URI Stories of Impact

With self-effacing humor Charles Gibbs laughs about his singing voice.  We, his friends, go along and beg him not to sing Happy Birthday or the National Anthem.  

In 1996, Rev. Canon Charles P. Gibbs was asked to lead URI as its Founding Executive Director. Retiring now after 17 years, Charles leaves behind a lasting legacy of servant leadership and an ever-growing global foundation for building cultures of peace, justice and healing.

During Charles’ travels for URI, he met Vjekoslav Saje, whom he has called “a charismatic leader with a contagious passion.” With a background in peacebuilding and conflict resolution, Vjeko started his Cooperation Circle, Balkan as a Soul Bridge, to contribute to rebuilding a broken and divided society after the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The United Nations’ International Day of Peace (IDP) is a day devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace, both within and among all nations and peoples. Since September 21, 2004, URI has commemorated IDP by galvanizing global community action within its network of Cooperation Circles. In addition to the dozens of events that will be held by Cooperation Circles around the world, URI prepares to celebrate IDP through two initiatives: Footprints Around the World for Peace and Talking Back to Hate.

One of URI’s most active Cooperation Circles in the San Francisco Bay Area is the San Francisco Interfaith Council.  Under the leadership of SFIC Executive Director and URI Global Trustee, Michael Pappas, and Rita Semel, SFIC Board Chair and former Chair of URI’s Global Council, the SFIC has a well-deserved reputation among civic and religious leaders for its ability to mobilize its 800-member congregations on local concerns like homelessness and disaster preparedness.

Sixteen new Cooperation Circles (CCs) from Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, India, Malawi, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sri Lanka and, notably, our first two CCs from Japan have joined the URI global community. As of June, URI now has 587 CCs in 84 countries.

Talking Back to Hate is URI's online campaign that uses dialogue, education and storytelling to prevent and respond to incidents of hate speech, bullying and discrimination.