The application for the 2026 Peace Pairs cohort is here!
If you are a young adult in your 20s or 30s and would like to be part of Peace Pairs in the coming year, please complete this form by December 30. We will begin meeting in February 2026. For questions, contact Camila Perez, cperez@paxchristiusa.org.
and Fr. Joe Nangle, OFM
In February 2022, Pax Christi USA launched Peace Pairs, a program initiated by the Pax Christi Young Adult Caucus (PCYAC) as a mutual co-learning program between generations of peacemakers. The intergenerational program was crafted to incorporate and embody Pope Francis’s Message for the 2022 World Day of Peace, Dialogue between generations, education and work: Tools for building lasting peace.
Peace Pairs connects seasoned peacemakers, like Pax Christi USA’s Ambassadors of Peace, on a one-to-one basis with a younger peacemaker (in their 20s and 30s). In 2022, the program began with nine Peace Pairs.
Some of the hopes and goals for the program include:
- Mutual co-learning and accompaniment.
- An opportunity to meet and grow closer with someone who has more experience in peace and nonviolence work within Pax Christi USA. (Sharing what experiences have prepared you for peacebuilding in your own life, and supporting each other’s endeavors…)
- Intentional pairing around geographic location or issue.
- Naming a small “ask” from both perspectives, such as planning an outcome together that can be shared with the larger Pax Christi membership (for example: co-hosting a webinar, co-facilitating a retreat, running a blog, planning an action together, hosting a StoryCorps-style interview, etc…)
The program is coordinated by Pax Christi USA staff member Michelle Sherman, with the hope that it strengthens and grows Pax Christi USA’s “witness to reciprocal learning between the first-generation of our movement and upcoming generations.”
If you are interested in participating in future cohorts, please email Michelle Sherman at msherman@paxchristiusa.org.
2025
Dani Jiménez and Jo Clarke
Kathryn Blanco and Amy Echeverria
Mack Swenson and Tom Cordaro
Anna Nowalk and Kim Redigan
Kirin Taylor and Rosemarie Pace
Julia Franco and Sr. Annette McDermott, SSJ
Monica Barger and Josie Garnem
Amy Katuska and Judith Kelly
Christian Buchanan and Kim Lamberty
Samuel Rios and Mike Moran
Gabriella Dudajek and Madeline Labriola
Zoe Blake and Adrienne Alexander
2024
Iyana Turner (DC) and Cathy Woodson (VA)
Alexa Bituin (DC) and Sr. Pegge Boehm, PVBM (SD)
Nancy Cermeno (FL) and Lee Miller (WA)
Anna Nowalk (VA) and Sandy Baran (FL)
Lauren Bailey (DC) and Marie Dennis (DC)
Sandra Ramirez (NM) and Sherry Simon (AR)
Holly O’Hara (IL) and Kathy McGinnis (MO)
Niamh Matthews (MA) and Jacques Pierini (AR)
Matthew Wolfe (NY) and Leslye Colvin (MD)
2023
Anne Pearson and Jean Stokan
Cindy Emenalo and Olga Sarabia
Jessica Sun and Sr. Anne McCarthy, OSB
Lai Sam and Scott Wright (right)
Lasya Priya and Mary Yelenick
Elliott Barnhill and Mary Hanna
Samantha Leuschner and Sr. Jane Morrissey, SSJ
2022
Tiffany Hunsinger and Janice Vanderhaar
Sr. Annie Killian, OP and Beatrice Parwatikar
Sebastian Klemmer and Fr. Joe Nangle, OFM
Honorine Uwimana and Donna Grimes (right)
Creede Caldwell and Cathy Crayton
Brian Ashmankas and Marie Dennis
Ryan Di Corpo and Joe Fahey
Peace Pair Projects
The Pax Christi USA intergenerational Peace Pairs program launched in February 2022 to build mutual co-learning and accompaniment between peacemakers in their 20s and 30s and Ambassadors of Peace/founding members of our movement. Each of the pairs was invited to work on an outward-facing project. Below is a sampling of their projects.
- Challenging conversations: Intergenerational nonviolent peacemaking through difficult times, held May 1 and 15, 2024, facilitated by Peace Pair Tiffany Hunsinger (a member of PCYAC) and Ambassador of Peace Janice Vanderhaar.
- Eliminating health care disparities in the U.S., written by Cindy Emenalo and Olga Sarabia
- An immersion trip to the U.S.-Mexico border, written by Lai Sam with her Peace Pair partner Scott Wright
- A series of writing projects by Honorine Uwimana and Donna Grimes, including this one on Thea Bowman for Black Catholic History Month
- A creative way to address grief webinar with Annie Killian, OP and Beatrice Parwatikar for the Catholic Prison Ministries Coalition
- An interview between Creede Caldwell and Cathy Crayton
This is such an exciting program! Lauren & Michelle, it couldn’t be in better hands. Count me ‘in’ on any future pairings.