Celebrate our global community and invest in peace!
You want to make a difference in the world--and you are! Your investment in Euphrates is building peace – at both the local and global level. As we near the end of a remarkable fiscal year on June 30, we are striving to meet our final commitments by raising $20,000. We cannot express how much your contributions are valued. Thank you for continuing with us! As our Chapter Leader in Côte d'Ivoire, James Offuh, put it: "Euphrates is a family. An unbroken family. A living system. I believe with the Oneness we can change the world."
“Being involved with Euphrates Institute has taught me what it means to be a true global citizen. How to no longer selfishly take from this world and its peoples, but how to give back to it and all it has to offer. The true meaning of peace.” Christine Ibrahim, Chapter Leader: University of California, Riverside
You are enabling visionaries in 15 countries around the world to turn "Others" into brothers in their local communities and to connect with peers worldwide with the goal of larger, collective transformation. The research show this is the way major social change happens – beginning at the grassroots level and starting with innovators and visionaries:
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Chapter Leader Elesse Bafandjo is bringing together fans of rival sports teams and albinos with non-albinos for dialogue and reconciliation.
In February, our community united in celebrating the U.N. World Interfaith Harmony Week (WIHW). Our high school Chapter leader, Jaz Martus, from Flint, Michigan was invited by our partners at the United Religions Initiative to represent Euphrates at the United Nations.
Our St. Lawrence University Chapter in upstate New York hosted a Syrian benefit gala with proceeds going towards local refugee resettlement programs.
“Euphrates has provided me an outlet to translate my academic disciplines and interests into platforms for change. In my three years of being a part of this organization, I have seen how small initiatives are able to make differences not only locally, but globally. Because of the Euphrates Institute, I feel empowered as a leader and change maker in our ever changing world.”Ivy Raines, graduating student Chapter Leader, St. Lawrence University
On April 5, we participated in a 24-hour International Golden Rule Day webcast focused on how we can practice treating others and the planet as we would like to be treated. Chapters in Tanzania, Côte d’Ivoire and Liberia hosted local events with students and young people on the Golden Rule theme.
This spring, Euphrates Founder and CEO, Janessa Gans Wilder, travelled to the East Coast to share her story and the work of Euphrates to receptive audiences at the Fairfax Student Peace Awards and National Defense University in Washington, D.C. and to a diverse interfaith group in Frederick, Maryland.
We’ve been hosting more workshops to train members of the Euphrates community in vital dialogue, listening and communication skills, particularly across lines of difference. Last fall, Euphrates partnered to host a groundbreaking event, “Difficult Conversations: The Art and Science of Thinking Together” facilitated by Kern Beare, in Redding, California. Since then, the partnership has enabled 250 community leaders and stakeholders to complete the training, and interest continues to grow!
Our worldwide Chapter Leaders have participated in a series of virtual skills-building sessions, including Kern Beare’s from Pop the Bubble, with Tom McSteen on Sacred Discourse, a framework to help us generate more understanding and connection in our relationships and conversations. And an informative call with Muslim scholars from the Centre for Peace and Spirituality based in Delhi, India about the peaceful interpretation of Islam. Each of these online gatherings has presented a wonderful opportunity to deepen the connection within our global family and build a greater sense of community.
This past year we piloted a grants program or our international Chapters in response to a sincere need - the lack of resources to host local events. This program has enabled us to deepen our partnership with them, empowering them as peacebuilders, supporting their local efforts to turn “others” into brothers, all the while spreading Euphrates’ vision.