User:Muragz/Jack P. Blaney Award for Dialogue

Jack P. Blaney Award for Dialogue is a biennial award presented by Simon Fraser University’s Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue. . Every second year, it is presented to an individual who has demonstrated international excellence in the use of dialogue to increase mutual understanding and advance complex public issues.

History of the Award
The Jack P. Blaney Endowment Fund was established at Simon Fraser University in September 2000 by friends and colleagues to honour the then-University President Dr. Jack P. Blaney. Dr. Blaney’s leadership and vision were pivotal to the conception and building of the Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue, a unique physical space to convene dialogues on global issues and build consensus to resolve major conflicts. The Endowment Fund supports the Jack P. Blaney Award for Dialogue and provides operating expenses to fund the presentation of the award every second year. . The Jack P. Blaney Award not only features the award ceremony and reception but also includes a short programming residency in Canada that builds upon the recipient’s work to achieve tangible outcomes. The award endowment includes funds to cover recipient transport and associated programming costs, as well as a CAD 10,000 cash award. . Every second year, the Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue calls and considers public nominations in addition to internally identified nominees.

Quote
“There is something more important than information. Values are far more important, and it is by understanding common values that decisions are made. We come to understand values through dialogue.” —Dr. Jack P. Blaney, President Emeritus, Simon Fraser University.

Past Recipients
2017/18: Alice Wairimu Nderitu Alice Wairimu Nderituwas awarded for her outstanding work as an armed conflict mediator and use of dialogue to promote women in leadership and peacebuilding, multiculturalism and education in conflict prevention, and prevention of human rights vialotions and genocide. Alice is currently an armed conflict mediator and Adviser to the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue on Africa and was appointed Commissioner of the National Cohesion and Integration Commission in Kenya.

In her short residency in Canada following her acceptance of the 2017-2018 Jack P. Blaney Award, she participated in an Expert Roundtable on Parliament Hill in Ottawa where she contributed towards a discussion on how Canada can best support and protest the capacity of women in the field of conflict and atrocity prevention.