The Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado has donated $65,000 to PeaceJam in support of its 10th Anniversary Youth Conference, scheduled to be held September 15-17 at the University of Denver. The conference will feature as many as 10 Nobel Peace Laureates, including the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and is anticipated to attract 3,000 young people from around the world.
The mission of PeaceJam is to inspire a new generation of peacemakers, and its annual conference provides a venue for Nobel Peace Laureates to guide thousands of young people through grass-roots projects that teach implementation and organizational skills – including project planning, presentation development, and results reporting. In addition to its conference, PeaceJam reaches kids through public schools, homeless shelters, and church youth groups, transcending a variety of social and ethnic demographics.
According to Dawn Engle, PeaceJam’s other co-founder, says that the power of diverse backgrounds to affect change is fundamental to programs such as the upcoming Youth Conference, which is attracting young people from 31 different countries. “All youth are vulnerable to the pressures of life, and all are capable of making the world a better place. The cornerstone of the conference is to give young people the critical thinking skills they need to achieve balanced points of view,” she said. “Contributions from the Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado have helped us teach kids that by being genuine, being themselves, and embracing the ways they are different, they can achieve great things,” Engle added.
Hundreds of youth in the Denver area have participated in the PeaceJam program. Rudy Balles, a former gang leader from Pueblo, is a PeaceJammer whose apprenticeship under Laureate Rigoberta Menchú Tum helped him discover the meaning of diversity and open mindedness. Balles is now program director for the Gang Rescue and Support Project in Denver, helping gang members make better decisions for themselves and stop causing harm to their communities. “Violence is taught and endorsed everywhere, but peace is not. Peace needs to be discussed as a new tool to overcome violence,” said Balles.
“Our own mission is to improve quality of life and strive for equality for all people – and PeaceJam’s active participation in making the world a more peaceful place to live is in perfect alignment with that mission,” said Mary Lou Makepeace, executive director of the Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado. “We applaud PeaceJam for all of its positive energy and achievements over the past 10 years, and we wish them great success in the years to come.”
For more information about the PeaceJam Youth Conference on September 15-17, visit www.peacejam.org. Teenagers between the ages of 14 and 19 years old are welcome to attend the PeaceJam 10th Anniversary Celebration and can register for the event by calling 303-455-2099 or registering online at the organization’s Web site.
About the Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado
The Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado was established in 1996 as a program to financially support nonprofit organizations that enhance the quality of life in Colorado and promote equality for all people. Since its inception, the fund has awarded more than $16 million to hundreds of nonprofit organizations whose program areas include arts and culture, civic leadership, healthy families and public broadcasting. In addition to providing financial assistance, the Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado offers training programs, workshops, technical assistance and public meeting space to strengthen nonprofit organizations’ ability to grow, flourish and succeed. The organization is headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado. For more information please visit www.gayandlesbianfund.org.
About the Funds
Every year, the Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado receives a financial allocation from its parent organization, the Gill Foundation, that must be donated in the form of grants to nonprofit organizations that have an IRS 501(c)(3) status and adhere to a nondiscrimination policy inclusive of sexual orientation. These monies, which typically amount to approximately 18 to 20 percent of the Gill Foundation’s earned investments, are not used for private or political purposes, in accordance with IRS regulations.