The International Peace Award sponsored by Community of Christ and Shaw Family Foundation has been given since 1993. The award includes a financial gift to be donated to the charitable peace, justice, or environmental organization(s) of the recipient's choice. Honorees also receive a sculpture created by Wyoming artist Gail Sundell. Each is made slightly different to honor the unique peacemaking contribution of the recipient.
Recipients
2023 Community Peacemaker Teams
For thirty-five years, Community Peacemaker Teams (CPT) has committed itself to the transforming power of nonviolence through activism grounded in partnerships with grassroots peace movements worldwide. Their mission to build partnerships that transform violence and oppression aligns closely with the church’s pursuit of peace and our efforts to abolish poverty and end needless suffering.
2019 Gary White
Gary White is CEO and co-founder of Water.org of Kansas City, Missouri, USA. As of the award presentation, Water.org had helped 13 million people in need gain access to safe water and sanitation.
2019 Sister Kanter
Sister Andrea Kantner is founder of the Franciscan Mission Warehouse in Independence. The Franciscan Mission Warehouse distributes unwanted medical supplies and equipment to areas of the world where the materials are most needed.
2016 Leymah Gbowee
Leymah Gbowee, is the founder and president of the Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa. This nonviolent movement joined Christian and Muslim women, empowering them to speak against the war and join in prayer and public protest. Their actions played a pivotal role in ending the civil war in Liberia in 2003.
2014 Bread for the World
Bread for the World has been in the forefront of helping fill bellies in the USA and throughout the world.
2013 John L. Bell
John L. Bell is a hymn writer and author.
2012 Dr. Tadatoshi Akiba
Dr. Tadatoshi Akiba is an advocate for global nuclear disarmament and founder of Mayors for Peace.
2011 Terry Tempest Williams
Terry Tempest Williams is a visionary author, naturalist, and activist.
2010
Information disclosed later about this recipient revealed they are no longer aligned with the mission and values associated with the International Peace Award. This award is no longer recognized.
2009 Dr. Halima Bashir
Dr. Halima Bashir is an advocate for the health and safety of the women and children of Darfur.
2008 Koinonia Community
The Koinonia Community is an exemplary peacemaking signal community. The award was accepted by Koinonia executive director Bren Dubay and chaplain Norris Harris.
2007 Dolores Huerta and Father Virgilio Elizondo
Dolores Huerta and Father Virgilio Elizondo are non-violent advocates for farm workers' rights.
2006 Howard Zehr
Howard Zehr is a pioneer in restorative justice and co-director for the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University in Virginia, USA.
2005 Craig Kielburger
Craig Kielburger is the Founder of Free the Children headquartered in Toronto, Canada. Craig is the youngest ever recipient at age 22.
2004 Rev. James Lawson
Rev. James Lawson is a civil rights and on-going activist. Rev. Lawson organized the campaign to desegregate Nashville, Tennessee, through lunch counter sit-ins.
2003
Information disclosed later about this recipient revealed they are no longer aligned with the mission and values associated with the International Peace Award. This award is no longer recognized.
2002 Ela Gandhi
Ela Gandhi is a vigorous, non-violent opponent of apartheid in South Africa where she was under house arrest for nine years.
2001 Dr. Swanee Hunt
Dr. Swanee Hunt works with women and children in Bosnia. She is the founder of Women Waging Peace and the former US Ambassador to Austria.
2000 Dr. John Paul Lederach
Dr. John Paul Lederach is an international mediator and founding director of the Conflict Transformation Program at Eastern Mennonite University in the US.
1999 Dr. Jane Goodall
Dr. Jane Goodall is a primate researcher and environmentalist and does international environmental education work with children.
1998 Dr. Marie Fortune
Dr. Marie Fortune is a minister, and founder and former director of the Seattle, Washington, Center for the Prevention of Sexual Domestic Violence. The center is now called the FaithTrust Institute.
1997 Senator Juan M. Flavier
Senator Juan M. Flavier is a senator, medical doctor, and development worker among the poor. He is the former secretary of Department of Health in the Philippines.
1995 Marian Wright Edelman
Marian Wright Edelman is a national advocate for disadvantaged Americans, especially children, and founder and president of the Children's Defense Fund.
1994 Dr. M. Scott Peck and Lily Ho Peck
Dr. M. Scott Peck and Lily Ho Peck are co-founders of the Foundation for Community Encouragement. M. Scott Peck is the author of The Road Less Traveled and other titles.
1993 Dr. Jehan Sadat
Dr. Jehan Sadat is a social reformer and advocate of emancipation projects for women in Egypt.