Davis Projects for Peace

Since 2007, students from St. Lawrence University have participated in the Kathryn W. Davis "100 Projects for Peace" granting opportunity.  For information on applying please see The 2025 Projects for Peace Student Grant Competition.   

Past SLU recipients have been:

• 2017 - Geovania Guterres Ornai (’19) and Margaret Urquhart (’19), “Renovation of the Maternity Unit and Patient Bathroom – Bairo Pite Clinic,” in Timor-Leste.
• 2017 - Francine Nihozeko (’18), “A Thread that Weaves Peace,” in Burundi.
• 2016 - Liqian Ma ('17), "Peace Studies and Liberal Arts Education Center in Sanmen," in China.
• 2016 - Malakia Takane ('18), with Bahlakoana Mebetha (Harvard College '18), "Providing Water for Mohale Hoek Villagers," in Lesotho.
• 2015 - Natalie Onyango ('15), "Los Pacho Initiative," in Kenya.
• 2014 - Facundo Rivarola ('14), "Harvesting the Past, Irrigating the Future," in Paraguay.
• 2013 - Rochana Cooray ('14), Dolma Lama ('14), Zoe Garry ('14), Joanna Patouris ('14), "Clinic for Peaceful Living," in Nepal.
• 2012 - Nemanja Koroman ('13) and Levon Vardanyan ('13), "Aiding Post-War Returnees to Improve Their Living Conditions," in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
• 2011 - Nathan Rotich ('14), "Fishing for Peace," in Sudan.
• 2011 - Khadeeja Hamid ('11), "Empowering Young Girls to Break the Cycle of Violence," in Maldives.
• 2010 - Brijlal Chaudhari ('10), "Educational Infrastructure and Peace Building," in Nepal.
• 2010 - Melih Cokaygil ('11), "Peace through Interaction and Education," in Turkey.
• 2009 - Grace Ochieng ('12), "Micro-financed Sewing and Education Project," in Kenya.
• 2008 - Yuki Poudyal ('09) and Nicole Szucs ('10), "Reinstalling Peace in Lives of Street Youths," in Nepal.
• 2007 - Alexander Tedeschi ('08) and Shazia Shahnaz ('09), "Building a Brighter Future for Kids at the Amazing Grace Children's Center," in South Africa.
• 2007 - Alice Lenanyokie ('07) and Mukhaye Muchimuti ('08), "Providing Water, Empowering the Samburu Women," in Kenya.

About Davis Projects for Peace

"Davis Projects for Peace" is an invitation to undergraduates at the American colleges and universities in the Davis United World College Scholars Program to design grassroots projects that they implement during the summer. The projects judged to be the most promising and do-able will be funded at $10,000 each. The objective is to encourage and support today’s motivated youth to create and try out their own ideas for building peace.  All St. Lawrence students are encouraged to write a grant proposal to develop ideas for creating peace.

The Davis Projects for Peace Competition is made possible by Kathryn Wasserman Davis, an accomplished internationalist and philanthropist, who hopes to “bring new thinking to the prospects of peace in the world.”

Students interested in applying to the competition should contact Carol Smith in the Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations.  Applications are due in January.

Tip for Shaping Your Proposal:

Successful proposals have a sustainable impact.  As you work to conceptualize and plan a project, realize that the projects funded are generally grassroots projects that have a long-lasting impact on the community where they are carried out.  The best proposals:

• Make a clear connection to a vision for peace.

• Show what special skills and interests the student(s) bring to the project.

• Include a clear and detailed budget.

• Create positive change that will have a lasting impact and/or will be self-sustaining after the grant funding is spent

Please also feel free to contact any of the following faculty members who have served on the SLU local selection committee in the past:  Elun Gabriel (History), Shelley McConnell (Government), or Laura Rediehs (Philosophy and Peace Studies).

For More Information

To see reports of projects carried out with support from the Davis 100 Projects for Peace program, visit: http://www.davisprojectsforpeace.org/projects

For more general information on this opportunity, we urge you to visit the program website, where details on the proposal format can be viewed:  http://www.davisprojectsforpeace.org/