Guest Speaker: Rita Marie Johnson
"Evolving the Practice of BePeace"
Our special guest speaker tonight is Rita Marie Johnson, founder of the BePeace practice and Rasur Itnernational.
In 2002, Johnson created BePeace, a practice that combines a scientifically proven method for “feeling peace” with a sure path for “speaking peace” that creates an authentic, compassionate connection. This combination inspired her to found the Academy for Peace of Costa Rica. By 2005, BePeace won the Changemakers Innovation Award: Building a More Ethical Society, chosen from 79 projects in 32 countries. Now the Academy is working with the Ministry of Education to implement BePeace in every high school in Costa Rica.
In 2006, the Rasur Foundation presented a Ministry for Peace initiative that was embraced by Costa Rica’s president, Oscar Arias, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. This Ministry for Peace bill passed on August 19, 2009. As a result of Johnson’s involvement in the Global Alliance for Ministries and Departments for Peace, the Costa Rican government hosted the 2009 Summit of the Global Alliance and the Rasur Foundation facilitated it.
Johnson served the United Nations University for Peace in Costa Rica from 1999-2002. In January 2010, she returned there to teach the BePeace Foundations Course (40 hours) to graduate students from 16 countries for two graduate credits. She has initiated BePeace in ten states in the USA as well as Canada, Europe and Central America. In November 2006, she completed a speaking tour in Japan on Costa Rica as a model of peace. In July 2007, she served on the plenary panel “Women of Power” at the International Women’s Peace Conference in Dallas. Johnson serves on the Advisory Board of the National Peace Academy of the USA and served as a keynote speaker at the Department of Peace Conference in Washington DC in March 2009.
Websites:
The Peace Alliance
http://www.thepeacealliance.org/content/view/628/655/
Rasur International
Please join us!
Call Time: 9:00 Eastern, 6:00 pm Pacific
This call lasts one hour.
Call-in Number: (712) 432-1601 Code: 470821#
For more information, click here. We hope to hear you on the call.