Rotary International Awards $158,000 Grant to Seeds of Hope

Rotary International has awarded a $158,000 Global Grant to Seeds of Hope: International Peace Leadership Academy — recognition of a programme that is training the next generation of peacebuilders right here in Northern Ireland.

The grant supports the Academy's second-year pilot, which will welcome 30 young leaders from marginalised and divided communities to the Corrymeela Community campus in Ballycastle for a year-long programme in conflict resolution, peacebuilding, and civic leadership. Future phases aim to expand to 90 participants each academic year.

Seeds of Hope was founded through an international Rotary partnership that now spans continents. The initiative began with the Rotary Club of San Antonio in the United States, alongside clubs in Belfast, Londonderry, Dublin, and Clonmel in Ireland, and The Hague in the Netherlands. Today, it is backed by over 40 Rotary clubs across 12 countries.

Jack McGuire of the Rotary Club of San Antonio, one of the programme's principal visionaries, described what makes the collaboration distinctive: "What makes this special is the way clubs from across Ireland, the UK, the Netherlands, and Texas are coming together — not just to talk about peace, but to make it real. This will be a model for reconciliation efforts around the world."

The Academy is unlike most academic peace fellowships. It focuses on young adults aged 18 to 27 who are already active in their communities — often as volunteers or informal peace advocates. Many come from segregated or underserved areas. They may not hold academic credentials, but they bring lived experience, authenticity, and a deep personal stake in reconciliation. The programme equips them with practical skills in public communication, organisational management, and leadership, grounded in Rotary International's principles of Positive Peace.

Participants study at Corrymeela and learn from international experts, including faculty from Ulster University, Trinity College Dublin, Waseda University in Japan, and the University of Notre Dame.

For Ken Nixon of the Rotary Club of Belfast, the project's host club, hosting the programme in Northern Ireland carries particular significance: "We've learned some hard lessons in Northern Ireland. Our Seeds of Hope Academy makes sure those lessons are shared at home and abroad."

Northern Ireland's journey from the violence of The Troubles to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement offers both hard-won wisdom and unfinished work. Many communities remain divided — physically, socially, and educationally. Seeds of Hope exists to nurture the young people who are stepping into that space with courage and commitment.

The programme has already drawn participants originally from Sudan, Somalia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Nigeria, South Africa, Ethiopia, and Turkey — young people who are now residents of Ireland and the UK, many of whom fled violence in their home countries. Their perspectives have enriched the programme and shifted how their Northern Irish peers see their own society's journey toward reconciliation.

As Jack McGuire puts it: "Northern Ireland is a living laboratory for peacemakers. But this isn't just Northern Ireland's story. This is a global story — and Rotary is helping write the next chapter."

Seeds of Hope is an initiative of the Corrymeela Community, delivered in collaboration with Youth Link, Youth Action, and YMCA, with support from Rotary clubs worldwide.

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For more information, contact Seeds of Hope.