Meet our inspiring grassroots women peace activists, who, as part of the IEP Ambassador Program, are helping create a movement to change the way we think about peace.
The IEP Ambassador Program is creating a paradigm shift by working by transforming how people engage with and promote peace. Around half of the applicants for the program are women.
Here are six outstanding women peace activists, each making a difference in their communities and spreading Positive Peace across the globe.
Moemoana Schwenke
City: Samoa
Moemoana’s passion for Pacific heritage, youth empowerment, and climate action has shaped her journey as a leader and artist. Crowned Miss Samoa 2023, she is also a performance artist, writer, and director, using her platform to amplify the voices of young people and highlight the challenges facing Pacific communities. She represented Samoa at COP28, speaking on the urgent need for climate action.
After completing the IEP Ambassador Program in 2023, Moemoana strengthened her skills in Positive Peace frameworks, applying them to youth-led initiatives and cross-cultural dialogue.
She continues to inspire young people through her role as a cultural arts tutor at Matavai Pacific Cultural Arts, helping reconcile cultural issues within diaspora communities in western Sydney.
Dahlia Simangan
City: Higashi-Hiroshima City, Hiroshima, Japan
Dahlia’s strong academic expertise in peacebuilding meant she had acquired a great deal of knowledge about peace and conflict before she began the IEP Ambassador Program.
She holds a doctorate in the peace and conflict studies and is an assistant professor at Hiroshima University in Japan.
To complete the IEP Ambassador Program, published an academic article looking into the peace-sustainability nexus, she has strengthened the academic research in the peace field.
Adjoa Assan
Country: Australia
Adjoa Assan is an Australian lawyer, researcher, and youth leader with a focus on international policy and advocacy for the African-Australian community.
She completed the IEP Ambassador Program in 2022, a six-week training that equips participants with tools and skills to understand, communicate, and apply evidence-based approaches to promote sustainable peace.
In 2025, Adoja represented Australia as a delegate to the Y20 Youth Summit, participating in global discussions surrounding youth leadership, economic development, and social equity. Her dedication to building an inclusive and sustainable future underscore her commitment to ensuring youth voices are valued in shaping policy decisions worldwide.
Lorelei Higgins
Country: Calgary, Canada
By the time she entered the Mrs Canada Globe pageant, Lorelei was already a Rotary Peace Fellow, a consultant with Mediators Beyond Borders International, an IEP Ambassador, and a strategist with Calgary’s Indigenous Relations office. During this time, she applied the knowledge gained from the IEP Ambassador Program, using the Pillars of Positive Peace to guide initiatives in Calgary’s Indigenous Relations and Anti-Racism programs, bridging community divides and putting peacebuilding principles into practice.
After taking part in the program, she used a beauty pageant competition in Canada as a platform to speak about everyday peacebuilding and the Pillars of Positive Peace – and won!
She says her pageant win will highlight the voices of women globally who work every single day to create more peaceful communities, often without recognition or realisation of the critical role they play.
As the reigning Mrs Unity World Canada and Mrs. Canada Globe 2020-2023, Lorelei is leading efforts to increase female leadership in peacebuilding efforts locally and globally.
Nino Lotishvili
Country: Georgia
Nino has dedicated her career to empowering women and youth in conflict-affected communities to become actors of peace, resilience, and social cohesion. She is the founder and CEO of ManaTheia Peace Hub, a non-governmental organisation committed to promoting peace education.
In 2020, Nino completed the IEP Ambassador Program, where she deepened her understanding of Positive Peace and explored practical frameworks for peacebuilding initiatives.
Jelena Starcevic
Country: Hamilton, Canada
Jelena became interested in peace and social justice after growing up during the Balkans conflict in the 1990s. She gained degrees in law, peace and conflict and then taught negotiation and conflict resolution.
After undertaking the IEP Ambassador Program, she has used Positive Peace as a teaching tool that became especially relevant during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
She says she has seen first-hand how the concept of Positive Peace can change attitudes of the young people who will be vital in constructing a more peaceful society.
Are you interested in becoming an ambassador for peace? Sign up to express your interest in the IEP Ambassador Program.
Contemporary visual art is a powerful peacebuilding tool, according to IEP ambassador Alden Jacobs.
Analysing the factors that sustain peace.
