Peace Solutions to War Torn Countries Globally
Conference at Harvard University
June 19
Featuring Nancy Lindborg,
President of the
United States Institute of Peace

Everywhere. And she has spent most of a remarkable career proving that.
At USAID, as an example, Nancy’s teams responded to conflicts in Syria, droughts in Africa, the Arab Spring, and the Ebola response to name several.
She has traveled with her team to help transform social dynamics, working to help people survive in fragile and conflict-affected regions around the world.
It is not easy developing new mindsets and frameworks to places that are ravaged by conflict.
She explained her work to Forbes Magazine when she was executive director of Mercy Corps:
“We are focused on what we see is our greatest value --to help catalyze social change after you have a disaster or conflict. To help people organize for the change that people want to see. We help people sustain the changes that they want to see. Working in economic realm has led us to be social entrepreneurs. When we look at projects, we look for innovations that can begin in a community but also can have a scale.”
Presently, Nancy serves as President of the United States Institute of Peace. This non-partisan independent institution founded by the United States Congress provides practical solutions for preventing and resolving conflict around the world.
One way she helps create sustainable peace is to include more women in the work of conflict resolution and peace negotiations.
Research has found, that there is a substantially better chance that a peace agreement will last 15 years or more, when women are included in the peace process.
Women, focused less on issues of domination and control, and more on issues of reconciliation, economic development, education, and social issues.
In her current role leading the United States Institute of Peace, Nancy helps create pathways for more and more women to enter leadership roles in peace negotiations.
Striving to create more inclusive and respectful societies, the institute supports the work of local leaders, like a woman named Flor in Columbia. Flor graduated from the Institute’s mediation and negotiation training program. She went on to do work in her own community, such as organizing the families and parents of 38 children and teens who were abducted and recruited into a renegade army. The team Flor led traveled unarmed into the jungle to meet with the commander where she engaged in multi-day negotiations, and successfully secured the release of all 38 children.
Nancy Lindborg is the first woman president of the United States Institute of Peace. She asserts that solutions for peace are not military, but result from new forms of human process, mindsets, and approaches to people with different backgrounds and cultures.
She believes peace is possible and understands the complications and nuances to problems that lead to conflict, displacement and refugees, and war.
Nancy Lindborg has lived a life that is a beacon of experience, expertise, and hope.
She is a heroine and symbol for peace in the world.
For this, we are honoring her with The 2018 Human Excellence Award.
The 2018 Human Excellence Awards to honor heroes in high-impact social innovation.
Harvard University
Tuesday, June 19, 2018
Hear Nancy Lindborg
and other Renowned Speakers