Healing Through Remembering Competitors

Search for Common Ground is the world's largest dedicated peacebuilding organization. Founded in 1982 and nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018, Search for Common Ground works to transform the way the world deals with conflict - away from adversarial approaches and towards collaborative problem solving. We work with local partners to find culturally appropriate means to strengthen societies' capacity to deal with conflicts constructively: to understand the differences and act on the commonalities. Our mission is to transform the way the world deals with conflict: away from adversarial approaches, toward cooperative solutions. We have developed a broad array of operational methods, which we call collectively our "toolbox." These include well-known conflict resolution techniques, such as mediation and facilitation, and less traditional ones, like TV productions, radio soap opera, and community organising. We have found that employing several tools at the same time increases their overall effectiveness.

The United States Institute of Peace is a premier peacebuilding organization. Congress founded USIP in 1984 as an independent nonprofit corporation dedicated to promoting peace by preventing, mitigating and resolving violent conflict abroad. For over 40 years, USIP has provided those working for peace with proven approaches, practical policy research and a platform to convene diverse stakeholders. Because of USIP’s independent, nonpartisan status, it is a trusted intermediary and neutral interlocutor, able to convene and facilitate global peacebuilding efforts. USIP’s staff work at the Institute’s Washington, DC headquarters and on the ground in some of the world’s most dangerous regions. In pursuit of its mission, the Institute: - Develops tools and resources based on research and offers expert trainings for peacebuilders, including U.S. and foreign peace negotiators, mediators, diplomats and others so they are better equipped to work together to end destabilizing conflicts. - Designs field-tested peacebuilding plans, analysis and strategic gaming exercises for U.S. and foreign practitioners. - Serves the public by connecting them with resources on America’s role, heritage and commitment to peace. - Sends peacebuilding specialists to work with counterparts around the world to reduce conflict and advance peace. In connection with its research, education and training activities, USIP hosts and engages with a range of stakeholders who are committed to working for peace or learning about nonviolent resolution of conflict, including members of Congress, religious leaders, students, veterans, and leaders from around the world.

Founded in 2003 by Dave Isay, StoryCorps has given people of all backgrounds and beliefs, in thousands of towns and cities in all 50 states, the chance to record interviews about their lives. The organization preserves the recordings in its archive at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, the largest single collection of human voices ever gathered, and shares select stories with the public through StoryCorps’ podcast, NPR broadcasts, animated shorts, digital platforms, and best-selling books. These powerful human stories reflect the vast range of American experiences, wisdom and values; engender empathy and connection; and remind us how much more we have in common than what divides us. StoryCorps is especially committed to capturing and amplifying voices least heard in the media. The StoryCorps MobileBooth, an Airstream trailer the organization has transformed into a traveling recording booth, crisscrosses the country year-round in order to gather the stories of people nationwide. With the 2015 TED Prize awarded to Dave Isay, StoryCorps launched a free mobile app that puts the StoryCorps experience entirely in the hands of users and enables anyone, anywhere to record meaningful conversations with another person and upload the audio to the Library of Congress. StoryCorps also records interviews in its permanent StoryBooths located in Chicago and Atlanta. Recording an interview in a StoryCorps booth couldn’t be easier: You invite a loved one, or anyone else you choose, to a StoryCorps recording site. There you’re met by a trained facilitator who explains the interview process, brings you into a quiet recording room and seats you across from your interview partner, each of you in front of a microphone. The facilitator hits “record,” and you share a 40-minute conversation. At the end of the session, you walk away with a copy of the interview, and a digital file goes to the Library of Congress, where it will be preserved for generations to come.