Welcome to the Center for Economic Peacemaking.
After 20 years working in workforce development and community empowerment across domestic and international contexts, one thing became clear: we're all facing variations of the same problem while putting our hopes in organizations designed to solve yesterday's challenges.
In every corner of every community, wages are low, good jobs are brutally difficult to find, and the cost of living climbs. Most workforce programs connect people to jobs paying $16 per hour. Average rent requires $29 per hour. That $13 gap is why the same families cycle through social services year after year, despite their motivation and hard work.
A living wage job that is productive and dignified is critical to achieve or sustain any other peacemaking effort. I've trained hundreds of practitioners who want to do this work with excellence. They are empathetic pragmatists, building relationships, making common sense connections between stakeholders, and prepared to implement high impact projects when the opportunity presents itself.
Make peace. Fight greediocy.