Patricia Shafer Updates Rotarians on NewGen Peacebuilders Program

RCB VP of Club Service April Mason and President Brenda Hackney with Patricia Shafer

During the April 27th meeting, the Rotary Club of Birmingham welcomed Patricia Shafer, NewGen Peacebuilders Executive Director and Rotary Peace Fellow.

Shafer discussed the successful initiative piloted in Birmingham in 2021 with support from Rotary District 6860 and the RCB Foundation. The peace-building program provides peace education, training and mentorship to young people who work in teams to create community peace projects with topics ranging from the environment to mental health and recidivism. It has expanded to become Youth & Peace in Action, bringing over 20,000 hours of peace education to young people in 10 states this school year.

“When I come to Birmingham, I just think of the magnificence and the magnitude of what you do as Rotarians here in Birmingham and the special magic you create around peace,” Shafer said. “Thank you for getting a program like this off the ground and sticking with it.”

NewGen Peacebuilders is a youth peace education program designed for high school and university students (14 to 25). It draws on principles of peace education familiar to Rotary Peace Fellows as well as best practices in peace and global education for youth. Shafer designed the program with collaboration and input from Rotary Peace Fellows Phill Gittins, Carla Lineback and Pranisa Ekachote. One of the key elements/outcomes of this youth peace education program is a team peace education project that youth complete. These projects have spanned education inequality, poverty, domestic violence, international/cultural bridgebuilding and peace conference planning and management. The program content is global/universal in nature, but also adapted/adaptable to local language, issues and cultural circumstances.