The Work

The Global Peace Building Foundation (GPBF) was incorporated on September 11, 2010—nine years after the 9/11 attack that took the lives of my niece Katie, my friend Ken, and so many others. The GPBF’s mission is to “contribute to the building of global peace by supporting organizations and projects that restore, rebuild, and transform relationships that have been broken due to prejudices, stereotyping, hatreds, and fears that may have accumulated over generations.”

The GPBF does not limit its support to a specific geographic region. Rather, the GPBF endeavors to create awareness all over the world and raises money to support global grassroots peacebuilding efforts. Today, grantees operate in the United States, the Middle East, Northern Ireland, and Kosovo.  

For the past thirteen years, the GPBF’s grants have supported programs that bring youth and children together across their differences to learn, grow, and thrive, paving the way for a more peaceful future. 

The GPBF intends to expand its grantmaking portfolio while adhering to its eligibility criteria: organizations that focus on youth and children and incorporate Contact Theory.*

Learn more about our work on the GPBF website.

*Contact Theory is a theory of change based on the belief that separation and unfamiliarity between conflicting groups can and often does breed negative attitudes such as stereotyping and prejudice, which have the potential to escalate into hostility and violence. Contact Theory posits that these negative attitudes can be reduced by promoting contact and familiarity between these groups.