Draft:Nina Meyerhof

Nina Meyerhof (born May 10, 1942) is an educator, author, and spiritual activist.

Early Life and Education
Nina Meyerhof was born to German-Jewish refugees in New York city in 1942. She spent a portion of her formative years abroad at the Swiss boarding school, Ecole d'Humanité, where she was taught and influenced by Edith and Paul Geheeb. Nina returned to American public school and later graduated from the City College of New York. She received master's degrees in special education from Columbia University Teachers' College and in counseling from Keene State College. Meyerhof finished her formal education at the University of Massachusetts, earning a certificate of advanced graduate studies in school psychology and a doctorate in educational policy, research and administration.

Early Career
Meyerhof worked with troubled youth in New York city and went on to become coordinator of special education for three school districts in Vermont.

Hearts Bend Farm Camp
In 1970 Meyerhof founded and ran Hearts Bend Farm Camp, a youth summer camp situated on the sprawling acreage of an old farmstead in Newfane VT. Modeled after Nina's experience with Ecole d'Humanité and Israeli Kibbutz, Hearts Bend was a living community where human relationships were encouraged to form in a family concept. In the spirit of 1960s environmentalism, campers were challenged to be stewards of the land and its animals, as well as stewards of their own personal development.

International Peace Work
Nina Meyerhof continues to lead intercultural education programs around the world, often focusing on impoverished youth, and often in concert with the United Nations. She has performed peace work in over fifty countries including Brazil, Ghana, India, Nepal, and Thailand.

Children of the Earth
In 1990 Meyerhof founded Children of the Earth, a UN-designated nongovernmental organization which delivers aid and education to the world's youth. Children of the Earth promotes "global consciousness and cooperation, multi-cultural understanding, spiritual values, ethical living skills, and social responsibility."

One Humanity Institute
Nina Meyerhof and Domen Kocevar co-founded the One Humanity Institute in 2014. O.H.I. is an international non-profit organization seeking to unify the world by embracing a common humanity. The One Humanity Institute has lead efforts to secure funding and political consent for the construction of a "City of Hope" in Oswiecim, Poland, an international peace center situated in the unused army barracks adjacent to the Auschwitz concentration camp. The "City of Hope" is planned to be a destination "where visitors can experience the stark realities of the past alongside opportunities and models of transformation for a culture of sustainable peace." Meyerhof and Kocevar are also in the process of renovating a historic bakery in Oswiecim, the One Humanity Bakery, returning it to a functioning bakery and cafe, as well as community center.

Honors and Awards

 * "International Association of Educators for World Peace Award" (1999)
 * Vermont Public Television Profile Interview (Air-date 9/16/2005)
 * Vermont Senate resolution S.R.21 "honoring Dr. Nina Lynn Meyerhof for her international leadership as an educator and peace advocate." (2009)
 * "Public Peace Prize" - Finalist (2015)
 * "Visioneer Lifetime Achievement Award: Heroine of Humanity" (2020)
 * Establishment of the "Dr. Nina Meyerhof Award" by the Jacobs-Abbey Global Institute for Leadership Studies, a global leadership award named after Nina Meyerhof (2021)

Books

 * Conscious Education: The Bridge to Freedom (with Philip S. Gang, Dorothy J. Maver) Dagaz Pr Ltd (1992) ISBN|0962378321
 * Children of the Earth: Pioneering Spiritual Activism (with Diane deTerra) Wind Ridge Books of VT (2013) ISBN|1935922297