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Roots of Peace Staff
Heidi Kühn, Founder and CEO, Roots of Peace, was deeply inspired in September 1997 to create an organization dedicated to the eradication of landmines worldwide. With a simple toast in the living room of her home that the world may go from “Mines to Vines”, a global initiative was launched from the heart of a mother of four children following the death of the late Princess Diana who catapulted the issue of landmines to the forefront of the international agenda. Turning “ideas into reality”, Kühn 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“, Kühn 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. Kühn's grounded vision has been recognized by the United Nations , the U.S. State Department, former Secretaries 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 Economics of Industrial Societies, Heidi received the prestigious Cal Berkeley Alumni Award for Excellence and Achievement in 2002. At the Washington, D.C. Award Ceremony in June 2007, Heidi received the esteemed Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Award/ National Jefferson Award for Public Service. Prior to Roots of Peace, Heidi was awarded a Gubernatorial Appointment to the California Council of the Humanities in 1996. Additionally, in the ten years since Roots of Peace was formed, Heidi has received many other awards and recognitions on both a local and international level for her vision and work creating a humanitarian organization with a mission to build “peace from the ground up.” Awards include, the Skoll Social Entrepreneurship Award, the WANGO World Association of Non-Governmental Award for Peace & Security , The “Walk the Talk” Award from UN World Environment Day, The Rotary International “Service Above Self“ Award, the Spirit of Marin Award and The Marin Women's Hall of Fame Award. Additionally, for her dedication and leadership on the “landmine issue,” on April 30, 2007, aboard the Queen Mary 2 in New York City Harbor, Heidi Kühn accepted a formal Proclamation from the United Nations Environment Programme, officially recognizing that “Landmines are an environmental concern.” 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. Kühn has been married to her husband Gary for over 25 years, and 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.
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 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.
As a former Roots of Peace Board Member for 6 years, Marguerite joined the Staff in February 2010 to serve in her current role as Chief Operating Officer. Throughout her career, Marguerite has worked across sectors in leadership roles. Having begun her career as a broker on the San Francisco Options Floor, she spent seven years in financial services, ultimately working at Charles Schwab developing and implementing products and projects both at headquarters and nationally to its branches. Ultimately, Marguerite transitioned from the private sector, took a personal sabbatical to study fine art, and then channeled her creative passion at the University of California Office of the President where she founded and implemented the SAGE Scholars program at multiple campuses. The program serves students from underserved communities and utilizes corporate-campus partnerships to provide students with professional experience to complement and hence shape their college-career path. Marguerite then joined the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation as a Senior Program Officer where she developed grants to launch new initiatives for Bay Area institutions such as the local public broadcasting station KQED (the Quest series), UC Berkeley, the Exploratorium and the Chabot Space & Science Center, along with grants for regional parks and land trusts to preserve and protect critical watershed and habitat. Marguerite was then selected to serve as President & CEO of the San Francisco School Alliance, an educational nonprofit supporting the San Francisco Unified School District. During her tenure she conducted an organizational restructure, rebranded the organization in the donor community and spearheaded a leadership reform initiative that created a comprehensive professional development pathway for school site leaders. Most recently, in an effort to reinvent herself again, Marguerite served as Chief Operating Officer for Smallpower Productions LLC, a company producing and broadcasting a television drama in the Democratic Republic of Congo focused on issues such as HIV prevention and sexual violence. An Oakland native with French and Croatian roots, Marguerite lives with her daughter Heaven Céline. She continues to pursue her love of fine art as a painter of oil portraits. Marguerite has a BA in American Culture Studies from the University of California, Davis.
Robert joined Roots of Peace in January 2007 as a technology consultant, and began full time employement in April 2010. He has provided technical support and consultation services to a variety of industries across the U.S., including legal, financial, insurance, medical, manufacturing, entertainment, and the U.S. military. In 2008 he started his own business, Robert Thomas Technologies, and continues to operate the business in his time outside of ROP. Prior to working for ROP, Robert served as the Chief Information Officer (CIO) for a financial institution. Robert was trusted with the implementation, maintenance and security of all computer and networking technologies at the bank, and also maintained compliance with all technology-related GLBA and SOX §404 regulations, and FFIEC guidelines. As a network security expert, Robert was responsible for the security and confidentiality of the bank and customers' data. Thomas, who has years of experience working in this highly secure industry, has gained a strong awareness of the numerous risks present in today's computing environments, and clearly considers the security of ROP's data a high priority.
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