PeacePlayers

I am currently the Executive Director of PeacePlayers International, a global organization that uses sport to unite and educate young people in divided communities. In this role, I provide leadership to five sites around the world: the Middle East, Northern Ireland, South Africa, USA and Cyprus. Prior to this, I spent 13+ years serving as Managing Director of PeacePlayers Middle East. In this role, I led programs that reached more than 10,000 Palestinian and Israeli youth; developed curricula; and oversaw the first randomized control trial research in the field of sport and inter-group relations. 

I hold a Master’s degree from Bar Ilan University in Conflict Management and Negotiation, where I also completed my PhD course work and researched the impact of inter-group encounters in the intractable conflict setting. Prior to joining PeacePlayers, I worked for several peace-building organizations, including Peace Child Israel, and the Peres Center for Peace. 

There are innumerable complex factors that affect the ability to achieve peace and equality both on national and global levels. From socio-economic disparities, gender inequality, to educational and cultural segregation, to areas plagued by entrenched, inter-generational fear and violence - the effects of which transcend borders - the magnitude of today’s challenges require both political and grassroot approaches. We at PeacePlayers believe that youth have a critical role to play, and that a new generation of leaders is urgently needed to adapt existing frameworks for conflict transformation to address these challenges. 

PeacePlayers works to empower and build a network of young leaders from around the world who will become catalysts in building a more peaceful and equitable society by working towards transforming intergroup attitudes, behavior and inequitable structures.  

PeacePlayers strives to elevate humanity by creating peace advocates that are catalyzing change in their communities, rippling out to all of humanity. 

Social Divides: Lack of contact and cooperation between divided groups exacerbates fear, hatred and stereotypes that fuel discrimination, conflict and violence. 

Socio-economic inequality and structural inequities: Societal structures and socio-economic gaps further reinforce the negative attitudes and tension that fuel intergroup conflict. 

Gender Inequality: Women are disadvantaged compared to male counterparts in meeting their full potential, as they face obstacles related to control over assets, traditional gender roles, and cultural norms. 

Risks and Challenges posed by COVID-19: the current global crisis has disproportionately affected the underserved communities we work with, threatening their security, safety, physical and mental wellbeing.

Solutions: To counter these divides, PeacePlayers breaks down barriers and changes perceptions by creating a cadre of peace advocates who; through a domino effect, promote change within their own respective communities. PeacePlayers engages youth from predominantly underserved areas around the world, and emphasizes the participation of girls. In using basketball as a tool to bring youth together, we promote a peace discourse among groups who would not normally have the opportunity to connect. Lastly, PeacePlayers ensures the continuous use of innovative strategies that take into consideration recent climates, adapting programming to serve the iminent needs of the communities we work with. 

PeacePlayers is a global movement of youth leaders using basketball to create a more peaceful and equitable world. Since 2001, the organization has worked with more than 75,000 youth across 22 conflict and post-conflict regions. We offer a three-pronged model comprising: sport programming, peace education, and leadership development. The program includes the following steps:

1. Children and youth from each side of the conflict work on basketball fundamentals and life skills in a mono-communal setting, as they are prepared to meet the “other side”. 

2. When the conditions necessary for positive intergroup contact are met, youth from both sides are brought together and engaged in sport, leadership and peace education activities on mixed teams. 

3. Through frequent and long-term contact, friendships are created, and a cadre of leaders and peacebuilders from all races, genders and social groups are built. 

4. Veteran participants become certified coaches and conflict resolution facilitators, eventually leading and running the program in the organization and in their communities, while creating wider systemic change.

5. Local peace advocates are connected to the counterparts from around the world, who then work together to advance the mission in their communities and the globe.

Currently, PeacePlayers directly serves 4,000 youth aged 6-25, from divided communities around the world, including Palestinian and Israeli youth in Israel and the West Bank; Turkish and Greek Cypriots in Cyprus; Protestant and Catholic communities in Northern Ireland; white, black, and colored youth in South Africa; and recently in the United States addressing racial and socio-economical inequity across five major U.S. cities. The majority of participants come from underserved communities, with several of our programs strategically emphasizing the participation of girls. 

PeacePlayers employs a leadership pipeline model whereby youth grow up in the program, becoming the coaches and leaders of the program and within their local communities. Consequently, activities are led by people from the communities themselves, who have a deep understanding of their needs and local context. Additionally, we conduct frequent evaluations that are crucial for our organizational learning process. This helps us adapt to the changing needs of the communities we work with.  

In order to address community needs, PeacePlayers through its unique approach, transforms intergroup attitudes of participants by providing a framework for long-term, frequent, goal-oriented interaction, and equipping youth with the skills to become effective leaders and advocates for peace. 

PeacePlayers has spent nearly two decades working with youth in some of the most divided regions in the world, with the purpose of facilitating dialogue between populations  that have been divided and/or isolated due to differences in religion, ethnicity, race, gender, politics and socio-cultural and economic status. By providing a safe and inclusive space for youth to build their capacities through sports, peace education and leadership programming, PeacePlayers fosters attitude and behavioral change, by increasing youth’s confidence and skills as they become the next generation of peacebuilders and leaders across the world. 

PeacePlayers was founded by brothers Sean and Brendan Tuohey, who recognized the unifying power of basketball while growing up in the United States -  basketball being one of the only avenues in which they interacted with people from other backgrounds. With $7,000 raised from friends and family, they launched Playing for Peace (PFP) in 2001, which was later renamed PeacePlayers. Working hand-in-hand with local coaches, the program grew rapidly, launching in South Africa in 2001, Northern Ireland in 2003, in Israel and the West Bank in 2005, Cyprus in 2006, and in the USA in 2017. 

In 2006 I was hired to lead the Middle East program alongside a Palestinian co-Director. When I was appointed as the Managing Director, I became the first female employee of the organization, which until that point had been led by American male basketball players. Though with no basketball experience, I had a strong background in conflict resolution and program evaluation in the field of sports and peacebuilding. After 14 years running the Middle East program, which has become one of the most developed and sustainable programs among all the sites, I became the Executive Director of PeacePlayers global. 

An inmate in Ravensbruck concentration camp as a young girl, my grandmother was subjected to atrocious medical experimentation; her father was hanged in front of his young son for stealing a bread crust; and at 16 years of age, when the war ended, she weighed all of 60 pounds. Yet, she was always compassionate to all people.

When my grandmother died, I became increasingly interested in her experiences as a holocaust survivor, the psychology behind genocide, the transmission of trauma. Through my studies, I began to understand how heavily identity is shaped by our historical narratives. I was disturbed to learn that most Nazis were “ordinary men”; and that most ordinary people were capable of committing inhumane atrocities, especially when condoned by an authority. 

Reflecting on this concept blind obedience, I realized that our history of persecution was so entrenched in our identity that it had become incumbent upon Jewish people in the diaspora to uncritically defend the state of Israel, as the only way to guarantee our existence. With this realization, it became my responsibility to take action, leading  to my academic research in conflict transformation and eventually into practice at PeacePlayers.

My more than 13-year track record, as a woman successfully leading a peacebuilding organization in one of the most volatile regions in the world, has positioned me to lead PeacePlayers global movement as it evolves to the next level.

As the founding director of PeacePlayers Middle East, I passionately built the organization largely from the ground up with my Palestinian partner, creating a strong sense of ownership of, committement and responsibility to, the organization and our mission. Over the years, I have been responsible for every function in the organization from bookkeeping, to creating curricula, to human resources. Seeing the big picture while understanding all the micro-details of each function has helped me lead and create a community among our staff, participants and their families. 

My academic background in social pyschology and conflict resolution, and in particular, my extensive research on Palestinian-Israeli intergrop encounter prorgams have ensured a strong theoretical background and practical research, mesaurement and evaluation skills. Research and evaluation results have demonstrated that PeacePlayers’ participants undergo positive attitude change, develop meaningful cross-community friendship and become active advocates for peace.

The board was understandably concerned about my lack of management experience when I first interviewed in 2006. They were also concerned about my ability to lead a team of Palestinain and Israeli men, who would likely initially treat me with disrespect and suspicion. I learned a lot, and I learned quickly. My expertise enabled me to build relationships with Palestinains, and partnerships based on respect and mutual goals. 

One particular challenge has been opposition to our peacebuilding and gender empowerment goals. In 2008, PeacePlayers teamed up with a female school principal in East Jerusalem to start the first-ever sports team for girls in the village. That same year, an article about the team was published in the Arabic language daily Jerusalem newspaper, causing a dangerous uproar in the village amongst those opposed to the project. As a result, a participant and her father had their lives threatened, the principal endured further scrutiny and it became unsafe to continue the activities. To ensure everyone’s safety, we closed the program.

This experience highlighted the importance of exercising extra caution when working with the media and with visibility, especially when working with children. Moreover, this experience highlighted the importance of local ownership in identifying and mitigating risk, which contributed towards the implementation of PeacePlayers’ leadership pipeline, which grooms vertean participants into the coaches and the leaders of the program in their local communities. As trusted members of their communities, these young leaders are able to reach key people in their own circles of influence, often facilitating the establishment of trustworthy partnerships with even the most sceptical communities.

Due to the volatile nature of the conflict in the Middle East, PeacePlayers Middle East (PP-ME) has faced several crises including four wars between 2006 and today. Additionally, because PP-ME was almost entirely run by American basketball players and expatriates in the early beginnings of the program, PP-ME relied heavily on US funds and human capital. This posed an incredibly difficult challenge when the 2008 financial crisis hit the US and the rest of the world. 

Despite the political and financial crisis, PP-ME was one of the only peacebuilding organizations in the region to stay standing. My vision as I built the program alongside my Palestinian partner, was to reduce our financial and professional reliance in the US, and focus instead on empowering local coaches and staff to become the leaders of the organization. I believe that one of the main reasons why PP-ME has survived and thrived during these crises, was because of the strong “leadership pipeline” built in the Middle East, comprised of program alumni, local coaches and staff members, who see the organization as much more than a workplace, but as a common purpose and as a family instead. 

PeacePlayers stands apart from many organizations thanks to its long-term programming, which enables frequent encounters between participants, allowing friendships to evolve. Participants join the program at a young age and continue until late adolescence and receive the tools and skills to become the future leaders of the organization, thus constituting the organization’s pipeline of youth leaders. The majority of the organization’s current staff around the world are program alumni - young people who have literally grown up to personify the values of peace which they have gone on to teach. This cyclical model enables graduates to serve as role-models in their communities and implement what they have learned in the organization and beyond while strengthening organizational sustainability.

Furthermore, while most other coexistence organizations appeal to those who are already in the fold, PeacePlayers harnesses the mass appeal of sports, basketball in particular, to bring participants and their families who would otherwise not participate in coexistence programs. Basketball serves as an ideal activity in which to facilitate encounters between opposing community members with its clear, impartial rules and easily identifiable team goals. By offering free extra-curricular sport programming, PeacePlayers attracts children from disadvantaged communities who could otherwise not afford the high fees of sports’ programs. For girls from conservative or religious communities in particular, basketball is appealing as it takes place indoors and can accommodate modesty restrictions. 

Theory of Change: PeacePlayers’ theory of change operates under the premise of creating a global movement of youth leaders using basketball to create a more peaceful world. Conflict mitigation in the context of the communities in conflict that PeacePlayers works with requires a comprehensive approach that includes a parallel process of interpersonal, community level and global change. This change results in the attitudinal, behavioral and structural transformation necessary for sustainable peace.

Interpersonal Change: PeacePlayers Global operates under the hypothesis that intergroup contact between belligerent groups can, under favorable conditions, be an effective way to mitigate negative attitudes and improve intergroup relations. Contact must be long-term, symmetric, meaningful and frequent enough to create “friendship potential”. Yet, in order for this method to be effective, both parties must engage in activities that create “superordinate goals”, “which are compelling but cannot be achieved by the efforts of one group alone”. As a team sport, basketball is the ideal tool to provide a common goal that requires cooperation from team members, not only fostering cooperation, but also trust and shared identity. Additionally, PeacePlayers’ Global long-term model was specifically designed to ensure that youth engage in programming on a year-round and long-term basis, with youth joining when they are as young as six years old. 

Community Level Change: The second tier of our hypothesis recognizes that positive attitudes are not enough; young people need the skills, resources, and self-esteem to become effective advocates for peace that catalyze wider community change. PeacePlayers has cultivated a cadre of young leaders who are certified peace facilitators, and able to safely engage typically resistant and untapped populations, scaling community impact.

Global Change: under this premise, PeacePlayers produces highly skilled alumni and young leaders who scale peaceplayers’ work into their own communities and circles of influence around the world. These young leaders grow up in the program, and acquire skills such as negotiation, coaching, mediation, measurement and evaluation and peace education. Ultimately, PeacePlayers aims to build a global movement of peace advocates and ambassadors while also expanding global partnerships that can further amplify a peace movement through sport. 

PeacePlayers Global estimates that it will serve around 5000 direct beneficiaries in the next year, and it expects to serve approximately 12200 beneficiaries in five years (25% growth each year). 

PeacePlayers Goals for the next year include:

Goal #1: Enhance Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Across the Organization: diversification of the global board and organizational leadership. 

Goal #2: Enhance programmatic and operational consistency and collaboration across international sites: develop and implement global leadership and coaches’ curricula; global implementation of PeacePlayers core values training (Seeing People as People, Culture of Collaboration, Inside Out Transformation).

Goal #3: Ensure the organization has the resources needed to achieve short-term and long-term outcomes: build fundraising capacity across the organization through the core values framework. 

Goal #4: Develop Youth-Alumni Driven Strategic Plan for Growing and Sustaining Leadership Network: create a youth alumni steering committee; develop strategic plan for alumni engagement and the creation of a “Leadership Academy”; develop strategic plan for scaling impact via SPIN, create plan to enhance fellowship program. 

Goal #5: Build capacity for organizational learning (leveraging virtual space): complete development of an on-line training platform, enhance global connectivity using virtual programming/communication, build capacity to deliver virtual/on-line programming, develop strategic plan for virtual SPIN. 

PeacePlayers Goals for the next five years include:

Goal #1: Leadership Academy operating across all sites and partner organizations: engaging and involving all of our alumni and veteran participants as they take one step further in their careers. 

Goal #2: SPIN expanded to 20 new countries around the world: 

Goal #3: PeacePlayers is strongly established in the virtual space: able to deliver programming across all sites through virtual tools, with all staff, coaches and facilitators trained in PeacePlayers core values. 

1. The current Global Pandemic: COVID-19 poses a challenge in achieving PeacePlayers’ goals, and to all of us around the world. Due to the unprecedented nature of the crisis and the undetermined amount of time that the pandemic will last for, the organization might continue to face challenges implementing face-to-face activities. This challenge also poses a concern in terms of fundraising for the organization, due to socio-economic uncertainties faced by our funders. 

2. Another risk factor to the success of PeacePlayers programs is that political, security, financial or safety conditions prevent activities from being implemented, either as a result of physical danger or of resistance from participants, parents and/or community partners.

3. The increased divisiveness amongst people around the world: due to recent political events and heightened tensions exacerbated by COVID-19, people have become increasingly polarized, making it harder to bring people from different backgrounds and views together. 

1. While COVID-19 did pose an unprecedented challenge to all of us, PP-ME was able to quickly develop a contingency plan that allowed us to continue serving the most pressing needs of our constituents. We, as an organization, are determined to transform this challenge into an opportunity to diversify our programs, while developing a strategic plan to have a  stronger presence in the virtual world as we deliver sports, leadership and peace education.

2. In order to mitigate risk, PP builds trust by cultivating leaders from within local communities, thereby fostering local ownership. The organization has a strong reputation of prioritizing the physical and psychological safety of its participants and staff, with a track record of adapting activities when necessary due to political tension or environmental conditions. 

3. While we have seen increased divisiveness around the world, there has also been a heightened awareness amongst different groups of people, who would have otherwise not approached these crucial issues. Additionally, PeacePlayers has continuously rethinked its fundraising and is conscientious in diversifying its sources of income, ensuring greater financial sustainability and reducing reliance on a single donor, even more so, in light of the inevitable economic downturn resulting from the public health crisis.

PeacePlayers actively cooperates with community partners in all of its sites including local schools, community and recreation centers and international sports clubs, including sports federations and associations. PeacePlayers partners with the following organizations:

Laureus Sport for Good Foundation - This relationship has allowed us to connect with other Sport-Based Youth Development organizations to strengthen our collective field. Laureus and PeacePlayers have had a truly collaborative relationship, working closely together as long-standing partners on an annual basis. 

Nike - Our most significant funder within the United States, the partnership between Nike and PeacePlayers officially launched in 2017 and is now in its third year. This partnership includes funding, but is rooted in storytelling and sharing the impact that PeacePlayers is creating within five U.S. cities, addressing deep rooted inequities.

Edwin and Penelope Peskowitz - The Peskowitz have been supporting PeacePlayers for the last two years. The partnership is centered around the annual Friendship Games initiative that connects youth from all five of our global program sites. The program culminates with a week-long event where youth come together to put into practice months of curriculum and skill development training.

USAID - USAID supported PeacePlayers Middle East from 2010-2019, completing nearly four cooperative agreements with the organization. Through this long-term partnership, PP-ME has cultivated a group of skilled and motivated Arab and Jewish leaders from Israel and the West Bank, who have become Champions of Peace. PP-ME and USAID have recently started their fifth cooperative agreement as of June of 2020. 

Problem: Social Divides; socio-economic inequality and structural inequities, gender inequality; risks and challenges posed by COVID-19. 

Solution: Building a global youth peace movement through sport; engaging youth from predominantly underserved areas and encouraging the participation of girls; long-term model that engages youth aged 6-25; adapting programming to the virtual space.

Key Activity: Sport Programming, Peace Education, and Leadership Development.

Unique Value Proposition: giving youth a constructive outlet; providing professional athletic training; being part of a social global movement; certifications in coaching and facilitating; providing tools for managing and transforming conflict; building friendships. 

Competitive Advantage: majority of the organization's coaches and staff are program alumni; cyclical model enables graduates to serve as role-models in their communities creating a ripple effect; mass appeal of sports brings participants from untapped communities.

Channels: We reach our beneficiaries through current participants, coaches and alumni; we target girls and youth who  form marginalized communities; partner with local schools.

Customer Segments: beneficiaries; donors; local and international partners. 

Cost Structure: program expenses, equipment, staff, local transportation, travel, facility rentals, food & refreshments, insurance. 

Financial/Non-Financial Outcomes: SPIN projects are both to scale impact and to generate income. A more peaceful and equitable world is the main outcome, specific outcomes include: attitude and behavior change and become a peace advocate.

Key Resources and Internal Alignment: The most important resource is human capital, having the right people to mentor and lead the youth and to develop impactful programs. Other resources: funding, facilities as well as technology which facilitates global collaboration. 

PeacePlayers receives funding from individuals, foundations/trusts, corporations and governmental institutions that support the organization's year-round operations in its five regions. Each programming location is run by a full-time staff team, led by a Managing Director. In addition to the local offices, PeacePlayers also has a Global Support Team that helps to unlock resources and share best practices from across the global network. The organization prioritizes the long-term sustainability of each programming location in order to achieve the lasting change we strive for.

PeacePlayers has cultivated multiple streams of income, while never over-relying on any one source of income, protecting itself from economic shocks and the institutional changes of a funder. PeacePlayers also prioritizes the formation of multi-year agreements, which allow long-term strategic planning as well as securing matching grants which drive others to invest. 

Moreover, PeacePlayers operates a Sports for Peace Intervention Network (PP-SPIN) department, which provides pay-for-service technical assistance to sport-for-development organizations around the globe. Since 2012, we have worked in Bosnia, Argentina, Yemen, Rwanda and more. These SPIN projects help scale up impact and generate income for PeacePlayers programs around the world. 

Lastly, PeacePlayers' benefits from an international board of directors that includes sports, finance and entertainment executives as well as conflict resolution experts. This network of supporters helps to open doors and garner support. 

PeacePlayers’ income is generated largely from grants and individual contributions. Funding secured over the last 12 months includes the following: Nike, $1M  to support programming in five US cities; Laureus Sport for Good Foundation $100K, which is part of a $300K 3-year commitment; Ed and Penelope Peskowitz, $4 M to support PeacePlayers Global Friendship Games ($1.25M per year); United States Agency for International Development $1.5M to support activities in the Middle East ($500K per year); Sport Opportunity Life Foundation 230 Euros to support youth in Israel; Arison-Weinberg Families $400K to support activities in Israel ($100K per year); The Dutch Foreign Office, $70K for Israel and West Bank; European Union, $738,905 to support two programs in Cyprus for a year;  National Basketball Players Association $100K to support U.S. based programming; and many other generous individuals and foundations from across PeacePlayers’ global network.

In addition to contributions, PeacePlayers’ earns income through its technical assistance arm, PeacePlayers Sports and Peace Innovation Network (SPIN). Since 2010, we  have led more than 22 SPIN projects in countries across five continents. SPIN provides training and consultation to other sport-for-development initiatives, scaling PeacePlayers impact while generating income for the organization’s year-round sites. SPIN projects have also enabled PeacePlayers to expand to additional sports and to address relevant issues such as refugee integration. 

Our FY21 global expense budget is $6.1M, with a fundraising target of $7M. $5.5M of projected income currently in the pipeline. Starting the fiscal year with a gap of $600K. 

From the 600K gap, PeacePlayers global development team aims to raise 53% from individuals, 16% from foundations and prizes, 12% from government, and 19% from corporate sources.  

PeacePlayers Global’s estimated expenses for FY21 (July 2020 - June 2021) is $6.1M

The funding component of the Elevate Prize would help us scale our global movement, creating 12,200 peace advocates by 2025, who will actively build a more peaceful and equitable world. Our goal of building and developing an alumni engagement program, a global Leadership Academy, and the expansion of our SPIN programs would also be enhanced by the funding opportunity. The Prize would further allow us to invest in capacity building in each city of our US programs, which currently have the potential to grow exponentially, reaching further states around the country. Lastly, the funding component would also contribute towards our aim of adding capacity in M&E and organizational learning, so that we can better contribute to the field and share learnings with others. 

The additional support, including mentorship and coaching, would serve as a capacity building measure, helping us devise a more specific long-term strategic plan that would streamline both operational and fundraising aspects of the project. We would also use the connections to influencers, industry leaders and experts to help us leverage this exposure with wider media coverage, partnerships with renowned athletes, and the tailored media and marketing campaign to creative, high-impact marketing materials. Lastly, we would hope to use the cadre of experts affiliated with the Elevate Prize to help us brainstorm potential avenues for building self-sufficiency in the project. We would also take advantage of the Elevate Prize’s growing network to share best practices with other sport-for-development organizations.

Currently, the main area in which PeacePlayers needs support, advice and mentorship is in talent recruitment. This is especially relevant to finding diverse candidates for our US and global teams. It has been a great challenge to receive applications and reach populations who represent all facets of society. PeacePlayers would also benefit from support in the marketing, communications and media fields, as this has been one of the main gaps in the organization in recent years. 

Below, are some of the organizations PeacePlayers intends to partner with in the upcoming years:

• KIND Snacks - the company shares PeacePlayers values, and is a business that aims to spread the power of kindness. They also promote  healthy living which aligns with sport. A partnership with KIND would enhance our project through exposure and working together to proliferate kindness around the world.

• NIKE - As a company that holds principles of equality and inclusion, PeacePlayers strives to expand its current partnership between PP-US and NIKE to other global sites. Nike’s employees are involved as volunteers and mentors in the organizations the company works with, which would add much value to our programs. 

• Partnering with NBA Teams in the US cities that we work in, would serve as a source of inspiration and motivation for youth in the communities we work in, helping us generate more support from untapped communities. 

• Non-profit organizations that address issues with youth that are outside of PeacePlayers’ scope in order to effectively address those issues with our youth and/or to refer them to those who can help (i.e. food insecurity; domestic abuse; addiction; mental health, physical disability  etc.)