“We’re all writing the stories of our lives … and we can choose to write stories of the restoration of relationships, and of the rebirth of communities, and of individual dignity being restored.”
For more than two decades, Libby Hoffman has dedicated herself to supporting community-led restoration initiatives, particularly in West African nations, and to bring these lessons of community restoration to the world.
In 2003, Libby founded Catalysts for Peace, a private foundation to “grow a new architecture for peace - one that works from the inside out, where those most impacted by violence and war” lead and cultivate the path to peace and reconciliation. At the heart of this work, Libby said, “we see local people and communities not as problems or as victims—but as leaders, peacebuilders, healers, and agents of change. We use our talents and resources to create space for local leaders and solutions to emerge.”
Following a devastating 11-year civil war in Sierra Leone, she also co-founded in 2008 the Fambul Tok program, which means “family talk” in Krio, to advance peace through reconciliation efforts deeply rooted in the context of the communities across Sierra Leone. A key culminating feature of these efforts is a bonfire ceremony of truth-telling, apology, and forgiveness, and the process involves three or four months of work leading up to the ceremony and at least another year of work beyond it to deepen and sustain the reknitting of the community. Vitally, the entire process is designed and led by the communities themselves.
Libby grew up in a loving family that prioritized serving the community and the world. So, when she came into a large sum of money in her late 30s, she said her inclination was to use it “for building out into the world a platform to express and honor my deepest values and commitments.” She credits lively political conversations around the dinner table and her experiences as a student of Christian Science as the foundation for her activism and level of comfort voicing unique perspectives.
In her TEDxDirigo Talk Forgiving The Unforgiveable Libby invites us to take a different lens to our own lives and ask “Who do we need to forgive? Who do we need to apologize to? … And to look at our communities and say, how well do our communities help us to deal with conflict constructively? How can they do it better? And then most importantly: What can I do to help make that happen?”
She has directed and produced several short films as well as the award-winning documentary Fambul Tok, which tells the story of the ground-breaking and community-centered path to reconciliation in the aftermath of the civil war in Sierra Leone. In addition to filmmaking, she is the co-author of the book Fambul Tok as well as the author of The Answers Are There: Building Peace From The Inside Out and more than a dozen articles on peacebuilding, healing, and spirituality.
A former political science professor at Principia College, Libby has degrees from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy as well as Williams College, where she also minored in Russian studies. She is the mother of three grown children and divides her time between Maine and Washington, DC.
Join us for a call with this practical visionary and peace maven on November 9.
