HOME

Last day to register: May 15!

Journey of Change: Transforming ourselves and our communities as we transform conflict:  
AVP offers the tools totransform violent conflict.  If we seek deep and lasting change, we mustseek transformation not only of the conflict at hand, but of ourselves. We mustcontinually ask how we are contributing to it.  What of our own distortedthinking is fueling or informing the conflict?  How are we connected tothe violence in the situation?  How are we supportingthe culture of violence, or failing to stand inopposition to it?  In what ways are we participating in larger systemsthat oppress others?  How might we even rely on violence - perhaps theviolence of others - to sustain our own well being? Ghandi said, "Be the change you wish tosee in the world."  As we seek to transform violent conflicts deeply,how must we, ourselves, transform?  Come, share, and journey courageouslytogether - towards change.  

On Memorial Day weekend: May 26-May 29, 2017: 
Celebrate the 42nd year of AVP bringing Transforming Power and nonviolence into the lives of people in the U.S. and around the world, in prisons, in schools, in refugee camps, in veterans programs, in gang interventions, and in conflict zones across 60 countries.  Deepen your understanding of AVP. Reunite with old friends.  Gain new ones. Put faces to the names.  Kindle new ideas.  Share of yourself. Be challenged and inspired. Nourish your passion for the work.  Transform.  And just as you do in our AVP workshops, have fun doing all of it.



Welcome to Beantown - Boston, Massachusetts

Welcome to Boston - cradle of our colonial history and hub of American innovation.  From the landmarks of the American revolution on Boston's Freedom Trail, to the cobblestones of Beacon Hill, to the iconic campuses of Harvard and MIT, to Boston's storied sports teams, the NFL Champion Patriots, the Celtics, the Buins and the Red Sox, Boston engages the mind and captures the imagination. 

Make a little extra time to see the city and everything it has to offer.


Come Early! Stay Late!

Register for the any of three pre-conference events, and for a Post-Conference planning meeting.

Thursday, May 25, 9:00am - 4:00pm, EXPLORING DIVERSITY - a one day, pre-conference workshop brought by the Education Committee.  Participants will experience learning  activities and exercises in the morning, and small groups will discuss how to
facilitate this topic and develop agendas in the afternoon.  This workshop is part of preparation for including this topic in the next Advanced manual.  

Thursday, May 25, 8:30 am - 4:00 pm, PRISON DAY at MCI Norfolk - A day with incarcerated men, seasoned inside facilitators, and administration, at a facility that is striving to lead.  Norfolk offers innovative programming, including: Restorative Justice, Emotional Awareness (based on the nationally recognized Houses of Healing program), formal debates featuring teams of inmates going against local college debate teams, and, AVP.  Join us for a day of supporting, learning, and celebrating the work going on at this institution.

Friday, May 26, 9:00 am - 4:00 pm, IS AVP A SOCIAL JUSTICE / PEACE ORGANIZATION? - an open retreat of the Board.  Alternaives to Violence Project grew out of activist roots, focusing on "finding effective ways to communicate and practice nonviolence" (Liveoak: Hoover interview).  Ghandi called politics the "art of right action."  AVP's politics is not about taking sides, but seeking to do the right thing.  What is more political than actively working toward self change of "transformation" of power structures within communities, institutions or systems?  

Please join a day long planning retreat as we explore: who we are idealistically as an organization and how we act upon our shared beliefs, and as we identify implications as we move forward organizationally.  

Monday, May 29, 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm, MOVING FORWARD AS AN ORGANIZATION - The AVPUSA post conference planning session.  In this session, we will break into small thematic groups to process things learned at the conference.  Each group identifies specific action steps for C of C Board and committee followup in the year ahead.
   

Featured Speakers: 
Karter Reed and Jean Trounstine

Karter is an AVP facilitator and the subject of Jean’s book Boy with A Knife, which explores Karter’s crime, as well as the history which lead up to it and the social and economic culture which created a perfect storm for the crime to be committed.

Presentation Proposals

We invite presentation proposals and still-forming ideas. Do you have a presentation to offer, an experience to share or a discussion to lead? Would you be a partner or a resource for other presenters? Do you know someone else with expertise we ough to consult? Please send your ideas, big and small, as soon as possible. The program is taking shape. Send to [email protected], or to P.O. Box 3036, Acton, MA 01720.

Lasell College

is a small liberal arts school with an intimate campus in the green suburb of Newton, Massachusetts, twelve minutes outside of Boston proper.  


Register 

Registration begins February 17, 2017.  

EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION ENDS MARCH 31, 2017.





Questions?

Contact the conference committee:

General Questions - [email protected]
Registration - [email protected]
Scholarships - [email protected]
Program ideas - [email protected]

Copyright 2017 AVP-USA