In September 2006, more than three thousand participants—many of them teenagers—from across the U.S. and around the world will join a distinguished roster of Nobel Peace Prize winners, including the Dalai Lama of Tibet and Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the PeaceJam Foundation in Denver.

In announcing that the Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado will provide financial support for the celebration, Executive Director Mary Lou Makepeace said, “Peace will never be out of style, but like everything else that makes life worthwhile, it comes from vision and work and cooperation.  At the Gay and Lesbian Fund, we are committed to equality for all, and peace—at every level of human life—is central to that goal.”

PeaceJam is a year-long, on-going educational program built around leading Nobel Peace Laureates, who work personally with youth to pass on their experience and skills. The goal of PeaceJam is to inspire a new generation who work to transform themselves, their communities and the world.  Since the PeaceJam program was launched in March 1996, more than 200,000 teenagers worldwide have attended 105 PeaceJam youth conferences, studied the lives of the prize-winning laureates, engaged in learning about and discussing strategies for peace and created more than 250,000 community action projects.  The program has just recently moved to the University of Denver, which serves as the host for all local PeaceJam events, as well as the 10th anniversary conference.

The 12 Nobel Peace Laureates who have already committed to participate in the 10th anniversary celebration are the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Rigoberta Menchú Tum, Jody Williams, Shirin Ebadi, José Ramos-Horta, Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Oscar Arias, Betty Williams, Máiread Corrigan Maguire, Bishop Carlos Belo and Wangari Maathai.  Additional Nobel Laureates are expected to announce their participation in the coming months.