News

Find out more about the newest participants in the Grebel peace incubator! Learn about the work of Bees for Peace, Just Outcomes, and MIND Educational Games Institute and how the Centre has been supporting them.

On August 29, Teresa Edge began serving as the Coordinator of the Kindred Credit Union Centre for Peace Advancement. Teresa comes from New Zealand, and first connected with the Centre in 2016 when she took a summer Peace and Conflict Studies course while doing her Masters in Economic Development and Innovation at the University of Waterloo.

Demine Robotics, a former Grebel Peace Incubator start-up stationed in both Cambodia and Canada, has left its mark around the world. With the goal of accelerating the clearance of landmine-infested land, Richard Yim, CEO & co-founder, Jared Baribeau, CTO & co-founder, have safeguarded 100,000 m2 (25 acres) of land containing explosive weapons in Cambodia.

On March 14, 2022 Voices Together: A Celebration of Art and Music officially opened at the Grebel Gallery. After travelling from Bethel College to Eastern Mennonite University, the original art found in the Voices Together Mennonite hymnal reached Conrad Grebel University College for its only Canadian stop along its tour of Mennonite colleges in North America.

The Kindred Credit Union Centre for Peace Advancement, along with its partners, The Ripple Effect Education (TREE) and Kindred Credit Union, kicks off the next cycle of the Peace Innovators Scholarship and Mentoring Program on March 1, 2021 when the 2021-2022 application period opens. 

Friday, January 22^nd was a monumental day for many countries around the world as the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) became international law for over 51 states in 122 nations. More work needs to be done, but as Core Collaborator at the Centre, Project Ploughshares, explains in Five things to know about the nuclear ban treaty, the TPNW is “the most consequential nuclear disarmament development in decades”.

The heartbeat of the Kindred Credit Union Centre for Peace Advancement’s work is mobilizing impactful, collaborative social innovation efforts to advance peace. Participants in the Centre’s Epp Peace Incubator program pair their expertise with the Incubator’s support to catapult their ventures to new heights.

Three of the Centre’s current Incubator start-ups, Lunaria Solutions, GeoMate, and Panic, Anxiety, + Stress Support (PASS) have a history of consistently leveraging the program’s resources and connections to grow their businesses. Over the past couple of months, each of these start-ups has received external affirmation for their progress and promise. Here is an update on the recent successes of these Incubator ventures.

When Research Fellow and Peace and Conflict Studies (PACS) professor Lowell Ewert retired in June, the Kindred Credit Union Centre for Peace Advancement had a faculty spot in the community to fill. In response, the Centre invited PACS Visiting Assistant Professor Dr. Eric Lepp to join its diverse community of peacebuilding researchers, activists, entrepreneurs for the duration of his time at Grebel.

The University of Waterloo recently put a spotlight on former Kindred Credit Union Centre for Peace Advancement Communications Assistant Kirsten Mosey. Mosey was selected earlier this year, out of over 6,500 applicants, to be one of ten UN Youth Champions for Disarmament.

For the past five years, the Epp Peace Incubator at Kindred Credit Union Centre for Peace Advancement has helped more than a dozen ventures leverage supports available in the Waterloo Region innovation ecosystem. With a unique focus on peace entrepreneurship, the Centre’s Incubator program provides support and mentorship to ventures seeking to advance peace locally and globally.

The Centre welcomed three new ventures to its Incubator program this September, all of whom are dedicated to applying creative solutions to real, complex social problems.