 Kind of a younger version of Rotary engages people from 18 up into 30 And they can current have a little bit more freedom to create the clubs and their service focus in their direction So again, let me jump back So Bucci spent the first 10 years as part of Rotorac serving in different capacities including club secretary club president Secretary district conference planning committee district governor of media publicity district Rotorac representative 2008 2009 Okay, so Bucci joined Rotary e-club one in December 2009 And he served as the club's president from 2016 to 2018 So I want to make another interject interjecting here about Rotary e-club one And I'm so I'm really proud that in our district 5450 the e-club was the first in the world So we were the first 5450 to create an e-club So there are other clubs that are going on now, but that's a that's a little honor that we Kind of enjoy so Rotary e-club one Received the presidential citation and a district award for membership growth during his time as club president He's a multiple Paul Harris fellow and a member of the Paul Harris Society Bucci preferred Advent his preferred avenues of service or club service and and project administration Bucci holds a medical degree from the University of Ebon and a public health doctorate from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston He's currently an analyst with the shinnigan group. He is married to Chica. They have three children Sheena doom Adanya and Naboochee the second. So now I'd like to just read his remarks That he would like to offer Dear fellow Rotarians. I am honored to address you all today as a district governor of Rotary District 5450 I want to start by acknowledging the tireless efforts of each and every one of you in serving your communities Making the world a better place Your unwavering commitment to Rotary's values of service integrity and leadership is truly inspiring Indeed Rotary's work is done at the club level and the leadership above the club level only exists to support the work that you do As you gather today for this area assembly, I regret that I am unable to join you here in person due to weather conditions I'm thankful that you are still able to gather Rotary as an organization has been involved in peace initiative since its early days as Rotarians we have a holistic view of peace It's reflected in how our projects and service activities help create conditions of lasting peace in communities across the world I Know that many of you are working hard on various projects and initiatives, and I want to encourage you to continue to do so Your efforts may feel like a drop in the bucket, but they're not They are part of a larger movement that is making a real difference in the world As district governor, I want to assure you that I am here to support you and all your efforts I'm committed to providing the resources guidance necessary to help you achieve your goals Whether it's through district or global grants training opportunities or other forms of support In closing I want to thank you for your dedication and commitment to Rotary I have no doubt that with our collective efforts. We will continue to make a difference in the world And create lasting change in our community Let us continue to work together Support each other and uphold the values of Rotary that we strive towards a better world for all Signed Bucci and to Pezzi Rotary district 5450 district governor Good evening My name is Mary Corwell, and I'm the current president of the Rotary Club of NYWAP It's my honor to introduce the next part of the program and our panel moderator, Wick Rowland Wick Rowland is Dean and Professor Emeritus of the School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Colorado Boulder and President and CEO Emeritus of PBS 12 formerly Colorado Public Television HBD1 Denver Wick served in the Peace Corps in Jamaica and is currently a member of the Rotary Club of NYWAP In Colorado and formerly the Denver and Boulder Clubs. He's a multiple Paul Harris fellow He was part of the group of Denver area Rotarians who developed the idea of the partnership between the Peace Corps and Rotary and the foundation or formation of Partnering for Peace Dr. Rowland is a widely published scholar in media studies with particular research and teaching emphasis Communications policy media theory international broadcasting and public service media At CU he led the transformation of a small journalism school into a comprehensive nationally competitive series of professional and academic programs in media Community and communications research that have since become a college of communications Previously he served as associate professor in the Institute of Communications Research and Associate Dean of the College of Communications at the University of Illinois He has led a crediting and other program reviews at many at many universities nationwide Wix parallel career In public media began at the first research a direct as the first research director and then New PBS and subsequently as its director of long-range planning He later served as chair of the board and CEO of PBS 12 and chaired several national public broadcasting organization organization boards He holds degrees from Stanford BA and the universities of Pennsylvania MA and Illinois PhD and has traveled wired wildly widely and I like the other one better and Conducted research and lectured all of in over a dozen countries He's also been a Fulbright scholar serving in Ethiopia as an advisor to the government on Media policy and lecturing at several universities. He lives in Iowa, Colorado with his spouse Susan Tenenbaum, and they're two cats and is an avid skier by bicyclist swimmer and sailor He teaches basic cure boat sailing and has logged over 26,000 offshore yacht Chartering and delivery miles and one more thing I Recently discovered that wick was the individual who coined the term closed captioned Boy, we were so delighted when wick accepted the invitation For our president-elect position at Broderick Club of Iowa Please join me in welcoming wick Roland to the stage I'd forgotten forgotten about the closed captioning Actually PBS played a central role in the developing of that technology and now that My own hearing is becoming impaired. I In my very advanced middle age, I Find that some of the issues we dealt with in those days when I was much younger and much more careless about it Mean a lot more. I Want to thank Mary for that way too generous introduction and also To Debbie We should really acknowledge the hard work. She's done to put this assembly together You know the old phrase about herding cats When you're dealing with three presidents of Rotary clubs and three presidents of Lex You've got a whole kennel full of cats and she's she's done just a wonderful job So it's gonna it's quite an honor to be able to introduce and moderate the discussion among our three panelists Jim Hallerman Steve Warner and Ramon Sanders only it's going to be a little difficult in certain respect because Steve is stuck down in a little to me became ill today and The snow is very very heavy in their area and he just was not able to make it up here tonight So unfortunately for you, you're going to hear me give his presentation when we get to that But we'll see what we can do to work through it each of the panelists including Steve Has a unique perspective and expertise on approaches to peace building globally and locally And each can address particular aspects of the challenges we face in international national and local communities But before introducing them, I'd like to take a moment to say something about why these three local Rotary clubs decided to collaborate in organizing this event and Sort of a question that you might be asking is you know Why is Rotary sort of so interested in this topic and why is February? peace and conflict resolution month in the Rotary calendar Well, first off there is of course just the intrinsic interest in and the need for discussion of This sort of thing throughout the US and around the globe Unfortunately as we all know all too well Conflicts war and violence seem to be endemic to the human condition and while during the past half century There certainly has been much mitigation of the worst of their threats They persist and we just have to look at the news every day for evidence of that Militancy and social unrest constantly disrupt the progress of human civilization And apart from the terrible tolls that they take on individuals and communities They always are in danger of expanding into regional and global Confligrations The second reason for our being involved in this has to do with the deeper history of Rotary itself, and I wonder if you're good show you've got that. Thank you Let's just take a moment to run through this outline As many of you know Rotary began in the very early 20th century as a voluntary organization of business and other professional leaders Meeting in fellowship and dedicated to providing service to their local communities But it's formative years and this is something a lot of us haven't really grasped before We're framed by the extreme nationalism in the early 20th century and the destructedness of World War two As you will call that is was just an absolutely terrible bloodbath That raged for four years In Western Europe if you've never been by the way if you've never been to Verdun go to the Peace Museum They are the Verdun Memorial I guarantee you if you weren't a pacifist when you went in you will be when you come out the war just had terrible effects and it Had the experience of it led to serious concerns Within Rotary as an organization about how effective its work could be in the face of such civil and international discord That in turn then led Rotary to begin thinking how to frame its programs and service projects as countervailing forces to conflict and violence so if we go to the second Page there Charlotte, thank you The experience of the depression and the rise of totalitarian states in Western Europe and in other parts of the world led to a considerable amount of renewed thinking on the part of Rotary about how to deal with These kinds of conflicts which now even after the so-called great war to end all wars turned out to be even worse During the in the middle of the war Rotary Looked inward and began to talk about what it should be doing in the future to help in the post war environment, so it Created declarations of respect for human rights And it began active programs for study and research and action in areas such as education science and culture in fact that work was so seminal That it had tremendous impact in the discussions that led to the formation of the United Nations And Indeed into the very charter of UNESCO itself the United Nations educational scientific cultural organization And little known to to most of us over the years has been the fact that there were dozens of Rotarians who were among the delegates in San Francisco who were responsible for drafting the UN Charter subsequently Rotary has been involved in a whole range of activities that contribute in various ways to peace building and Conflict resolution that theme became one of its then six areas of focus There are now seven having to do with the fact that we've had an environment in the last few years Rotary led the charge internationally for the eradication campaign Of for polio Working with UNICEF again another UN organization the World Health Organization in the Center for Disease Disease Control It has created a series of peace centers At universities seven six or seven of them around the globe who have Very distinguished curricula with regard to peace and conflict studies And it has created a peace fellows program in association with those universities And it's partnered with all kinds of institutes and international Global organizations, and I think we have something like Jimmy. You may know more than that And I do 1600 peace fellows around the world now working in NGOs In governments of all kinds and in various private and public organizations But probably and this is the kicker There are thousands upon thousands of service projects At the club level at the club and district level and even with our eye support at the international level in education health Sanitation disease prevention and so on all of them with the idea that this has something to do with reducing the calculus for War conflict and violence in the society and leading more to a peaceful environment, so that's that explains something about why we're having this discussion here as sponsored and facilitated By just three small Rotary clubs in the in Boulder County, Colorado So let's move on To the main event which is the presentations By our distinguished panelists I'd like to introduce first Jim Halderman Many of you knowing he's a former district governor of 5450 And as someone said to me the other day, he's a real energizer bunny He's gonna get a lot done and it's really true Among other things. He's an expert in anger and conflict management and in cognitive behavioral change Building on widespread interest in science music theater and philosophy He has taught interpersonal communication Violence mitigation and life skills in a wide range of organizations from businesses to prisons a Long-term Rotarian he's been a key figure as I suggested in the governance and peace initiatives of district 5450 Serving not only in present as president of his home club in golden, but also as I said district governor and Chair of the district's peace committee and currently as the district's ombudsman In recognition of his outstanding and consistent Commitment to Rotary's work in peace and conflict resolution He is a recipient of Rotary International's service above self Doesn't get much better than that so Let me introduce Jim Halderman whose topic tonight is go wage peace Thank You wick. It was pretty close to the way. My mother wrote it Wicked told me to be short. I Promised that I would remain short stuck tonight is about preventing the next war I'm more than happy to talk to anybody about Ukraine The why is the war for us in the Watts after this tonight? When you're facing down the barrel of a ganet, it's not time to talk about prevention I really am excited because I truly believe the world is at a tipping point as Malcolm Gladwell would say That tipping point is for nation states to find a different way a more peaceful way to deal with civil-disrest Conflict other than violence Today there are thousands of organizations working to build peace that did not exist 20 years ago. I Sincerely believe rogery can be that tipping point So what we all are really looking for is that sense of security to feel safe in one's own environment The real question then should be what brings a security? As Maslow's hierarchy of needs the desire for security is number two right after food and shelter So what brings us security? Robert Gates the Secretary of Defense in 2007 under President George W. Bush gave a talk at Kansas State University and In that talk he said that He made the comment that I am here to make the case for strengthening the case of soft power What is it? Does it bring me security? Soft power is anything the guns Soft power is neither soft nor easy. It is not singing kumbaya It is not gathering to sing kumbaya at all. It is hard yet concrete action that individuals like Routarians That take to resolve difference peacefully You know in that same speech Gates went on to say what is clear to me? Is that there is a need for dramatic increase in spending of the civilian instruments of national security like? diplomacy Strategic communication for an assistance civic action and economic reconstruction and development There was also another meeting just last December at the United Nations Security Council In that Security Council it was repeated to take action and preserve projects programs and policies that address the underlying causes of conflicts including poverty inequality Ethnic tensions lack of access to education and unequal distribution of resources Doesn't this begin to sound like rotary seven areas of focus? It is talk rubber Gates implored the government to spend more money on soft power He knew it made a difference He knew it would not be popular when he got back there But he was speaking from his heart because he knows that we spend 80 times on hard power Versus soft power yet a soft power that makes the true difference Recently in a Rotarian magazine listed some books Supposedly promoting peace such as why we fight After reading this one and so many more on why we have gone to war I'm left with this empty feeling our focus is such a misplaced with such material All of our understanding of why we fight has done little to bring a security. I now know It is time to stop asking why we fight Why we go to war and ask what are the alternatives? There are several myths about war. It's inevitable. It's necessary and so on but the primary concern here is When speaking of keeping the peace is the need for security So the real question comes down to what truly brings us security Here's where Rotary comes in In 2017 Rotary International signed an agreement with the Institute for Economics and Peace otherwise known as IEP to work together to build To build peace IEP offers three critical tools for Rotarians in the search for peace First it is a tremendous data source 14 years ago the founder Steve Kalalia was working on these projects and realized There were no markers of what worked and are we making a difference and to know what worked into recognized changes He gathers several experts in the field in the in the nation and studied 1400 markers in 163 countries and Which is 98% of the world's population every year they accumulate numbers that tell us give us knowledge of what works How much do we spend how much do we spend on this? How much do we incarcerate? How much do we? Fight what's what's the level of violence in the world and Which are on the materials out on that table, but second Steve asked what is typical amongst most peaceful nations? Because there was again no markers. What is typical? What are we looking for? What are we working for? They recognized eight consistent characteristics giving us the guidelines on where emphasis Needs to be placed. They allowed us to quickly analyze any community and understand its strengths and weaknesses There are eight pillars that include everything that Robert Gates and the security council were describing and more The third tool is the use of John Galton's who is the father of peace in the 70 who began writing the books about peace He came up with the idea of negative peace and positive peace negative peace is the it's the measures of internal security the violence and militarization the incarceration or the bad Positive peace is defined as these attitudes The institutions and structures that create and sustain peaceful societies or the good The attitudes refer to how do we feel about government and our sense of security? We must ask ourselves if we truly believe Peace is possible What is my sense of security? What can I do to create a more peaceful world if any Uncertainty or doubt in our mind's peace is possible use the tools in the handout that are out there on the table All of the information is there for us start with knowing Peace is possible reality follows belief And I was intrigued if you read the bottom of the sheets that you were handed when you come in Eleanor Roosevelt said it isn't enough to talk about peace one must believe in it It isn't enough to believe in it one must work at it The institutions that we're talking about are all of the organizations that work towards peace like Rotary All of our work Rotarians do local or global global We should overlay these eight pillars as a guide to maximize the benefits The pillars are systemic thinking on how one aspect affects the entire environment No one activity is a standalone event How are we infecting the entire environment? How can we influence peace? It's not enough for the guns to be quiet It takes the action of Rotarians doing the project we have always done But only now with the emphasis on peace using the guidelines that are out there on the table That they're created by IEP Information how to learn about IEP and many more of the tools for peace building are on the on the handout there again on the tables Peace comes from the action that we take it does not happen by itself The concept of peace building sounds daunting Again, the tools are listed or out there on the table. It's like eating the elephant We eat the elephant one bite at a time Insanity is to find his reputation with the expecting of change We've been doing the same thing over and over and over for millennium change comes first from within we think We think differently. We learn new ideas. Then we take the action steps towards creating peace Peace does not happen to us. It happens by us Start a peace committee We have an active district here with the peace committee eager to help join and learn the road reaction group for peace with all of the resources It is critical to our planet and to all of us that we find a way to deal with the challenges Our in our search for personal security in a more positive manner Whether we're dealing with climate change environment war immigration These are international problems that we cannot handle alone. We must work together and that requires peace Yes, peace begins with you It begins with me Our words our actions all should be a piece Study the materials learn the piece can be the way Again rotary shines by speaking by acting and by living the four-way test Seek the truth be more accepting ask more questions show more empathy Start peace building committee and listen to the ideas that began to come out of each participant Rotary can be the tipping point major change comes from people Governments will follow the people making the changes for good our Rotarians It's interesting next year's theme Will be great hope in the world And I would love to combine that with our current theme which you see hanging in front of us Imagine rotary creating peace in the world Thank you, or let's go wage peace So this is the awkward to introduce someone else in order to tell you what he was going to do here tonight as well but because steve Warner has played such a crucial role in this next topic, I really want to say something About him and How it sets up what we're going to discuss here in the next few minutes steve is Another long-time rotarian some of you know He's cut from the same cloth as halterman He's just incredibly active in a whole range of things throughout the district and with ri generally He's a a member of the denver southeast club and has been heavily involved In the club district and international levels in countless water sanitation And other service projects He's also a two-time peace corps volunteer First in korea as a younger man and then later As an experienced professional in the country of georgia And his testimony to the respect of which he has held in peace corps circles He is a past board chair of the national peace corps association He has deep experience work working with large NGOs such as care habitat for humanity water for people And he spent over he spent over 25 years as an international development consultant focusing his work primarily on nonprofit strategic planning capacity building And program and board development Most importantly with regard to his purpose for this evening Beginning nearly 15 years ago steve took a leading role among denver area rotarians and in district 54 50 to develop the partnership between peace corps and rotary That we're going to talk about tonight and he was also At the founding charter president of partnering for peace So if we could charlotte go to that steve's first slide, thank you What I want to Emphasize is that The partnership i mean i said i want to i'm not going to score this because everyone here will want to take some Pride is the partnership between peace corps and rotary began In district 54 50 Didn't not in new york not in washington not san francisco started here in denver It was the brave child primarily of my former my late friend from club 31 in denver soup fox I'm sure she didn't have the idea. She wasn't the only person to have had the idea. It was probably You know like many inventions pieces of technology. I knew ideas and ways of doing things Thought about by different people in different places, but she had the absolute determination To make it happen and what she did Was identify a number of us who were both rotarians and peace corps return peace corps volunteers from within her own club But also The district more generally and this is where steve were charlotte and a few others Came in to play there were a series of meetings In her living room that led to this talking and getting it together thinking she these There really should be a partnership and an arrangement here. How do we go about it? And i'll tell you at the outset. I was a skeptic This isn't gonna work. I've lived in washington. I know how peace corps bureaucracy works Understand the statutory limitations and various things and it's a public agency And then over here you've got r.i. International in evanston huge bureaucratic organization It's but it's private non-profit, but they're never going to get together and work yourself How wrong I was Sue and steve and the others really pushed this very very hard and they had jim's support He was a district governor At the time and by god they took it to evanston And the people our eye paid attention. Oh, yeah, maybe this makes some sense Took it to washington people of peace corps said, yeah, we don't know much about rotary. Tell us more Oh Yeah, maybe this will work So over time it came together and what you discover of course if you look very carefully Is that the three goals of peace corps? As you can see there Line up awfully well with what we think about what rotary should be all about To help people and countries around the world In all sorts of ways with trained volunteers to help promote better understanding Of americans on the part of the peoples who are served and in reverse to help promote a better understanding of other peoples On the part of americans The second slide shows you something about how rotary's area of focus Line up with those of peace corps own area of focus a very similar language very similar topics In orientations The one on the left the rotary one is of course a little out of date because I said earlier We've added an environment To Make it seven areas of focus for rotary These days, but again you see the congruence Between the emissions of both rotary And peace corps together It just seems natural then that the two outfits ought to find ways of working together And that is certainly what has begun to happen now. I'll tell you that When the pandemic the covid pandemic broke out All the peace corps volunteers around the world were called back. They had to come home. They had to bring them back And that was a huge undertaking But very well managed happily now Volunteers are returning to the field in country in country after country Around the world and what we're hoping now is that more and more of the relationships between peace corps volunteers and local rotary clubs in country And sponsoring rotary clubs at home In the u.s. We'll begin to flourish. There are dozens and dozens of these projects that are going on now They were interdicted, but now they're beginning to be picked up and I think we're going to see considerable amount of activity going forward and I'm actually hoping Many of the clubs in Throughout, Colorado will become more and more involved in sponsoring this The second the third slide that steve had says More or less If you want peace in the world educate girls Because when they grow up They're going to have a much stronger stay in the communities and countries Where they live Don't ignore them deal with that issue and focus on it and try to make them As equal citizens as possible in society after society Work on libraries. I'd go back just for a second charlotte if you could Work on libraries developing The resources Libraries in schools and in community centers around the world. This project was done by the highlands ranch Club in conjunction with peace corps volunteers who were teaching at rural schools and therefore Became a in in Costa rica and therefore became a sort of a Shining example of the way a rotary club here in the u.s. Can work both with the rotarians in country And peace corps volunteers, so it's peace through education Then on this slide for This is the important point here is that clubs can connect without bound rotarians At send-off events The Many of you have been around the world on service projects And your clubs engage That with you, but at the same time, you can in effect affiliate with peace corps organizations Both locally and abroad in those efforts and while Peace corps itself can't give volunteer contact information The contact information about volunteers to Outsiders they can alert volunteers that there are resources available From rotary and they can forward that information to the volunteers in the field Who then if they are interested are free to reach out and talk with talk with rotary clubs Either locally or or back home and it's the Again, I was as I said earth that was a skeptic about how well this was going to work And i'm just amazed at the way in which the country directors for peace corps and Rotary organizations both at the club and district level domestically and abroad are beginning to work together And have a mutual understanding trust in one another and make make things happen And then there's a dirty little secret. I got to tell you if you're interested In solving our recruiting problem for rotary they are Ideal potential rotarians. They're just the folks you want to have Coming in to shall we say rejuvenate our clubs and get More Interesting there and they already because of the congruence Of peace corps mission and focus they already get it about what rotary is. So I think we all of us in leadership positions will It would behoove us to pay more attention and get in touch for instance with the Colorado return peace corps volunteer organization chaired by charlie hunton See to it that we're making the taking advantage of any of those return volunteers who we can find in our community But you can begin that process by also looking to help send off peace corps volunteers Very often we know where people are going You know, they had their assignments. They're ready to go. They're going to go into training and so on If clubs affiliate with them Then they're got a foot in the door and whatever the country it is that you've got that water sanitation project interest in Whatever that hygiene problem is that you want to solve the educational or library support project that you want You've got to volunteer there. You already in effect Have an agent as it were in country to make it happen. So there's just all kinds of good reasons why rotary clubs Should be increasingly engaged with With the peace corps movement if you want to know more about all of this And you can't copy all of that down Just go look for partnering for peace online And it's partnering for peace There are partners for peace and there's partnerships for peace and there's this that and everything We're partnering for peace. That that's the one to look for and if you do you will find a A wealth of information about how the alliance between the two organizations Is working. So those are the notes. It's a very poor Rendering of what steve would have otherwise been here to say tonight And I appreciate your patience with me for doing that So let's let's turn to our third panelist Ramon Sanders is the restorative justice training manager for the longmont community justice partnership He's a former member of the boys and girls clubs of america in wisconsin So he's used to these winters that we've got here And his experiences in youth development and nonprofit community relations Ramon has an abiding commitment to mentoring and transforming narratives For young people as a path to healthier communities and a more peaceful civil society I think longmont and colorado were very fortunate to have inherited his enthusiasm and interests And it occurs to me And i'll enlist some of my naiwan club colleagues here in this to Talk to our club's recruiting chair Because I think ramon would be an outstanding candidate for rotary membership and you guys I got it first All right Please welcome ramon sanders First of all, I want to thank the rotary organizers and all you wonderful people For inviting lcjp to be a part of this wonderful experience It's been very informational for me. I've heard of the rotary club Wasn't quite sure the work that you all engaged in as members as Structures within these communities and within our society. So I am very appreciative for this opportunity To give you an opportunity to learn about What lcjp does within the longmont community as well as my own personal experience with restorative practices and restorative justice processes And so we'll just start there um So longmont community justice partnership Builds community through collaborative and inclusive restorative practices And gives people the opportunity to heal and create justice in the community and the world All right, so what does that mean for lcjp? It's a wonderful statement, right? We're out here creating opportunities for folks to heal. But what does that look like? we Utilize these restorative practices and restorative processes in a way that ties to the influences of indigenous roots of Reintegration and healing within their communities and societies. They believed in collective wisdom To then solve whatever harm has occurred by allowing that person to Um understand and realize their value to the community as well as the harm that they have caused to that community And then welcome back welcome them back into that community because at that time everyone was available. They needed everyone to be successful Whatever role they played therefore it was important to ensure that everyone was welcomed back felt belonged and was able to Manifest whatever value they could manifest for that community lcjp engages in a restorative justice process Which is a community group conferencing process through that process. We invite in Longmont community and uh boulder county community members to volunteer with our organization We start at a restorative practices theory Um informational level that allows people the opportunity to learn what restorative practices looks like Where it derives from and the goals and the outcomes for restorative practices and that's addressing specific harms To reintegrate our most valuable community members back into society Right, so the way we actualize or practice bring this practical use of this practice Into the longmont community. Um, yeah the longmont community. Excuse me Um We utilize these volunteers as they go through a process of learning with us What it looks like to be a community member within a community group conference What it looks like to be a co-facilitator or a facilitator in a community group conference um over time um the community through Longmont community justice partnerships partnership with Longmont safety and justice as well as the municipality Back when Beverly B title a longmont educator And uh the former police chief had an idea to support young folks within the st. Brain Valley school district to then create this opportunity To reduce suspensions and to reduce expulsions that then manifest today what we have is this community group conference Right, which is a restorative practice But it's a restorative justice process because we're directly Engaged in partnering with the longmont municipal court system for young folks The rewind project we currently launched in partnership with the longmont youth and services Children services family longmont youth center as well as longmont law enforcement is to divert All young folks that may be law enforcement Have a law enforcement interaction That is not an immediate arrestable offense, right? So immediate violence or what have you so more low level offenses to have that young person divert it through a Intervention program that allows them an opportunity to take responsibility for what has happened, right? Maybe be an outpass curfew Get into a fight with a classmate Caught stealing or caught In possession of marijuana or alcohol, right an opportunity to understand The impacts to themselves and and possibly their future as well as the impacts of the community that may have happened Right, so oftentimes in restorative practices We talk about harms that are tangible and intangible, right the harm that we intended Right, is it necessary? Does it necessarily mean our impact? It doesn't affect folks, right? I didn't intend to harm you, but it's still impacted you in a certain way Restorative practices in these processes allow for an opportunity for us to connect on a human level to understand Miscommunication to have difficult dialogue and conversations to then figure out what is needed within the community And those relevant to the situation to then move forward Right and what that looks like for the community as well It's very influential for young folks to hear about how their actions affect Other people within that community. That's why we utilize the collective wisdom of our of our volunteers Who come from the Longmont community, right? They can share with these young folks The effects that they have on their community members their community as well as hear about the hopes that they have for these young folks in their community We do offer Opportunities for referrals Up to law enforcement's discretion for adults as well, but it has to be right A specific case that's suitable for restorative justice Restorative justice, is it meant to replace the criminal justice system? It's meant to Mitigate folks that are low-level offenders Right or folks that may have made a mistake to not get caught up in a system that then leads them down a path of shame right a path of Not feeling that they're welcomed or belong and that then can cause more strike within our communities, right? So that's one of our processes at lcjp is working with In partnership with our community partners to reduce reoffences of young folks as well as to Do our best to create a new pathway for those young folks to then hold themselves Accountable and be responsible for what may have happened Right what what has happened? And that seems to be the difference in our processes when it comes to when we think of our traditional justice systems punitive You did something what law was broken now. We're going to determine based on whatever exists What your punishment will be right and hope that you learn from that Or in restorative practices the questions we ask are what has happened right Why did it happen? Who was affected? What can be done to make this right? And there's a spectrum right that starts from preventative to intervention The work that we do beyond the community group conference is the work that we do with their restorative practices restorative practices in schools Through that model through that framework the goal is creating peaceable schools or restorative communities to aid in the learning community not to Um absolve young folks Of their responsibility for showing up in these communities But to create a space a container for those young folks to cultivate authentic relationships With whoever is involved in that community Then to be able to dive into more formal restorative processes to then address specific issues like maladaptive behavior the hope is Through restorative processes that we then get an idea of underlying effects Right restorative practices and restorative processes can't solve all our problems But they can help us discover what is needed or what process or what steps are needed to take To support this community member right or to aid in whatever practice Whatever support is needed in order to help this young person find their purpose Right or adult to find this purpose any community member Beyond the restorative practices and the restorative tools that we provide for educators to assist Within cultivating authentic relationships with young folks in their classrooms to aid collective learning We do this within a community of practice within our volunteers and our staff folks Beyond learning processes beyond Updating them of our partner's needs Within the work that we do in our partnership with rewind projects or with law enforcement We provide opportunities for practicing relational mindfulness To cold to be able to cultivate authentic relationships for no matter who steps into that Process within our organization. They feel welcomed enough To take responsibility for what has happened To then work towards repair In order to fully reintegrate folks back into our community I like to believe this as what mlk once coined The beloved community whereas a community comes together for the success of all community members through radical acceptance radical love And that's pretty much introductory we could dive in deeper But it's it's really if you want more information check out our website We have opportunities To learn opportunities to practice with us as well as opportunities just to have a conversation And talk about how you can get involved and we're always looking for volunteers because it's important to have the collective wisdom of our community members as we Do our best to aid and what our community needs to move forward for the success of all our young folks So the deal was as I was supposed to stand here like a sort of Dea second machina And the three panelists would be over here and we would ask questions So I guess we'll still try to do that the I believe everyone was handed cards When we came in And you were asked to write out your questions and then I don't know Who's coordinating the collection of those cards at the moment? Well that may we may just have to default to that Under the circumstances see good leadership. Debbie is kind of going with the crowd What we need you'll have to the part of the reason we were thinking of cards was the the The inability to hear well, so please speak up Okay, I may be identify yourself too. Yes There's a concerted effort within partnering for peace to make linkages between clubs and There are local Peace Corps Um I've got to tell you to speak up I should do See you and CSU have been extraordinarily productive with regard to volunteers going into the field And they have had very active clubs on their campuses Over the years. So, yeah, I think through the partnering for peace Agency we we can help link those up and it if you're interested and not clearly we're all here within colorado and in the vulva county area I'll be happy to put you on to some people If necessary for those kinds of things But yeah, the idea is to get engaged with volunteers before they go out And then recapture them when they come back in Yeah Most definitely. Thank you ryan for that question. Um, yeah He asked, um If I would if I think that restorative justice processes would be good for Higher level, maybe post file folks who have already committed a crime and maybe are incarcerated No, I I think they're I know there are processes For uh folks Who are incarcerated as well as there's um high impact dialogue Which a number of our staff members have gone through training from lynn lee here in colorado And within that particular process of high impact dialogue these are more serious offenses of victim offender victim offender situations where folks have either been assaulted In a physical way, and they do have the opportunity then to Have a dialogue with this person who has caused this harm to them. I have witnessed This process before with a young lady who had been assaulted by a man who was incarcerated and had an opportunity to confront him And go through this process that they were both prepared for and both agreed to and What what happened for her was? She did find something she needed to move forward with from being able to confront This person who had caused her harm and really Also for the person it caused the harm for those restorative questions that was posed to that person that caused them to reflect In a way that they came to some realizations themselves that then sent them down a path of healing So I would say no, uh, there is a restorative process for A lot of high-stakes situations when I was uh Had the opportunity to do a couple trainings with the international institute of restorative processes the ir The irp and mediators beyond borders We were working training together with folks from Singapore South Africa virtually it was led by a group of Haitian women and uh, Some of these folks that were imploring restorative practices were employing restorative practices and like ethnic tribal conflicts Right very high stakes and we're talking about The the damage had been done and folks were trying to figure out how to move forward So they were using the restorative process as a reconciliation process and and it It can work it it does work based on the folks that are invested in the process as well as the preparation for the process and um Folks willingness to step to that table to have that conversation and go through that process So no it it is possible Okay What kind of projects for peace and what about rotary peace fellows? I tell a story. There's a gentleman in kajmir Who has completely changed to how people live in kajmir working with both the governments Uh in back of stand in india and in the local governance There are some laws that were challenging to human rights and he was able to change these Human rights in this country of kajmir So that both india and pakistan Are a little more at peace and he was a student at chill along corn The peace center in thailand There's a gentleman in the kongo That does peace programs on radio His life is constantly in danger Because they don't want him talking about peace and it's so it's this kind of commitment That has multiplied 1500 times Many of them are working with our local senators as guides There is a gentleman that i've met that is from israel that studied in in london into the school Peace school in london that is a consultant to some of our senators and So it's this kind of level that we are training and this is where your foundation dollars go There's a numerous things that our peace committees can do Certainly one of which is the simple thing is Do the peace bowls or in conifer they're building a A peace park that is a wonderful place where people can go and sit boulder has done a peace trail Where they're doing q cards or q yeah the qr codes where people can pull up different thoughts On the qr codes as you walk around this large piece the other great thing that the boulder club has done Is they are honoring a peace whoever is doing the most for peace in their community have an annual peace award Based on an individual that had done quite a bit for peace and When you study and out on the table there is the the light blue booklet and the dark blue booklet Which is about the positive piece of the negative piece it gives you a lot more information on that But it also gives you the website those are a little bit out of date, but it gives you the idea of what's available to you And studying the iep Take the classes there is a sheet out there with about 12 or 13 simple little things you can read and understand That gives you a tremendous amount of ideas Where you can go from here there the rotary peace college, which is available on The rotary website, which is about a two-hour program that you take to really understand the the tools of the economic The institute for economics and peace or iep as we call it there is Information on the rotary action group for peace and again, if you're not familiar with that action groups are Rotary members around the world combined in one cause there's about 25 different action group for peace You hear of wash rag which is a very common one Which is the water and sanitation water sanitation and hygiene rotary action group Otherwise known as wash rag rotary action group for peace rag for peace is our People literally from around the world that are intense And so you become a member of that and you meet people around the world that are doing different things and it's a Phenomenal source but again that that sheet that I have on the table with all of the list of websites and There's two little three minute videos that are so powerful that that will get you well started And once you're finished with that and so confused, please call me Yes, can we get more women in peace and thank heavens How soon can we do that? There is there is a lot of literature written on that and and I can help you again take a look at that rotary action group itself has some information on that there is There is no question There's been a couple of market Margaret Hatcher and there's been a couple of other Women rulers that have taken us to war, but unfortunately There's women rulers have been worked under a paternal society and a paternal culture So whatever we can do to get more women in peace. I will support and there is quite a bit of literature I can share with you on that Thank you most definitely. I appreciate you using the word magic as well Um, I always reflect on My time learner about restorative processes and practices and then utilizing them and my personal relationships the relationships when working with youth and Environmental education Adventure education settings, what have you and the work that lcjp engaged in extensively prior to what we do now is offer PD training and then kind of like specific trainings for counselors and interventionists not necessarily a school-wide structure More of a restorative tool series eight hours for folks to learn about Connection circles and restorative conversations, which is foundational work that then leads to that paradigm shift As well as that transformative culture shift within the school it starts The theory and the evidence suggests it starts with authentic relationships Once you've cultivated authentic relationships and the rituals and the familiarity of restorative processes Languages within schools and the students become familiar with that and start to then lean in because of the pieces of vulnerability and the opportunities for Educators and any staff person The lunch lady the janitor right the school site supervisor anyone right then We can dive into when we have more serious infractions a restorative process geared towards Not involving suspension Expulsion or punitive punishment that may affect that young person in a way that cultivates a leader Right. What lcjp did when they were Really in depth working with the schools from 2010 to 2015 They cultivated youth leadership We partner with Sources of strength, which is a social emotional learning framework in the st Green Valley school district as well for the high school level And they heavily rely on the social networking Capabilities of young folks right to lead this work When you bring in young folks to have a conversation and in the model of Cultivating facilitators for restorative processes and connection circles When you allow a young person to lead that circle with their peers in that classroom And you're the co-facilitator and you take the step back the dynamics in that circle shift drastically Right, and that's the magic you're referring to and as that happens young folks Feel a sense of belonging right a sense of purpose And and that now we're working with each other. So instead of being authoritarian, we're being authoritative, right? We're working together Young folks are holding themselves accountable to the the standards and the agreements they had staked in And understand the purpose and the reason for maybe Some of these policies and they've had buy-in and then now they actually feel like they're being listened to or heard And now they're understanding how they're affecting other people and the learning environment from their own actions And and maybe they came to school hungry Right, we can discover that through a restorative conversation right Maslow's hierarchy and needs All the methods and understanding of psychology, right? communication is Our behavior is essentially communication Right, they're trying to communicate something. They're just young and developing and overwhelmed And they live in a different world than we do. So we have to lean on The support and leadership of those young folks as well And cultivate authentic relationships Yeah, how long do I have? You know Authoritarian governments must keep you in fear to control you. So a lot of it This is why I really emphasize What is the truth? Studying the truth what we see in the news media much of our media is blind also Um That can get into a touchy. I realized but anyway Search multiple sources find. What is the truth when when we are fearful? What is it? We're fearful of Some people feel they have to sleep with a gun, but then that becomes your focus So watch what is our focus? Where do we put our focus? That's why I say it begins internally Where are we moving our focus? What are we thinking about? All of the time and find that positive place to go to to relax our own self because We you know, whatever we focus on becomes expanded. So You know check our own truth check our own internal Todd anger management for many many many years and in listening to hundreds upon hundreds of different stories It all comes down to the basic how do we deal with violence? I get a you know Several hundred different stories, but it's still one issue and whether we're talking that individual because countries are made up of individuals So it's really all of the same It's not there there isn't a hundred different causes of war and that's why i'm sick and tired of reading about why Because in the anger management, I've learned long time ago that it's just how do we deal with our own inner self? How do we deal with? Conflict is inevitable. You know my my beg type my tagline is Conflict is inevitable violence is a choice. So how are we dealing with those challenges that we see Day to day and what are our alternatives? And that's seeking out the alternatives and that's why You know again go to the my little handout. There's just gods of resources on different ways to look at I hope that helps but It's finding finding the peace here finding the understanding what what and being able to sit back and look at it What is truly bringing this fear? Is it real? What is the truth? Yeah, when you think of Conflict transformation It's about understanding that it's inevitable. It's gonna happen. It's gonna arise. It's what we do with that And within the restorative practices Theory and framework. There's this idea of a restorative mindset right, so this restorative mindset allows us to Take a step back when the fear arises or Harm be it intentional or unintentional Arises in which could cause conflict, right as you violence is the choice There's a the action and then a reaction or there's an action reflection And now we can overcome this miscommunication A sense of safety This this was a A learning for me especially when coming from Um An environment when I was younger due to my parents divorce That was um an unsafe community an unsafe environment constantly And my mother was seemingly in a state of survival Luckily my father was in my life and was raised by Um a mother and a father so he had the example laid before him And once I was able to um live with him full time from seventh grade to present day leaving wisconsin Going and living in a suburban community That was safe quiet My parents having my dad and my stepmother having structure Um that was a sense of security That I I didn't even realize existed and until Right like because he was in my life like I go spend a summer with him two weeks with him But it's not the same when you're there all the time. It's a little different Um for me and so from that experience I I had you know, just now who I am So then I come back from college and working after a couple years of college in central wisconsin Predominantly white rule, but um, you know, I can navigate. It's fine Uh got some really close family friends up there and and still to this day But uh coming back and then working with urban youth in milwaukee Uh that were from fifth grade to eighth grade and then the behaviors Right the the way they interacted And I just couldn't understand it. I couldn't fathom it. Luckily I was developing my restorative mind at that time So after um a mentor, you know calling me in a couple times and then Uh some some reflection I came to the realization This is the safest place for some of these kids That that school was their safe environment And the fact that they that was security for them Sometimes that would overwhelm them and they would um You know do something detrimental to their own success and then I would have to take a step back And be like there's something going on right rather than Leaning into some conflict with this kid to control them Right just taking a step back Allowing them to feel those emotions Validate those emotions affirm those emotions And then ask what what they needed Where could we go and then come up with some agreements to to hopefully not have this Happen again, right and then what what happens if you if these feelings start to arise again So we want to continue to Allow the place space to be secure even though it may not seem safe because they're lashing out but once again This behavior is a form of communication Right. So when we think about security and safety I always whenever I I bring a group of folks together for a circle. I say this is a brave space What do you need for this brave space because I can't cultivate safety for anyone Right, that's that's for us to figure out Ourselves but to be brave and then to do my best To ensure that I'm trying to cultivate a safe space Right and and going from there. So security is a tricky one. It's a tricky one so gentlemen Ramon, thank you for that. It's really quite quite helpful to see you have those insights from personal The producers are giving me the hook As we say in broadcasting and So This talk could go on for another hour. The questions are absolutely great. It's wonderful And you can see the talent that we have here to respond to them So I hate to hate to break it off at this point We've got a couple more things to do just one concluding remark or a thought kind of going back to Jim's comment during this talk about the Piece is vested in the actions that Rotarians Take doing their projects and Perhaps if we take away anything denied it is that maybe we can reframe Reunderstand a little bit better all of the work that we do in our clubs All the service projects that we commit to all the money that we raise and give out through our club foundations And so on has a lot to do every time you give a book to a library in Costa Rica or every time you help dig a well in india and work out a sanitation program All of those kinds of activities Are contributing to the process of peace building and conflict resolution. So thank you very much and we'll move on to the next day Great Thanks wick. Thanks to our panelists on my name is tim waters I'm with the Longmont Rotary Club and I have the good fortune Of sending you out of here tonight with a call to action So you you came tonight at the invitation of these clubs That great information great perspective great experience great wisdom And lots of resources that have been identified What we want to make certain that tonight is the beginning of a conversation Not the end of one We want you To take what you've learned tonight And embrace an opportunity to actually kind of create some of the brave circles that we just heard we were going to talk about So if you haven't on your way out Pick up a blue flyer. They're sitting out on the desk This is a this is a probably a painfully Detailed set of instructions on how to engage if you're interested In project peace and safety It's it's based on a few premises and i'm going to share real quickly and then Introduce when and we'll get you out of here Hear the premises If we aspire to a future of greater peace and safety Realizing that is up to the people in this room To your family your friends other Rotarians Whether you're a Rotarian or a Presbyterian right and I see my pastor from my church From the Presbyterian sitting right up in the back So some of us can be both Presbyterians and Rotarians regardless of your walk in life the path you've taken how you got here take Two and a half hours over the next three months Engage with friends Neighbors the people you care most about to answer three questions the first is What are your worst fears? About a future of greater peace and safety and the reason we would ask that question is because we walk around with them every day And we we act on those worst fears consciously or unconsciously Acknowledge what they are and that's possible set them aside With your with the people you love ask a second and answer a second question. What are your best hopes? For a future of greater peace and safety and I guarantee you when you look at the two lists The second list will look so different than the first in terms of your aspirations For a future of greater peace and safety and the third question is What are you willing to do? What are the strategies you're willing to pursue? to realize your best hopes For us to live into an aspirational future. It's it's not enough to turn. I'm I am an elected official It's not enough to turn to your elected officials. It's not a left turn to your government It's not enough to turn to to law enforcement Although all have places and roles in this in the stability in the future of this community But if it's going to be a future of greater peace and safety, it's not up to them It's not up to someone else. It's up to us And we've heard great stories about what's happening around the world with rotarians This is time to do this right now in this community over the next three months So if you if you'll take this With the instructions is an offer if you'll work through those to that through the structured process Send me the results of your effort And I've set a deadline for may 26th. I'll compile the results of every conversation occurs in Longmont if you'll send them to me I'll produce a report for the community For us to share as rotarians as presbyterians Whatever wherever you find yourself interacting across the community I can hardly wait to hear to see rick evers and his congregation Uh, the the american association and university women others who have already said we're going to participate in that in this process And see the brilliance in this community And the aspirations that we can share together And I and identify how we work together to make them real in this community So whatever's happening in the rest of the world, however frustrating However fearful right here right now over the next three months We get a chance to have a different conversation we get to frame it differently And agree on how we move forward together And and offer your strategies to the rest of the community for realizing your best hopes now We've all we've all seen the the now cliche by from Mahatma Gandhi that Being a curious to be the change we want to see in the world. This is an opportunity to do that The last thing i'm going to say is that my wife years ago gave me a poster that I put on the wall in my in my office that said I used to ask why somebody doesn't do something Then I realized I am somebody So leave here tonight and be the somebody's over the next three months To help forge an aspirational vision of this community one of peace and safety That we create together That's your call to action Tonight's not a one-off event. It's the beginning of a conversation And we're going to continue to update you on the results of your work as we go forward Thanks for being here. You could have been anywhere tonight and you chose to be here What a statement about you and how important the topic this is Now I want to invite Wen Yan Pei up to Wen Yan Wen Pen Ye, sorry Wen, up president of the Longmont Rotary Club We're gonna have a couple of closing remarks and send you on your way. Thanks Well, thank first. I want to thank you Poochee even though he is not here But he's in his speech in and Jim and Steve and Ramam for your informative Discussion on this very important topic today. Let's give them a round of applause special thanks to Rotarians and volunteers from the Longmont Rotary Club Twin Peaks Club and NYWA Club For making today's assembly possible May I have all the Rotarians from these three clubs stand please Thank you for making our community a better place Last but not least Thank you all for carving out your precious time on this cold winter weather To discuss how we can build community build peace one step at a time as a community Please give yourselves and each other a big round of applause to me Building peace can happen everywhere When you are content by yourself You are at peace When you smile and say hi to your neighbors You build peace in your neighborhood When you reach out to people who might need help and offer your help You are building peace in your community When you spend time listening to people who look and talk differently from you and welcome them You build peace by creating an inclusive environment If you want to find like-minded people who care about peace and service I invite you all to be our guests And come to one of our Rotary meetings in the area and experience that first hand Rotary International has 1.4 million people Members around the world And in every club meeting regardless which country or time zone we are in We recite the four-way test Now I will turn it to Ashley and let her tell you more about the four-way test We're all ready to go and we're going to leave by Saying the four-way test together. It's on the back of this resource sheet And we say this at every Rotary meeting and it's nonpartisan. It's about building good relationships Of the things we think say or do is that the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendships? Will it be beneficial to all concerned? Thank you so much for joining us for this assembly tonight drive safely