THREE DOT DASH: The making of a movement

THREE DOT DASH: The making of a movement
Global Teen Leaders (GTLs) traveled
143,181 miles to convene in New York
City to attend the Three Dot Dash 2008
Just Peace Summit, created by the We
Are Family Foundation.
Alicia
Anum
Bubunur
Consolée
Cristian
David S.
David Z.
Devansh
Dylan
Emilio
Erin
Frida
Janet
Josephine
Khouloud
Luke
Mahishka
Mahmoud
Mousa
Omphile
Peggy
Pranav
Ryan
Saidzhan
Sarah
Sebastian
Sejal
Siddharth
Stella
Tara
From left: Josephine, 18, of Kenya welcomes
Consolée, 17, of Rwanda, who encountered
two flight cancellations, a 24-hour layover
and four days of grueling travel to arrive in
New York City.
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Stephanie Amoh
Michael Angst
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Carole Artigiani
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Jesse Averna
Amy Baker
Johnny Barbis
Mark Barondess
Thomas Barritt
Deborah Batiste
Ishmael Beah
Benjamin Bederson
Elana Bekerman
Charlyn Belluzzo
Johanna Bennett
Marc Birnbach
Mike Blishak
Silvia Blitzer Golombek
John Blodgett
Dietrice Bolden
Jenn Britton
Glen Ellen Brown
Tim Browne
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Sarah Cox
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Daniel Crown
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Karen Daniel
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Jamie Danow Camhi
Meredith Davenport
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Dick Demenus
Joe DiMaggio, Jr.
Tim Donovan
Fred Doulton
Robert Dragotta
Darlene Dwyer
Hassan ElGendi
Kelly Ann Ellison
Donna Fedus
Kim Feinberg
Rick Fernandes
Gregory Ferraiolo
Erin Foster
Katharine Freeman
Marc Friedman
Courtney Frohne
Adrianne Frost
Lara Galinsky
Philip Galinsky
Robert Galinsky
Alison Gardy
Tory Geismar
Alan Gershenfeld
Danielle Giambattista
Kiara Giles
Adrianna Giuliani
Judith Glaser
Dan Glover
Vicki Goldman
Michael Goldstein
Thomas Gordon
Laura Gosnell
Edwin Gragert
Seth Green
Joshua Greenberg
Julia Greenberg
After months of planning and anticipation, numbered
nomination forms turned into names and faces. The
Summit created an instant bond between participants.
From left: Award-winning television director Rick
Fernandes and GTL Devansh, 14, of India.
Sam Gregory
Kristina Hall
Sacajawea Hall
Joseph Harris
Breanna Hechavarria
Sam Hellerman
Ben Hersey
Tommy Hilfiger
DJ Honda
Michele Houlihan
Tina Huang
Michelle Huart
Marg Huber
Jacob Huddleston
John Hunt
Lester & Kathryn Hunt
Margaret Hunt
Nancy Hunt
Brenda Isaac
Luther Isler
Clint Jarrett
Udaiyan Jatar
Jonathan Jennings
Matthew Jensen
Oliver Jevremov
Brown Johnson
Raymond Johnson
Nikki Johnson
Samantha Jones
Kirsten Jordan
Jamal Joseph
Joyce Joseph
Sebastian Junger
Henry Juszkiewicz
Nick Katz
Cindy Kelly
Abdul Waheed Khan
Asim Khan
Chris Kindred
Larry King
Shawn King
Piyoo Kochar
Thomas Kompulzik
Vice Adm. Al H. Konetzni, Jr.
Sergio Kopeliovich
Betsy Kotcher
Greg Kotcher
Raymond Kotcher
Mitchell Kriegman
Romina Laouri
Arminda Lathrop
Andraea LaVant
Alexandra Lee
Gina Legnani
Marcus Lehmann
Stew Leonard, Jr.
David Lerner
Michael Levine
Lauren Lewis
Kiara Lewis
Erica Lindberg Gourd
David Linton
John Logsdon
Andrea LoPiccolo McConnon
Oscar Lyde
Suzanne Lyons
Curtis Mack
Charles Mack
David Macquart
Maria Makara
Nishantha Mallawaarachchi
Dovie Mamikunian
Eddie Mandhry
William Margaritis
Marianne Marstrand
Tod Martin
Jocelin Martinez
David Mashaal
Laura Masse
Robyn Massey
Courtney Matson
Naomi Mazin
Steve Meade
Theresa Meade
Laurie Meadoff
Eddie Menenu
Alexis Menten
Dena Merriam
Ruth Messinger
Jason Meyers
Matt Mickelson
Nina Miller
Rhea Mokund
Annabel Monaghan
Lisa Morris
Susan Mufson Finkelstein
Monique C. Muri
Ashley Murray
Steven Musumeci
Eva Nagorski
David Naugle
Katie Northlich
Jance Ocasio
Alan Osmond
Michael Ostin
Emily Ottoo
Lauren Parr
Jen Parsons
Devon Pasquariello
Jasmine Peltro
Marymelia Perez
Jim Pierce
Kate Pierson
Don Pintabona
Sooze Plunkett-Green
Michelle Posadas
Jim Power
Margaret-Mary Preston
Benjamin Quinto
Meenakshi & Vinay Rai
Brett Ratner
Paul Rechsteiner
Irwin Redlener
Ashok Regmi
Fretta Reitzes
Jessica Rimington
Patrick Rinn
Nile Rodgers
Natalie Rodic
Arsenio Rodriguez
Lucia Rodriguez
Raechel Rosen
Warren Rosen
Shawna Rosenzweig
Christine Royer
Danielle Rozdzielski
Mindy Rubinstein
James Sabatini
Mark Sasahara
Sarah Sattin
Erica Saviano
Josh Schackett
Richard Schaeffer
Danny Schechter
Henry Schleiff
Patrick Sciarratta
Nicholas Scibetta
Robin Sclafani
Robin Selfridge
Eulogia Septimo
Matthew Septimus
Taja Sevelle
Craig Sidberry
Tom Silverman
Ebbe Skovdal
Courtney Smelter
Gregory Smith
Deborah Smolover
David Snyder
Laurel Snyder
Jeremy Staley
Aziza Stamper
Samantha Stark
Mittpheap Steele
Jeni Stepanek
Patience Stephens
Caryl Stern
Ian Stewart
Vivien Stewart
Richard Stierwalt
David Stillman
Jeanne Stillman
Richard Stolley
Lynn Stratford
Ronell Swartbooi
Kim Sykes
Angela Tafur
Blake Tannery
Anne Taylor
Paul Taylor
Lynne Taylor-Corbett
Anne Test
Wade Thompson
Nestor Torres
Jeffrey Trexler
Nick Tsoukalas
Louise Van Rhyn
Steven Van Zandt
Travis Veada
Teun Voeten
Florindo Volpacchio
Pelham Warner
Dionne Warwick
Lorne Watson
Kimmie Weeks
Cara Weisberger
Marceline White
Vasana Wickremasena
Jasmine Wigfall
Christina Williams
Montel Williams
Tempest Williams
Sara Wingert
Claire Wiseman
Elisabeth Wolfe
Jenni Wolfson
Jessica Wrenn
Charles Yassky
Ashley Young
Jim Ziolkowski
92nd Street Y
One World Youth Project
AFS Intercultural Programs
Public-Private Alliance Foundation
Alliance for a New Humanity
Symphonia
Americans for Informed Democracy
TakingITGlobal
American Jewish World Service
The Tomorrow Trust
Anti-Defamation League
UN Programme on Youth
Ashoka
UNA-USA
Asia Society
UNESCO
Bright Media
Urban Farming
Building with Books
US Fund for UNICEF
Children and Broadcasting Foundation for Africa Wilson Center for Social Entrepreneurship
CHINH
WITNESS
Culture Project
Workers World Media Productions
Echoing Green
Youth Media Exchange
Friendship Ambassadors Foundation, Inc.
Youth Service America
Gibson Foundation
YouthBridge-NY
Give to Colombia
Global Kids, Inc.
Global Nomads Group
Global Peace Hut
Global Peace Initiative of Women
Global Youth Action Network
iEarn-USA
IMPACT Repertory Theatre
International Children’s Digital Library Foundation
International Debate Education Association
International Youth Foundation
The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop
Journeys for Peace
Listen Up!
Mattie J.T. Stepanek King Farm Foundation
Jay Aldous
Khaliah Ali
Ed Alster
Michael Angst
Alex Arcadia
Derrick Ashong
Jess Atkins
Charlyn Belluzzo
Jennifer Carpenter
Katharine Freeman
Alan Gershenfeld
Joseph Harris
Brenda Isaac
Udaiyan Jatar
Jamal Joseph
Piyoo Kochar
Vice Adm. Al H. Konetzni, Jr.
Betsy Kotcher
Raymond Kotcher
Michael Levine
David Linton
John Logsdon
Nishantha Mallawaarachchi
Eddie Mandhry
Jason Meyers
Annabel Monaghan
Susan Mufson Finkelstein
Improvisational theater producer
Robert Galinsky breaks down cultural and
language barriers through daily nonverbal
communication “energizers.”
Monique Muri
Benjamin Quinto
Meenakshi & Vinay Rai
Warren Rosen
Shawna Rosenzweig
Danny Schechter
Taja Sevelle
Jeremy Staley
Mittpheap Steele
Caryl Stern
Lynn Stratford
Anne Taylor
Paul Taylor
Lynne Taylor-Corbett
Vasana Wickremasena
Elisabeth Wolfe
Like many of the GTLs attending
the Summit, 18-year-old Emilio of
Argentina experiences New York
City for the first time.
Was it a blip?
Or the beginning
of a movement ?
Nancy Hunt, President of the We Are
Family Foundation, officially opens the
Just Peace Summit on March 29, 2008.
It began with one
remarkable young
man and his
message of peace.
— Mattie J.T. Stepanek
Despite suffering from a rare form of muscular
dystrophy, Mattie J.T. Stepanek accomplished
more in his short 14 years than most people do
in a lifetime. Mattie had a deep understanding
of peace that exceeded his years, believing that
real peace can be achieved only when people
have their basic human needs fulfilled. He wrote
a number of New York Times best-selling poetry
books, and his insight attracted a circle of friends
including Oprah, Larry King, President Jimmy
Carter and the founding members of the We Are
Family Foundation, Nile Rodgers and Nancy Hunt.
Mattie’s friendship with Nile and Nancy began in
2002. The We Are Family Foundation was inspired
by the then-12-year-old visionary and presented
him with the very first “Peacemaker Award” at its
inaugural fundraising event. Mattie’s message of
peace has since reached millions around the world.
But hearing his message of peace is not enough.
The We Are Family Foundation wanted to find a
way to help make peace a practice — as Mattie
said — an attitude, a habit and a reality.
Three Dot Dash was inspired by Mattie and
established by the We Are Family Foundation to
help young leaders expand their peace initiatives
and better communicate their stories.
The name Three Dot Dash is a mash-up of Morse
code and the two-fingered “V” gesture that has
Nile Rodgers, musician, producer and
Founder of the We Are Family Foundation,
welcomes the GTLs to the Summit,
demonstrating the Three Dot Dash hand
gesture, the new peace sign.
come to be known as the peace sign. In Morse
code, “V” is
. The name is significant, since
Morse code was the first form of communication
that sent a message faster than one could move
and farther than one could see. Three Dot Dash is
the new peace sign.
The 2008 Just Peace
Summit sparked a
contagious optimism —
a renewed belief in
the power of peace.
An innovative, year-round leadership and
mentoring program, Three Dot Dash kicks off
with an annual Just Peace Summit to gather
Global Teen Leaders (GTLs) from around the
world. GTLs are young individuals, between
the ages of 13 and 19, who are actively working
to address one or more basic human needs in
their communities: food, water, shelter, health,
education, safety and the environment.
They know that fulfilling such needs will
ultimately lead to a more peaceful society.
The Summit teaches GTLs how to amplify their
messages and projects using current technology,
media and other distribution methods, while
encouraging these leaders to rally their peers and
lift their efforts to the next level. Supported by
an ever-expanding network of individual mentors,
corporations and nonprofit organizations, GTLs
are joining forces to share their peace initiatives
with the world.
Clockwise from left: Jamal Joseph, Chair
of the Columbia University Graduate Film
Department and Founder of Harlem’s
IMPACT Repertory Theatre, teaches the
GTLs about the power of storytelling
through film; Luke, 14, of the United States
smiles in front of the United Nations;
Mousa, 16, of Jordan; Tom Barritt, Director
of Ketchum’s Global Issues and Crisis
Management Network, teaches Josephine,
18, of Kenya how to speak to the media.
In one week,
we inspired a lifetime.
The resulting experience was more than anyone
could have expected. With open minds, the GTLs
came together to share and understand one
another’s initiatives. These teens were already
leading unprecedented projects to foster peace
in their communities — from educating
individuals about HIV/AIDS and addressing
gender inequality, to teaching single young
mothers in Kenya entrepreneurial and
agricultural skills. Despite differing cultures,
religions and backgrounds, they all stood
behind a unifying belief: peace is possible.
After an intense week filled with photography
workshops, public speaking seminars, written
Peggy, 17, of Kenya works on her action plan, which will help guide her
peace initiative over the next year.
word sessions and more, the GTLs learned the
skills needed to amplify their peace initiatives.
Together, they created 95 public service
announcements to spread their messages. Each
GTL was paired with a mentor and received a
stipend to support his or her own initiative for
the coming year. In just one week, they formed
a global family and gained the experience of a
lifetime. And so did the volunteers, speakers,
mentors and partners, who were amazed each
day by the intelligence, passion, acceptance and
maturity demonstrated by this group of teens.
Clockwise from left: David Z., 18, of
Colombia; J.J., a singer from Harlem’s
IMPACT Repertory Theatre, performs the
Three Dot Dash song; Sebastian, 18, of
Canada with Kimmie Weeks, acclaimed
international youth activist.
In addition to our own We Are Family Foundation
staff, it took a team of hundreds of NGOs, corporate
partners and volunteers to prepare for the Just
Peace Summit. Everyone contributed however they
could; some donated money and others donated
their time to teach, cook or sing.
visas, plane tickets, language barriers, airports, teena
ers in customs, bureaucracy, embassy interviews, Jom
Kenyatta International Airport, passports, language b
riers, culture shock, dinner menu, missed flights, lost
gage, Queen Alia International Airport, car services, b
es, trains, New York City traffic, lunch menu, wheelch
access, Kilimanjaro International Airport, layovers, bo
rooms, special diets, girls’ rooms, workshops, food all
gies, name badges, mentors, LaGuardia Airport, ente
tainment, cabs for 60, lights out, breakfast menu, trav
el guardians, canceled flights, theatre schedules, Man
International Airport, hotel conference rooms, U.S. em
bassy, alternates, war, paperwork, Together, we volun
teer staff, approaching deadlines, made it a reality. w
torn countries, international travel, extravagant pri Bu
nos Aires Airport, birth certificates, unstable hometo
wns, nervous waiting, lanyards, folding chairs, unac
companied minors, JFK International, water bottles,
It wasn’t easy. But as they say, “the higher the
climb, the better the view.” We set a lofty goal —
and with the help of many, we achieved it. What
could have been a logistical nightmare turned out
to be a groundbreaking success. After countless
flights were booked, paperwork was signed, and
passports and visas were obtained, the Just Peace
Summit was transformed from an idea into an
actual event. We are eternally grateful to all those
who helped make it possible.
This is only
the beginning.
Now it’s time
to turn up the volume.
We think of Three Dot Dash as an incubator
for peace on a global scale. Through their
peace initiatives, this year’s GTLs will impact an
estimated one million individuals. By empowering
and enabling teen leaders around the world, our
goal is to set a new peace movement in motion.
Omphile, 16, of Botswana and David S., 15,
of England arrived as strangers and parted
as lifelong friends.
Strategy + Design by Unboundary, Inc., Atlanta, GA | Principal photography by Benjamin Quinto
Onstage at The Zipper Factory Theater,
everyone celebrates the Three Dot Dash
movement. From left: Nile Rodgers, Tara,
17, of the United States and Bubunur, 18,
of Kyrgyzstan.
With your support, the We Are Family Foundation
will continue Three Dot Dash and hold the Just
Peace Summit every year. With your help, peace
truly is possible.
100% of your donations benefit the Three Dot Dash
movement. Visit us online at www.threedotdash.org.
Email us at contact@threedotdash.org or call us at
(646) 403-8025 to find out how you can help.
(index)
(middle)
(ring)
(and drag your pinky)
Anyone
can be
Three
Dot Dash.
This Summit showed me and the rest of the
Global Teen Leaders that there are lots of
people out there working to build a better
world, and they are doing beautiful and silent
work — it’s just a matter of opening our eyes
and helping them, and then we’ll have peace.
— David Z., 18, Colombia