Liska Blodgett is a Real Estate Developer in Austria and the United States and she has an MBA from INSEAD (Fontainebleau, France). Previously to that, Liska learned 6 languages in France, Spain, Germany, USA, Israel, and Japan. Her native language is Czech. Her travels and studies took her around the world many times and she was struck how we are all the same and that there is really a global Culture for Peace, in times where we see the Military Industrial Complex profiting from War, Defense Spending, Military Budgets and Military Turmoil Worldwide.

Janicka Bassis was one of the 1st women leaders in France Real Estate Capital Markets with extensive expertise in institutional-quality real estate transactions. Janicka has advised over 5bn€ across multiple international markets and was one of the first women in the real estate C-Suite from 1987 working for the most prestigious real estate companies in France. This is when she realized that there were very few women in commercial real estate and that there were very few networks for women. Since 2012 Janicka is the founder of WWIRE.eu World Women Impacting Real Estate which is the largest internet marketplace worldwide to promote women leaders in Real Estate and has created inspiring women role models.

Janicka is in contact with over 25 000 women leaders in real estate in 25 countries. A true influencer in the real estate profession throughout Europe.

Mohammad has been helping as a volunteer at the museum since 2017. He is from Afghanistan and fled at a young age, ending up in Vienna after a long journey. He hopes that in the future he will be able to start his own business renovating flats and houses. Mohammed helps us out with all his technical knowledge and skills.

He is a Nepalese Artist/Painter/Sculptor and peace activist, Founder/President of Peace Museum Nepal and director of ENMP. Born in 1978 in Ilam, Nepal. From 2009 to 2015 he has worked in Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction, Government of Nepal. He is member of Peace Museum Vienna and Peace Museum Colorado.

Peter van den Dungen, the head and General Coordinator of the International Network of Museums for Peace, who is himself a Professor in peace studies with experience opening over 10 peace museums, joined the project in September 2013, as a volunteer. He will be able to give valuable input to the development of the museum and share his experiences in running other museums.

Robert is completing his Master's in Philosophy at the University of Vienna. Human rights such as the right to have a certain quality of life which allows for satisfactory level of well-being for one’s self and one’s family, are absolutely essential to peace, and the elimination of poverty is essential to these rights. Thomas Pogge says poverty is like slavery, there either exists poverty or there does not, reducing poverty in this sense is then not an option; poverty must be eliminated. Peace, then, does not consist in half-measured efforts but in the total elimination of poverty, and the promotion of human rights.

Shayan was engaged with Peace Museum Vienna in summer 2017 on various peace-related projects. His important contributions to PMV are with our peace education through the lives of peace heroes, writing peace heroes profiles, running the website, designing newsletter, organizing events and guiding tours to our windows for peace visitors. After he finished his official internship period, he has continued his voluntary collaboration with the museum. Peace Museum Vienna is delighted to have him on board as a team member. Shayan was born in Afghanistan. He volunteered for Universal Peace Federation (UPF) in Kabul in 2009 and 2010, which promoted peace through various social activities. He directed an NGO called Dynamic Youth Organization (DYO) in Afghanistan, which worked for capacity development of youth in Afghanistan. He says, he has preferred doing his internship at Peace Museum Vienna despite having several options, due to his personal commitment for promoting peace. Peace in Afghanistan is one of his aspirations.

Katie is a a peace maker in Crested Butte, Colorado. She grew up in the midwest, but was attracted to the Gunnison Valley for it’s unique sense of community bounded together by love for the beautiful surroundings. After attending Western State Colorado University she moved up valley to Crested Butte where she is putting her passions of community, and integrity to work at Peace Museum Colorado.

Kirin Taylor is pursuing a combined BA/MA degree in Government and Politics, with minors in Social Justice Theory, Sociology, and International Studies at St. John’s University in Queens, New York. Kirin trained as a peace educator with the Maryland, USA-based nonprofit Little Friends for Peace since age 11, moving into a leadership role at a young age, and an administrative position coordinating summer peace camps, and both delivering and developing programming, at age 19. Now she serves as a peace ambassador for LFFP, spreading their mission, while engaging in other work in NYC; currently she is working on research and interning at the Congregation of the Mission at the United Nations. She has also spent time working for the Homes for the Homeless Youth program and as a caseworker to aid vulnerable populations in receiving legal documents at St. John’s Bread and Life. She spent a year in Austria learning German and spent the fall of 2016 in Rome, each helping her to develop her working theory of cultural exchange being a path to peace. Her support for Peace Museum Vienna includes consulting.

Jackie is a rising senior at Colorado College and she is from Needham, Massachusetts. She studies history and philosophy and is passionate about acting to make a positive change in the world. During the summer of 2017, Jackie was an activist and canvasser for a company called Grassroots Campaigns and helped to raise money for organizations such as ACLU, Planned Parenthood, and Doctors Without Borders in New Orleans, Louisiana. When she heard about the opportunity to assist with efforts at the Bertha von Suttner Peace Institute in The Hague, and Peace Museum Vienna, she knew she had to contribute. She is very excited to be working with Peace Museum President, Liska Blodgett, and other interns from around the world to promote world peace and those who have dedicated their lives to the cause. Jackie was very glad to assist with the celebrations surrounding the 175th anniversary of Bertha von Suttner at the historic Peace Palace in The Hague this past June. She is also eager to help with the Windows for Peace project in Vienna, which highlights a variety of activists and peace heroes to educate any and all who walk by the museum.

Liz grew up in Arvada Colorado and is a recent graduate from Western Colorado University. She majored in recreation outdoor education with a leadership emphasis and minor in sociology. She also works as a mountain bike coach and hotel front desk agent in Crested Butte.

“Peace to me means society is in a state of nonviolence due to ongoing harmony of the community. This state can only be reached if the community comes together and sees everyone as beings who matter and have a positive role in society.”

Paul is a long :me Peace Activist with many detailed moments from University of Colorado Boulder/ Peace Efforts He is also a long :me architect and is the chairman of the Board for Peace Museum Colorado. He will serve to undertake key projects in 2020 for Peace Museum Colorado.

Denese often wonders how we can have a conversation or understand each other when there is anger or war in the room or dialogue. Unless we can have the capacity to hear and understand or even listen to another perspective how can we contemplate a conversation based on reality? Peace. Peace in our space our hearts our thoughts…that is what opens minds and allows us to get to a place where we can listen and respond with respect. We are humans we feel anger hurt frustration. However, if we can get to a place of peace maybe we can hear each other. That is my hope for this world.

Hannah is a graduate of languages from the University of Manchester, UK. She is an alumni of the United World College of Hong Kong, where she learned conflict resolution theory to promote peaceful dialogue at Initiative For Peace, and lived with students from all around the globe. She is passionate about human rights, volunteering and world affairs, and believes in using our talents for the advancement of peacemaking. She is motivated to work on the team to promote peace education and our mission at Peace Hero Museums worldwide, to make peace work more accessible and engaging through research and innovative content.

“Peace is something which stretches far beyond the absence of violence and the development of government policies. For me, peace is something that everyone can influence, every day. It starts at the individual level. From there, it ripples into communities, cultures, and societies, creating a blueprint for real change and authentic harmony. Language learning opens your world, your perspectives, all whilst offering the possibility for empathy, connection, and insight. For this reason, I believe If everyone could just learn one new language, we would see more tolerance, acceptance, intercultural understanding, and ultimately, more peace. Languages give you gateways into cultivating peace that would simply be impenetrable in a monolingual capacity.”

Anita is an intern at the Peace Museum in Vienna. She studied International Relations and she joined an Intercultural organization that promotes student exchange before being part of the Peace Museum. She believes peace is a value that must be pursued with daily action and accurate information, which is why she decided to join the museum's team. For the Peace Museum Vienna, she worked for 6 months as Content Creator for the websites, social media, Peace Museum Vienna and the Metaverse gallery exhibitions, she also coordinated new interns and new volunteers and conducted workshops of peace education in schools.

Dieter is a 3rd year student at Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam. He is helping the peace museum with management and improving the experience that visitors have in the museum. Dieter is working on various ideas to organize events in the near future, and use his management and leisure skills for a purpose greater than entertainment. He thinks about peace as a beautiful thing which our parents have fought for in a lot of different ways. It is truly something, he thinks, we should be thankful for. Dieter says, he feels happy to work for Peace Museum Vienna and contribute towards the beautiful thing called peace.

Ayşe Gökdemir holds a bachelor’s degree in Russian Language and Literature. She has voluntarily collaborated with several NGOs in Turkey working with refugees, women and children. Ayşe did her three-months internship at Peace Museum Vienna at the end of 2019 and the beginning of 2020. She helped the museum with writing ‘peace hero’ profiles, organizing events, keeping the museum active on social media and guiding the visitors. Peace in the world, particularly in the Middle East, is her aspiration.

Magdalena Cristina Butucea is the Founder of Peace Museum Romania. Educated in Law an History, with a Masters degree in Political Elites, she is a dedicated activist for peace and human rights. She is also Editor and President Founder of the Diplomatic Aspects /Aspecte Diplomatice and Diplomatic Intelligence international newspapers, which can be accessed online. She is Executive President of WN4P and Field Coordinator in Eastern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.

Ali Ahmad is an international peace activist with a Masters degree in ‘Peace and Conflict Studies’ and has been an integral part of the team at the Peace Museum Vienna since the founding of the museum in 2014. For Ali, peace is the multi-dimensional outcome of interactions between two or more groups of people or parties in any given society. Peace means respite from violence of all kinds and presence of social justice. At the personal level, this implies calmness, contentment and serenity within the self and with one’s immediate surroundings. At the inter-personal level, peace is best characterized by harmony, nonviolence and creative approaches to transform conflicts.

Selin is currently studying law at the University of Vienna, while since very recently volunteering at the Peace Hero Museum Vienna. About nothing she is quite as passionate about as advocating for and learning about those who are treated most unfairly because of the world’s vicious cycle over money and power. Her hopes are to one day work in the field of human rights law; in her opinion, certain securities should and absolutely must be provided to every single one of us, no matter our background and no matter our circumstances, and the best way to ensure that, is to do her small part in working towards peace and therefore ultimately justice.

Dovile is a Master’s student in Human Rights and Humanitarian Action at Sciences Po Paris, France. She recently joined the Peace Hero Museums team as a volunteer. She is passionate about human rights, peace and gender equality. Previously Dovile completed a few internships at local NGOs and organizations working on gender equality, democracy and education issues.

Dovile believes that in a world where acts of violence fill our newsfeeds, peace must take root in the form of education. Peace education is a primary pillar for preventing armed conflict and violence, saving lives and freeing up resources for social needs. As a volunteer, she is hoping to combine her passions for gender equality and peace, while gaining hands-on experience in conflict resolution, a field she wishes to pursue her future career. Dovile is eager to contribute to the team through research and meaningful work that can promote peace education.

​Liza is a Game Design student getting her bachelor’s degree in Finland. In addition to her passion for games, she’s interested in visual art and animation. Since the horrors of war are still happening in the modern world, she believes that it is important to promote peace ideas to stop those who continue starting wars based on hostility to independent states and their cultures.

She would like to use her skills in Graphic Design for promoting ideas of the Peace Museum and learn new things about peace activism.

Puja Mehta Sethia is a new team member / volunteer at the Peace Museum Vienna. She is passionate about reading and writing. Her forte and strong skill set is in the sphere of Communications. She is sincere about topics such as peace.

Hedieh is a volunteer at the Peace Museum Vienna. She is an Iranian teacher and helps us here in Vienna to organize events and exhibitions both at the Peace Museum Vienna and in our Metaverse gallery. She was in charge of one ‘Iranian Peace Women’ exhibition and she is working together with Arya to develop our Metaverse gallery. For Hedieh peace is transformation and evolution: the process that doesn’t differentiate between black and white but that is able to include complexities.

Arya is our Iranian graphic designer, photographer and artist who recently joined our team here in Vienna. He studied Industrial Design in the faculty of Fine Arts in Tehran and now he’s been helping us to improve our Metaverse space. For Arya peace is transformation and complexity, its artistic genius works mainly for the cause of peace and is responsible for the creation of our new Metaverse gallery. For Arya peace and art are strongly correlated: where peace is present creativity can flow.

Many years ago I had a store at Vienna and I had two Posters at the windows on a frequented street. One about Eisenhower and one about Julian Assange, where ist was said:

„Every gun that is built, every warship that is launched, every missile that is fired is ultimately a theft from those who are hungry and have nothing to eat, those who are cold and have no clothes. 
A world under arms does not just squander money alone. It also squanders the sweat of its workers, the spirit of its scientists, and the hope of its children.“

Dwight D. Eisenhower  former President of the U.S.

and

„If wars can be started by lies, peace can be started by truth.“

Julian Assange

Liska Blodgett passed by and say these posters, step not my office and since then there started Peace Museum Vienna.

My opinion is that we have to make freedom every day and we have to inform our brothers and sisters, that freedom is possible but we also have to fight for it, which always is a fight for truth.

Fritz Fuhrmann