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For the past 10 years, the Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution at George �鶹��Ƶ has partnered with Shinnyo-en Foundation in their shared mission of developing young people as peacebuilders. The Carter School and the California-based Shinnyo-en Foundation seek to bring different groups together, honoring every voice, navigating darkness, and illuminating paths toward peace.

Shinnyo-en Foundation has generously supported a fellowship to a single Carter School undergraduate student each year, including Jessica Jeffers, who, during her 2024-25 fellowship, worked with Fairfax County Neighborhood and Community Services in the Fairfax County Youth Innovation Unit. Jeffers worked with this unit to support the implementation of Re-Engagement Centers across Fairfax County, which assist youth ages 14–24 in continuing their educational journey and/or beginning their career pathways. 

Jeffers further strengthened her skills in coordinating career fairs, facilitating youth focus groups, and supporting the development of a restorative justice initiative that focuses on peer-to-peer practices.

Now the partnership enters a new era with the foundation supporting the Carter School’s Conflict Resolution Youth Summit (CRYS), a four-day, overnight learning experience for high school students to learn leadership and conflict resolution skills and to discuss current issues facing society. This year’s summit, held from June 15–18, welcomed the largest group yet, with 48 students participating and completing a diverse range of final projects. Topics explored included depolarization, global conflicts, human trafficking, memorialization, silence as injustice, pollution, and more.

The summit showcases the George �鶹��Ƶ college experience and equips participants with essential peacebuilding mindsets and conflict resolution skills that will serve them long after the program ends.

As one student shared, “Each workshop was so insightful and made me think differently about the world; however, my favorite was 'Dialogue Across Differences.' I was completely fascinated by the concept. Creating a safe space for different types of people from all over the world to learn how to have meaningful and civil conversations with those who may have different opinions or beliefs is such a needed and inspiring idea. It was as if I found my people and my purpose!”

The partnership between the Carter School and Shinnyo-en Foundation represents more than shared programs or events; it embodies a commitment to the belief that peace is achievable and that young people are vital to creating it.