ABOUT US
Where did 3ClicksToPeace come from?
It all began in 1999 in the heart and mind of a 24-year-old single woman who – with a great love for children, their potential, and life – felt impressed that she should create an international children’s choir festival in connection with the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City , Utah, U.S.A. As a volunteer, and with the help of family, friends, the interfaith community, schools, Parent Teacher Associations, some other stellar members of the local community, embassies, some very talented children’s choirs from around the world, and others, she led the creation of Voices of Friendship: A Celebration of Children, Cultural Diversity, Music, Friendship, and Life! This all-volunteer festival (short video link) happened just five weeks after the 9/11/2001 tragedy in New York City. The Festival was a precursor of the 3ClicksToPeace website and initiative.
Founding Sponsor and Website Author
Voices of Friendship, Inc., a small all-volunteer nonprofit corporation was created to help organize the Voices of Friendship Festival. Its officers have continued to advance the purposes of the corporation “to foster international understanding; to encourage children to grow, to overcome adversity, and to strive for excellence; and to promote peace, international brotherhood/sisterhood, hope and goodwill” (including addressing division and polarization in society as a catalyst for the stained-glass art exhibit pictured below) They have now circled back to use Voices of Friendship as the principal sponsor of 3 Clicks to Peace.
The draftsperson for the 3 Clicks website is an officer of Voices of Friendship, Inc. and the father and teammate of the young woman who initiated the Voices of Friendship Festival. Drafts of the website have been reviewed and made better by too many people to mention. The frank feedback and insightful input of all are deeply appreciated. (You know who you are. THANK YOU!)
Our Approach
Peace can seem complex. Our approach is to simplify, unify, and engage.
Other Key Sponsors
(Coming soon)
Brian L. Farr
Background Information
Brian L. Farr, J. D. practiced law in both the public and private sectors for nearly forty years including service as Chief Legal Counsel and Deputy Chief of Policy to the Governor of the State of Utah and ten years as a Division Chief of the State Agency Council Division in the Utah Attorney General’s Office. Among other assignments at the Attorney General’s Office, he represented the State elected officials (Governor, Lt. Governor, Treasurer, and Auditor), the Department of Community and Economic Development, the Department of Health, and the Department of Public Safety and was the Attorney General’s liaison with the Utah Legislature. He was also responsible for State and local government issues; open government and public ethics issues; and was chair of the Civil Review Committee.
He earned a graduate certificate in Peace Studies at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand. He has been a Rotary Peace Fellow since 2008, has spoken at peace conferences in several countries, and has authored Living and Linking Your Piece of Peace, a primer on peacebuilding that focuses on engaging the grassroots. He was the draftsman for A Call to Civility and Community as part of a community initiative to establish ground rules for respectful public discourse and behavior.
He is currently a member of the Interreligious Engagement Advisory Council at Utah Valley University, the Peace Committee of the Utah District of Rotary International, and the Board of the Salt Lake Interfaith Roundtable (where he previously served as Chair and currently serves as Chair of the Peace Committee).
He is a past Chair of the Utah Council for Citizen Diplomacy (a nonprofit organization that hosts U.S. State Department visitors under the International Visitor Leadership Program) and recently completed service as a Board member and Chair of both the global Rotarian Action Group for Peace and the North American Interfaith Network, and as a Richard L. Evans Fellow, Office of Religious Outreach, at Brigham Young University. At the University of Utah he served as a member of the advisory boards of both the International Center and the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, as well at serving on the board of the Norman and Barbara Tanner Center for Non-Violent Human Rights Advocacy. He has served on the board of the Utah International Relations and Trade Commission (a commission established by the Utah Legislature).
He was heavily engaged in the 2002 Winter Olympic Games where he served as legal counsel to the State Olympic Officer and to the Utah Olympic Public Safety Command. He was instrumental in bringing the Parliament of the World’s Religions to Salt Lake City in October of 2015 (10,000+ attended) and helped in planning that event.
3ClicksToPeace is:
- A source of empowerment and plan of action to address the plague of division and polarization that infects so much of the world.
- A repository of core foundational principles of peace – a potential anchor and connecting point for peacebuilding initiatives advanced by a variety of humanitarian and service groups, faith and interfaith organizations, businesses and foundations, women’s organizations, youth and young adult organizations, and others – an invitation to magnify success exponentially in the great cause of peace by working together under a unifying standard as each organization and individual advances their unique piece of peace.
- A tool for community-building, organizational team-building activities, and corporate social responsibility – a positive approach to DEI – a mindset for both inner and world peace – a mindset we hope you embrace and are building on.
- A call to action for each one of us to step up and live our piece of peace more fully, make our own little world better, together move the world closer to the world we all yearn to see, and find more richness and meaning along the way.
What’s “The Ask”?
3ClicksToPeace is a volunteer effort powered by the website’s vision for a better world and by volunteers working individually and with faith, interfaith, humanitarian, service, education, business, and other organizations and institutions. The only “ask” made in this website is to more impactfully put the simple website principles into action in your life – to make a commitment to yourself to be more aware of your piece of peace, more fully live it, and encourage others to do the same.
To that end, there is an invitation at the end of the website to join with others who have also made that commitment, help turn hundreds to thousands – then millions, and be part of a great global movement of people of goodwill of all races, religions and beliefs, cultures and nations that together can change the world.