Join us for an inspiring afternoon dedicated to building peace, resolving conflict, and strengthening relationships. Learn from world-class peacemakers as they share practical, skills-based strategies to help you navigate even the most difficult conflicts in your personal, family, and professional life.
Led by Utah State University professors Patrick Mason and Chad Ford, this interactive conference will feature a keynote session and a variety of hands-on workshop opportunities designed to equip you with effective tools for communication, understanding, and peacemaking.
Saturday, September 19, 2026
1:00 PM – 5:30 PM
Washington D.C. Temple Visitors' Center
9900 Stoneybrook Drive
Kensington, MD 20895
Come discover practical tools for creating understanding, fostering connection, and becoming a peacemaker in your home, workplace, and community. We look forward to seeing you there!
Opening Keynote Speakers (1pm-2pm)
Judge Thomas Griffith and Patrick Mason
The Fourth American Revolution: How Citizen-Peacemakers Can Create a More Perfect Union
Judge Thomas Griffith served as a U.S. circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 2005 until his retirement in 2020. He is currently a lecturer on law at Harvard Law School, a fellow at the Wheatley Institute at Brigham Young University, and special counsel in the Washington, D.C., office of the law firm of Hunton Andrews Kurth. Before being appointed to the D.C. Circuit, Griffith served as general counsel for BYU and as legal counsel for the United States Senate. In 2021 Judge Griffith served as a member of the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States.
Patrick Mason is a professor of religious studies and history at Utah State University, where he holds the Leonard J. Arrington Chair of Mormon History and Culture. He is the author or editor of several books for academic and popular audiences, including Restoration: God’s Call to the 21st-Century World and, with David Pulsipher, Proclaim Peace: The Restoration’s Answer to an Age of Conflict. He co-hosts the “Proclaim Peace” podcast and is a co-founder of Waymakers.
Concurrent Session Speakers (2:15-3:15pm & 3:30-4:30pm)
Jim Ferrell
Healing the Space Between Us
Problems between people are relational—they are ruptures in the space between us. In this workshop, we will learn how to see, measure, and heal this space between people, whether at home, in our communities, or on the world stage.
Jim Ferrell is the author of the national bestseller You and We: A Relational Rethinking of Work, Life, and Leadership. He was also the author behind the bestselling books Leadership and Self-Deception and The Anatomy of Peace. The winner of multiple peacebuilding awards, Ferrell is the founder of Withii Leadership and is a regularly featured speaker at trade and corporate conferences around the world.
Ravi Gupta
How to Have a Better Interfaith Conversation
Religious differences can lead to difficult conversations, but they can also create opportunities for deep learning, fulfilling relationships, and genuine dialogue. Through a case study and hands-on exercises, participants will develop skills that are useful in both interfaith and intra-faith encounters.
Ravi Gupta holds the Charles Redd Chair of Religious Studies at Utah State University. He has published five academic books, including most recently Hinduism: The Primary Sources. He has received numerous awards for his teaching and research. He is a permanent research fellow of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies and a past president of the Society for Hindu Christian Studies. An active participant in interfaith gatherings over many years, he and his wife lead weekly services for the Hindu community in Cache Valley.
Maybree Spilsbury
Peacemaking When Politics Feels Like War
Politics often feel like the opposite of peace, but what if healthy political engagement is one of the most important ways we build it? In this workshop you will learn the unlikely power of political peacemakers. You will gain skills and frameworks to help you bridge divides, become effective advocates, and learn to practice the countercultural politics of redemption and repair.
Maybree Spilsbury is the Director of Peacemaking at Mormon Women for Ethical Government. With a background in community dialogue, conflict facilitation and coaching, and interfaith action, she is passionate about creating environments where people can transform how they engage in conflict. She holds a BA in Global Communication from Utah State University and an MA in Conflict Transformation from Eastern Mennonite University’s Center for Justice and Peacebuilding.
Closing Keynote Speaker (4:45-5:30pm)
Chad Ford
TBD
Chad Ford is an associate professor of religious studies at Utah State University, specializing in intercultural and religious peacebuilding. He is the author of two books, Seventy Times Seven: Jesus’s Path to Conflict Transformation and Dangerous Love: Transforming Fear and Conflict at Home, at Work, and in the World. Ford works around the globe as a peace educator, conflict mediator, and facilitator. He sits on the executive board of the non-profit PeacePlayers.
