Scilla Elworthy
Peace builder, Author (United Kingdom)
“In recognition of her lifelong dedication to prevent and transform conflicts and build sustainable peace throughout the world.”
Through her effective peace building activities and educational programs founded on deep compassion and wisdom of the heart, she has inspired many people to develop inner power and take action for positive impact in the world.
Profile
Scilla Elworthy, a native of Scotland, was shaken by the violence she witnessed on the news at the age of 13 during the suppression of the Hungarian Revolution. Since then, her passionate desire to do something about the world’s suffering people has led her to engage in activities to support refugees and war orphans, and to lead a nutrition education organization in South Africa, among other activities to help the socially vulnerable around the world.
In 1982, she founded the Oxford Research Group to develop effective dialogue between nuclear weapons policy-makers worldwide and their critics, for which she has been nominated three times for the Nobel Peace Prize. In 2002, she founded Peace Direct to fund, promote and learn from local peace-builders in conflict areas. She was also an adviser to Peter Gabriel, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Sir Richard Branson in setting up ‘The Elders’. She co-founded Rising Women Rising World in 2013, and FemmeQ in 2016, to awaken the qualities of feminine intelligence in both women and men as essential for building a safer and flourishing world.
She now leads the Business Plan for Peace, an initiative to shift humanity away from destructive conflict. Based on her latest books The Business Plan for Peace: Building a World Without War (2017) and The Mighty Heart: How to Transform Conflict (2020), the initiative offers an on-line course used by major international corporations.