PeacePlayers is excited to announce the first cohort of the Global Leadership Academy, an initiative founded in honor of Martha Buford that invests in the personal and professional aspirations of our alumni and mobilizes them to work together to create a more peaceful and equitable world.

Throughout its 21 years, PeacePlayers has amassed a community of alumni across the globe who are motivated to share PeacePlayers’ values and to transform conflict. As a result of sustained participation in long-term programming, graduates of PeacePlayers have developed leadership and advocacy skills, but many of them have been negatively impacted by inequitable social constructs, making it harder to access resources and achieve their goals. PeacePlayers’ Leadership Academy addresses this by preparing alumni – wherever they come from, and with consideration of their specific needs – to advance their career paths while building connections with other like minded leaders.

PeacePlayers’ Leadership Academy has selected 17 outstanding graduates from its programs in the United States, Cyprus, Northern Ireland, South Africa and the Middle East to participate this first cohort. Through the Leadership Academy, these alumni will access one-to-one support for career and goal mapping, college application consulting, mentorship, academic scholarships, capacity building workshops, in-person convenings, and more.

The Leadership Academy will support PeacePlayers alumni as they pursue their education and careers by equipping them with the skills, resources and networks that will enable them to assume positions of influence and to effect global systemic change. Graduates will work together to bridge divides locally, nationally and globally.