The Genius and Inner-Sense of Youth
Summer of Peace 2012 > International Peacebuilding & Global Citizenship > Education & Learning
Broadcast on July 20, 2012
With Dr Nina Meyerhof & Oran Cohen
Dr Nina Meyerhof
President of Children of the Earth
Nina Meyerhof, Ed.D., President and Founder of Children of the Earth has made a life of advocating for our world's youth. She co-authored, Conscious Education: The Bridge to Freedom and the handbook and training manual, Pioneering Spiritual Activism. Her work stresses the creation of an “Inner Revolution for Social Evolution” - in order to build a better, more peaceful world, we first must begin with self-awareness. She is recognized as an innovative educator committed to global responsibility through authentic learning. She is the recipient of The Mother Theresa Award, the Citizens Department of Peace Award, and The International Educators Award for Peace. The State of Vermont also passed a Resolution honoring her life's work. .
Nina advocates for young people to go beyond cultural, ethnic and religious differences and strive for altruistic ethics. She moves around the world assembling adults and young people to focus on the potentials of bringing ethical living skills into world consciousness. Her focus is on realizing that peace must come from within our interwoven unity.
Oran Cohen
Children of the Earth, Evolutionary Leaders, Social Innovator and Change Agent, Mystic
Oran is a huge fan of the marvels of the human heart. He champions ideas that shift perceptions and change worlds. He often answers to the title of “Imagineer” – helping individuals and organizations bring ideas to life. Oran is a youth leader, social entrepreneur and creative strategist.
Since 2000, Oran has been designing and facilitating leadership and social innovation programs all over the world for youth in South Africa, Japan, United States, Israel, Palestine, Switzerland, Thailand, Ghana, Canada, Guatemala and Nepal.
He has worked and consulted in both the Private and Public sectors and has collaborated on specific projects with Municipalities as well as organizations such as The Netherlands Embassy, Cape Union Mart, J&J Ireland and Sappi Saicor. Oran also has facilitated for South African Women in Dialogue (SAWID).
Oran is the Founder of the World Spirit Youth Council. WSYC creates spaces and places for youth to experience and express their spirituality and assists them to channel that into humanitarian projects in over 20 countries around the world. WSYC is a project of Children of the Earth.
Oran is the Co-founder of Boys To Men, Johannesburg. Boys To Men is an organization that creates mentorship programs and ritualistic rights of passage for teenage boys. It has been running successfully for over 3 years. In South Africa, he was instrumental in reviving an organization called Junior Chamber International and was the President of the Johannesburg chapter. He has been involved with the United Nation’s International Day of Peace and has spoken at the United Nations.
In 2009 the Mail and Guardian chose him as 1 of 300 most interesting Young South Africans. In 2011 he was chosen as 1 of 50 International Evolutionary Leaders by Deepak Chopra’s Non-Profit www.evolutionaryleaders.net. In 2012, the Schusterman Foundation chose him as 1 of 40 Top Young Jewish Social Innovators in South Africa.