HISTORY

In 2013, Rotarians Rick and Janet Manganello posed a question,
“Can peace education for young people be developed in a way that Rotarians around the world could support?”

What if . . .

The question inspired Rotary Peace Fellow Patricia Shafer and the creation of NewGen Peacebuilders – peace education, training and mentoring that emphasizes the role, value and impact of young people in achieving a peaceful world.

In 2014, the NewGen Peacebuilders program launched in Charlotte, NC, with 18 students from three high schools.

Rotary District 7680 and local Rotary Clubs have provided financial and volunteer support in the first year and each year since. Today, the number of certified NewGen Peacebuilders from Metro Charlotte has surpassed 500 young people.

More people joined in…

  • 2015 La Paz, Bolivia

  • 2016 Charlotte, NC

  • 2016 Santa Rosa, CA

  • 2017 VA/TN Universities

  • 2017 Charlotte, NC

  • 2017 Santa Rosa, CA

  • 2018 Roanoke, VA

  • 2018 Buenos Aires Province, Argentina

  • 2018 Charlotte, NC

  • 2019 Houston, TX

  • 2019 South Sudan

  • 2019 Charlottesville, VA

  • 2020 Sonoma County, CA

  • 2020 Charlotte, NC

  • 2020 Santa Rosa, CA

  • 2021 Lebanon

  • 2021 Birmingham, AL

In 2020, we asked another question . . . “How can peace education be accessible to MORE young people?”

In 2021, a new and exciting initiative called Youth & Peace in Action (YPA) was introduced.

YPA, powered by NewGen Peacebuilders, leverages an innovative Online Peace Platform to provide virtual and live peace education, training, and mentoring to schools and teachers that puts young people at the center of peacebuilding.

It’s the largest youth peacebuilding initiative in the US and Caribbean.

In 2022, Executive Director Patricia Shafer was a recipient of the Melanie Greenberg U.S. Peacebuilding Award of Excellence. The award recognizes innovative peacebuilding efforts.