“In 1992, I attended the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, popularly known as the Earth Summit. I was struck by the criticism of existing models of leadership and development and the need to develop global community and interdependence among people of all nations.
“Later that year, I met Thomas Banyacya, a Hopi Elder. He was speaking on Human Rights Day – December 9th, in the General Assembly of the United Nations in New York City. That day, he delivered the Hopi Prophecy on the need to change our consciousness and come into the right relationship with the earth and its resources. Thomas emphasized the need for each of us to develop a relationship with the Great Spirit and reverence for the earth. Though Thomas died in 1999, I continue to listen his message as well as bring it to others. I believe we are still connected. Read more about the ripple effects of this encounter in our blog.
“Thomas’s message has motivated me to offer America’s Soul Community events, to write my new book, My Soul’s Journey to Redefine Leadershi:o: A New Phoenix Arises from the Ashes of 9/11 and to produce my blog and website, VirginiaSwain.com
“I invite you to become a stakeholder in a process of hope and healing to join with others inclined to knit together the hearts, minds and souls of our fellow Americans in a very divided time. I believe I am called to work with others to facilitate living out our soul destiny at home and in the world so that Americans can be collaborative and empowering partners on the world stage.
“A larger goal is to strengthen the United Nations through my own country, believing the UN needs reform. Sovereign states, party to the United Nations system, have a Charter obligation to their own self-interest as its guiding force. Global challenges require a larger vision for the common good. In order to address all the challenges of our world, and particularly, the challenges beyond national sovereignty, I re-purpose my 25 years of experience developing and training Reconciliation Leaders in the United Nations to the United States.
“Reconciliation Leaders facilitate the Peacebuilding Process of Reconciliation to Develop Political Will to help give people, most affected by a challenge, the support they need to be the decision makers. “We the people”, the preamble of the UN Charter (and the US Constitution) has never been enacted as a treaty obligation and is not legally binding for states.. The enactment of political will, in Rousseau’s terms, draws on our longtime commitment to Culture of Peace through the Global Movement for a Culture of Peace at the United Nations, we commit to building a culture of hope and political will in the American Culture of Peace.”