Seventeen 2016 VERA winners received their awards in person at the 2016 Annual Meeting.

Dear Bpeacers,

CELEBRATING VOLUNTEER EXCELLENCE

At our October 19 annual meeting, we were thrilled to celebrate the efforts of our 400+ volunteers, recognizing 45 of you with VERAs (Volunteer Excellence Recognition Awards) for all the ways you go above and beyond to help Bpeace and, more importantly, our Fast Runners. Seventeen VERA winners were in New York to accept their awards in person.

At any given time, about a third of our members are volunteering in one or more of these activities. 
 
360 VERA
Lauren Leland  was involved in multiple projects--from judging Fast Runner applications to storing Gala auction items in her NYC apartment. 

ANGEL IN OUR EAR VERA
To Bernadette Davis for supporting and advising HQ by writing blogs, surveying mentors and facilitating team conversations.  

CONNECTOR VERA
We recruited 14 Host Companies this year, and  Tara Abraham  made critical warm intros for us.

CONSULTANT VERAs
Gonzalo Aramayo, Sarah Gwilliam and Daniel Jacobs  delivered much-needed consulting to Bpeace HQ.  

EXTREME SOLICITOR VERA
Maribeth Fox  brought in Gala auction items like no other.    

LEADERSHIP VERA
Jordan Browning chaired the Young Professionals Leadership Council (YPLC) for the second year in a row, representing the talented and hardworking YPLC members who again planned a successful Play for Peace event.

MOMENTUM VERAs 
They kept us moving forward by helping choose our most recent group of Fast Runners and doing research on where Bpeace will go next: Adam Aroian, Mojdeh BarrosCeci Cardesa-LusardiPascual CastanoStefani Chaney Victoria Cox, Gita Patel, Leslie Pesante, Aliana Pineiro, Monical Sanz, and  Lucia Taylor.
CEO Elizabeth Crowell (center) with Pillar VERA winners Nazifa Danishgar (right) and Lisa Dubin.

PILLAR VERAs
A pillar provides support, and Nazifa Danishgar and Lisa Dubin  are the people Bpeace leans on time after time.  
 
ROOKIE VERAs
Justin Harlow, Clara Henning, Luciana Jabur and Melinda Kerins each jumped in with two feet from the start.
 
TRAVELING MENTOR VERAs 
They flew to Central America and worked side by side with individual Fast Runners for a week or more:  Richard Coughlin, Anne Cramer, Yvette Franco, Ruth Kreiger, Jose Mejia, Helen Qubain, Lee Ronald, Angela Scalpello, and Matthew Wajda.
 
Bpeace Gala 2016 video
Bpeace Gala 2016 video
VIDEO GURU VERAs
Creating another Oscar-worthy video for Bpeace, Laurie Chock and Peter Lien's talent and commitment are unwavering. 

VIRTUAL MENTOR VERAs
You don't have to get on a plane to help our Fast Runners. Virtual Mentors Jeff Baron, Brette Blostone, Tim Duffy, Liz Long and Maha Mamish helped Fast Runners from afar.  
 
ZOHO MASTER VERAs
This year Bpeace began utilizing Zoho as a CRM and project management tool. This never would have happened without Luis Gonzalez, Alonso Vasquez and Kasie Whitener.
 
EXTREME BPEACER
Extreme Bpeacers are members who are engaged in so many activities at Bpeace that Chief Program Officer Marla Gitterman has to count their achievements on both hands.
Chief Program Officer Marla Gitterman with Extreme Bpeacer 4.0 David Montieth.

DAVID MONTIETH
We are thrilled and honored that David Montieth has chosen Bpeace as one of the many causes to which he has dedicated his retirement after more than 40 years in HR. This year David traveled again to Guatemala to conduct the Employee Engagement Workshop with the new cohort there--his fourth trip with Bpeace. In the U.S., David is also very busy. He spent time working with Guatemalan Fast Runner Pablo during his U.S. road trip, and helped Bpeace HQ develop mentor competencies that enable us to better recruit and match experts. Finally, David continues to virtually provide HR consulting to Afghan Fast Runners, with whom he has developed lasting relationships.
 
David is not just extreme, he is unstoppable. This is the fourth time he has won this award. 

Congratulations to all the VERA winners!

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Thank you to those members who were able to come out to Gran Morsi for our Annual Meeting celebration, and to all those brave souls who participated in Bpeace Jeopardy. For more event flavor, check out these photos taken by Bpeacer  Kenneth Watson.
 
 
DONATE TO BPEACE IN LIEU OF A GIFT
 
Honor one of our VERA winners, a friend or loved one with a tax-deductible  donation to Bpeace. You'll help us further our mission of creating peace through jobs in areas of conflict, and we will mail your recipient a lovely card. Perfect for those hard-to-buy-for folks, and ideal for any occasion.
 

Lauren Hass

Donor and Member Relations