change the world.

If you’d like to learn more about The LIVE PEACE Institute or possibly host an IMAGINE Peace Conference in your home, or if you have questions about any of their initiatives, please feel free to contact Eric Kasum at: eric@livepeaceinstitute.org

The IMAGINE Peace Conference was a history-making event.  It represents the first time ever that a consortium of leading Peace organizations have joined forces to co-sponsor a major Peace Conference.  Eric feels these organizations are worthy of a few more words to describe their wonderful efforts in Peacebuilding.  Here’s a little more about them:

• The Shift Network hosted an online Peace Conference last year that boasted over 30,000 registered participants in more than 100 countries and over 60 guest speakers
• The Peace Alliance has worked tirelessly to create a national, cabinet-level Department of Peace in the U.S.
• PeaceJam teaches Peace to young people and has 12 Nobel Peace Prize winners on its board of directors
• Pathways To Peace and The Culture of Peace Initiative were founded by Avon Mattison, who helped to create the United Nations’ International Day of Peace, which we observe each year on Sept. 21.
• The National Peace Academy offers a retreats and classes and a Peace certification training program for people around the world.
• The Center for Living Peace hosted His Holiness the Dalai Lama on his recent visit to UC Irvine, and sponsors monthly classes to teach Peace to young people and adults in its community.
• Dream University offers ongoing classes, both online and face-to-face, to help you discover your passion and embrace a future that gives you joy.

Last week was our last of Summer Camp, so the patojos (kids) are done until January. That left this week for teacher training. Safe Passage brought in a trainer from Brazil to do a training with all of the teachers and program heads. The training was on a methodology called Change the Game. We spent a week together doing activities and learning from each other, discussing it how to apply it to our own classrooms.

The core of the methodology is that in a productive learning environment one should undergo a constant process of planning, execution and evaluation, which leads to more planning and so on. The trainer, Onu, drove home the point that learning is effective only if participants are in a tranquil, safe environment. To achieve this, educators should always be mindful of POESIA (poetry): Placer, Orden, Estructura, Seguridad, Intensidad, Aprendizaje (pleasure, order, structure, safety, intensity, learning). Educators, he says, should be sure to incorporate these elements into all activities. Onu touched on the fact that fostering student success requires three key things from the educator: explaining the activity and outcomes, giving an example and leading students through execution. He explained different teaching styles and explained why a democratic teaching style is best for student success. A democratic style allows room for discussion and group consensus. This is juxtaposed against an authoritarian style where the leader / teacher makes all of the decisions without input and a delegative style where the leader provides little guidance.

Finally, Onu talked about how learning experiences should lead to personal, social and cognitive outcomes. He explained that the way to facilitate this is by helping kids try (read: apply their learning), giving them experiences, which they will then reflect back on, bringing them a new consciousness, so that they can choose alternatives and try again. This learning should all follow students’ examination of questions to guide their learning: What possibilities does the activity offer me? What skills do I want to improve? How do I want to work?

The classroom rules need to facilitate this whole process. Rules should speak to appropriate behavior, attitudes, structure and accountability. Rules should be organic – it is important for teachers to lead students through creating their own rules as appropriate for their age so that they are bought in to what they are being held accountable to and feel that the rules are fair.

This program reminded me a lot of service-learning, the methodology that I have focused on advancing throughout my career. For those who don’t know what service-learning is, it calls for youth to plan their own high-quality service projects that are tied to academic objectives. Students learn real-world applications of classroom content, as well as get opportunities for leadership and learn about the importance of civic engagement. The cycle of service-learning leads youth through planning, action, reflection and evaluation. I firmly believe that this structure allows for the greatest possible student success by giving them not only opportunities to apply their new content knowledge in order to strengthen and deepen their understanding of the material, but also provides opportunities for leadership. Youth in Guatemala aren’t given many opportunities for leadership, and personal reflection is rarely incorporated.

Most “learning” opportunities here center on simple memorization and regurgitation. These facts are often quickly forgotten once the test is over. We are giving our students a huge leg up if we can help them solidify their knowledge by putting it into practice and advance their higher order thinking skills, both things which Guatemalan educators are rarely, if ever, called upon to do. These skills are particularly important if our youth are to succeed in future career opportunities. Guatemala is rapidly joining the global economy; there is a boom in the telecommunications industry here, especially, due to the cheap price of labor and the fairly advanced telecommunications infrastructure relative to other developing nations. However, Guatemala currently has a severe shortage of human capital. Ensuring that today’s youth here are equipped to enter into these jobs will contribute to Guatemala’s continued economic development in a myriad of ways. I believe Safe Passage children will be particularly well positioned because of our eye toward these long-term results.

I was particularly impressed with Onu’s emphasis on personal, social and cognitive learning outcomes. Academic learning is clearly very important in developing countries so that the human capital comes from within. However, in a place with as much violence and crime as Guatemala, learning personal and social responsibility has to be just as important. Character education and civic education are paramount for lifting Guatemala beyond, and the Change the Game methodology does this well.

This week I saw peace in changing the game.

More about Shannon Malone…

Here is a “picture” of my mother one spring morning telling someone on the street downstairs to wait, then stuffing our bread basket with fruit and a home-made queso fresco sandwich.  My dad and I have just walked into the kitchen and wonder who the provisions are for.  They’re for the man eating garbage downstairs (meaning: from the can at the bottom of the communal chute compartment connected to our neighbors’ kitchens and ours), my mom explains, while  lowering our stuffed bread basket with a rope from the kitchen window of our third-floor apartment in Santa Marina Norte, my childhood neighborhood in the port city of Callao, Peru.

My dad tells her to stop and let the man go on about his business.  He is worried the neighbors will see her feeding him and think the man is a relative or something.  My mom sucks her teeth and rolls her chocolate eyes at my dad, at once dismayed and amused, then flippantly says a line my dad could have easily lip-synched:  Que me importa lo que piense fulano, sultano o mengano, hombre?  (Gosh, what does it matter to me what Tom, Dick and Harry might think?) These are my parents.

And that’s me, the small boy standing beside my mother; I must have been nine or ten and had to reach on tiptoes over our window sill to see what the man looked like.  My mom tells him to take the food and stop eating refuse or he’ll get sick (And then?  What will happen to you, sir?).  The man takes her admonition humbly, no different than a concerned doctor’s instructions, apologetic, smiles, thanks her and bows slightly, then stuffs the fruit in the pockets of his ragged black suit and grabs the sandwich so my mom can retrieve our bread basket.

That’s the man downstairs: sunburned, salt and pepper hair and mustache, strong face stressed by thinness.  I remember thinking from that distance that he seemed surprisingly well-groomed as he turned to us one last time and raised his sandwich, as one who acknowledges a toast or a consolation prize.

And here’s me as I turn inside to look at my dad, catching a glint of admiration in his small eyes before he looks down, nods and smiles in recognition, I think, of the futility of his initial reaction.

My time as a Shinnyo Fellow has thus far been an incredible experience in my development as a leader and a future public servant. I have worked to discover my passions and coordinate between my mind, my heart and my actions in my own personal path to peace. I have also watched my definition of leadership transform and, in my view, mature. As a fundamental aspect of the Shinnyo Fellowship, I have spent much of my senior year deeply reflecting on the concept of leadership and its connection to service.

While leadership is traditionally portrayed as the ability to inspire others through articulate speeches and charisma, there is a much more basic and personal facet of being a strong leader. Good leadership skills lie in conviction and self-awareness. My experiences and class work have taught me that a leader understands personal purpose in his/her work and is dedicated to this mission. Furthermore, this individual must be able to commit to this passion and translate ideas into action, coordinating emotional and intellectual investment into a well-developed and organized plan.

Finally, the last and most crucial step in leadership is to share this mission with others and to encourage their involvement in the pursuit of its completion without regard to individual recognition. Leadership, at least in my experience, has usually been presented as only the last step, namely the ability to manage and inspire others in some task. However, this internal understanding of the reason “why” a leader operates the way he/she does is an underappreciated aspect of true leadership as this is the precursor to any external expression of this passion and a recruitment of followers to a leader’s cause. Additionally, understanding one’s personal reason for service allows a leader to better manage ego as a motivation for leadership, and thus he or she will seek greater responsibility for the sole purpose of devotion to the project or organization instead of as a means of recognition from others. I believe that a strong leader takes pride in his/her work, but I also realize that the ability to work with others and share successes facilitates any project and makes it much more likely to come to fruition. I look forward to continuing to develop my understanding of leadership in the future and in my career of service.

]]> http://www.sef.org/2012/03/gaining-insights-into-true-leadership-by-andrew-flood-2011-2012-shinnyo-fellow-at-uc-berkeley/feed/ 0 http://www.sef.org/2012/02/telling-the-whole-story-voices-of-ethnic-volunteers-in-america/ http://www.sef.org/2012/02/telling-the-whole-story-voices-of-ethnic-volunteers-in-america/#comments Wed, 15 Feb 2012 20:37:53 +0000 mariko terazaki http://www.sef.org/?p=5880  

The Shinnyo-en Foundation, as well as a few other foundations in San Francisco, supported the research and publication of a new book by Adjunct Professor Nora Silver, UC Berkeley, Haas School of Business. This book explores an often overlooked, but increasingly important issue facing nonprofits: understanding, attracting, and engaging ethnic volunteers.

Telling the Whole Story: Voices of Ethnic Volunteers in America (Community Initiatives, December 2011) shares the untold stories of voluntary engagement, which Silver gathered from focus groups in seven communities: African American; American Indian; Central American; Chinese American; Japanese American; Korean American; and Mexican American. Participants varied in age, gender, language proficiency, and level of volunteer experience.

“We wanted to understand not just what people did but why they did it and the meaning it holds for them,” she says. “Many people help others for no pay, and one of the striking findings from the research is how often participants said, ‘I’ve never really talked about this, been asked about it,’ despite the obvious importance of their work to them. “In addition, I’ve consulted with hundreds of organizations, and they said, ‘We can’t get enough ethnic volunteers.’ I wanted to give the volunteers a platform to speak directly to organizations themselves.”

Silver found that each group brought its own findings and themes to the surface, which she reflects in the titles for each focus group report. The titles include “You Get What You Give” for the Central American group; “Extending the Family” for the Chinese American group; and “Giving Generously” for the Japanese American group.

She also highlights four common themes that are threaded through the different focus groups, including a commitment to helping the next generation and spiritual and religious traditions as prime motivators for helping others.

The book is geared toward people who work at the board or staff level in those organizations, as well as public institutions and foundations. This new book will be available to download by clicking the image of the book and by visiting the websites of other sponsors; The San Francisco Foundation, The James Irvine Foundation, and the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund — and can be downloaded from the Center for Nonprofit and Public Leadership website. A paperback copy can be purchased at amazon.com.

The Shinnyo-en Foundation is a long-term supporter of the National Youth Leadership Council (NYLC), and we are very proud to be the 2012 National Service-Learning Conference^® (NSLC) World Sponsor.  On January 20, 2012, the Shinnyo-en Foundation welcomed NYLC’s CEO, Kelita Svoboda Bak and hosted an open house with a small group of strong supporters of youth service-learning and volunteering.  Ms. Bak described the “three pillars” of NYLC as follows; youth leadership development, educator support, and advancing the field of service-learning.  In addition to the NYLC’s most featured NSLC, Ms. Bak explained how those three focus areas are promoted through other leading programs of NYLC such as Project Ignition, National Youth Leadership Training, Generator School Network and NYLC Youth Advisory Council.  In response to a question posed by a member of the audience, Ms. Bak shared her view on how she defines service-learning.  In her view, service-learning is a vehicle or means to solve or achieve something important and significant in the community or society such as academic achievement gap, social/economic inequity, and health and safety issues.  At the conclusion of Ms. Bak’s presentation, audience walked away with a renewed sense of enthusiasm; commitment to advance the field and an affirmation that youth can make considerable contributions to the community and the world through service-learning.  Please visit www.nylc.org to learn more about Ms. Kelita Svoboda Bak and the NYLC’s programs.

In 2012, the NYLC and Youthrive are hosting an international audience of an estimated 1,200 educators and 1,000 young people for The 23^rd Annual National Service-Learning Conference® and Youthrive PeaceJam Leadership Conference, Our World, Our Future. This singular event will take place on April 11-14, 2012 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

At the conference, the President and CEO of Harlem Children’s Zone, Inc., Geoffrey Canada and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Shirin Ebadi are two of the prominent speakers, among many other noted national experts and leaders.  Attendees will participate in three days of plenary and thought leader sessions, showcases and workshops.  They will also address local needs, both on-site and off-site, through service projects that range from tree-planting, to eyeglass restoration, to home and church renovation.

This year, the Shinnyo-en Foundation is sponsoring three workshops, all of which will feature the leadership of high school students contributing to service.  The following are the Shinnyo-en Foundation sponsored workshops, and we would like to encourage you to attend.

9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. on Friday, April 13

“Equity and Community Engagement through the Heart of Service”

Presented by Nan Peterson, Scott Flemming, Lisa Sackreiter, and a high school Service Board from The Blake School, Minneapolis, MN

Description:

The presenters encourage you to join them and learn how The Blake School addresses issues of service learning, community engagement, equity and peace.  Please add to the richness of the discussions.  How can service learning combine synergistically with pluralism, Gay Lesbian Bi-sexual Transgender issues and peace initiatives?  How can community engagement and equity develop personal identity and personal transformation?  How can we best consider local and global service?  How can the Student Service Board and Promising Practice: Paths of Service and Peace encourage student leadership?

11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. on Friday, April 13

“Interfaith Young Adult Enlightenment and Empowerment 101”

Presented by Sande Hart and three Youth Leadership Board members from Interfaith Youth Council of Orange County, CA

Description:

Four youth leaders from the Interfaith Youth Council of Orange County, California will present and explain the methods, tools and skills used to effectively select, plan and execute programs and events that promote respect, understanding and appreciation for the integrity of each other’s beliefs, cultures and traditions through interfaith dialogue, education and community service activities.

2:30 – 4:00 p.m. on Friday, April 13

“Three Dimensions of Peace-Building in Summer Programming”

Presented by Leif Erickson, Alicia Gregory, and a high school youth leader from Youth Community Service (YCS), Palo Alto, CA

Description:

The Shinnyo-en Foundation sponsored Youth Community Service (YCS)  Summer of Service program leaders offer practical advice and tools to demonstrate service-learning and peace-building experiences for middle and high school youth in a community-based summer program.  The workshop will highlight three dimensions of student experience – Encounter, Connectedness and Reflection – that actualize the Shinnyo-en Foundation’s Six Billion Paths to Peace initiative.  Students in the summer day camp program come together from diverse cultural and economic backgrounds, and develop skills to go on to help lead school-based service-learning programs during the school year.

The Shinnyo-en Foundation believes, as you do, in the power of young people.  A maximum of ten Shinnyo-en Youth Association members will be invited to attend this year’s National Service-Learning Conference.  With their passion, creativity and innovation, young people can address world issues while strengthening academic and learning outcomes through service-learning.  This event is the largest annual gathering of youth and practitioners, foundation and non-profit leaders, corporate and government officials, and advocates who join together to showcase what they have accomplished in their schools and communities, share best practices, and enrichment through professional development opportunities.

We are pleased to announce that Reverend Emiko Tsunozaki from the Shinnyo-en New York temple will be a panelist for the “Women of Leadership” panel at this year’s NSLC with the following female leaders; Naomi Tutu, Nan Peterson, Pamela Toole and Kate Cumbo.  Pajnucci Vue, a high school senior and a member of NYLC’s Board of Directors, will facilitate the panel from 9 to 10:30 AM on April 12.  Reverend Tsunozaki has been serving as clergy, Dharma Teacher, and spiritual guide in the Shinnyo-en Buddhist Order since 2004.  She was ordained in 1999 and holds the priestly rank of Dai Risshi (High Vinaya Master).  Before becoming a Shinnyo-en clergy, she was a school teacher and actress. Her roles as clergy have included public relations and spiritual guidance, as well as propagation outreach throughout the east coast of the United States and Hawaii.  Reverend Tsunozaki was born and raised in Japan, and she studied and worked in Hawaii for most of her life.  She tries to make the most of her multicultural experiences through serving at the Shinnyo-en New York temple and wherever the outreach and service efforts of Shinnyo-en may take her.

The National Service-Learning Conference and Youthrive PeaceJam Leadership Conference embeds their belief in youth leadership in action, authentically engaging hundreds of young people as presenters, planning committee members, emcees and volunteers.  The dynamic play between energy and enthusiasm brought by youth and the wisdom brought by leaders in the field distinguishes the unique opportunities afforded by the Conference.

Nan was nominated for the National Youth Leadership Council (NYLC) Service-Learning Practitioner Leadership Award by Scott Flemming, as Director of The Blake School’s Office of Equity and Community Engagement.  This award recognizes practitioners who have equipped young people to lead and serve, both through their direct service learning instruction with youth and by nurturing other practitioners to expand their service learning skills and knowledge.  Each year, this award is presented to a teacher or community member who has created a living legacy through service learning practice.  The 2012 Service-Learning Practitioner Leadership Award will be presented at the National Service Learning Conference (NSLC) in Minneapolis, Minnesota, April 11-14, 2012.

Nan, could you please tell us when and how you became interested in service learning experiences?

My family always believed in service by giving back and through their actions as role models, this value became ingrained in me very early in my life.  My mother’s passion for service was Catholic charities and she did a lot of volunteer work to help those less fortunate.  My father was an oral surgeon and shared his passion for service by providing a lot of free dentistry.  I have always loved incorporating whatever is going on in the local and global world in school.

How did you feel when you learned that you were the winner of the Service-Learning Practitioner Leadership Award?

When Kalita Bak, CEO of National Youth Leadership Council, called to congratulate me about being the winner of the Service-Learning Practitioner Leadership Award, I thought they must have called the wrong person.  I accepted the Service-Learning Practitioner Leadership Award with great surprise and honor on behalf of The Blake School and the Shinnyo-en Foundation.  It is with humility, surprise and excitement that I am recognized as someone who encourages service learning at The Blake School and beyond.  National Youth Leadership Council is “the” national service learning organization that leads best practices and service learning teaching and learning and I am so grateful to be recognized by them to receive the Service-Learning Practitioner Leadership Award.

Scott Flemming nominated you for the award but did Scott tell you what specific experience or accomplishment of yours stood out to him that caused him to nominate you?

Scott shared with me that he felt it was very obvious how important social justice is to me and how hard I continually work toward social justice.  He mentioned that he appreciates how well I connect with everyone; treating all with respect and compassion.

Receiving this award reflects good and important service work done by The Blake School and beyond.  I am hopeful that this recognition will help all of us think beyond ourselves and consider working toward peace through service.

How does your leadership as the Director of Service Learning intersect with or is part of The Blake School’s Office of Equity and Community Engagement?

Service learning continues to grow at The Blake School and nationally as a method of teaching and learning.  In addition, The Blake School Service Learning is part of the Office of Equity and Community Engagement (OECE).  Pluralism, International Threats, Learning Works, Cornerstone and the Gay-Straight Alliance are all part of this department that work together synergistically creating more effective outcomes for social justice.

Students are the hope for the world.  Service learning experiences encourage students to give of their best selves and to think about the world’s concerns and possibilities.  Service is a path to peace. My hope is that this award will encourage all of us to grow into compassion of service.

As the recipient of the 2012 Service-Learning Practitioner Leadership Award, how might your contribution at the next NSLC be?

I will be the primary presenter for our workshop “Equity and Community Engagement through the Heart of Service (scheduled at 9 AM to 10:30 AM on Friday, April 13)”; work in the book store; received and accepted the honor of being invited to be a panelist of the “Thought Leaders Panel (scheduled at 9 AM to 10:30 AM on Thursday, April 12)” at the National Service-Learning Conference that will focus on spirituality and service.  I will also offer a gathering that will be a place for practitioners to network.

Now could you share with us your thoughts and experiences in Six Billion Paths to Peace? In your view, what is the core of the Six Billion Paths to Peace Initiative?

I feel that the core of Shinnyo-en Foundation’s Six Billion Paths to Peace Initiative is the interconnectedness it brings.  The idea that your actions affect me and my actions affect others in my life is very exhilarating!  The Six Billion Paths to Peace Initiative encourages us to recognize and embrace our differences, understanding that we are all part of the whole of the human race.  The Six Billion Paths to Peace Initiative helps us think about our individual contributions and how we, individually, can use our time, talent and treasures to make a positive difference.  The Six Billion Paths to Peace Initiative focuses on harmony, peace and joy through service.  That is the way we “up shift” as we look at the concerns and needs of the world.

How did the students and faculty of The Blake School react to your attempt to incorporate the Six Billion Paths to Peace Initiative into the culture and the curriculum of The Blake School when you first introduced it to them?

The Six Billion Paths to Peace Initiative was easily and quickly welcomed into the core values of The Blake School.  It was an easy connector for service learning because we think about Mother Teresa and her words “Any act of service is an act of peace.”  It was easy to connect service and peace thinking about that mantra.  The Blake Lower School views the Six Billion Paths to Peace Initiative as friendship; they relate to the ideas of peace through service.  The Blake Middle School focuses on local concerns and The Blake Upper School focuses on global concerns.  The Six Billion Paths to Peace Initiative encourages us to think about how to connect with one another, and about interconnectedness, that encourages us to think about goals, dreams, and hopes.  The Six Billion Paths to Peace Initiative causes us to look individually at, “Who am I, and who do I want to be?”

In what way(s) has the Six Billion Paths to Peace Initiative transformed you and The Blake School, if any?

The Six Billion Paths to Peace Initiative has been very transformative in many ways.  It has helped us change our perspective from only thinking about ourselves to consider multiple perspectives.  It has helped us to be more aware of concerns, hopes, ideas and needs of others.  It has caused us to think, “How can I best use my time, talent and treasures for the common good?”  It leaves us with the question, “This day, this week, this month what is my path to peace?”

What do you think the students enjoy most about the Six Billion Paths to Peace Initiative?

I feel that the students enjoy the fact that the Six Billion Paths to Peace helps them relate to one another, think about their own personal identity while learning about one another in a new way and enlarge their idea of what service is.  It helps students to connect to one another and to connect to the concerns of the global community.  The students enjoy the fact that the Six Billion Paths to Peace Initiative encourages them to think as global citizens.

Could you please share with us some examples or instances when students have done wonderful things through the Six Billion Paths to Peace Initiative?

A recent wonderful event called “Empty Bowls” service event was created by the students at The Blake School.  The Blake Upper School students were studying global hunger and were involved in many projects to meet the needs of global hunger.  The Blake Upper School students shared with Lower and Middle School students about their concern about global hunger and that they planned to have a service event called “Empty Bowls” where they would earn money to help feed the hungry in Africa.  When this was shared with the Lower and Middle School students, some of the Lower and Middle School students mentioned that there are also many hungry people right here.  The students wanted to be involved.  The Middle School students said that they could make bread and soup and the Lower School students said they could make the bowls.  It was a wonderful “Kid Generated” event.  The students created the event; all of the students worked collaboratively and were in charge of the project.  They had this great “Empty Bowls” service event where they made a lot of money and a panel of Upper School Service Corps.  Students are deciding where the money should be spent.  This was one of my favorite projects where the project was “Kid Generated” and the kids were in charge.

This reminds me about the interconnectedness that exists in a school where a genuine concern such as hunger, can connect students to one another, and connect everyone at the school to this huge concern of local and global hunger.  Peace through service, we certainly hope so!  Peace, harmony and joy!

As the director of service-learning, do you have any recommendations to other educators regarding creating new or enhancing existing service learning experiences?

As the Director of Service Learning, I would encourage educators to look, in depth, at a local or global concern or authentic need; educate the children about the need and ask them “How do we help alleviate this problem?”  Students are always more creative than adults and they have this unfailing belief that they can make a difference.  It is not about solving the world’s problems; it is about recognizing the problems and believing that, as a young person, they can make a difference.  It is about encouraging the heart of service.

Thank you so much for sharing inspiring stories and suggestions for all of us! Again, congratulations on the Service-Learning Practitioner Leadership Award!

Save the Date

When:   January 8, 2012 at 11 am

Where:  Shinnyo-en USA Head Temple located at 3910 Bret Harte Drive, Redwood City, CA 94061

Who:    All interested in learning more about Global Glimpse www.globalglimpse.org

What:   Presentation by Eliza Pesuit, Global Glimpse Director, Scholar Program; Laila Essimidi, Outreach Coordinator and a number of high school alumni will share the meaningful work of Global Glimpse. 

In April, Ineko Tsuchida joined Global Glimpse Director, Eliza Pesuit, during a parent workshop at Andrew Hill High School in San Jose. Ineko and Eliza shared the excitement of being around students and parents preparing for their summer service-learning trip to Nicaragua.

Global Glimpse is a Bay Area based non-profit organization working to inspire high school students through leadership and service-learning programs in the developing world. The organization’s programs build the foundation and perspectives that empower young leaders to address the global challenges of their generation.

Global Glimpse works in partnership with 22 public high schools across the Bay Area in the counties of Alameda, Marin, Contra Costa, Yolo, San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara. Since 2007, they have been dedicated to serving students from a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds and demographics through generous scholarships.

Students are nominated to participate in the Partner School Program in the fall of their junior year. Global Glimpse supports faculty and staff at their school by nominating students with strong potential who demonstrate leadership and a commitment to improve themselves and their communities. Students who are accepted into the Partner School Program receive scholarships based on need for the summer immersion trip and participate in six after school workshops during the spring that focus on globalization, development, leadership, and service and prepare students for their summer immersion.

During the summer students travel to Nicaragua for a three week education, service-learning, and leadership experience. They are immersed in the local community through educational seminars about history, culture, development, poverty, education, global business, politics and daily field trips. In addition, students design and engage in service projects in partnership with local communities and organizations. As students gain knowledge about the developing world, they also gain personal perspective through leadership training, reality challenges, group collaboration, and self-reflection sessions. Global Glimpse exposes youth to developing countries and unlocks their potential to affect change on a local and global scale.

The results are already becoming apparent as their alumni start service groups, initiate international projects, and attend renowned universities including Stanford, Columbia, University of Pennsylvania, and University of California, Berkeley.

An excerpt from an alumni letter says it best:
“Every single day in Nicaragua, there were challenges to overcome and things to do that would make such an incredible difference. While living in the moment, I did not realize how much I grew as a person. However, after returning back home it finally hit me. I came to understand what the wonderful feeling that just keeps lingering in me meant. It was the feeling that I had garnered a newfound perspective; the feeling that taught me that I should continue to be inspired and to inspire others myself. For the very first time, I learned how immense of an impact a person can make.”

Kathy Lee, Andrew Hill High School in San Jose, 2011

If you are from Minnesota, you would be used to the colloquial phrase “Is it cold enough for ya?” as familiar way to greet a friend.  You see, weather has a great impact on those of us who experienced last year’s snowfalls and wind chills in the way below zero range.

But this November not only brought record high temperatures (and only a dusting of snow), it brought a group of service-learning leaders together at The Blake School in Minneapolis to gather – by definition – to “bring somebody close” and to ‘lift somebody up.” 

For two days, 50 participants from over 20 Minnesota and national schools listened to thought leaders and service-learning experts that guided learning and discussion.  Drs. Jim and Pam Toole talked about design thinking, brain research and the implications to service-learning.  A panel of representatives from local, state and international hunger related organizations shared how those of us working with children can support their work.  Kelita Bak, CEO of the National Youth Leadership Council (NYLC) drew us together with her conversation of the support and resources NYLC can offer to those of us in this field that has such high impact on youth development, service and leadership.

The Blake School and the Edina Public Schools have been offering “The Gathering” as an opportunity to bring other local service and service-learning leaders together once or twice a year for the past 10 years.  Says Nan Peterson, Director of Service Learning at The Blake School and the Senior Shinnyo Fellow of Shinnyo-en Foundation, “We learn so much from each other, by sharing stories, hearing from new and experienced practitioners and by valuing each other in this work.”

One participant reflected, “I must continue to stay connected to this service-learning community in order to be able to sustain and feed the service-learning practitioner I hope to become.”

The Gathering is a way that teachers participate in collaboration and then model with their students.  The collective energy afforded by The Gathering supports the individual efforts of service-learning practitioners.