John Paul Lederach is a widely-recognized pioneer and practitioner in the field of conciliation and conflict transformation.
Lederach completed his undergraduate work at Bethel College, North Newton, Kansas, and holds a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Colorado. A faculty member at Eastern Mennonite University since 1990, Lederach founded the Conflict Transformation Program in 1994 and served as director until 1997.
Lederach was recently appointed a "distinguished scholar" by the University, a designation that seeks to recognize faculty who achieve national or international scholarly recognition.
Dr. Lederach is Professor of International PeaceBuilding at the Joan B. Kroc International Peace Studies program at Notre Dame University.
Lederach is a widely-published theorist and practitioner in both Spanish and English. He has developed training materials and manuals, as well as authored or edited 12 books, authored numerous articles and monographs on peace education, conflict transformation, international peacebuilding, and conciliation training. His published works include The Journey to Reconciliation, Preparing for Peace: Conflict Transformation Across Cultures and Building Peace: Sustainable Reconciliation in Divided Societies.
Lederach has special expertise in working with indigenous peoples and in conflicts involving inter-ethnic, cross-cultural and religious issues. He has done extensive work as a peacebuilding practitioner, trainer and consultant in areas of protracted conflict in Latin America, Asia, Africa, Northern Ireland, the Philippines, the Basque country of Spain and the United States
He served as a member of the Conciliation Commission mediating between the indigenous East Coast Resistance Movement, Yatama, and the Sandinista Government, resulting in successfully signed accords. He was also a negotiation consultant to the Mohawk Nation during the armed crisis and standoff.
Lederach was a consultant and facilitator with the Mediation Network for Northern Ireland in conflict transformation and cross community initiatives and designed and facilitated mediation training with special focus on cultural models and applications.
Lederach’s work in Africa includes being an Advisor and Board Member of the Ethiopian Ad Hoc Peace Committee, an initiative of Ethiopian intellectuals to conciliate between warring parties and promote peace. He has been cited for developing elicitive methods of conflict resolution training and practice, as well as designing and conducting training programs in 25 countries and across 5 continents.
For his work as a teacher, author and practitioner and his leadership as a person of conscience and goodwill, CADRE is proud to honor John Paul Lederach with the Third Annual “Keys to Access” Award.