Dalai Lama To Keynote Peace, Education Summit

NEWARK, NJ -- Mayor Cory Booker, Buddhist author and scholar Robert Thurman and New Jersey-based philanthropist Drew Katz have announced The Newark Peace Education Summit, a major three-day event, taking place in Newark, New Jersey from May 13-15, 2011.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama XIV will participate in sessions of the summit and deliver the keynote address, and Nobel Laureates Shirin Ebadi, the Iranian human rights advocate, and Jody Williams, the American anti-landmine activist, will be among the peace leaders speaking at the plenary sessions.

Inspired by the teachings and practices of peace leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi, The Newark Peace Education Summit will highlight peacemaking as a way for individuals, communities and nations to resolve conflicts and problems. Through panels and workshops, the Summit will present Nobel Laureates, civic leaders, organizations, scholars and activists, from both Newark and around the country and world who have used peace and nonviolence to educate youth, to create safer neighborhoods and more satisfying and fulfilling lives for countless people.

Mayor Booker and the City of Newark will serve as hosts of the summit, which is organized by the Tibet House U.S. and the Drew A. Katz Foundation.

Robert Thurman is the founder of the Tibet House U.S. and one of the leading American scholars of Buddhism and Tibetan culture. He is the author of numerous books on Buddhism and Tibet, and, under the tutelage of the Dalai Lama, became the first American to be ordained a Tibetan Buddhist monk.

Drew Katz is CEO of Interstate Outdoor Advertising and established the Drew A. Katz Foundation to support programs and organizations that provide a direct and measurable benefit in many challenging areas including but not limited to organizations addressing medical, educational, social, emotional, and cultural needs of those less fortunate.