Our history

Forty-five years of building a safer world.

From the first test-ban treaties to two Nobel Peace Prize–winning campaigns, Ploughshares backs the people and ideas turning the tide on nuclear risk.

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Demonstrators carry a dummy ICBM past the White House

1981 – today

Milestones that changed the field

  1. 1980s
  2. Ploughshares founder Sally Lilienthal smiles from her desk, papers pinned to the wall behind her
    Sally Lilienthal sitting at her desk at Ploughshares’ first office in Fort Mason
    1981

    Ploughshares is founded.

  3. 1984

    Recognizing the critical but under-supported role that women play in disarmament, Ploughshares launches the Women’s Leadership Development program.

  4. Marchers walk arm in arm beneath a “Freeze the Arms Race” banner
    Protesters march to Central Park as part of a 1982 Nuclear Freeze demonstration. Photo: Getty Images
    1986

    Ploughshares funds early experiments by US and Soviet scientists that prove a nuclear test-ban treaty can be enforced. Their work ultimately leads to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and the end to US, Russian, French, Chinese, and British nuclear testing.

  5. 1990s
  6. Landmine survivors and advocates at a “Ban Landmines Now” rally
    Protest against landmines in Washington, DC
    1993

    Ploughshares begins support for work banning antipersonnel landmines, including by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), which ultimately leads to the Landmine Ban Treaty, and ICBL being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

  7. 1999

    Ploughshares co-founds and hosts the Peace and Security Funders Group to better coordinate funding for the peace movement and the nuclear field, and to encourage new funders to support its work.

  8. 2000s
  9. Demonstrators carry a dummy ICBM past the White House
    Demonstrators carry a dummy ICBM in front of the White House in a July 2001 protest of the Bush Administration’s revival of the anti-ballistic missile program.
    2002

    Ploughshares launches the Arms Control Advocacy Collaborative (AC2) with the Kirsch Foundation to directly promote arms control–related legislation on Capitol Hill.

  10. 2004

    Ploughshares co-creates the Peace and Security Initiative (PSI) with the Ford Foundation to build nationwide coordination on a shared agenda for the peace and security community in the 21st century.

  11. 2010s
  12. Michael Douglas and Lewis Butler pose together at a Ploughshares event
    Actor and Ploughshares Advisor Michael Douglas and Lewis Butler, Founding Board Member and Chair Emeritus at a 2010 Ploughshares event
    2010

    Ploughshares funds and coordinates a successful field-wide effort to support the ratification of the New START US–Russia arms control treaty in the US Senate.

  13. US and Iranian delegations meet across a long table beneath American and Iranian flags
    U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif discuss the implementation of the JCPOA on May 17, 2016. Photo: US Department of State | public domain
    2010

    Ploughshares launches its support of nuclear negotiations with Iran, coordinating a coalition of over 100 organizations in support of what becomes the Iran Nuclear Deal.

  14. Three people pose together in an office lined with books
    Roger L. Hale with fellows Tytti Erasto and Will Saetren
    2013

    Ploughshares establishes the Hale Fellowship to support emerging researchers in the nuclear field.

  15. Workshop participants work through papers and sticky notes around a table
    N Square Workshop at TEDActive in Whistler, Canada. Photo: Marla Aufmuth/TED
    2014

    Ploughshares creates the N Square initiative in partnership with other funders to change how nuclear experts and civil society work together to address 21st century nuclear and other national security threats.

  16. A group of women in the nuclear field gathered for a Women’s Initiative convening
    Women leaders gather at Ploughshares’ First Pocantico Conference for the creation of what becomes the Women’s Initiative.
    2017

    Ploughshares launches the Women’s Initiative to address the longstanding gender imbalance in the nuclear field and reach gender parity in its own grantmaking.

  17. 2020s
  18. A speaker leads a session in front of a flip chart asking “How do others define security for us?”
    Lovely Umayam facilitating at the Pocantico II convening
    2021

    The Women’s Initiative is transformed into Equity Rises and launches a $1MM RFP to empower diverse voices, cultivate inclusive spaces, and collaborate with new partners inside and outside the nuclear field.

  19. Nuclear Futures fellows pose together for a group photo
    Nuclear Futures Fellows at Ploughshares’ Washington, DC office
    2023

    Ploughshares launches the Nuclear Futures Fellowship to support the next generation of leaders in the nuclear field.

  20. Women leaders link arms and smile at the Women Transforming Global Security launch
    Participants at the WTGS launch event in New York City
    2025

    Ploughshares launches Women Transforming Global Security to launch and promote a feminist approach to complex, interconnected issues in international security.

2026 and beyond

The next chapter starts with you.

Every milestone on this page was made possible by people who chose to invest in a safer world. Your year-end gift helps write what comes next.

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