2010 Laureate

Kim Ebert-Colella came to Tacoma as a Jesuit Volunteer and has continued to do peace work in all areas of her life. She volunteers at Bryant Montessori School, a racially and economically diverse school in the Hilltop area of Tacoma. She established Bryant as an International Peace Site in 2009.
Ms. Ebert-Colella established and continues to chair the Peace Committee at Bryant. The Committee, in partnership with “Pierce County Reads,” raised $9,000 in 2008 to send to “Pennies for Peace,” an organization which builds schools in remote regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Each year, Kim helps the students at Bryant choose a peace-related theme for the year. In 2009-2010 the theme was: “Water: Peace in Every Drop.” Partnered with NorwexTrue Clean (which originated in Norway), the students conserved water in their school by procuring rain barrels, which were decorated and installed around the school. Classes went on field trips to the Puget Creek watershed to learn the connection between sewer, ground water, and Puget Sound. They provided opportunities for all the students in the school to learn about the impact of our storm drains on our watersheds and the salmon population

Another goal of the Peace Committee in 2009-2010 was to raise $6,000 for the ETTA Project, which helped a poor village in Bolivia start a community garden and get running water to homes and the school in order to improve health. The garden provides the children of the village with fresh vegetables to augment their meager daily diet.

Kim’s deep passion for helping people has taken her all over the world. Through the high school youth ministries at her church, St. Nicholas in Gig Harbor, WA, she traveled to the barrios of Tijuana, Mexico. She ministered to both the elderly and teens as a Jesuit Volunteer; traveled alone to Calcutta because she had always wanted to meet and work with Mother Teresa; joined a delegation of women who traveled to South Africa; and worked in Hospice centers and homes in multiple villages to fight the AIDS crisis.

Kim received her B.A. in liberal studies, with a minor in psychology, from the College of St. Benedict and earned a Master’s Degree in pastoral studies from Seattle University. She makes her home in Tacoma, Washington, with her husband Niko and son Sam.

“Kim brings peace to the kids she works with by helping them reflect on their own ability to be peaceful, within themselves and with others. She encourages them to think and act both locally and globally.” (Wynne Brown, Nominator)

Learn more about Kim in our video Laureate Spotlight:

2009 Laureate

Reverend Alger, nominated by Saundra Sanderson, served for nearly thirty years as Executive Director of Associated Ministries. In his ecumenical work, Rev. Alger helped bring different faith groups together to build a community that is humane, compassionate and just.

He was instrumental in the founding and growth of many agencies that help to build such a community, including (among others)

• the Pierce County AIDS Foundation,
• the Indochinese Culture and Service Center,
• the Shalom Center (focusing on Central American and Middle Eastern Peace),
• the South Sound Peace and Justice Center,
• the Pierce County Dispute Resolution Center,
• Faith Partners Against Family Violence,
• the Moments of Blessing program (services held to reclaim places where homicides have occurred), and
• the Hilltop Action Coalition.

Read an article about Rev. Alger by clicking here.  And click here to read David and Sally Alger’s account of their trip to Oslo, Norway, in December of 2009.

Learn more about Rev Alger in his video Laureate Spotlight:

2008 Laureate

Tacoma resident David Corner, nominated by Dr. Robert Klein, was awarded the 2008 Greater Tacoma Peace Prize. Mr. Corner is the founder and director of The Gathering Project, a humanitarian organization he created in 1997 after visiting Africa as part of the Men’s Fellowship for Ghana mission program. He had the vision to join the vast amounts of surplus and waste materials destined for landfills from businesses and hospitals in the Western US with the people and programs that desperately need them. As a result, the Gathering Project has gathered and shipped thousands of tons of goods around the world, and provided support for programs in the Tacoma area and across North America. By building trusted relationships with local businesses, hospitals and schools, The Gathering Project has been able to remove usable goods from the waste stream. From hospitals alone the organization saved an estimated $80-90,000 in landfill costs, but more importantly provided usable medical supplies and equipment around the world.

The Gathering Project has shipped about 160 containers of goods to more than 40 countries around the world. After last year’s magnitude 8.0 earthquake in Peru, they quickly had a container of relief supplies on the scene and in local hands, even before the Red Cross. Domestically, Corner also gathered and shipped 35 trailer loads of household and relief supplies to areas of need. He supports a wide variety of organizations with donated goods, including GoodwillI Industries, St. Vincent DePaul, Community Health Care, the Tacoma Seaman’s Center, as well as individuals and foreign sailors in need.

In the course of his work, Corner has visited 12 African countries. He was elected a Lt. Governor of Kiwanis, and is one of the founders of Tacoma’s Sister City agreement with the City of George, South Africa. He is also on the Board of Kenya Methodist Development Association, the American support arm of Kenya Methodist University in Meru, Kenya. The Gathering Project has also supported the small farmers and crafts people of Kenya by directly importing coffee and handicrafts for sale here. Corner frequently works with local public agencies and educational institutions on international trade issues for developing countries.

Learn more about David in our video Laureate Spotlight:

2007 Laureate

The Rev. Ron Pierre Vignec received the prize in 2007. Pastor Vignec founded the Salishan/Eastside Lutheran Mission in 1985.

He played the key role in revitalizing the Salishan neighborhood in east Tacoma, the largest federal housing project on the West Coast. It once was awash in violence, drugs, prostitution, and ethnic tensions, but Vignec’s hard work has helped drop every measurable crime statistic in Salishan.

The nomination submission from Louis Zubaly and Bill Lincoln stated that Pastor Ron’s activities “exemplify international peace work within diverse and often troubled communities as he creatively, persistently, effectively and non-intrusively responds to the need of citizens and non-citizens while striving to find ways to help them develop sustainable cultures of peace with justice.” Former Bishop David Wold remarked, “Ron is my passport to worlds I have not known.”

Pastor Ron, as he is known in the community, has been serving the community for years demonstrating authentic leadership as a liaison with law enforcement, educators, news reporters, community organizations, non-profit agencies, businesses as well as community, civic and elected government leaders. His approach to community service and the building of communities has created a positive evolution of the fabric of the Salishan/Eastside region of the county and far beyond. Mr. Lincoln adds, “People from all over the world have made Tacoma their home, often coming from war torn regions or from extreme poverty. If we want peace in the world we need to strive for peace with justice at home as well, particularly in concert with persons of different cultures and beliefs. For years, we have had among us a true peace worker who deals with global problems on our local scene.”

Read Ron and Nancy Vignec’s account of their Norway trip.

Click here to read an article about Pastor Ron and the GTPP.

RON VIGNEC PASSED AWAY ON NOV. 10, 2013

Pastor Ron Vignec, known in Tacoma as the “Bishop of Salishan”, passed away on Sunday, November 10, 2013. The Memorial Service was held on Thursday, Nov. 21 at Urban Grace Church in Tacoma, Washington. Here is an article about the service from the News Tribune. Pastor Ron will be greatly missed!

Links to articles about Ron:

Son Lauren’s tribute to his father

The News Tribune: Nov. 11

KING5News: Nov. 12

Learn more about Ron in his video Laureate Spotlight:

2006 Laureates

In 2006, the committee was pleased to award the Prize to CRI (Conflict Resolution, Research and Resource Institute). Mr. Julio Quan of Centro Latino submitted the nomination, citing Executive Director William F. (Bill) Lincoln and Associate Director Polly Davis for “doing whatever it takes to restore peace in troubled regions, often accepting the risks without a fee.”

The mission of CRI (now the Lincoln Institute) is to teach and practice the prevention, management, and resolution of conflict in the community, the nation, and the world through the utilization of time-tested theories, processes, and techniques which ensure equitable, practical, and lasting agreements.
Update: We congratulate 2006 GTPP Laureates Bill Lincoln and Polly Davis who were presented with special awards at the recent conference of the Washington Mediators Association (WMA).

Mr. Lincoln received the Lifetime Achievement Award. Bill has been recognized as a pioneer in mediation and negotiation theory and practice. He was a federal commissioner who helped found the United States Institute of Peace, has extensive experience working in hot spots – Wounded Knee, Walpole Prison, with the Sandinistas in Nicaragua, the URNG in Guatemala in preparation for the UN sanctioned peace talks and recently with warlords in Afghanistan. Bill is a co-founder of the Russian-American Programs for Peace which started the first graduate program in conflict resolution in Russia, and began the conflict resolution center in St Petersburg. The list goes on Many practitioners in our region have been trained by Bill whether as members of his early mediation training programs at Antioch, through the State of Washington Career Executive Programs or through the Pierce County Dispute Resolution Center of which he was a founder. Bill continues his work in Tacoma and is currently involved in training negotiators involved with the United Nations food safety program.

Ms. Davis received the Excellence in Mediation Award. This award is in recognition of those who promote and practice excellence in mediation, exemplifying the application of thought that is at the forefront of our field. In her more than 20 years in the field, Polly has worked with the Northwest Institute for Restorative Justice, the King, Snohomish and Pierce County DRCs, the Lincoln Institute and the King County Interlocal Conflict Resolution Group. She has extensive international experience, working in Russia, Cuba, Poland, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Sudan and Afghanistan. She is a teacher and mentor, developing and providing trainings on a wide range of mediation topics. She also conducts facilitations and mediations in workplace, public policy and other areas. She is widely recognized by training participants and colleagues for her thoughtfulness and insight.

2005 Laureate

The 2005 Greater Tacoma Peace Prize recipient, our first laureate, was George F. Russell, Jr. Mr. Russell was nominated by Karin Moye Kelley, of Bates Technical College, for his work in the realm of peace education, security and peace awareness both regionally and globally. While his success in the investment field is no secret, his calling to spend the rest of his life dedicated to peace endeavors is far less public. He has been called a visionary, in that he sees time not in terms of months or years, but in generations and centuries. His “hands-on” efforts in the arena of peace work have touched lives in our own neighborhoods and in countries around the world.

Just a few examples of his work include the following:

• Big Homie Project, Tacoma — through Jane’s Fellowship Program, The Russell Family Foundation is supporting the gang intervention work of Lawrence Stone in Tacoma.
• Hate Free Zone, Seattle — piloted a high school curriculum on promoting peace and understanding following September 11th.
• Nuclear Threat Initiative — to resolve global threat posed by loose nukes.
• Transmutation Technologies —  focused on the possibility of destroying nuclear waste.
• Business Humanitarian Forum — This group focuses on global peace issues.
• National Bureau of Asian Research — committed to promoting effective and far-sighted policy in the United States, throughout Asia and in Russia.
• East West Institute —  various projects promoting democracy, government transparency and related peace issues in the former Soviet Union.

Through research support and meeting with political leaders around the world, his work will undoubtedly have a positive impact on families and communities for generations to come.