Global Citizen Mentor and Trainer : An Interview with Susan Partnow

(Editor’s Note: Today I introduce you to my friend and colleague Susan Partnow, the founder of Global Citizen Journey, a new citizen diplomacy NGO that takes American citizens on trips to third world countries. GCJ is now planning its next trip, to Burundi, in July 2009.)

Is a Peacemaker Born or Made?

Q: Susan, How did you come to be so interested in and passionate about peace and social justice? Does a particular memory come to mind?

It’s been that way since I was a child. WWII and the Holocaust deeply affected me. Most of my best friends were children of survivors and I spent time in their homes. I feared that at any moment the world could turn against me. I did not want a world where that was possible. Peace became very important to me. I had a natural affinity for the underdog and a passion for justice and fairness so everyone would be safe.

Q: Give me some sense of your evolution from these childhood sensitivities to the adult you are today.

S: I was at Berkeley in the 60’s but I was just a little too young to go off and join the civil rights movement.  After college I was focused on my career as a teacher and a speech therapist.   When I became a mom I started an organization called Families for Peace. The turning point for me was when I met Danaan Parry and got involved with the Earthstewards Network. My spiritual self started to develop. I saw that you could bring activism and spirituality together. I was very inspired by Danaan and learned about the power of  grass roots citizen diplomacy from him. After Danaan died in 1996, I vowed  I would find a way to continue that work.

A Peacemaker in Training

Q: You’ve done a lot of other work: Conversation Cafes, Let’s Talk America, Compassionate Listening . . .

S: Earthstewards taught me the power of Citizen Diplomacy. Through Middle East Citizen Diplomacy(editor’s note: an early version of what eventually grew into The Compassionate Listening Project),  I learned Compassionate Listening and that became my personal deep practice. I was deeply involved with that organization and created the training certification process. How to build more cooperation and collaboration between people is a question I’ve studied.  In the 90’s I discovered the field of organizational development. I explored Open Space technology, Appreciative Inquiry and Spiral Dynamics. In 2001 I developed the Conversation Café with Vicki Robin. All this time the idea for Global Citizen Journey, had been on my mind.  In 2004 I shared my ideas with some African delegates at a peace conference and the project was born.

The Vision Becomes a Reality- Global Citizen Journey Is Born

Q: What is the purpose and model of Global Citizen Journey?

S: Our intention is transformation. How do we, especially Americans, awaken to our inter-connectedness as global citizens and our mutual responsibility so that we will be fully engaged as active citizens of the world?  How are we going to come to a world of peace? It doesn’t mean we are going to sit around and sing Kumbaya. It’s messy and challenging. We have to embrace confusion and conflict.  That’s why we need compassionate listening skills. GCJ cracks us open. It brings people, American delegates and international delegates, together across divides in a safe and somewhat structured way, so we can use the conflicts that come up as learning opportunities. We have had two trips so far, one to Nigeria and a second to Ghana and we are currently planning our third to Burundi in July 2009.

Empowerment is the Heart of the Model

How do we get to know each other? We do a service project together. Part of the GCJ experience now is to hold Community Town Halls. We bring people together in ways they wouldn’t otherwise in their communities. It’s an on-going learning laboratory. We use Open Space and World Café and we coach our international delegates in how to lead these processes. So by the time we leave, if they like it and want to continue, they will be fully capable of continuing to use these processes after we leave. Our model is all about empowerment and it has been very gratifying to see how much our international delegates have been inspired and transformed during our time together.

Please visit the Global Citizen Journey web site at: www.globalcitizenjourney.org.