Judith Thompson

From her founding of the Children of War project in 1984 all the way to the present, Judith Thompson has championed resilience, healing, and compassion in conflict-riven communities worldwide. Children of War was an award-winning international youth leadership organization that supported the vision and leadership of young activists from 22 war-torn countries. Thompson has also helped to develop social healing programs in Israel/Palestine and Cambodia and has worked closely with indigenous elders from North, Central, and South America who are seeking to support worldwide social and ecological healing through their traditional ceremonies. In 2002, she convened the Center’s seminar, “Compassion and Social Healing,” a topic she explored in depth in this video series from 2011. In the early years of Children of War, she shared her core findings. First, is that despite despair and alienation, “idealism and hope still exist.” Second, that the children she works with “have the Midas touch. They humanize everyone they meet.”