CONTACT 2020

A Campaign to Empower Grassroots Peacebuilders in Fragile States

Read about the program
Dr. Bruce W. Dayton

CONTACT is led by Dr. Bruce W. Dayton, who has twenty years of experience working with groups around the world in peacebuilding and conflict transformation and is widely published in the field of peacebuilding. Other faculty include professors and practitioners from the School for International training as well as from organizations and universities in the United States, Germany, New Zealand, Turkey, Japan, and Rwanda.
Making CONTACT

“CONTACT is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet the world, literally, the WORLD! [There were] 85 participants representing 25 countries, not including the professors, who were as diversified as the participants themselves. Such diversity of backgrounds and experience taught me volumes that I will cherish my whole life. We learned directly and indirectly. We learned empathy and understanding, both key to building sustainable peace…Without the skills I learned in the CONTACT program, I would not have been so active in finding ways to resolve the conflict in my country.”

—Ammar Aqlan, MEPI Project Officer and Youth Trainer, Relief International, Yemen; 2013 Fulbright Scholar
Making CONTACT

“Before coming to the United States I was a union leader…so my professors here at SIT said, ‘You have this experience, and you need to use it…’ and they were right, and that is why I [attanded] CONTACT. The people that are here have so much power in themselves and they are so brave and courageous that I don’t know how to explain it. They have gone through so many difficult things, [but] they are here smiling and sharing their experiences and giving you advice and listening to your own story and that is just incredible. Incredible.”

—Beatriz Erazo, English Teacher, Bolivia; 2014 Fulbright Scholar

Click play to hear what Beatriz had to say about CONTACT:
Making CONTACT

“CONTACT is not just a place of learning, it’s a place of experience. So, having this experience I see the world not from one way…I see people, not from one perspective. I can take advantage of CONTACT to solve some of the problems back home…CONTACT is a place that can transform situations. So if you have a situation that you want transformed, get to CONTACT. You will meet people from all walks of life.”

—Rechline van Ross, Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist, PROSPER/Tetra Tech, Liberia

Click play to hear what Rechline had to say about CONTACT:

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Musicians Without Borders

For 2016, CONTACT is pleased to announce a two-week professional training program in community music leadership and conflict transformation in conjunction with Musicians without Borders. The training is open to musicians and music students who are active in their communities as workshop leaders, teachers, or social activists and who would like to further their knowledge of using music as a tool for peacebuilding and social change.

World Learning’s CONTACT 2020 initiative is designed to give grassroots peacebuilders the skills, networks, and support needed to design and launch peacebuilding programs in conflict regions throughout the world. Our goal is to generate twenty named sponsorships by 2020 from a combination of individual donors, foundations, and corporate sponsors. Sponsorship will support one or more individuals from a conflict region who show promise in advancing peacebuilding and conflict transformation through grassroots organization and mobilization, development, dialogue, and political reform.

The CONTACT Peacebuilding Program at the SIT Graduate Institute serves the needs of working professionals and graduate students who want to further their skills and knowledge in peacebuilding and conflict management. Since 1995, CONTACT has trained close to one thousand conflict management specialists from dozens of countries on every continent. CONTACT’s alumni network includes those working for government, intergovernmental organizations, and nongovernmental organizations along with teachers, community organizers, and academics.

CONTACT is housed at the School for International Training, the accredited academic arm of World Learning, an international NGO. Faculty include a mix of experts in conflict analysis and conflict transformation from the School for International Training as well as other renowned academics and practitioners working in the field of peacebuilding from around the world.