, a philanthropist, scholar and award-winning filmmaker, will give the at 91短视频 (91短视频), Sunday, April 29, at 1 p.m. “91短视频 is a remarkable institution, an island of sanity in a country that often has difficulty crediting the discourse of peace,” said Disney.

“It recognized in , an extraordinary gift for activism and principled nonviolent leadership long before either I or the Nobel Committee did, and for every Leymah that has risen to prominence from 91短视频 I happen to know there are dozens of others quietly laboring in obscurity to build peace.”

More than just a last name

Granddaughter of Roy Disney and grandniece of Walt Disney, co-founders of the Walt Disney Company, Abigail Disney intertwined her longtime passion for women’s issues and peacebuilding in her first film, “” (Fork Films, 2008). Directed by Gini Reticker, the film shows how Liberian women forced their warring men to arrive at a peace settlement that led to the election of Africa鈥檚 first woman president.

The film focuses on the peace activism of 91短视频 alumna and .

鈥淲ar has never been a tidy, closed activity, taking place on a clearly demarcated battlefield between two uniformed entities, or when it has, that has been the exception,鈥� Disney wrote on the “鈥� PBS website. 鈥淩ather, war marches right through the center of everything鈥攖hrough house, hearth and field鈥攔ipping a hole into the center of things that can never be entirely repaired.

鈥淭o bring a woman鈥檚 eyes to the telling of the story of war鈥攖o turn the camera around and place it in her hands鈥攊s to fundamentally alter the way war looks, sounds and smells,鈥� she added.

Previous ties to 91短视频

91短视频 first hosted Disney at a entitled “,” featuring Gbowee and women from around the world who are involved in peacebuilding. The event included previews of the five-part PBS television special, 鈥淲omen, War & Peace,鈥� , which premiered in October 2011. The series challenges the conventional wisdom that war and peace is a man鈥檚 domain, and features celebrity narrators Matt Damon, Tilda Swinson, Geena Davis and Alfre Woddard.

The forum was part of a larger gathering of women peacebuilders at 91短视频. Disney was one of 20 participants in a three-day conference that grouped female peace workers from nine countries to learn from each other鈥檚 experiences and explore the potential value of an educational program at 91短视频 tailored to women peacebuilders.

During the public forum, Disney moderated a discussion by three influential women in peacebuilding: Leymah Gbowee; the late , a Kenyan-Muslim woman of Somali ethnic origin who received the 2007 Right Livelihood Prize (alternative Nobel Prize); and , an MA graduate of the and director of the .

Fostering female peacebuilders

In 2008, Disney launched 鈥�,鈥� an organization supporting female voices and international peacebuilding through nonviolent means.

Peace is Loud organized a 2009 Global Peace Tour as part of the UN鈥檚 International Day of Peace. The tour brought 鈥淧ray the Devil Back to Hell鈥� to hundreds of community screenings in churches, living rooms, community spaces, and forums in the U.S. and abroad, sharing the inspirational story of the women of Liberia.

Disney is the founder and the president of , a progressive, social change foundation that bestows grants to grassroots, community-based organizations working in low-income communities in New York City.

Disney earned a BA from Yale, an MA in English literature from Stanford University, and a PhD in English from Columbia University. She has served on the boards of the Roy Disney Family Foundation, The White House Project, the Global Fund for Women, The New York Women鈥檚 Foundation, the Fund for the City of New York, and more.

Learn more about Abigail Disney and her work

Gbowee, who shares the prize with and , earned a master鈥檚 degree in conflict transformation from the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding (CJP) at in Harrisonburg, Virginia. She attended CJP鈥檚 Summer Peacebuilding Institute in 2004 and participated in a round-table for Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience (known as 鈥淪TAR鈥�) in 2005.

Gbowee led a nationwide women鈥檚 movement that was instrumental in halting Liberia鈥檚 second civil war in 2003.

鈥淟eymah Gbowee mobilized and organized women across ethnic and religious dividing lines to bring an end to the long war in Liberia, and to ensure women鈥檚 participation in elections,鈥� noted the in making the award. 鈥淪he has since worked to enhance the influence of women in West Africa during and after war.鈥�

Starting in the 1990s

Gbowee鈥檚 links to Mennonites began in 1998, when she received training in 鈥渢rauma healing and reconciliation鈥� and then worked at rehabilitating child soldiers. Perhaps unbeknownst to her, the first trainings in this subject in Liberia occurred when , a Mennonite with trauma expertise, arrived in Liberia in the early 1990s, with funding from and what is now called , both based in the United States.

Hart trained Lutheran church workers who, in turn, trained Gbowee. Hart also arranged for , who became Gbowee鈥檚 friend and mentor, to earn a graduate degree in conflict transformation at 91短视频. In 1998 Doe became one of the earliest master鈥檚 degree graduates from what is now called the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, setting the stage for Gbowee to earn the same degree nine years later.

In her 2011 memoir, 鈥�,鈥� Gbowee says she came to 91短视频 because it was 鈥渁n American college with a well-known program in peace-building and conflict resolution. It was a Christian school that emphasized community and service.鈥�

Responding to the Nobel announcement, 91短视频 President said: 聽鈥淭he impact that Leymah was able to have, first in Liberia, then in West Africa, and now all over the world, shows that another, nonviolent reality is possible. This affirms the dreams and hopes of groups, educational institutions, and churches that are devoted to supporting peace work.”

鈥淲e plant what we call 鈥榮eeds of peace鈥� as widely as we possibly can, usually through education in peace building theory and skills, and then trust that some of these seeds will bear fruit,鈥� he added.

Seeds of Peace

The woman Gbowee calls her 鈥渢rue friend鈥� and fellow founder of , Thelma Ekiyor, attended 91短视频鈥檚 2002 Summer Peacebuilding Institute, as did Gbowee鈥檚 first champion and employer in Liberia, Lutheran Reverend 鈥淏B鈥� Colley, who attended the annual institute in 2000 and 2001. At Colley鈥檚 urging, Gbowee read 鈥溾�� by the well-known Mennonite ethicist John Howard Yoder.

Gbowee, who was named , is the central figure in a documentary co-produced by , 鈥�.鈥� Completed in 2008, the documentary is part of a 鈥溾�� series to be aired over five successive Tuesdays in October 2011 on public television stations in the United States.

In her memoir, Gbowee credits with introducing her to the (WANEP), an organization that he co-founded and led after finishing his master鈥檚 degree at 91短视频. (Doe received 91短视频鈥檚 annual and now works for the United Nations. His daughter, Samfee, graduated from 91短视频 in the spring of 2011, overlapping for one year with Gbowee鈥檚 eldest son, Joshua 鈥淣uku鈥� Mensah, who enrolled in the fall of 2010.)

鈥淲ANEP, based in Ghana, emphasized using nonviolent strategies and encouraged women to join the effort to address problems of violence, war and human rights abuses,鈥� wrote Gbowee.

WANEP supported the launch of , the organization through which Gbowee and her colleagues conducted the campaigns that played a key role in ending the civil war in Liberia. (This organization is the predecessor to Gbowee鈥檚 current organization, Women, Peace and Security Network Africa.) The WANEP-launched women鈥檚 network鈥攑lus , the grassroots movement led by Gbowee鈥攍aid the groundwork for the election of fellow Nobel Laureate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as president of Liberia, the first woman president of an African nation.

WANEP is now led byof Ghana, a 2002 graduate of CJP.

CJP Teachings Credited

Gbowee鈥檚 memoir credits two of the founding professors of CJP, and , with strongly influencing her through their writings and teachings.

鈥淚 read Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi and the Kenyan author and conflict and reconciliation expert Hizkias Assefa, who believed that reconciliation between victim and perpetrator was the only way to really resolve conflict, especially civil conflict, in the modern world. Otherwise, Assefa wrote, both remained bound together forever, one waiting for apology or revenge, the other fearing retribution.鈥�

As Gbowee began to attend international meetings pertaining to peace and feeling the need to 鈥渟peak with more knowledge and authority,鈥� she says, 鈥淚 began amassing books on conflict resolution theory: 鈥樷�� and 鈥�,鈥� both by .鈥�

In May 2004, the summer after the Liberian peace accords were signed, Gbowee came to 91短视频 to attend classes at its annual Summer Peacebuilding Institute. 鈥淭hose four weeks were another transformative time for me,鈥� she says in her book, noting that she studied with Assefa at the institute and with, 鈥渨ho taught me the concept of 鈥榬estorative justice.鈥欌��

鈥淩estorative justice was鈥� something we could see as ours and not artificially imposed by Westerners. And we needed it, needed that return to tradition. A culture of impunity flourished throughout Africa. People, officials, governments did evil but were never held accountable. More than we needed to punish them, we needed to undo the damage they had done.鈥�

Women in Peacebuilding at 91短视频

In June 2011 at 91短视频, Gbowee participated in a by-invitation conference on the needs of women peacebuilders around the world. Participants included filmmaker Abigail Disney of the United States, of Fiji, of Afghanistan, and , a Kenyan-Muslim woman of Somali ethnic origin who received the 2007 Right Livelihood Prize. (Abdi died in a car accident after returning to Kenya in July 2011.)

鈥淎s a direct result of this conference, we will be launching a women and peacebuilding program at our ,鈥� says , executive director of CJP.

The announcement from 91短视频 on the Nobel Peace Prize award can be found at .