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Turning “ideas into reality”, Kuhn sought the support of the Napa Valley vintners to replace the scourge of landmines with the nectar of grapes in war-torn countries. Seeking to transform “seeds of terror” into “seeds of hope”, Kuhn attracted the support of legendary vintners such as Robert Mondavi, Mike Grgich, Diane Disney Miller, and over 400 California vintners—replacing the scourge of landmines with the nectar of fresh grapes, raisins or a fine bottle of wine. She envisions the “grapevine” as a symbol of hope—reminding global citizens of the seeds we have in common rather than those which separate us. The planting of a grapevine is a time-honored symbol of hope as generational wisdom reminds us that regardless of the political ideologies of our mind, the color of our hand or the faith in our hearts---a seed will grow when nurtured and cultivated. The planting of a landmine only yields a lethal harvest for generations to come. Her vision to transform “swords into plowshares” is grounded by transforming toxic minefields into bountiful fields creating sustainable economic programs for future generations.
Kuhn’s grounded vision has been recognized by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Secretary of State Madeline Albright and Colin Powell, President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, President Stepan Mesic of Croatia, The First Lady of Angola Ana Paula dos Santos, The First Lady of the United States Laura Bush, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, former Vice President Al Gore, Robert Redford, Sir Ben Kingsley, and many other global dignitaries in support of her quest to “plant the roots of peace on earth.”
Heidi is a fifth generation descendent of a Marin County family, and remains true to her roots by respecting the value of the land. Her pioneer spirit inspires her to heal the wounds of war from the ground up. A graduate of the University of California at Berkeley in Political Economic of Industrial Societies, Heidi received the prestigious Cal Berkeley Alumni Award for Excellence and Achievement in 2002. Awards she has received include the Skoll Social Social Entrepreneur Award 2006, WANGO World Association of Non-Governmental Award for Peace & Security, The Rotary International “Service Above Self” Award, The“Walk the Talk” Award from UN World Environment Day, The Marin Women’s Hall of Fame Award, The Marin Interfaith Award, American Women in Radio and Television Award, and many others.
Prior to her work on the landmine issue, Heidi owned her own television news organization, NewsLink International, reporting for CNN and other news organizations on the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill and the Melting of the Ice Curtain between US/Soviet relations. Raising her children in Juneau, Alaska, she earned a reputation for bridging borders for peace—reporting for ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Nippon Television and other major media organizations. As a cancer survivor, she envisions the issue of landmines as a curable disease—removal.
Kuhn works with her husband, Gary, with whom she has been married for over 25 years. They have four children.
Gary Kühn has worked in business development in the high technology sector for 23 years before joining Roots of Peace full-time in 2001. Gary started his career at IBM in San Francisco after graduating from University of California, Berkeley. Gary furthered his education in an executive program sponsored by IBM at Harvard University. After leaving IBM, Gary joined Adobe Systems in 1990 to help develop business opportunities for PostScript and Acrobat. Gary then moved on to Autodesk where he managed the development team for AutoCAD LT, one of the companies main products. Gary then pursued consulting for a number of international technology companies working to establish a market in the US.
Gary has worked to support Roots of Peace since its' inception in 1997. He serves on the Board and manages the international demining and development programs. Gary continues to serve on a number of non-profit boards. He lives with his wife, Heidi, and their four children, Brooks, Tucker, Kyleigh and Christian.
Since 1972, Dr. Neils has managed US-based agribusinesses and has been Chief-of-Party twice, Deputy Chief-of-Party once, Director of Agricultural Technology and Market Development, and Aquaculture Specialist on long-term, USAID-funded and Asian Development Bank-funded, agricultural development projects. He has served as Team Leader on numerous donor-funded, short-term, development projects that have assisted businesses, marketing associations, and business support organizations in expanding product markets, in formulating and implementing alternative cropping and marketing strategies, in developing financial pro formas and business plans for increasing investment, and in improving business services and competitiveness. Through his numerous leadership positions, Dr. Neils has trained and provided technical assistance to thousands of owners and operators of agribusinesses and assisted in developing sound agricultural and trade policy reforms with governments in many developed and developing countries. Ken has worked extensively in Africa, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Eastern Europe, Central and South America.
Dr. Neils earned his undergraduate degree in General Biology from St. Olaf College, dual Masters degrees in Agricultural Economics at University of Maryland and and Aquaculture & Allied Fisheries Masters degree from Auburn University. Ken completed his Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics, at Texas A&M University. He has published numerous papers and publications on international development. His wife Char has accompanied Ken on many of his foreign postings.
Mitra manages all of ROP financial accounting activities in the home office and oversees the financial activities of the Roots of Peace field offices. She is a Certified Managerial Accountant and a member of the National Association of Accountants.
Before coming to Roots of Peace, Mitra worked at Berelson Export Corporation, Sundown Foods USA and Zierer Visa Service. Mitra has a BS degree in Business and Accounting from San Francisco State University.
Lynn Davison has over 20 years of general management consulting and business management experience. Her consulting career began working with small to mid-sized businesses, across all industries, consulting in the areas of strategy, management, finance, marketing, and operations. In 1996 she began working with Fortune 500 clients consulting in the areas of change management and integration. As a founding member of a boutique consulting firm, Lynn's responsibilities spanned most facets of building a successful consulting firm including the creation of the internal company infrastructure, human resource management, sales and marketing development, and financial management.
Lynn began working with Roots of Peace in 2002 delivering pro bono consulting services focused on strategic planning and implementation. In March of 2004, Lynn joined Roots of Peace in a more formal capacity and became a Program Director focused on program development, implementing Roots of Peace’s full circle “demine – replant” program initiatives.
Lynn has a BA in economics from Whitman College. She resides in San Anselmo, California with her husband and two sons.
Allison began working with Roots of Peace as a volunteer in 2001. She has been involved in many events including: fundraisers sponsored by local businesses, a luncheon at the United Nations honoring Heidi Kühn, a lunch in honor of Secretary General Kofi Annan, and the planting of several "Roots of Peace" Gardens. She directed Roots of Peace' initial Pennies for Peace campaign in 2003, and continues to be involved in Roots of Peace' current Making Change Work initiative. Allison has spoken on behalf of Roots of Peace, coordinated volunteers and organized special projects.
Allison has a background in non-profit management and administration. She worked at the American Arbitration Association for 10 years including 3 years as the Director of Mediation. She as served on Professional Boards including an Association for Legal Marketers, and served as an officer in several local community organizations including the San Rafael Mothers Club and the Glenwood School Foundation.
Allison graduated from the University of California at Berkeley, with a degree in political science.She resides in San Rafael, California with her husband and two daughters.
Kathleen (Kathy) Budzinski joined Roots of Peace in February 2007 as the Operations Manager in San Rafael, California. With more than 20 years of professional experience in both the public and private sector, Kathy brings a strong background in administrative management and operations. Prior to relocating to Marin County in 2003, Kathy served as Registrar and Executive Assistant at Sonoma College and Assistant to the Dean at Northern Arizona University – College of Health Professions, Flagstaff, AZ.
As Operations Manager, Kathy is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the U.S. Headquarters working closely with both the U.S. and International teams. Additionally, Kathy’s responsibilities include assisting the Founder and CEO, event management, marketing and public relations outreach.
A graduate of Northern Arizona University, Kathy resides with her husband, Ed, in Novato, California and enjoys painting, hiking, fly-fishing and the profound beauty of the northern California landscape.
Flavia Taggiasco has over 20 years experience working in the media and television broadcasting industry. Her career began at THE WALL STREET JOURNAL/Europe as a business researcher for published stories. She then went on to work at the Rome bureau of BUSINESS WEEK, where she was a researcher, photo editor and office manager. For the next ten years, Flavia was a reporter covering local and business news from the Rome Bureau of L'INDIPENDENTE and LA REPUBLICA ONLINE. In more recent years she has produced for CNN's Rome Bureau where she has managed significant budgets, developed programming ideas, coordinated all aspects of television production and produced news segments, longer-format features on major events and documentaries on topics such as the death of Pope John Paul II, the Italian political crises and the rise of Islam. Also during this time she produced for NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TELEVISION AND FILM, including episodes of the 'Is It Real' series. Flavia began working with Roots of Peace in 2006 and is now Roots of Peace's European Director focused on business development, events and media relations.
Flavia has a degree in Business Administration, speaks English, Italian and French and resides in Rome, Italy with her family.
Spencer joined Roots of Peace in May 2007 working as an intern for program development. Since September 2007, Spencer has been working full time as a program specialist. In this capacity, he has helped assist the development of current and future projects, primarily in Afghanistan. Other responsibilities include maintaining the current website, keeping employee records current and assisting in fundraising, marketing and public outreach.
Spencer is a recent graduate of UC Berkeley with a degree in Anthropology and is looking to pursue a Masters of Business Administration degree in the upcoming years. Spencer currently resides in San Rafael, CA.
Rebecca joined Roots of Peace in late 2007 as Executive Assistant at the U.S. headquarters. She is a graduate of Boston University with a BA in International Relations and is currently attending Dominican University to receive her Green MBA. Her passion for international and sustainable development comes from her four month journey around the world on Semester at Sea in 2006. Prior to joining the RoP team, Rebecca had interned for several non-profit organizations focusing on alternative energy and climate change.
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