Helen Peacock, Founding Member
Peace Advocate, Pivot2Peace Founder, Board member of Rotary Action Group for Peace
Helen Peacock has presented on World Peace to groups around the world, including in Russia, China, India, Australia, Europe, and North America. She is on the Board of the Rotary Action Group for Peace (RAGFP) and was instrumental in creating the online Ending War 101 Educational Program. In 2022 and 2023, she served as a Civil Society Observer for RAGFP at United Nations meetings. And for two years, as D7010 Peace Chair, she led a grassroots movement in Rotary to support a Resolution for a world free of nuclear weapons. Helen is also a Positive Peace Ambassador for the Institute of Economics and Peace, and a Chapter Coordinator for World Beyond War.
You can see Helen Peacock's PeacePodcast here.
Barbara Gaughen Muller, Founding Member
United Nations Association, Rotary Action Group for Peace
Barbara Gaughen-Muller is a global citizen and activist who focuses her work on bringing peace to her community, her country, and our world. She has devoted her life to creating a better world as a peacemaker, an author, a motivational speaker, a radio show host, a visionary leader, and Creator-Host of PeacePodcast.org. As the co-founder and past President of the Rotary E Club of World Peace. She helped orchestrate the first Rotary World Peace Conference in 2016, and her interviews with 75 conference peace speakers are available online at www.peaceconference2016.org. She just celebrated her 155th Peace Podcast and was a speaker at the 70th anniversary of the United Nations, in New York, where she received the Spirit of the United Nations award. Barbara’s late husband and partner, Dr. Robert Muller, former Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations, and she co-authored “7500 Ideas for a Better World”, shared on www.GoodMorningWorld.org in 5 languages.
Julie Johnston, Founding Member
GreenHeart Education, Climate Emergency Institute
Teacher, Teacher Trainer, Adult Educator, and former Coordinator of Environment and Sustainability Programs at an independent boys' school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Julie Johnston started out as a French as a Second Language teacher, then shifted to environmental education when she found her activist voice to save a beloved river (the Nechako in central British Columbia). Transformative sustainability education is now her focus. She had the opportunity to present environmental education workshops in Canada, India, Thailand, the Philippines, and online. Her workshop, Greening the Heart of Education, has been presented to teachers in Ethiopia. She has also worked with educators in Malaysia, the USA, and Kenya, where she helped with the permaculture school garden program for Kasanga Girls School.
You can see Julie johnston's PeacePodcast here.
Peter Carter, Founding Member
Peter Carter, M.D. is a retired doctor, after nearly 40 years in practice as a family physician, first in England and then in Newfoundland and British Columbia, Canada. When his sons were born, he became actively involved in environmental, peace, and sustainable development issues, especially as they relate to children's health. Fatherhood created that urge to leave the world a better place as a legacy for his children. Peter was part of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War -IPPNW, awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985. As a founding director of CAPE - Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, Peter has presented on sustainable development and environmental health policy issues in Canada and the United States. Peter has since launched the Climate Emergency Institute and is the force behind Climate Change Emergency Medical Response for healthcare professionals. Peter is also an expert reviewer for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - IPCC 2014, 2018, and the co-author with Elizabeth Woodworth of Unprecedented Crime: Climate Science Denial and Game Changers for Survival, with Clarity Press.
Sanford Hinden, Founding Member
Sandy Hinden's life is devoted to world peace, Earth, and future generations. He is the co-founder of Mutually Assured Survival, which includes ending the war on nature and making peace with nature. He is the author of 7 Keys to Love (2009), founder of Wisocracy.org (2022) and the Sovereign Earth Fund (2025). He was the facilitator of the Global Disarmament Creative Collaborative. His work spans five decades and continents, facilitating transformational programs for UN initiatives, Rotary-related groups, NGOs, educational institutions, and civic organizations. He is the author of multiple works on personal growth, leadership transformation, and systemic reform, and a catalyst for global movements in civic education, peacebuilding, and sustainable governance.
You can see Sandy's book club presentation about his mentor Dr. Robert Muller here.
Anwarul Chowdhury, Advisory Board Member
Former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States
H.E. Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury has devoted his career to championing sustainable peace and a culture of peace. As a career diplomat, Permanent Representative to United Nations, President of the UN Security Council, President of UNICEF Board, UN Under-Secretary-General, the Senior Special Advisor to the UN General Assembly President, he has received numerous awards including the U Thant Peace Award, UNESCO Gandhi Gold Medal for Culture of Peace, Spirit of the UN Award, University of Massachusetts Boston Chancellor’s Medal for Global Leadership for Peace, 2018 Global Women’s Peace Award, 2020 Robert Muller World Peace Prize for UN Global Peace Leader, and in 2021 the inaugural Soka Global Citizen Award, for his life’s work and achievements for peace, women’s rights and equality, and for the cause of the world’s poorest and most disadvantaged nations.
Douglas Roche, Advisory Board Member
Canadian author, parliamentarian, diplomat and peace activist
Hon. Douglas Roche, O.C., is a former Canadian Senator, parliamentarian, diplomat and author. He is Founder and Chairman Emeritus of the Middle Powers Initiative, an international network of eight international non-governmental organizations specializing in nuclear disarmament issues. In 2010, the City of Hiroshima named him an Honorary Citizen for his extensive nuclear disarmament work and particularly for founding the Middle Powers Initiative. Mr. Roche has been a Canadian Senator, Member of Parliament, and Ambassador for Disarmament, and also a Visiting Professor at the University of Alberta. He was elected Chairman of the United Nations Disarmament Committee at the 43rd General Assembly in 1988 and is an Officer of the Order of Canada. He has authored 20 books including How We Stopped Loving the Bomb (Lorimer, 2011), his memoirs: Creative Dissent: A Politician's Struggle for Peace (Novalis, 2008), and The Human Right to Peace (Novalis, 2003) and The United Nations in the 21st Century (Lorimer, 2015).
You can see Douglas Roche's Robert Muller Peace Prize speech here.
Al Jubitz, Advisory Board Member
Al Jubitz is a longtime Portland-area Rotarian and peace advocate who joined Rotary in 1977 and served as president of the Rotary Club of Portland in 2002–2003. He co-founded the Rotarian Action Group for Peace, which promotes nonviolent conflict resolution and peace projects worldwide. Jubitz is described as a third-generation Rotarian and a key supporter of Rotary-based peacebuilding efforts. He has also been identified as an honorary chair and co-founder of the Rotarian Action Group for Peace. He is a native Oregonian who studied at Yale University and earned an MBA from the University of Oregon. After a 34-year career in the family business, he founded the Jubitz Family Foundation, which supports peacebuilding, environmental stewardship, and early childhood education.
Sylvia Whitlock, Advisory Board Member
Sylvia Whitlock is a Rotary pioneer best known as the first woman to serve as president of a Rotary Club, leading the Rotary Club of Duarte in 1987. A true trailblazer and the first woman member of Rotary International. Her groundbreaking journey involved a court case that went all the way to the Supreme Court, forever changing the landscape of Rotary membership and paving the way for countless women leaders who followed. She is also recognized as an educator, humanitarian, and longtime advocate for women in Rotary. Her legacy is so significant that Rotary created the Sylvia Whitlock Leadership Award to honor members who advance women in Rotary.
Richard Denton MD, Member
Richard Denton, MD, MClSc, BSc, is a retired family physician from Ontario, Canada, and Associate Professor at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine. He served as Mayor of Kirkland Lake and has chaired several medical, environmental, and peace organizations. A Rotarian since 1983, he has served as Club President, District Literacy Chair, District Peace Chair, and founder of Friends for Peacebuilding and Conflict Prevention. He has participated in Rotary medical missions in Jamaica and other Caribbean countries. He led a Rotary Group Study Exchange to Tamil Nadu, India, in 1990–91 and has attended four Rotary International Conventions. He is a Paul Harris Fellow and an active member of several Rotary fellowships.
You can see Dr. Denton's PeacePodcast here.
Phill Gittins PhD, Member
Education Director for World BEYOND War
Phill Gittins, PhD has over 20 years of leadership, programming, and analysis experience in peace, education, psychology, youth, and community development. He has lived, worked, and traveled in over 60 countries across 6 continents; taught in schools, colleges, and universities around the world; and trained thousands in peace- and social-change-related issues. Other experience includes work in youth offending prisons; developing, launching, and overseeing a wide range of large- and small-scale programs and projects; and consultancy assignments for public, private, and non-profit organizations. Phill has received multiple awards for his work, including a Rotary Peace Fellowship, a KAICIID Fellowship, and a Kathryn Davis Fellowship for Peace. He is also a Positive Peace Activator and Global Peace Index Ambassador for the Institute for Economics and Peace. d social change-related issues. Phill can be reached at phill@worldbeyondwar.org.
Mike Caruso, Member
Rotary District 5100 Past District Governor
Mike Caruso joined the Newberg Noon Rotary Club in 2001. Mike is the founder of Rotary Peacebuilder Clubs, founded in 2011, in District 5100, and now established in over 550 Rotary Clubs around the world and growing. Mike has also participated in the Rotary Foundation's Major Matching Grant process and helped organize ten hands-on projects sponsored by the Rotary Club of Newberg in Guatemala. He served as District Governor in District 5100 during the 2011-12 Rotary year, served for 11 years as the District Rotary Peace Fellowships Sub-Committee Chair, and is Co-Chair of the District 5100 Peacebuilder Clubs committee. Mike is the recipient of the Rotary International Service Above Self award as well as the Citation for Meritorious Service. In addition to Guatemala, he has traveled on Rotary business and/or projects to Turkey, Israel, Palestine, Cyprus, and Lebanon.
You can see Mike Caruso's PeacePodcast here
Jec Borlado, Member
Past President, Rotary Club of Jaro-Centraline Rotary District 3850
Jec Borlado has grown up amid a civil war between the world's governing philosophies. Equipped with international ecumenical leadership experience and American-Philippine Baptist influences, he has sought to pursue peace as he grows in his discipleship to Jesus Christ. Jec is a member of the Ending War 101 core group, which he became acquainted with through online courses offered by World Beyond War. He represented this group during the RI Convention in Singapore, May of 2024, inviting everyone to take the online course at the Peace Park, co-presenting on the Global Peace Index, and some community singing in the Hall of Friendship. As a Youth Commissioner (2008-2013) of the World Council of Churches, Jec participated in the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation, Kingston, Jamaica, 2011. He then became an Ecumenical Accompanier based in East Jerusalem with the EAPPI program that accompanies the plight of the Palestinian and Israeli people. Jec has been trained in conflict transformation and human rights. He also has a Positive Peace Academy certificate and a Level 2 Pickleball Coach certificate from Pickleball Global Academy. He is currently based in Iloilo. He volunteers his time with the THRIVE Project as a remote Team Assistant, helping the planet with what matters most- our thrivability beyond sustainability.
Andrew Stone, Member
Rotary Peace Fellow, Member
Andrew Stone has studied and worked internationally at the intersection of ecology, place, culture, community, and economy for three decades overall and 15 years in SE Asia. Andrew works with local and regional organizations in collaborative relationships. He has formal education in systems ecology, water conflict management and transformation, and social science for sustainable development, and is a 2020 Rotary Peace Fellow alumnus of the Chulalongkorn Peace Center in Bangkok, Thailand.
Tom Baker, Member
Rotary Peace Activator, Global Team Member for the Peace Education and Action for Impact Program
Tom Baker has 40 years of experience as a teacher and school leader in Idaho, Washington State, and internationally in Finland, Tanzania, Thailand, Norway, and Egypt, where he was Deputy Head of School at International School Bangkok and Head of School at Oslo International School in Oslo, Norway, and Schutz American School in Alexandria, Egypt. Tom is passionate about youth leadership development, peace education, and service learning. A Rotarian since 2014 in Golden, Colorado, and Alexandria, Egypt, he has served as his club’s President, International Service Committee Chair, Youth Exchange Officer, and a member of the District 5450 Peace Committee and the Rotary Action Group for Peace. He is also a Rotary Positive Peace Activator and a Global Team Member for the Peace Education and Action for Impact Program and the online course, Ending War 101: Making Peace Possible.
Steve Schmidt, Member
Rotarian, Peace Builder
Steve Schmidt is a Board member of the Rotary Club of Hood River in Oregon. He led their efforts to become one of the world’s first 15 Peacebuilder Clubs and currently chairs their Peacebuilding Committee. They work on introducing all to entities that explore pathways to real peace, such as World Beyond War, the Institute for Economics and Peace, and Ending War 101. Both Steve and the Hood River Rotary are members of the Rotary Action Group for Peace, and help fulfill the message “May Peace Prevail on Earth” in many languages, including American Sign Language, Braille, and Native American Kikscht on peace poles they install throughout their area. Utilizing a background of 25 years in the Boy Scouts of America and Big Brothers/ Big Sisters, a youth Rotary group called Interact was formed and is already involved in an international dialogue with an Interact Club in Turkeye. They also participate and support the local Peace Village.
Firoz Peera, Member
World Affairs Council
Firoz Peera is a board member and past chair of the World Affairs Council of Charlotte. He grew up in East Africa (Zanzibar & Kenya), completed high school in England, college in Scotland, and received his MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School at Northwestern University. After an extensive corporate career in England, Belgium, and the US, he is now actively engaged in local and international public service initiatives.
Katherine Hughes-Fraitekh, Member
Peace Builder, Rotary Peace Fellow
Katherine Hughes-Fraitekh is an expert on peacebuilding and social justice movements. She co-founded and serves as Executive Director for Solidarity 2020 and Beyond (S2020B), an international network of grassroots peacebuilders, activists, journalists, and scholars in 85+ countries working on over 100+ movements for justice, freedom, women’s rights, indigenous and land rights, self-determination, anti-corruption, and environmental justice. She also serves as Vice President of the board of DAY-Africa, an innovative employment and small-enterprise/farming training and placement program for vulnerable women in Kenya. Katherine is also active in the Rotary Peace Fellow Alumni Group, completing the 2020 mid-career program at Chulalongkorn University, Thailand, providing training for the RAGFP on synergizing nonviolent action and peacebuilding, earned her MA in International Development with a specialization in Peace and Conflict Resolution at the American University in Washington, DC, in addition to completing the Arab Studies coursework at Georgetown University. She earned her BA with honors at the University of Texas at Austin. She is also a local, national, and international activist working on rights and justice in Israel/Palestine and the Middle East, as well as immigrant rights, women’s rights, racial justice, and indigenous rights.