Peace Certification™
About Peace Certification™
Peace Certification by the Mattie Stepanek Peace Foundation is a personalized and mentored journey through Mattie’s “Three Choices for Peace™.” This program is for anyone – individuals, small groups, large communities – who wants to “seek, make, and bring” peace within and with others.
Why does Peace Certification™ matter?
Peace Certification makes a statement about your choices as an educator, an elected leader, a community leader, a family member, a staff member, a healthcare or childcare provider, a member of the clergy, a business organization — as any person or group who wants to be an agent of lasting and good change for our world.
Once Certified, participants are members of our Peace Certification Network – with opportunities to connect with other like-missioned folks.
There are three components to Peace Certification™
They are rooted in Mattie’s “Three Choices for Peace” concept:
REFLECT:
You choose to become a Peace Seeker.
We share materials with you that support you
in exploring and reflecting on a
specific “Mattie message” or peace theme.
RESPOND:
You choose to become a Peace Maker.
We support you in shaping your Peace Plan
(a Lesson, Activity, Attitude, and/or Action)
as a response to the message you are exploring.
REACH OUT:
You choose to become a Peace Bringer.
Together, we show others your commitment
to peace through our Peace Certification page
with highlights of your peace journey.
Message from Mama Peace:
Peace is a journey – not a destination.
Exploring and embracing peace should be more than a project or lesson plan or event.
Since 2011, our Peace Certification program has supported hundreds and hundreds of youth and adults in mentored peace journeys — as individuals or groups choose to seek, make, and bring peace.
My son, Mattie, believed that,
“Peace is possible, if we choose to
make peace something that matters
for all people in all spaces of the world.”
He also understood that while ending wars and decreasing bullying and violence is essential, true peace begins within each of us when we can be “okay” with who and how we are as a person.
Peace can be nurtured in homes and schools and businesses, and it can be shaped through our experiences in the places we work and play and pray.
Like Mattie, I believe and celebrate that peace is possible, and I recognize that peace involves education.
It requires reflection, and commitment, and kindness, and patience. Most of all, peace involves choices — personal choices and choices made with and for others.
For peace to last beyond a moment or program or event, it needs to become a way of thinking, and speaking, and doing, and being.
Peace is rooted in what we say and do, but it grows through who we are as individuals, and as people living together in one world.
Peace Certification – part of our Pathways2Peace™ Program — offers individuals and groups and communities of people the opportunity to learn more about specific elements of Mattie’s messages of hope and peace.
It also provides you with suggested materials and activities that help you begin a peace journey and develop a personal connection to Mattie’s message.
And, you will be matched with a Foundation Mentor who will support you in your journey – from choosing your peace theme, to practicing hands on activities, to celebrating peace and publicizing your endeavor and activities on our Foundation website.
An atmosphere of peace and kindness in homes and classrooms and workspaces and the community matters.
Peace Certified individuals and groups role model and educate children, teens, and adults in the important matter of personal choices that impact oneself, one’s neighbors, and one’s world.
Participating in our Peace Certification Program is a way to encourage peace as a deliberate and chosen way of thinking and speaking and acting.
It can also help youth and adults understand how bullying interrupts peace. Bullying is not just a youth issue; it is a reality that affects people of all ages.
Peace is for all people.
And, peace is possible, if we choose to learn more about attitudes and habits that nurture peace, and if we choose to tend to the realities that foster peace, such as balancing the basic needs of all people.
I encourage you to make a commitment, participate in this program, and make peace your choice.
Peace matters, and so do you.
Dr. Jeni Stepanek
(“Mattie’s mom” & “Mama Peace”).
