Betty Burkes has come to understand the world around her through relationships and community. She believes peace is achievable through the hard work of honest dialogue and self-reflection.

Burkes grew up in a working-class family in Ohio. After college, she joined the Peace Corps and taught in Ethiopia. She received a master degree in early childhood education at the University of California, Berkeley. Later, she lived in England for many years, where she studied art and dance and taught at the American School in London. In 1986, she returned to the United States and opened two programs on Cape Cod – Summer Center, then Montessori Paradise – where she explored the world with pre-school children, developing their respect for nature, relational skills, and sense of responsibility, as well as teaching arts, crafts and music.

In the 1980s, Burkes joined the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) and served on the national board and as its U.S. Section president. Interviewed about WILPF on the television program Enviro Close-Up, Burkes discussed the “culture of power” in the United States. She suggested that by investigating our country’s history of violence and deception, we can better understand the attitudes and values that shape our lives and form the basis of our national policies. She believes that the way to effect change is to educate ourselves, open our hearts to the realities of those whose lives and views are different from our own, and join forces with others.

From 2002 to 2005, Burkes worked for the Hague Appeal for Peace. The organization operates in collaboration with the U.N. Department of Disarmament Affairs to abolish war and establish peace as a human right. There she served as Peace Education Program coordinator on projects in Albania, Cambodia, Niger and Peru, where she worked with in-country partners to design peace education curricula for national school systems and programs to promote local conflict-resolution skills.

Betty coordinated programs for Kids Rethink New Orleans Schools.  In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the Rethink project encouraged middle school youth to participate actively in the reimagining of New Orleans schools. The students developed leadership and critical thinking skills and worked to build community. Closer to home, Burkes serves on the steering committee for CORE, the Boston area–based Coalition of Racial Equality in Mental Health, and as board chair of the Cambridge Insight Meditation Center.

Betty Burkes believes in a “beloved community,” where all life is valued and human interactions are guided by equality and compassion. She believes that structures of power can be transformed through nonviolence and education that promotes inquiry and investigation, patience and love. Wherever she is, Burkes works locally for global change, for racial and community justice, for a healthy environment, peace building.