The Impossible Network

Nonflict - Stephen Hecht And The Path to Peace, Rejecting Violence for Our Shared Humanity

Oct 19, 2023

50:44

This week, in light of the recent and extreme escalation in violence in Israel and Gaza, and the resultant rage and outrage that’s consuming our news and social feeds I’m publishing this episode with some trepidation but in the hope that it will instill some sense of belief that peace is possible.

I am republishing an interview with Stephen Hecht, Founder and CEO of A Million Peacemakers. Their principle of Nonflict provides inspiring examples of how to foster reconciliation, mutual understanding, and peace, even in entrenched conflicts where the path to peace may seem hopelessly complex.

Stephen Hecht co-founder of Million Peacemakers provides inspiration to anyone who doubts their ability to change the world for the better, at scale. Stephen is proof that good intentions, a little creativity, underpinned by clear goals can result in monumental impact, at any age.

Million Peacemakers is a non-profit organization that empowers people to transform conflict into what they call Nonflict. Stephens's inspiration came from his multi-faith work and his own transformation in focussing on the commonality in people over the differences.

Over 225,000 people around the world trained in the first 5 years with a focus on youth, families, and businesses, Stephen is changing the world one peacemaker training session at a time.

Stephen has led Nonflict way workshops in Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and the USA including Puerto Rico, Japan, Thailand, Philippines, Israel, Jordan, Mexico, Bulgaria, England, Germany, Spain, and Canada.

He was also a speaker at the Vatican in March 2019 for an international conference on Religions and the UN Sustainable Development Goals and was invited back 3 weeks later to speak about creating a culture of peace in the world.

I hope you enjoy this episode of empathy, compassion and conflict resolution with Stephen Hecht

TIMECODES

00:00 Intro

03:40 Stephen on his upbringing

04:45His uncle’s defining influence

05:30 Being aware of his curiosity as a child

06:10 The defining experience of visiting Israel

06:50 Witnessing his first intra-group conflict

07:30 Stephen and his education path

08:00 The early experience of conflict in business

09:20 Joining Young President Organization

10:15 Building interfaith unity