[quote]is to work in community to end violence against Earth, her people, and all living beings and to support all endeavors to bring about a just world.[/quote]

Barbara Broussard is a recent graduate from Greenfield Community College with an Associates degree in Human Services. Barbara is currently attending Elms College of Social Work for her BSW.  She  has also  worked closely with Abbie Jenks over the past 2 years helping to expand the Traprock Peace database and outreach potential. She plans to make the libraries resouces available to all who are interested in peace, social justice, and environmental education.  Barbara is currently a hotline Crisis counselor at New England Learning Center for Women in Transition (NELCWIT) and is the Director of Film and Book Collection for the Traprock Peace and Education Center.

Suzanne Carlson has been committed to nonviolent activism since 1983, including various acts of “divine resistance” to weapons of mass destruction, militarism, racism, and materialism. Following participation in the Walk for the Earth 1984 (CA to Washington DC), she joined Jonah House and the Atlantic Life Community and served a year in prison for a Plowshares action against the Trident first-strike nuclear system. Besides living simply and in community, she has participated in several acts of resistance as well as community-building and local food production. She serves on the Board to promote Traprock’s mission toward peace and social and economic justice.

Pat Hynes is a retired environmental engineer and Professor of Environmental Health who worked on issues of the urban environment (including lead poisoning, asthma and the indoor environment, safe housing, community gardens and urban agriculture); environmental justice; and feminism at Boston University School of Public Health. For her writing, teaching, and applied research, she has won numerous awards, including the US EPA Lifetime Achievement Award (2009), the 2003 National Delta Omega Award for Innovative Curriculum in Public Health; the US EPA Environmental Merit Award for Healthy Public Housing (2004) project and the Lead-Safe Yard Project (2000); and the 1996 National Arbor Day Foundation Book Award for A Patch of Eden, her book on community gardens in inner cities. She is the author and editor of 7 books, including The Recurring Silent Spring and, most recently, Urban Health: Readings in the Social, Built and Physical Environments of U.S. Cities.

She is currently publishing and speaking on the health effects of war and militarism on society and on women, in particular, and climate justice, renewable energy, and the hazards of nuclear power.  As chair of the board of the Traprock Center for Peace and Justice in western Massachusetts, she is committed to building with others the Traprock Center as a unique educational center in peacemaking and peace leadership for activists, educators, and students. Pat has had several of her articles on war, militarism, peace, and related concerns published online:

abbeyProfessor Abbie Jenks, MSW, M.Ed., is the creator and current advisor of the Peace, Justice and Environmental Studies Liberal Arts option at Greenfield Community College, and a member of the GCC Green Campus Committee. She is active in the national Peace and Justice Studies Association and co-chair of the New England Peace Studies Association. Additionally, she is a Board Member of the Traprock Center for Peace and Justice in Greenfield, MA and a participant/initiating group member in the Transition Town movement in Pelham, MA where she lives. Ms. Jenks works with other United States community colleges in the development of peace and conflict studies in community colleges and is a contributor to an online manual sponsored by the Special Interest  Group (SIG) of the Peace, Conflict and Security in Community Colleges (PCSCC)
(http://www.creducation.org/cre/policymakers_and_admins/peace_studies_at_community_colleges) . She has several syllabi published in the latest edition of Peace, Justice and Security Studies: A Curriculum Guide. (Garber, Julie, B. Welling Hall, Joseph Leichty, Timothy McElwee, eds. Peace, Justice, and Security Studies: A Curriculum Guide.Boulder, Colo.: Lynne Reinner Publishers).  Additionally, she presented at the national PJSA conferences in 2007-10 on building peace studies in community colleges.

Mary McCarthy has received her bachelor’s degree in Sustainable Communities through the UMASS University Without Walls Program. Her Associate Degree is in Peace, Justice & Environmental Studies with a minor in Human Services from Greenfield Community College (GCC). It was during her time at GCC that she developed a deep interest and concern for issues relating to Social & Environmental Justice. She is interested in the inter-connectedness of economic, social and environmental justice and how these issues affect not only individuals, but communities as a whole. What can be done to encourage and empower people to come together and thrive in such unstable times? Mary is currently on the board of directors for Traprock Center for Peace & Justice. She is also the lead developer & coordinator for Traprock’s Peace Leadership Workshops with Paul K. Chappell, and has also been involved with Climate Action NOW MA, and American Friends Service Committee. In addition to her various committee projects, she has also enjoyed co-hosting Occupy the Airwaves on Valley Free Radio. Mary has a strong background in networking, strategic alliance building, program development, training, and outreach. Mary is also a graduate of the LIPPI (Leadership Institute for Political & Public Impact) through the Women’s Fund of Western Mass. Moving forward, Ms. McCarthy looks forward to developing a strong network with like-minded individuals and groups who are also interested in creating a positive, more sustainable and just world.

Sarah Pirtle taught the first graduate school classes in New England that trained educators to teach conflict transformation methods with children. Starting in the early 1980’s, she was a pioneer in writing peace education curriculum that addresses oppression. Her book An Outbreak of Peace was named the outstanding book of the year on world peace by New York authors and editors in 1987. This 400 page book illustrated by two dozen young people talks about changing racism. Her four peace education books include Better Together: Caring and Including Instead of Bullying which comes with a double CD.

She was the first Traprock Peace Education Coordinator in 1981 and editor-in-chief of the flip chart project called “Facing the Facts.” Since 1992 she has directed the Discovery Center for Peacebuilding providing over a hundred school residencies in eight states. At the suggestion of Traprock, she founded a nature and social justice camp called Journey Camp, which after 24 years she still directs at Woolman Hill. Currently Sarah founded and directs the Common Threads Program at Traprock. Her booklet: Keepers of the Fire: Dialogue to Change Sexism and Foster Gender Reconciliation is available online on this website.

Pete Seeger said, “If you want to hear some of the best songs for children out there today, listen to Sarah Pirtle.” A prolific songwriter, she has recordings for adults including Everyday Bravery and for children including Two Hands Hold the Earth. She founded the Children’s Music Network to encourage meaningful music for children (www.childrensmusic.org).
Her songs “My Roots Go Down,” “Mahogany Tree,” “Walls and Bridges” and “The Colors of Earth” have traveled internationally.

Information about her ten recordings and peace books is on her website: www.sarahpirtle.com.

Diana Roberts says: I grew up surrounded by many distinguished theologians and artists thanks to my parents. Since then, I’ve been involved with a variety of volunteer groups and causes, first in England, where I studied photography, and now in Franklin County. Including: working with seniors in an outreach program; canvassing in presidential elections beginning 1968; tutoring ESOL students in several capacities; singer, section leader and treasurer for Pioneer Valley Symphony Chorus, and at the Greenfield Public Library, first on the circulation desk, and now for their Homebound program.

I was also a founding member of Gallery 267, and am now co-chair and member of the board of Directors at ArtSpace. I achieved my BA from UMass in Creative Writing after seventeen years, four colleges and three changes of major. My affiliation with Traprock Center for Peace and Justice ensued from being on the Response Initiative Committee, formed at GCC after the 9/11/01 tragedy, and also through pertinent Peace & Social Justice classes. As a Traprock affiliate, I’ve become involved with the Peacemakers Awards, along with Interfaith Council members, assessing and awarding eighth through twelfth graders who stand out in their communities for peace-related activities.  More recently, I’ve been attending meetings of a collaborative film series between Greening Greenfield and Traprock, with Traprock co-sponsoring. There is much to be done to make the world a better place for all living beings. Propagating joy, compassion, love, peace, justice, tenderness and hope in all that we do, on a daily basis, helps.

Fric Spruyt says: I was born into a family that looked to make a difference in this world. I grew up in Ethiopia where I went to a French school, then moved to Chapel Hill, NC, attended Carolina Friends School and helped campaign for the first black mayor in North Carolina. I took a weekend seminar in consensus group process at the Movement For A New Society in Philadelphia, while attending Putney School. I joined the Clamshell Alliance right out of high school. I have been a founding member of several peace and justice groups, as well as a few community organizations, and am past president of the Brattleboro Dawn Dance Committee. I studied Negotiation/ Mediation at UVM, then Communication with Sandra Boston. Recently I have been training to design and build solar thermal systems, and have been working with Putney, VT’s ‘Transition Town’ group, organizing ‘reskilling’ workshops. I feel strongly that we need to combine activism, community building, personal growth, and fun, if we are going to sustain our effort over the long term, and have good lasting effects on the world.

Sher Sweet has been an educator for over 30 years and enjoys teaching students about religious literacy, tolerance and the importance of understanding our multi-faith world. She believes nothing could be more important than teaching our youth the efficacy of non-violence and the importance of challenging sexism, racism, and homophobia. Presently, Sher  is a mediator in Small Claims court in Greenfield and Northampton and a teacher of spirituality and Hebrew. Since Traprock’s beginnings in 1979, Sher has been involved in its work and is now serving on the Board.