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Restorative Justice & Social Healing in the U.S and Beyond

A Free ongoing Telecouncil Series illuminating the powerful upsurge of Restorative Justice practices in the US and beyond and providing a platform for deep dialogue, education, and resources. Featuring some of the world's foremost way-showers in respective fields relating to RJ, Justice, and Social Healing. Welcome!

Thursday, May 17th: Libby Hoffman, Founder & President of Catalyst for Peace and Co-Founder of Fambul Tok.

5pmPST/8pmEST

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LIBBY HOFFMAN

 

Libby Hoffman is the founder and President of Catalyst for Peace, a Portland, Maine-based private foundation that mobilizes locally-owned and led peacebuilding and reconciliation in conflict and post-conflict settings, and pioneers in storytelling to share the lessons of this work with the world. She co-founded Fambul Tok (Family Talk), which brings victims and perpetrators from the civil war in Sierra Leone together for the first time in village-level, tradition-based ceremonies of truth-telling and forgiveness, reknitting the torn fabric of the community in the process. She produced the award-winning documentary film about this work, Fambul Tok, and is the lead author of the book of the same name, published by Umbrage Editions – both released in 2011.

 

Libby has been active in peacebuilding for 25 years in a variety of capacities – professor, trainer, facilitator, program director, consultant, and funder.  A former Political Science professor at Principia College, she left academia to focus on the practice of conflict resolution and peacebuilding.  She has developed and led conflict resolution training programs in corporate, congregational, educational and community settings.  She was a founder and Executive Director of Peace Discovery Initiatives, which pioneered in positive approaches to peacebuilding, as well as in mobilizing religious resources for peace.  She has designed, convened and facilitated backchannel Middle East peacemaking initiatives and worked to bring grassroots Israeli and Palestinian peacemakers together with American policymakers, work which culminated in the establishment of the Center for World Religions, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University. She founded Catalyst for Peace in 2003, and prior to dedicating its focus to Fambul Tok, she worked in partnership with the United Religions Initiative training interfaith peacebuilders in northern Uganda, Ethiopia, the Philippines, and India.

 

Libby holds an M.A.L.D. from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, and a BA in Political Science from Williams College. She is married to Seth Johnson, and they have a daughter and 2 grown sons.

 

Major Publications and Awards:

 

Fambul Tok, Producer and Executive Producer (won Best Documentary, Fort Myers Film Festival; Best of Fest, Global Social Change Film Festival; Human Spirit Award, and Honorable Mention Best Doc at Nashville Film Festival; Best Documentary, Audience Choice Award, Rhode Island Film Festival; Crystal Heart Award, Heartland Film Festival; Best Feature, Show Me Justice Film Festival; Signis Award, Zanzibar Film Festival; Best Documentary, Queens World Film Festival; Best Documentary, Reynolda Film Festival; Jury Grand Prize, Non Violence International Film Festival)

 

2011 Peacebuilder of the Year, Common Folk Awards

 

Fambul Tok, the book, published April, 2011 by Umbrage Editions: Lead author

 

TEDxDirigo featured speaker, Fall, 2011: “Forgiving the Unforgiveable.”

 

Middle Schoolers “Walk the Tok,” Director and Producer: short film about 6th graders applying the lessons of Fambul Tok to transformational effect.

 

Reconciliation in Sierra Leone: Local Processes Yield Global Lessons in The Fletcher Forum of World Affairs, Summer 2008

 

We Unite, Producer: 2008 short film produced about the grassroots interfaith organization, the United Religions Initiative

 

Faith Into Action, Producer: 2008 short film about the grassroots interfaith peacebuilding work of the United Religions Initiative.

 

 


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