Boulder Builds Peace event emphasizes that peace is possible

Rachel Sauer — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 23:37:17 +0000

Boulder Builds Peace event emphasizes that peace is possible Rachel Sauer Tue, 09/15/2026 - 17:37

Keynote speech and panel discussion sponsored by the ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� Peace, Conflict and Security Program and Boulder Rotary Club will be Thursday in the CASE auditorium

Tonni Ann Brodber, head of the Secretariat of the United Nations Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund (WPHF), will be the keynote speaker Thursday at Boulder Builds Peace, a community event focused on contemporary peace building and conflict resolution.

The event, whose theme is “Peace Is Possible,” is a partnership between University of Colorado Boulder Peace, Conflict and Security Program (PACS) and the Boulder Rotary Club. It will feature Brodber’s keynote address as well as a panel discussion with Sarah Sokhey, a ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� associate professor of political science who will focus on citizen engagement and peacebuilding; Bernard Amadei, a ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� distinguished professor emeritus of civil, environmental and architectural engineering who will discuss technical approaches and reconstruction; and Gaea Logan with the International Center for Mental Health and Human Rights, who will discuss mental health infrastructure and peacebuilding.

Faculty, staff, students and community members are invited to attend Boulder Builds Peace, which will begin at 5 p.m. Thursday in the Center for Academic Success and Engagement (CASE) auditorium on the 4^th floor.

“For students who are thinking about careers in diplomacy and international relations, security related topics or just peace building and activism broadly, this is a really great opportunity to hear from a keynote speaker and a group of panelists who do this work professionally,” says Michael English, associate teaching professor and PACS director. “I think it will help students to imagine what those careers look like, and there will be plenty of opportunity to ask questions.

“I do think there is a lot of uncertainty as to what the future of diplomacy looks like, so this is an opportunity hear from people who can share what those uncertainties mean.”

Brodber brings deep experience in advancing gender equality, resource mobilization and working alongside civil society around the world, including in Haiti, South Africa and Fiji. She previously served as representative of the UN Women Multicounty Office in the Caribbean and as team leader for the Advancing Gender Justice in the Pacific program with the UN Women Fiji Multicounty Office, among other international roles.

This is the third year that PACS has partnered with the Boulder Rotary Club to host Boulder Builds Peace. “What’s nice about the entire peace initiative that the Boulder Rotary Club is doing as a whole is that it focuses on talking about peace from the bottom up,” English says. “It’s thinking about the individual and building inner peace and then scaling up. Our event is very much focusing on what peace looks like internationally, but this is very much the time to be engaging with these issues and bringing people to them in whatever capacity they’re able.”

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Keynote speech and panel discussion sponsored by the ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� Peace, Conflict and Security Program and Boulder Rotary Club will be Thursday in the CASE auditorium.

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Boulder Builds Peace event emphasizes that peace is possible

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