Brian Rusch appointed Executive Director of Desmond Tutu Peace Foundation

NEW YORK, June 24, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Desmond Tutu Peace Foundation (DTPF) announced today the appointment of Brian Rusch as the new Executive Director of the foundation. As Executive Director, Rusch will helm Archbishop Emeritus and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Desmond Tutu's only foundation based in the United States, whose mission is to inspire young people to build a world of peace within themselves, peace between people, and peace among nations.

"We are thrilled to have Brian Rusch join us," says DTPF president Robert V. Taylor. "His hands-on work with global peacemakers like the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu, together with his remarkable skills, combine to provide him with unique insight and wisdom to work with the foundation."

Rusch's first initiative will be to launch Peace³, an ambitious three-year campaign to build a network of one million 17-22 year-old peace builders.

"We look forward to the implementation of Peace³ as Brian joins the team," says Rev. Mpho Tutu, Executive Director of the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation. "May we magnify one another's voices in spreading Ubuntu and creating a new generation of young peacemakers." The philosophy of Ubuntu, or that "we are all connected and what affects one of us affects us all" guides the foundation.

Prior to working at DTPF, Rusch was the Deputy Director of The Dalai Lama Foundation, an organization dedicated to supporting the development of shared global capacity for ethics and peace based on a non-dogmatic ethic of compassion, and was the COO of Project Happiness, a Palo Alto-based nonprofit dedicated to teaching social and emotional learning to young adults.

"It is an honor for me to join The Desmond Tutu Peace Foundation. With recent events from Myanmar to Charleston, it is apparent that the work of the foundation is needed now, more than ever," Rusch said. "Archbishop Tutu's teachings and his life can serve as a template for us to shape conversations on peace, equality and forgiveness."

Archbishop Tutu added, "I would like to offer my congratulations to the Desmond Tutu Peace Foundation on hiring Brian Rusch as the new Executive Director.  May God bless you in your work." 

About the Foundation:
The Desmond Tutu Peace Foundation is the only foundation in the United States incorporated by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu. Its mission is to inspire young people to build a world of peace within themselves, peace between people, and peace among nations. Its programs are based on the teachings of the Archbishop who has dedicated his life to reshaping conversations about peace, equality, and forgiveness.

About Desmond Tutu:
Archbishop Desmond Tutu is a South African Anglican cleric who became one of the central leaders of the global peace movement. An outspoken defender of human rights and campaigner for the oppressed, Tutu's eloquent advocacy and brave leadership lead to the end of South African apartheid in 1993 and the installation of Nelson Mandela as the nation's first black President. The Archbishop has dedicated his life to reshaping conversations about peace, equality and forgiveness. In his role as global peacemaker, Tutu earned the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts and now devotes his time with the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation and the Desmond Tutu Peace Foundation teaching youth the powerful role and voice they play in creating a more compassionate and peaceful world. The Archbishop released a book, The Book of Forgiving, in March 2014 with daughter Mpho Tutu.

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SOURCE Desmond Tutu Peace Foundation