Please join the San Diego Coastal Rotary Club in their Zoom meetings in February. They have planned some exceptional speakers for Peace and Conflict Resolution Month and want to open up the opportunity for Rotarians throughout District 5340 to participate. Their meetings are Wednesday night from 6-7:30pm and speakers usually start around 6:45pm. The 4th meeting is a social.
 
You are invited to four (4) Zoom meetings for Peace. You only need to register once.
When: Feb 3, Feb 10, Feb 17, Feb 24, 2021 06:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada) 
 
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
 
Here are the dates and speaker bios:
 
FEBRUARY 3 – Aziz Abu Sarah is a Palestinian peace activist, journalist, social entrepreneur and author. Aziz watched his brother die after injuries sustained in an Israeli jail following an arrest for throwing stones. Aziz found a way to turn his grief and anger around. He joined an Israeli-Palestinian families bereavement organization and began writing and lecturing against violent activism. He has received recognition by the UN for his conflict resolution work around the world including in Columbia and Afghanistan. He has been listed as one of the 500 most influential Muslims in the world. He founded an alternative tour company that shows how ordinary travelers can be peace diplomats. He is also recognized as a National Geographic Explorer for work in sustainable, responsible travel. In his most recent book, Crossing Boundaries: A Traveler’s Guide to World Peace, he demonstrates how we can heal our world from stereotypes, prejudice and ignorance while having a more meaningful experiences while traveling. He is an exceptional speaker.
 
FEBRUARY 10 – Hands of Peace (HOP)/ Raising Youth Voices Coordinator, Dania Zanaid. HOP is a non -profit organization that empowers teens to become agents of change in their community by teaching conflict resolution and leadership skills. Gretchen Grad founded HOP in Chicago after 9/11 and has been named a Paul Harris Fellow by Rotary International. HOP has been active in San Diego for many years and has been supported by Rotary grants from several San Diego Rotary clubs. Many Rotarians are familiar with the organization and it’s connection with Israel and Palestine. However, HOP has been re-imagining their summer programs for local youths this year.  Raising Youth Voices was created to bring the experience of dialogue and leadership development to more San Diego youth. Dania has coordinated HOP students with San Diego’s Joan B Kroc Institute of Peace and Justice where they acquired skills for leading healthy conversations in their communities about topics such as the pandemic and racism. They gained skills in facilitation, de-escalation and peace building for positive peace. The participants then got the opportunity to practice their skills at local high schools, colleges and in the community.  More local programs like this are planned for this year.  This is an exciting speaker for any Rotarian interested in peace and youth development. 
 
FEBRUARY 17 – Karen Henken is a professor at the Joan B Kroc Institute of Peace and Justice and founder of Henken & Associates. She teaches several courses on the cutting- edge concept of social innovation - new solutions (products, services, models, markets, processes etc.) that simultaneously meet a social need and lead to new or improved capabilities and relationships and better use of assets and resources. In other words, social innovations are both good for society and enhance society’s capacity to act. Karen also teaches workshops for leading institutions in Vietnam, Brazil and Colombia. Her company helps businesses and nonprofits develop market opportunities, partnerships, growth strategies and sustainable revenue models to expand their impact. Her business and academic work all tie to the intersection of peace building and social innovation. She is also developing a training program for Hands of Peace alumni so they may continue their peace building education.  This is an important speaker for any Rotarian interested in positive peace and economic development or interested in growing their own business.