FAQ

2023 Fact Sheet

 

Overview:

The Projects for Peace Alumni Award seeks to recognize individuals who demonstrate innovation and persistence in building peace and transforming conflict.

 

Projects for Peace is a global program that partners with educational institutions to identify and support young peacebuilders and changemakers.The program encourages young adults to develop innovative, community-centered, and scalable responses to the world's most pressing issues. Along the way, these student leaders increase their knowledge, improve skills, and begin to see themselves as agents of change. Since 2007, Projects for Peace has worked with approximately 115 colleges and universities to support almost 2000 projects.

 

Each year, the Projects for Peace Alumni Award will award up to $50,000 to support the continuing peacebuilding efforts of past Projects for Peace grantees. The Award is made possible through the Kathryn Wasserman Davis Collaborative in Conflict Transformation at Middlebury.

 

The Award:

• Winners receive up to $50,000.
• Winners will attend a multiday Conflict Transformation retreat at Middlebury College, with an opportunity to discuss their work with the Conflict Transformation community at Middlebury.
• The Kathryn Wasserman Davis Collaborative in Conflict Transformation at Middlebury expects to fund at least one award each year through 2028.

 

Eligibility:

• Applicants must have implemented a Project for Peace any time in the history of the program. The applicant's name must appear on the approved final report submitted at the conclusion of their Projects for Peace grant.
• Applicants must be nominated by the educational institution which supported their Project for Peace. No direct-apply or "at-large" applications will be accepted.
• Educational institutions nominating applicants need not be current Projects for Peace partners, but must have been a partner institution in the past.

 

Expectations:

 

In the first year, winners will be asked to:

 

• Write brief 6-month and 1-year reports reflecting on implementation, impact, and lessons learned. Receipts/full budget accounting is not required in these reports. Instead, a general update on major expenditures is requested, with commentary on notable challenges, successes, and/or deviations from the original budget plan.
• Attend a multiday Conflict Transformation retreat at Middlebury College, with an opportunity to engage with the Conflict Transformation community at Middlebury. This is tentatively scheduled for June 12-16, 2023.
• Participate in a reflection session with Projects for Peace and the Conflict Transformation Collaborative at the end of the first year (virtual or in-person).

 

After the first year:

 

• Invitation to consult with Projects for Peace and the CT Collaborative about your experiences, via annual/biannual discussions, to strengthen our endeavors
• Invitations to Projects for Peace events and convenings.

 

Additional Opportunities:

• Winners, finalists, and nominees and their nominating institutions may be publicly recognized through print and social media.
• Finalists and their nominators may be invited to participate in annual events or participate in special opportunities supported by the Conflict Transformation Collaborative at Middlebury.

 

Selection Criteria:

We anticipate that the nominees will collectively represent a range of disciplines and approaches to peacebuilding. Selection criteria will include:

 

• Evidence of persistence in pursuing peacebuilding activities. Applicants need not be currently working on the same issues, or using the same approaches, as their original Project for Peace.
• Evidence of innovation and creativity in approaches to peacebuilding and conflict transformation.
• Demonstration of how conflict transformation integrates, or could integrate, with their peacebuilding approach.
• Evidence of productive engagement with the conflicts that may underlie targeted issues.

For example, transforming binary conflicts to patterns of understanding and problem-solving.

• Commitment to community-engagement as well as public sharing of actions and impact,
• Evidence of critical reflection on progress to date, and consideration of how their work could be expanded and/or revised.

 

Application Process & Timeline

 

November, 2022	A description of the nomination process and all application materials will be made available to contacts at current and former Projects for Peace educational partners, who may invite alumni to participate at their discretion.   Note: Potential applicants contacting Projects for Peace or Middlebury directly will be redirected to their nominating institution.
February 13, 2023	Nominations due. Each institution may nominate no more than one applicant by submitting a completed application and letter of endorsement.
February, 2023	Nominated applications will be reviewed, and finalists selected.
March, 2023	Finalists will be interviewed, and may be asked to submit additional information.
April, 2023	Winner(s) notified.
June 12-16, 2023 (Tentative dates)	Winner(s) attends a multiday Conflict Transformation retreat in June 2023 at Middlebury College, with an opportunity to discuss their work with the Conflict Transformation community at Middlebury.