International

The Foundation’s international grantmaking program began in Nepal in 1999.  During the initial years, the Foundation invested in projects related to rural development, community schools, and countering domestic violence.

As an internal insurgency gained strength across Nepal in 2003, the Foundation’s focus shifted to supporting peace and conflict transformation efforts. The Foundation funded a decade-long peacebuilding initiative guided by a volunteer steering committee of Nepali citizens. Those projects continue, run by Nepali organizations. The projects support community-level justice mechanisms, build leadership capacity of marginalized people and local civil organizations, and foster inclusivity.

The long-term accompaniment funding model allows our grant partners to perfect the project over years, fine-tuning the implementation into successful place-based initiatives that are enduring and empower the participants at all levels of the work.

John Paul Lederach’s new book chronicles a decade of peacebuilding work with The McConnell Foundation in Nepal.

Reflections from a seasoned peacebuilder on a decade engagement with nonviolent social change in Nepal as the country navigated war and peace. Lederach, well known for his practical and theoretical contributions to the fields of peace studies and conflict transformation, opens up toward a personal exploration of his accompaniment of philanthropy and system’s change with local Nepali communities focused on natural resource conflicts, rural women’s empowerment, and community mediation. Written as a memoir, the book follows the story of The McConnell Foundation’s decade pledge to peacebuilding in Nepal that began in the midst of a civil war.

The author walks through key decision points faced by emergent philanthropy and provides an overview of the insights into a system’s approach to social change using primarily methods of sustained participatory action research. Among the few international theorists and practitioners with access to deep community processes and national political dialogue, Lederach provides insight into the dilemmas and lessons from sustained peacebuilding engagement. The Memoir comes to life with photography, biographical profiles and stories of local colleagues addressing the deep and pressing issues of social conflict.

This book is available in a beautiful hardcover, paperback, or e-reader format.  Follow this link to preview the book and purchase a copy of your own.  It is powerful inspiration for the peacebuilder, traveler, and humanitarian in every person.