Peace Works United: Building Peace That Works
Our Work in Action
Programs rooted in community impact turning dialogue into transformation.
Current Work
Our Flagship Convening
For professional development that provides a supportive space for frank and unapologetic dialogue about race and racial disparities in work, school, and everyday life. Leaders from government, nonprofit, corporate, and community sectors gather to practice critical dialogue skills on the most complex topics. Each convening features high-profile speakers delivering keynote lectures on race and related issues, followed by in-depth dialogue in racial identity cluster groups led by social justice scholars, and then collective cross-racial dialogue to foster a shared understanding. Participants develop anti-racist leadership skills and intercultural communication competencies through authentic, challenging conversations, not surface-level diversity training. This is where participants gain the tools to navigate challenging conversations about race and drive real, lasting change in their organizations and communities.
Past Initiatives that Reflect Our Ongoing Mission
Past Works That Inspired Change
These initiatives span from literacy campaigns to creative community engagement; these projects reflect our ongoing commitment to unity, equity, and growth.
The Read Well Campaign
Peace Works United (PWU) partnered with the Tacoma-George Sister City Committee to launch the Read Well Campaign, addressing South Africa’s dire literacy crisis—where, at the time, 81% of Grade 4 learners could not read for meaning in any language. Through PWU’s collaboration with the South African NGO Womb to Tomb, we raised funds to purchase 400 personalized books for young readers in George, thereby helping children develop their reading comprehension and literacy skills.
Check the Black Box Census Education Campaign
As an official partner of the 2020 U.S. Census, Peace Works United launched the “Check the Black Box” video series to mobilize Black communities and ensure accurate representation in the census count. The three-episode series featured conversations with Census officials about why Black Americans needed to participate and accurately identify their race, addressing the historical undercounting of Black communities and emphasizing how census numbers directly impact federal funding for healthcare, education, infrastructure, and essential community programs.
Good Trouble Media Lab - Pilot Program
Peace Works United partnered with the Tacoma Pierce County Health Department, Young Life of Lakewood, The Bamford Foundation, and Group Health Foundation to launch Good Trouble MediaLab an intensive 8-week paid program teaching seven high school students how to develop public service announcements addressing youth marijuana prevention. Students received hands-on training in persuasive theory, financial literacy, video production, script writing, audio and camera operations, debate, and professional presentation skills. Each participant earned $500 while creating two original PSAs submitted for the National Academy of Arts and Sciences Northwest Student Emmy competition. The program culminated in a red carpet event where students presented their work to more than 30 family members and friends, demonstrating how young people can become powerful advocates for community health while developing valuable career skills.
Shots and Catfish
“Shots & Catfish” was a community vaccination initiative hosted by Peace Works United in partnership with Virginia Mason Franciscan Health and the Ebony Nurses Association at the Bleu Note Restaurant and Lounge during the COVID-19 pandemic. This creative program combined free COVID-19 vaccinations with complimentary catfish meals to encourage vaccination in the African American community and address vaccine hesitancy during a critical public health moment.
Build anticipation and show that Peace Works United is actively expanding.
We’re expanding our vision to create spaces that blend leadership, youth engagement, and peace-building for the future.
The People’s Golf Gathering
Uses golf as an innovative lens for anti-racist dialogue in a $70 billion industry that remains overwhelmingly white, with Black golfers’ participation continuing to decline.
This professional development experience brings together business leaders, policymakers, educators, and civic changemakers for purpose-driven conversations about structural racism. Foursomes are intentionally matched for racial diversity and skill level, creating space where participants grapple with the central question:
Through the sport’s ongoing barriers to access, participants gain a concrete understanding of how racism operates systemically in their workplaces and communities. TPGG is a transformative, anti-racist skill-building experience held on the fairway.
Good Trouble MediaLab is an intensive
At Faun, we dedicate our work to creating sustainable solutions that uplift communities and transform lives worldwide.
That empowers middle and high school students to become storytellers and content creators who amplify the voices of marginalized communities.
Through hands-on experience with professional video equipment and guidance from industry experts, students develop essential skills in media production, financial literacy, persuasive communication, and professional presentation. Participants learn camera operation, video editing, scriptwriting, lighting, sound design, and financial management while creating original media projects that address real community issues. The program culminates in a red-carpet premiere event, where students showcase their work to family, friends, and the community. Outstanding projects are submitted to the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Northwest Emmy Award student competitions.
Empowers the next generation to be architects of an anti-racist future through critical dialogue and intercultural relationship-building. This sacred space teaches young people to navigate difficult conversations about race, identity, and justice not as abstract concepts, but as lived realities shaping their world every single day. Here, youth engage in the most challenging conversations, discover their power as peacebuilders, and learn an essential truth: when we end racism, we build lasting peace.
Our programs provided food, education, and healthcare to over one million people in need.
With donor and volunteer support, we’ve provided millions of meals to fight hunger.
Safe schools and shelters now give children a brighter future.