On November 7, 2024, nineteen grassroots leaders from across Chicago gathered at the Chicago History Museum and celebrated their achievements as the sixth cohort to graduate from the Chicago Peace Fellows program. The graduation ceremony was collaboratively planned by the 2024 Chicago Peace Fellows to highlight their experiences, learning and accomplishments and was themed around the idea of “Transforming Together”.
The Chicago Peace Fellows program spanned from March to November and included workshops, partnership meetings, and discussions that helped Peace Fellows to deepen their shared understanding of grassroots leadership, violence prevention, and asset-based community development. Peace Fellows attended workshops at community organizations such as Free Street Theatre, Breakthrough Ministries, and The Institute for Non-Violence Chicago. Throughout the program, Peace Fellows participated in the GATHER, a platform and curriculum built around collaborative learning and action for communities of practice. This shared learning experience culminated in a series of summer projects organized and hosted by the 2024 Chicago Peace Fellows which applied lessons learned through the Peace Fellows program to build peace within their communities.
The Sixth Chicago Peace Fellows Graduation
This was the fourth year that the Chicago Peace Fellows graduation has been held at the Chicago History Museum. As fellows, friends, and family members entered the balcony gallery they saw the halls lined with portraits of each of the 2024 Chicago Peace Fellows. In the main hall, they also saw a timeline of the fellows’ journey that broke down each step of the Chicago Peace Fellows program. After taking time to enjoy food, drink, music, and laughter, fellows gathered to begin the graduation ceremony.
The graduation ceremony was opened by the Goldin Institute’s Senior Director of Programs John Zeigler, who called the fellows into community and took a moment to honor our ancestors. John took a moment to honor John McKnight in particular, who co-founded the Asset-Based Community Development Institute alongside Jody Kretzmann at DePaul University. Asset-Based Community Development is a central focus of the GATHER curriculum and models community change on building up assets and resources that already exist within neighborhoods.
Michael Henderson, Director of the Chicago Peace Fellows, followed John Zeigler by recapping highlights from the 2024 Chicago Peace Fellows Program and then introducing four groups of fellows. The groups organized around the theme of “Transforming Together” and each took a separate sub-theme to reflect on their experiences as Peace Fellows: “Growth”, “Perspective”, “Fellowship”, and “The Power of One”.
How Fellows Transformed Together
The “Growth” group consisted of Elaine Martel, Steve Archer II, Parish Brown, and Aniki Coates. They began their presentation with a quote used by Mexican activists in support of the Ayotzinapa 43: “They tried to bury us but they did not know we are seeds.” Each member of the group took time to reflect on how leadership can begin as something small and full of potential and can grow into something large and impactful.
The “Perspective” group consisted of Tai Donovan, Ava Hawkins, Kevin Amaro, Anthony Jones, and Ariel Rainey. They shared a video where Peace Fellows from the 2024 class shared how their perspective on activism and change-making was expanded by the program. They focused in particular on how the program shifted their perspective from a problem based view to an asset-based approach.
“In medicine we are trained to zero in on problems, to diagnose what’s wrong and fix it, and that’s the mindset I brought with me. I was ready to help fix what I saw as gaps or issues in our communities. But being a part of this program has truly changed the way I see things and my perspective. I’ve learned to focus on not just the challenges, but the strengths, resilience, and unique assets that our communities have.”
-Tai Donovan, 2024 Peace Fellow and Director of Operations at the Medical Careers Exposure and Emergency Preparedness Initiative
The “Fellowship” group consisted of Tony Daniels, Antonio Davis, Christopher Payne, Annette Cartman, and Riccadonna Chaidez. They presented a video that focused on how the Peace Fellows program provided opportunities for connection and collaboration between different community organizations. Throughout the video different Peace Fellows reflected workshops and events where they came together to make little libraries, learned about different block clubs throughout Chicago, went on community walks, and more.
“The Fellowship has supported my professional growth in a number of different ways. Outside of being in connection with other leaders throughout the city, it has also given me some great training tools and modules that have allowed me to walk through and really reexamine the kind of work I am doing as a block club president and how that affects peace in our community.”
-Tony Daniels, 2024 Peace Fellows and President of the Adams Block Club, 5500
The “Power of One” group consisted of Ana Maria Hernandez, I.Ashaki Williams McClain, Annie Liddell, Pat Day-McCray, and Jason Michael Maldonado. They took turns reflecting on the power of both individuals and a group of people as a united force. Their presentation ended with a poem recited by Ashaki Williams McClain.
As the 2024 Chicago Peace Fellows graduation ceremony came to a close, Travis Rejman, the Executive Director of the Goldin Institute welcomed two representatives of funders of the Peace Fellows program. Travis welcomed Jai Jones from the Partnership for Safe and Peaceful Communities and Leslie Ramyk from the Conant Family Foundation who both congratulated the 2024 class and praised the work of peace building that they had witnessed first-hand from the Peace Fellow community at large.
“You give me hope, but it’s so much more than that, you heal me, and I hope others feel the same way.”
-Jai Jones, Program Specialist at the Partnership for Safe and Peaceful Communities
The ceremony concluded with the handing out of graduation certificates. Michael Henderson called the Peace Fellows to receive their certificates and welcomed them as alumni of the program. Upon graduating, the 2024 Chicago Peace Fellows now join the Goldin Institute’s Global Alumni Network which consists of 232 Fellows from over 50 countries around the world.
In a retrospective, Michael reflects on his experience leading the 2024 class of Chicago Peace Fellows:
Leading the 2024 Chicago Peace Fellows cohort was a transformative experience, marking my first time in this role. As a proud alumnus from the 2020 class and having directed the mutual aid alumni in 2023, I stepped into this position with a mix of nerves, anxiety, and excitement.
Throughout the journey, I grappled with the fear of the unknown and often questioned whether I was doing things right or striving for perfection.
However, witnessing the cohort’s perseverance and dedication was incredibly rewarding; seeing each group successfully completing their peace-building projects and the impact it made in the communities, had a profound impact on me. Hosting the inaugural Chicago and Global meeting, which reinforced our theme of shared learning and showcased the power of collaboration across communities made me a pride leader. Watching them graduate was truly amazing! I believe this journey not only allowed this year’s cohort participants to transform but has also significantly changed me; we have all grown through this experience, truly embodying this year’s graduating theme “Transforming Together.”
-Michael Henderson, Director of the Chicago Peace Fellows and 2020 Chicago Peace Fellow
