Ploughshares Fund Names New Leaders for a New Future
Ploughshares Fund today named seven individuals who are leading the way to security and peace in the 21st century. These leaders are available to discuss prospects for President-elect Obama’s national security team, and the complex range of historic opportunities to reduce and ultimately eliminate nuclear weapons and promote peace in regions of conflicts.
“At a moment of unprecedented opportunity for increasing global security, these people are leading initiatives capable of far-reaching change,” said Joseph Cirincione, president of Ploughshares Fund. He cited the vision and innovation exemplified by the following individuals, each of whom has received a grant ranging from $40,000 to $100,000 to support his or her work and are profiled in New Leaders/New Future: Ploughshares Fund Annual Report 2008.
Major General Dipankar Banerjee, who traded his military uniform for the mantle of peacemaker as the founder of the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies in volatile and nuclear-armed South Asia.
Contact: (New Delhi) 91.11.5100.1900, dbanerjee@ipcs.org
Kennette Benedict, who is transforming the venerable Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists into a powerful tool for educating the public and policymakers and building a public movement for a safer, nuclear weapon-free world.
Contact: 312.364.9710 ext. 12, kbenedict@thebulletin.org
Bruce Blair, who this week will officially launch Global Zero, a worldwide popular drive for an international agreement to eliminate all nuclear weapons by a date certain.
Contact: 202-797-5116, bblair@worldsecurityinstitute.org
Matthew Bunn, who combines urgency with the practical steps needed to fast-track international efforts to prevent nuclear terrorism, from Harvard’s Managing the Atom Project.
Contact: 617.495.9916, matthew_bunn@harvard.edu
Victoria Holt, who is redefining the role of militaries in protecting civilians caught in violent conflicts around the world. Holt is co-director of the Future of Peace Operations project at the Henry L. Stimson Center.
Contact: 202.223.5956, vholt@stimson.org
Rachel Kleinfeld, whose Truman National Security Project is recruiting and training tomorrow’s young, progressive leaders.
Contact: 202.216.9723, rachel@trumanproject.org
Trita Parsi, founder of the National Iranian American Council and leader of efforts to forge a more rational U.S. policy toward Iran.
Contact: 202.386.2303, tparsi@niacouncil.org
For interviews, including Ploughshares Fund President Joseph Cirincione or Executive Director Naila Bolus, please contact: