The Karuna Center for Peace Building is a left-of-center activist group founded in 1994 by Paula Green that claims to advocate for polices towards global peace. The Karuna Center organizes programs for several socioeconomic issues including conflict resolution in the Sahel region of Africa, promoting a carbon tax in the U.S., and implementing an activist-driven left-of-center curriculum in local schools. ^{1 2 3}

Finances

For the fiscal year ending September 2023, the Karuna Center For Peace Building reported $1,546,769 in revenue, of which all but $500 was derived from grants and contributions. It had $1,138,106 in expenses, of which $186,172 was spent on employee salary and compensation (a decrease of slightly over $100,000 from the prior year). It ended the year with a surplus of $408,663 and net assets of $728,972. ⁴

In 2023, the Soros Network-affiliated Foundation to Promote Open Society gave the center a grant of $75,000. This grant was tagged to be for the center’s fiscally sponsored organization called “Pattern Change Lab” which is geared toward claims of climate change and population displacement. ⁵

Organization Philosophy

The Karuna Center For Peace Building claims to promote and support peace studies and conflict resolution. Two of its four main projects are focused on the United States, specifically promoting carbon pricing and “restorative justice” programs in American schools. It has also assembled resources to promote what it defines as “decolonizing curricula.” ^{6 3}

Projects and Initiatives

Brave Schools

Brave Schools is a U.S.-focused middle school and high school program that is focused on countering what the Karuna Center for Peace Building considers to be a rise in violent extremism, specifically the spread of such extremism online. The project is funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and is based on a “restorative justice” approach. ⁷

Protecting Our Communities

The Protecting Our Communities project based in Nigeria claims to work with partner organizations to establish local conflict resolution mechanisms between herding and farming communities while preventing further violence from growing. ⁸

Transforming the Conversation on Carbon Pricing

Transforming the Conversation on Carbon Pricing is a Karuna Center program to push for carbon taxes in the United States. It uses its “conflict resolution mechanics” approach by claiming climate change, will instigate conflict and security crises around the world. It further claims that carbon taxes will lessen negative impact later. The group also has a disclaimer on its site claiming that pushing for a carbon tax does not mean that governments should not also adopt measures to decrease energy consumption, implement more environmental regulation, or push for supposedly clean energy sources. ⁹

Building Climate and Conflict Resilient Communities

In the African nation of Benin, the Center advocates for conflict resolution mechanics it claims will assist in preventing violence between nomadic herders, farmers, and government employees. It further alleges to focus on the local Fulani herding community, which it frames as being marginalized. ¹⁰

Decolonizing Curriculum

In 2021, the center formed the Decolonizing Curricula Working Group to develop curriculum resources for use in K-12 education, college, research, and libraries for the purpose of elevating Native American and Indigenous studies in education. ³

Leadership

Polly Byers is the executive director of the Karuna Center for Peace Building, a position she has held since 2020. She has previously worked in several international aid-focused organizations including the US Agency for International Development (USAID). ¹¹

1. “Who We Are – Karuna Center for Peacebuilding.” Karuna Center. Accessed October 28, 2024. https://karunacenter.org/who-we-are/
2. “Where We Work – Karuna Center for Peacebuilding.” Karuna Center. Accessed October 28, 2024. https://karunacenter.org/where-we-work/.
3. “Decolonizing Curricular Resources.” Accessed October 28, 2024. https://karunacenter.org/decolonizing-curriculum/.
4. Karuna Center For Peace Building, Return of an organization exempt from taxation (Form 990) Part I, 2023.
5.  “Karuna Center For Peace Building.” Open Society. Accessed October 28, 2024. https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/grants/past?grant_id=OR2023-89923.
6. ^[1] “Where We Work – Karuna Center for Peacebuilding.” Karuna Center. Accessed October 28, 2024. https://karunacenter.org/where-we-work/.
7. “USA: BRAVE Schools.” Karuna Center. Accessed October 28, 2024. https://karunacenter.org/project/building-resilience-against-violent-extremism-brave-schools/.
8. “Nigeria: Protecting Our Communities.” Karuna Center. Accessed October 28, 2024. https://karunacenter.org/project/nigeria-protecting-our-communities/.
9. “ USA: Transforming the Conversation on Carbon Pricing.” Karuna Center. Accessed October 28, 2024. https://karunacenter.org/project/tccp/.
10. “Benin: Building Climate and Conflict Resilient Communities.” Karuna Center. Accessed October 28, 2024. https://karunacenter.org/project/56920/.
11. Our Staff.” Karuna Center, October 31, 2019. https://karunacenter.org/our-staff/.