By Dr. Jim Freiburger Two rivers converse Blending fresh, brackish waters Innovate new stream Looking out my window, I witness the energetic, freshwater Exeter River merging with the Tidal Basin River Swampscott. Together they meld into a new passageway to the nearby ocean. Fledgling fish, hatched upriver in the freshwater, swim downstream through the now blended waters, and acclimate as adults in a new ocean setting. The combined rivers created an environment for a new generation of fish to cope with the future. The blended rivers pathway is analogous to the role Global Citizens (GCC) has chosen to create an intergenerational approach to world issues. GCC provides a space in which a younger generation of leaders can converse and share their ideas and enthusiasm with an older generation of peacemakers and leaders. In a recent GCC Circle, an Israeli young man, Yigal Elhanan, and a Palestinian young man, Arab Aramin, shared their stories. Elhanan’s five-year-old sister was killed by a Palestinian bomber. Aramin’s 10-year-old sister was shot by an Israeli soldier. They recreated the role of their parents, founders of the Parent’s Circle for Reconciliation and Peace, had in helping them move through hatred and trauma to become activists for reconciliation and peace. Similarly, intergenerational leaders from Ukraine, Nepal, Syria, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, India, and America have presented their stories in GCC circles. Several intergenerational leaders are also represented on the GCC advisory council and board. The GCC Emerging Leader program is a model for intergenerational cooperation to develop reconciliation and peace. Dr. Jim Freiburger is a retired professor of organizational leadership and corporate social responsibility to graduate students from around the world. He currently enjoys applying the Haiku expression and the lens of his camera to capture scenes in nature. Freiburger has been actively associated with Global Citizens Circle during its 50-year existence. In 2022, he authored a memoir, “An Iowa Farm Boy’s Odyssey: Priest, Parent, Professor.“ Contact him at [email protected] Please note: Each week, we invite members of the greater Global Citizens Circle community to contribute to GCC Voices. The views and opinions expressed in each blog post are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Global Citizens Circle. GCC provides a space in which a younger generation of leaders can converse and share their ideas and enthusiasm with an older generation of peacemakers and leaders.
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By Stephen Reno In the wake of the November election, too often have I heard the call “to circle the wagons.” It’s a phrase deep in our American folklore and has come to represent a measure to be safe and secure. But the lessons of these past few weeks are that we need to do just the opposite; rather we need to engage in respectful conversation across difference but based in our common love for our country. Global Citizens Circle, now in its 50th year, has been doing just that, and so offers us all a model for how to do it and what it can lead to. And what it also offers — so desperately needed these days — is intergenerational conversation. As Pope Frances noted, “The elderly with their history are the roots and the young are the flowers and fruits.” Together we grow, recognizing difference, but also know our shared roots. Our country and our world so urgently need this approach. I am grateful for Global Citizens Circle and urge us all to ensure that its mission is an active verb. We hope you’ll register for our next Circle on Monday, December 2, from noon to 1pm. Historian and author Timothy Ryback, whose books and articles offer lessons for democracy, joins us for an important post-election circle event as we join in conversation to consider how to constructively move forward given the polarization of American citizenry. What lesson can we learn from others who’ve navigated similar polarization and found ways to work together for common good? You may register here. Stephen Reno is a retired professor of comparative religion, university administrator, and most recently, the former executive director of Leadership New Hampshire, a 30-year-old organization whose mission is “Building a community of informed and engaged leaders.” He lives in Hampton, New Hampshire, and serves on the advisory board of Global Citizens Circle. Please note: Each week, we invite members of the greater Global Citizens Circle community to contribute to GCC Voices. The views and opinions expressed in each blog post are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Global Citizens Circle. We need to engage in respectful conversation across difference but based in our common love for our country. By Jerry Dunfey and Nadine Hack Editor's Note: Jerry Dunfey is the 1974 founding president of Global Citizens Circle (GCC).. Nadine Hack has been actively involved with GCC for 40 of its 50 years. They are fervent citizen activists. We asked them to share their views on the importance of voting. There is a Sweet Honey in the Rock song that we love. Its lyrics are: We who believe in freedom cannot rest We who believe in freedom cannot rest until it comes Until the killing of black men, black mothers' sons Is as important as the killing of white men, white mothers' sons That which touches me most is that I had a chance to work with people Passing on to others that which was passed on to me To me young people come first, they have the courage where we fail And if I can but shed some light as they carry us through the gale The older I get the better I know that the secret of my going on Is when the reins are in the hands of the young, who dare to run against the storm. So many people dedicated their lives to the struggle for all Americans to have the right to vote. We were privileged to know many of them like Congressman John Lewis to whom in 2003 prior GCC board chairs Eleanor Dunfey and Tito Jackson presented the Global Citizens award. We love his anthem, ‘Make good trouble!’ It’s a struggle that continues today with too many people disenfranchised from the right to vote in the US and throughout the world. Lewis and his colleagues like Coretta Scott King who GCC honored with the same award at a 1999 Circle joined by GCC Honorary Chairs Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Ambassador Andrew Young. Lewis worked for the 1963 Voting Rights Act struck down in 2013 and being championed by a new act in Lewis’ name. Long-time GCC friend John Hume, fighter for the rights of all in Northern Ireland was there too. Hume led a 1978 Circle. We were honored to present the Global Citizens Award to Nelson Mandela shortly after he was released from prison in 1990. Over the decades from the 1970s, GCC hosted many Circles anti-apartheid freedom fighters including Walter and Albertina Sisulu, Oliver and Adelaide Tambo, Desmond and Leah Tutu and other lesser-known champions of a free and just South Africa so every person regardless of their race or political view would have the opportunity to vote. In that country, as in the US, Northern Ireland and other places around the world people gave their lives for this right, murdered because of their activism. We must honor them and keep their legacies alive by ensuring that everyone who wants to vote can vote. With so many having sacrificed so much, we feel a sacred obligation to ‘make good trouble’ and ensure that people take seriously their right to vote. This is why we were and are active in social justice movements throughout the world and why we campaign during every US election. Jerry began in 1952 and 1956 with ‘Madly for Adlai." Nadine began a decade later in the 1964 election. The two of us have campaigned in every election since, including Barack Obama in 2008 and now Kamala Harris in 2024. Regardless of your personal political perspectives, we encourage you to vote as it’s the price of democracy. We hope you vote for the person you believe will best protect democracy, a choice that’s clear to us; but whatever your persuasion, do not give up this hallowed responsibility to your nation. From 1974 until the present, Global Citizens Circle has highlighted the voices of democracy activists from China, Afghanistan, Syria and countries throughout Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the Americas. Coretta and Dr Martin Luther King’s granddaughter Yolanda Renee King co-led a 2019 Circle "In the Footsteps of Giants: Grounding and Growing the Dream." In 2020 then 22-year-old Jahnavi Rao founder New Voters and then 96-year-old Robert Jay Lifton National Book Award winner, life-long advocate of peaceful, socially just and an economically sustainable world co-led a Circle "Defending Democracy." We hope that our democracy comes through with flying colors in Tuesday’s election! Please note: Each week, we invite members of the greater Global Citizens Circle community to contribute to GCC Voices. The views and opinions expressed in each blog post are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Global Citizens Circle. Regardless of your personal political perspectives, we encourage you to vote as it’s the price of democracy. We hope you vote for the person you believe will best protect democracy, a choice that’s clear to us; but whatever your persuasion, do not give up this hallowed responsibility to your nation. In September 2023, Global Citizens Circle partnered with The Parents Circle-Families Forum and Narrative 4 – these three organizations share a similar and powerful mission to foster empathy through dialogue – to present a virtual Circle, Reclaiming Our Humanity: Conversations for Peace. Their shared objective formed the bedrock of the event, which aimed to shed light on the 75-year struggle between Palestinians and Israelis, a conflict often regarded as one of the world's most intractable. The event featured Colum McCann, distinguished author of the renowned work “Apeirogon” and president of Narrative 4, in a thought-provoking exchange with bereaved family members from The Parent Circle-Families Forum, Arab Aramin and Yigal Elhanan. This transformative conversation resonated deeply with its audience. Highlights of this Circle can be viewed below, and the full Circle may be viewed here. So much has happened since our 2023 Circle – and now, more than ever, we need respectful dialogue to foster empathy and find our way toward reconciliation and peace.
GCC will co-host Holding Onto Humanity with the Ford Hall Forum, in partnership with the Parents Circle-Family Forum, a joint Israeli-Palestinian organization made up of more than 750 bereaved families on September 23, from 6-7 pm. Parents Circle-Families Forum have chosen a path of reconciliation. Often raw and emotional, out of these interactions comes change. Not the kind of change that makes headlines, but a more profound shift in perspective. Join us for an evening of conversation with bereaved Israeli mother Robi Damelin and bereaved Palestinian mother Laila Alsheikh, who both lost their sons to the conflict. They will tell their personal stories of loss and explain their choice to engage in dialogue and reconciliation. The evening’s moderator is Charles M. Sennott,founder and editor of The GroundTruth Project and an award-winning correspondent, author, and editor with 30 years of experience in international, national, and local journalism. Previously, Sennott worked for many years as a reporter at the Boston Globe, where he became Bureau Chief for the Middle East and Europe and a leader of the paper's international coverage. We invite you to join us at Suffolk University’s Modern Theatre, 525 Washington Street in Boston on September 23. Registration information may be found here. This program will be livestreamed by the Ford Hall Forum, and you must sign up here to receive the livestream link. By Theo Spanos Dunfey We live in turbulent times. Extreme polarization, animosity across divides, and violence erupting in places we’ve grown too accustomed to seeing it and in places we never expected it. Exacerbated by a 24/7 media landscape that proves difficult to pull away from, we find ourselves irritated, agitated and feeling small and alone in the face of the enormity of the problems we face in these turbulent times. Surely there must be an escape! Rather than an escape, however, I would posit that what we need is to do something, as people at the recent Democratic National Convention have reminded us. Recalling their mothers’ admonitions to do something instead of complaining, do something instead of sitting on the couch waiting for someone else to fix things, and do something even if it’s hard, the speakers reminded me of one of the origin stories of Global Citizens Circle. As I wrote in my previous blog post, I was fortunate to become part of the Dunfey family, the Circle founders. While I never met Catherine Dunfey, the family matriarch, I’ve heard the stories of the example she set for her large and sometimes unwieldy group of a dozen offspring. Her youngest daughter, Eleanor Dunfey-Freiburger, wrote in her memoir “Counter Culture: Clams, Convents and a Circle of Global Citizens” – My mother’s example…showed us what “social justice” looks like. She would never have heard that term in those days. She lived it though…my mother walked the talk of social justice in her everyday life. Catherine’s example had a profound and lasting impact on her family, and it is reflected in the story of Global Citizens Circle. Fifty years ago, it was another turbulent time. In the wake of national trauma over the assassinations of JFK, RFK and MLK, the end of the Vietnam War, the resignation of a disgraced president, and the upheaval in Boston over school desegregation and bussing, the pervasive feelings of helplessness and hopelessness spurred the Dunfey family to “do something!” As hoteliers, the family decided to use their experience in the hospitality industry to take action and bring people of different backgrounds, races and beliefs together, usually over a meal, to talk with one another in an open and respectful manner about the hard issues that everyone was grappling with in the early 1970s. A firm belief that diverse, civil conversations on critical issues of the day would help begin to break down barriers when coupled with a friendly, warm and welcoming environment – and that is how the Circle became the family’s act of doing something. And beyond opening up their hotels to welcome people into the conversation, they set an example of working behind the scenes for peace in Northern Ireland, South Africa and the Middle East among other conflict areas in the world. As Monica McWilliams, the only woman signatory to Northern Ireland’s Good Friday Agreement, said to us, “They (the Dunfey family) were influencers, but influencers without ego, influencers who worked under the radar, influencers who were humble people…” In this, the 50th anniversary year of Global Citizens Circle, I value and hold dear the legacy that the organization has of bringing people together across differences, welcoming everyone to the conversation, and honoring everyone’s lived experience as we discuss the way towards lasting peace and justice. When we truly listen with open minds, and we learn to hold differing opinions with respect for the humanity of those who express them, I believe we can all lead the way to solving even the most intractable problems we face. Just do something! Theo Spanos Dunfey is president and executive director of Global Citizens Circle. She has over 30 years of global experience in non-profits, higher education, and international affairs. Dunfey is a graduate of the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy at Tufts University, where she earned a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy, concentrating on American diplomatic history, international communication, and international development. It was during her studies at the Fletcher School that she first began volunteering with Global Citizens Circle’s Boston programs. She also earned a bachelor’s in international relations and French at Brown University. With a primary focus on global issues, Dunfey taught international development at the University of New England, led student groups on global citizenship service-learning trips abroad, directed the World Affairs Council of Maine, and produced numerous global editorial conferences for The WorldPaper before taking the helm at Global Citizens Circle. When we truly listen with open minds, and we learn to hold differing opinions with respect for the humanity of those who express them, I believe we can all lead the way to solving even the most intractable problems we face. Please note: Each week, we invite members of the greater Global Citizens Circle community to contribute to GCC Voices. The views and opinions expressed in each blog post are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Global Citizens Circle.
By Pamme Boutselis
Some of the most powerful conversations happen within Global Citizens Circle's Circle events. But they don't end there. The thought-provoking revelations and ideas are brought forth into new arenas by all who attend. The problem was, though, you had to be there, to enter into the initial conversation and take away these valuable thoughts to keep them going. But when Covid entered the picture, the conversation widened via virtual Circles. The Circles were recorded and shared in the aftermath on YouTube, allowing greater access to all. Now, many of these Circles have been distilled into bite-sized pieces, opening access even more via GCC's Dialogue2Action series. Each edition features a video synopsis and discussion guide of these incredible events. This is perfect for broadening individual and group understanding – and furthering the conversation even more. During these troubling and often divisive times, Dialogue2Action may be just what you need to better understand complicated issues, find talking points to open discussion with others, and create solutions in places where you may have felt like you had none. We invite you to watch this 20-minute video, “Movements for Change: Stories of Challenge and Success” featuring:
And then, review the Movements for Change discussion guide to see how you, too, can continue this conversation.
Be sure to check out all of the featured discussions in Dialogue2Action. Pamme Boutselis is an award-winning writer and content producer, currently serving as a senior director of content marketing and a communication adjunct at Southern New Hampshire University. She loves hearing and sharing stories. As a writer spanning a 25-plus-year career, her work has been featured in print and online via news media, career and education-focused blogs, regional magazines, technology publications and more. A serial volunteer, Boutselis has been a TEDx organizer since 2013 and a speaker coach. She’s been fortunate to work with dozens of nonprofits throughout the years and serves as a communication advisor for Global Citizens Circle. Connect with her on LinkedIn. Please note: Each week, we invite members of the greater Global Citizens Circle community to contribute to GCC Voices. The views and opinions expressed in each blog post are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Global Citizens Circle. If you do not join in; if you do not take action to solve your particular issue, it's never going to get solved...so you've got to understnad that you're the one that has to step up...and do whatever it takes to solve this issue." Global Citizen Circle Board Chair Sean O'Kane is a retired executive with 30+ years of experience in customer relations, operations, business development, alliance building, thought leadership, strategic management, and growth in both the private and public sectors, nationally and globally. He has held successful careers in hospitality, government, and technology. Beyond GCC, Sean serves – and has served – on several boards, including NH Public Broadcasting System, Franklin Pierce University (2013-2023), Bellwether Community Credit Union, Sail Portsmouth/Sea Challenge, and Granite United Way, Community Impact Committee. Tell us a bit about your professional background and how it led you to where you are today. I enjoyed a 24-year career in the hospitality industry. Although I never worked for Dunfey International Hotels, I first met Jack (Dunfey) in 1963 when I was 8 years old. It was the influence of the Dunfeys and my deep admiration for the family that led to my own hotel career. In my career, I was recognized as the General Manager of the Year in New Hampshire, General Manager of the Year in the U.S by the American Hotel and Lodging Association, and Travel Person of the Year in New Hampshire. I also served as the chair of the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, chair of the NH Lodging and Restaurant Association and as vice chair of the NH Political Library. In 2004, I was appointed, by then-Governor Benson, as Commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Resources and Economic Development. In that time, I led trade missions to 11 countries, promoting New Hampshire-based businesses to overseas opportunities and was awarded the Medal of Peace and Commerce by the U.S. Department of Commerce. In my role, I oversaw the Divisions of Economic Development, Travel and Tourism Development, State Parks and Land and Forests, such a diverse but fascinating mix of competing interests that naturally fostered wide-ranging discussions about how to best achieve smart and sustainable growth in New Hampshire. After my term, I joined the French-based energy efficiency multinational corporation, Schneider Electric. I worked with 12 dedicated countries in promoting energy-efficiency technologies for the 4 and 5-star global hotel market and served on the Advisory Board for the Center of Hospitality Research at Cornell University. I am now retired, serving on several boards, most notably with Global Citizens Circle. When did you first learn about Global Citizens Circle, and how has your engagement grown with GCC over the years? I was first introduced to GCC in 1998, after returning to New Hampshire to run a convention hotel in Manchester. I attended a few Circles at the Parker House and was completely taken in by the level and content of the dialogue they fostered. I took notice of the number of New Hampshire people who attended these Circles and offered to host a couple of Circles at the hotel in Manchester to make it more accessible for these New Hampshire residents. Some years later, I met with Eleanor Dunfey-Freiburger and learned of the efforts to reconstitute GCC in collaboration with Southern New Hampshire University. I subsequently joined as an advisor and then joined the board just a few years ago. What have been some of the most meaningful experiences you've had through GCC? It is impossible not to be in awe of the incredibly successful outreach and influence the Dunfey family has had in global conflicts and social issues. Their partners and advisors consisted of global leaders, social activists, Nobel Prize recipients, elders, and emerging leaders, all focused on open discussion and the sharing of experiences and knowledge to encourage proactive efforts to resolving conflict, to finding peace and to promoting diversity, equality and inclusion. In a world so fragmented by violence and politics, these accomplishments resonated strongly with me. What do you tell others about the benefits of supporting and participating in GCC events and activities? We have made recent efforts to re-engage with business leaders, returning to our founding days, to focus on addressing social, environmental, and conflict issues and challenges that we face today. These leaders are in the position to address issues facing us in our respective communities. While some in the political theatre have attempted to make diversity, equity and inclusion a divisive concept, the reality is businesses face major challenges that a diverse employment base brings as well as in the communities in which they operate. An openness to understanding and working with a diverse employment base and community is critical for success today. And, the fact of the matter is, a diverse community offers new ideas, insight, energy, and engagement that keeps us from becoming stagnant. This is the very definition of the successes that have brought us to where we are today. As Board Chair, what are your goals for GCC? As Board Chair, and in our current fiscal year, my objectives are to provide more board support to the remarkable work GCC Executive Director and President Theo Spanos Dunfey and Assistant Director Phoebe de Larrabeiti accomplish, sharply enhance our fundraising efforts, grow our board membership with an emphasis on targeting key business leaders, and to support our outreach in expanding our Emerging Leaders program and Global Partners. It is impossible not to be in awe of the incredibly successful outreach and influence the Dunfey family has had in global conflicts and social issues. Tito Jackson, the chairman emeritus of Global Citizens Circle's Board, speaks to what GCC has meant to him over the years, why it remains vital in his life, and how we all benefit from GCC and its mission. By Nadine Hack I’ve been involved with Global Citizens Circle (GCC) for 40 of its 50 years, since 1984 when I met my husband Jerry Dunfey, its founding president. I love its inclusive, egalitarian mission to connect people of diverse sectors, ages, nationalities, ethnicities, genders, and socioeconomic status. It champions intergenerational dialogue to find sustainable solutions for global problems that require multiple perspectives. GCC teaches us: We may not agree on every issue but we can respect and learn from each other. I cherish being in its worldwide community engaging in discussions, then joining in actions to promote social justice, equality and peace. I’ve helped organize and participated in many Circles over four decades. GCC has a credo, “Start young and stay at it.” When GCC connects us with young activists, it encourages us to remain connected to them for decades. It’s done this throughout the U.S., Northern Ireland, the Middle East, Latin America, Asia, South Africa, and wherever there are problems that need broad support for a sustained time. At GCC's 2019 intergenerational Circle, "Building Movements for Change: Stories of Challenge and Success," with facilitator Jada Keye Hebra, SVP & Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer, Southern New Hampshire University; Lauren Hogg, co-founder, March for Our Lives; Dolores Huerta, co-founder of United Farm Workers; and Ramla Sahid, founder, Partnership for Advancement of New Americans In 1985, a Circle in Boston featured Oliver Tambo, the president of the African National Congress (ANC). Other exiled South Africans attended, including Zwelakhe Sisulu, a Fulbright Scholar at Harvard; Johnny Makatini, head of the ANC’s international arm; and Thabo Mbeki, a member of its executive committee. It was the first time many of them had seen each other since they’d gone into exile. So, not only was GCC introducing them to Americans who wanted to know more about the anti-apartheid movement but also reconnecting them to one another. Many Circles focused on how to end apartheid and, after it, how to support negotiations leading to South Africa’s free and fair elections. When Nelson Mandela was released from prison in 1990, Jerry and I presented the Global Citizens Award to him in Washington DC. In 1986, GCC held a Circle in Washington, D.C., on the eve of the U.S. congressional vote on sanctions featuring social justice advocate and world-renowned performer Harry Belafonte and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Laureate. Many senior legislative aides to members of the US Senate and House of Representatives said the decision to vote for sanctions was largely made based on Archbishop Tutu’s stirring words. In 1998, GCC brought a delegation of 68 democracy activists from nine countries to South Africa for visits to and discussions with local activists including a group convened in Alexandria Township by Linda Twala, affectionately called ‘the father of the nation’ in Alex Town. Along the sagging banks at the outskirts of the shantytown, he had locals hold hands with us in a circle. There wasn’t a dry eye as he spoke about the importance of our international solidarity with them to end poverty and create opportunity for everyone in his nation. In that same trip, Archbishop Desmond Tutu welcomed us to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Justices Albie Sachs and Richard Goldstone took us around the new Constitutional Court; Walter and Albertina Sisulu hosted us at her Creche after we attended a service at Ipeleng church in Soweto; Ahmed Kathrada showed us around the Robben Island prison where he and Mandela had been cell mates and Sisulu, who accompanied us on the boat ride there; we met with members of the new multi-racial Parliament and even with President Mandela. In 1999, at a Circle in Atlanta, we presented the Global Citizens Award to Coretta Scott King and to John Hume, a leading peacemaker in Northern Ireland, another region we’d focused on. We’d brought GCC delegations to Belfast and hosted numerous Circles on ‘The Troubles’ there and in the U.S. from the 1970s through the 2000s. Since COVID, online Circles have had an even greater global reach since anyone can join from wherever they are on the planet. Some of GCC’s recent Circles include:
In these and other Circles, discussion leaders conveyed how much they valued Global Citizens Circle, and how touched they were that we listened to their stories and pledged ongoing support of their causes. In our deeply divided world, Global Citizens Circle is needed now more than ever! Nadine Hack is the CEO of beCause Global Consulting, helping individuals and organizations connect to core purpose – creating synergy within entities, improving relations among internal and external stakeholders and enabling challenges to be overcome and goals become achieved – for nearly 40 years. She has worked with leaders globally in business, NGOs, academia and government, including Nelson Mandela. Nadine is a senior advisor to Global Citizens Circle, the first female Executive-in-Residence at IMD Business School, a Forbes Councils author, and a TEDx speaker, whose talk, “Adversaries to Allies,” is viewed worldwide. She has garnered many awards throughout her career, including Responsible CEO of Year Shortlist, Top Corporate Social Responsibility Leader, Top Ethical Business Influencer, Enterprising Woman of the Year, Catalyst for Change, an Inspiration Life Achievement presented at Säid Business School Oxford. She is currently writing a book, “The Power of Connectedness,” with a foreword by the Archbishop Desmond Tutu. |
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