2019 Annual Report
Executive Director's Report
Israel's late Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin, famously remarked that advancing peace between Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs was like jumping from a second-story window onto a galloping horse. In his mind, peace required exceptional leadership, involving courage, timing, resilience and planning.  He was right, but his assassination on 4 November 1995 by an Israeli extremist opposed to the Oslo Peace Accords revealed that peacebuilding in the Holy Lands demands more than a bold rider.
 
Peace in Jerusalem requires a different horse.  To this end, Jerusalem Peacebuilders (JPB) operates experiential, interfaith leadership development programs that unite and empower a new generation of leaders and citizens, who are committed to each other and to building a secure, shared and peaceful society for Israelis and Palestinians alike.  Our experience in the field bears out the claims of academic literature that while only governmental leaders ("riders") can draft and sign peace treaties, only ordinary citizens ("horses") can make and maintain the mutually positive, healthy human interaction that we call peace.
2019 tested every fiber of JPB.  It was a year of intense highs and lows.  Highs included launching the EXCEL Teacher-Training Institute in partnership with the Palestinian Israeli NGO Retorika for Multiculturalism and Cambridge University. We also renewed board-membership and staffing in Jerusalem, and steady growth was recorded in Houston.  Sadly, just after Easter, JPB Treasurer and fellow co-founders Stuart and Angie Kensinger died in a plane crash.  Their tragic death forever changed our lives.
 
Thanks to your unwavering support, we remained true to our mission of peace, shared society, and the sanctity of human life in the Holy Lands.  Robust adult and youth programming, together with reduced expenses and active fund-raising positioned JPB to enter 2020 with strength and confidence.  Special thanks go to JPB educators Jack Karn, Yardena Prawer, Noura El Zokm and Sarah Benazera for their dedication, as well as to Tamara Keshecki for her grant writing.  Special gratitude goes to co-founder Dorothy Porter and the JPB Board for their wise counsel and to Kensinger Donnelly, LLC in Houston, for its invaluable pro bono administrative support.  

 
Peace, Shalom, Salaam,
   
(The Rev. Canon) Nicholas Porter
Executive Director, Jerusalem Peacebuilders
TREASURER'S REPORT
It has been a pleasure serving as your Treasurer this year.  I accepted this position with great sadness upon the tragic and unexpected death of my predecessor, Stuart Kensinger in May 2019.

Financial statements translate the story of an organization into numbers, and as such, fail to capture the emotion, purpose, and spirit of peacebuilding.  I hope, as you read my report, you will remember the faces and sounds of the children and adults living amidst the conflict of war.  I hope you will visualize each teacher, each youth, each brother and sister working for peace, because we share with them the great calling for service.  JPB is financially healthy and well positioned for 2020.














Balance Sheet:
  • As of 31 December 2019, JPB had a healthy balance sheet with $105,975 in the operating account, $85,444 in the Stuart and Angela Scholarship Fund and $5,161 in the Fidelity Brokerage Account. 
  • JPB has the following notable liabilities and obligations:
    • $15,359 of refunds due JPB Pilgrimage guests for the cancelled 2019 pilgrimage.
    • $12,952 in obligations for the 2020 pilgrimage.[1]
    • A $25,000 donation for the development of the Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza.[2]
  • The JPB balance sheet is strong and ready for the year to come.

Respectfully submitted,
 
Bruce A. Barrett
Treasurer, Jerusalem Peacebuilders
BLACK LIVES MATTER & THE SANCTITY OF HUMAN LIFE
At Jerusalem Peacebuilders, we remain sickened by the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis, just as we remain sickened by the equally senseless killing of Iyad Halak by border police in Jerusalem.  Jerusalem Peacebuilders believes in the sanctity of human life.  We believe that Black lives matter, and we stand with protests against the lack of police accountability, the use of homicidal force against people of color in police custody, and the indifference of too many of this nation's district attorneys towards violence affecting Black Americans.
 
Race and race relations have long been a stumbling block for these United States.  We cannot deny that system-wide racism exists in our communities or that bias does not exist within ourselves.  It is not enough to claim that all this does not involve us personally.  Because it does.  Americans cannot claim that systemic racism is an evil that does not involve us because we inherited that system; it is ours now.  Nor can Americans dismiss the need for systemic change with the notion that "a few isolated bad apples" are at fault.  There can be no bad apples among those who hold the power of life and death over others.
 
Jerusalem Peacebuilders is dedicated to advancing the sanctity of human life.  We believe this sanctity is best honored when the same rights, freedoms and privileges are steadfastly guaranteed for all - black or white, male or female, Protestant or Catholic, Arab or Jew.
IMPENDING ISRAELI ANNEXATION
Jerusalem Peacebuilders opposes any unilateral annexation by Israel of territory in the occupied West Bank.  Any move to dispossess Palestinians of more land, resources and opportunity will only escalate violence, compound the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and further degrade the human and political rights of Palestinians.
 
Without justice and equity, there can be no peace.  At Jerusalem Peacebuilders, we believe that only in partnership can Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs make good on a new future for an ancient and divided land.  Each day across Israel and Palestine, our adult and youth Peacebuilders live, work, play and pray in courageous ways that confront the real issues, uphold the sanctity of human life, promote shared society, and advance peace.
 
On the ground and in solidarity with them this August, Jerusalem Peacebuilders will operate its summer peace and leadership programs in Jerusalem and Acre.  Dialogue, purposeful change, and deliberate mutual action - not unilateral annexation - are the pathway to the peace that millions of Jews, Christians, Muslims and Druze long and pray for each day and each night.
JPB ADDS TWO NEW MEMBERS TO OUR BOARD!
Bruce A. Barrett, JPB Treasurer
Bruce A. Barrett has long been an active interfaith peacemaker. Born in Connecticut, he graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a B.S. in Applied History and Industrial Management. Soon after, Bruce joined his family bill-board business, Barrett Outdoor Communications Inc.  In 2009, Bruce directed, edited, and produced the film, "The Billboard from Bethlehem," chronicling the peace work of Combatants For Peace.  Filmed on location in Israel and Palestine, the piece won the Mondavi Award for Peace and Cultural Understanding at the Sonoma International Film Festival.  
 
In 2010 Bruce created the IWagePeace Walk, in which members of area mosques, synagogues, and churches walk and support one another as peacemakers under the banner "We do not need to agree on everything to work together for Justice and Peace." In 2011, he sponsored a "Painting for Peace" project for JPB's debut program in Vermont, and thus began his connection to JPB.  A person of many talents, he is also the musical director of his local Congregational Church and co-owner of the largest brewpub in Connecticut, The Brewport Brewing Company.  Bruce is the JPB Treasurer and leads ongoing initiatives to enmesh JPB's Service-Learning Institute in New Haven (CT) with the local interfaith community.
 
Danna Kurtin, JPB Board Member at Large
Danna Kurtin is the Associate Vice President of Faculty Academic Affairs at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas .  With a PhD in Management and Policy from the University of Texas School of Public Health,  Dr. Kurtin has had over 35 years of healthcare experience in various capacities, including information systems management, data management, legal research, and outcomes research.  In her current role, she is responsible for overseeing all academic appointments at MD Anderson and for fostering relationships with executive leadership units across the institution to ensure efficient and effective system-wide processes.  

A native of Texas, Danna is an active member of Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church in Houston, Texas.  Her introduction to JPB came through participation on a pilgrimage in 2016.  Currently, she is the Staff Mentor and Volunteer Coordinator for JPB's Houston programs and the Executive Committee Chair of a project bringing cancer care to the Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza.
THANK YOU TO OUR RECORD NUMBER OF  
GENEROUS DONORS IN 2019!
Your generosity built a more just and peaceful future 
for the peoples of the Holy Lands
Angela and Stuart Kensinger  Scholarship Fund for Girls
$10,000+
Georgia Carter
 
$5,000+
Glassybaby White Light Fund
Barret Outdoor Communications
Jamie & Shannon Mann
Alexandra Munroe
Mrs. Lacey Fluor Goossen
 
$2,500+
Harris & Eliza Kempner Fund
Michael Goldstone
T.L.L. Temple Foundation
Scott Weber
 
$2,000+
Samantha & Andrew Schatte
   
$1,500+
Fleur MacIntyre
 
$1,000+
Mohle Adams
Michael Ainbinder
I Ruth & Kenned Arnold
Susan & Jim Baker
Maria & Bill Boyce
Alan Christensen
Polly Reed Daniel
Linnet Deily
Jenny Elkins
Rick Englert
Frederica Gamble
Mr. & Mrs. Lawrence Kagan
Clint Laechelin
John Lent
William & Amy Hughes Lee
C. Fred Meyer
Carol Nicholson
Parker Quillen
Sara & Bill Morgan (c/o Sue Schwartz)
Sally Gayle Smith
Dawn Stegelmann
Ed Svrcek
John Vogel
Margaret Warren
W. Temple Webber III
Mary Johnston Webber

$500+
Paula Arnold
Independent Bank (Greg Guarino)
Marie Sharpe Blaine
Oliver Bogler
John Chaney
Sylvie & Gary Crum
Susan Davidson
The Epplis (Randy)
Mr. & Mrs. Robert C. Hawley
John Heard
The Rev. Canon Martha Hedgpeth
Nancy Janin
Mary & Dennis Johnston
Jim & Betty Key
J. H. Lollar
M. Peter & Fannie Morris
Katharine Mountcastle
Phi Zeta Delta Fraternity
Catherine Troisi
Rich Weigand
Ms. Cameron Weiner
Katherine Whann
Albert Williams
Susan Williford
The Woodlands Girls Lacrosse Association
$250+
Jere & Jan Ahrens
Anonymous
Mark Bohn
Debra Broussard
Kendall Hamman Connors
Crum & Forster Insurance
Marie Emerson
Susan Feickert
Alice Gayle
Joanna Gol
Dunham Jewett
Pamela Johananoff
Bill & Shari Lakemacher
David Littwitz
Charles Lusk III
The Rev. W. H. Mebane, Jr.
Kenneth Mountcastle
John Pinto
Arthur & Elizabeth Schmidt
The Smith Family
Teresa Southwell
Margaret Stevens
David Sturges
Tellepsen Foundation
Richard & Eleanor Viebig
Elissa Lenkin Weber
Hunter White
Thomas Wilson
 
$200+
Anne & Currie Bechtol
Fritz & Joan Glover
Michael Hall
Susan Light Lawhon
Judy & Jeff Lyman
Ryan Martin
The Kinkaid School
 
Candy & Tom Knudson
James & Erin Puleo
Margaret Burns Spellings & Anne Osborne Martinson
Monarch Pools Inc.
The Rev. John & Arlene Price
Lolly Jewett & Lisa Stone
Richard Brown & Laura Sulak
James Quinilty

$100+
Harriet & Charles Alexander
Thomas Van Arsdel
Richard Beatty
Anne & Currie Bechtol
Martha Biggers
Charner Bolin
Sarah Currie Bracewell
Erich & Agatha Brann
Lawrence & Carole Brashears
Lew & Shelly Brazelton
Lisa & Timothy Bazemore
Scott & Ansley Browns
Sandra Buckner
Gregory & Lucy (Fraga) Cain
Commerce Bank
John Curtin
Kathy Dalton
Joseph & Alexandra Dilg
Brenden Duncombe-Smith
Haley Drushel Eichelberger
Nancy & Bill Drushel, Jr.
George Ferry
Anissa & Reid Friedman
Rabbi Dan Gordon
Hypatia Griffith
Jill Hasling
Mary Hebert
Dorene & Frank Herzog
Kristin Janssen
Lisa Jewett
Gretta Karker
Fanelle Laughlin
Barbara & Barry Lewis
Sharon Mannix
John Marks
Allison Marek
Kamron Massumi
Jeanne McEachern
Mary Mountcastle
Laura Mountcastle
John Morris
Joann Nett
Scott Newar
Anne Harvey Paez
Dawn Poczynek-Holdridge
Susan Porter
Greg Robins
Mary Robson
G. M. Rowe, III & family
Sally Bell Rutherford
Mary, Lance, Brooke & Jordan Schuler
St. John's School
Sue Sikes
Mary & Don Tobin
Tootsies
Diana CK Untermeyer
Mary Ward
Len &Sharie Wehrung
Sal, Mike, & staff at Woodway Exxon
 
$50+
Camille Bloom
Dorree Colson
Camille Emig
Mr. & Mrs. Carlos Hamilton, Jr.
Sara Haynes
Sharon & Jim Hibbert
Anne Kennett
Tamara Keshecki
Henry (Hank) & Barbara Kimmel
Steven Lawrence
Valerae Lewis
Sheila Mayfield
Jean McHenry
Katherine Moore
Michael Pardee
Joan Schell
Melvin & Norma Shakun
Virginia Thompson
Bobbie Wallingford
 
$25+
Betst Ache
Julie Boon
Sarah Brown
Helena Cermakova
Ruth Dunnam
Margaret Tavenner Eastham
Alison Hollo
Henry & Barbara Kimmel
Pino & Bonnie Lodevole
Monica Mansfield
Elizabeth McEwen
Michelle Renfrow
Judy Rudin
Laura Shakun
Linda Shearer
Ruth Ann Skaff
Ann Tanner
Milton Wilson
 
$5+
Kappie Boles
Elizabeth Eikenburg
Victor Lamas
General JPB Donations
$25,000+
Paula Arnold & Theo Pinson
Episcopal Foundation of Texas
 
$10,000+
Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut
Glassybaby
The Rev. Dr. Susan Lukens
Katie Mountcastle
Alexandra Munroe
Amer & Kristen Nimr
The H. Boone & Violet M. Porter 
  Charitable Foundation
Episcopal Diocese of Vermont
Claire Wilkes
 
$5,000+
Sylvia Barnes & James Trimble
Barrett Outdoor Communications, Inc.
Houston Endowment
Brockenbrough Family Fund
Dillon Fund
James Easterling, Jr.
Neil & Nancy Janin
Spaulding Family Foundation
 
$2,500+
Brigitte Bosarge
Linnet Deily
Peter & Jeanne Fellowes
Honeywell International
Christopher Koch
Danna Kurtin
Jeannine Meek
Samuel Meek, Jr., via the Meek Foundation
Laetitia Guest Oppenheim
The Rev. Nicholas & Dorothy Porter
David & Nancy Randall
Trinity Episcopal Church, Southport, CT
John & Jennifer Vogel
John & Connie Wallace
Randa & KC Weiner
 
$2,000+
Robert & Elisabeth Bickham
Mary Daniel, via the Harris and 
  Eliza Kempner Fund
Kurtz Family Foundation
Susan McCabe & the Stocker Family, 
  via the Meek Foundation
Charlotte Porter
St. James Episcopal Church, Gross Point, MI
St. Mary's in the Mountains, Wilmington, VT
Herbert Vance, Jr.
 
$1,500+
Barvin Family Fund
Elizabeth Hunter
Tom Jurewicz
Estate of Samuel Meek, Jr.
Willy Porter
Marcus Smith & Stephanie Cabot
St. Paul's Episcopal Society, Riverside, CT
Kathy Van Wie
 
$1,000+
Sylvia Barnes
John & Barbara Boatwright
Barbara & Gwen Burmester
Christ and Holy Trinity Church, Westport, CT
Dean & Laura Davis
John R. Drexel, IV
Ann & Thomas Ely
Mario Fontana & Pina Ferlisi
Anna Gellert
Georgette Geotsi 
Harold Gordon
Bill & Mary Hayes
George Hobson
Ollie Kensinger
Christopher Krause & Lynn Morstead
John Lent
Nina Meek, via the Meek Foundation
Annette Mullins
Douglas & Elizabeth Paul
Richard & Lisa Pell
H. Boone & Margaret Porter
Arthur & Elizabeth Schmidt
Peter Smith
Richard & Cynthia Tharpe
Stephen Tomlinson
Trinity by the Cove Episcopal Church, Naples, FL
 
$750+
Anonymous
Jennifer Barth
Karen & Denis Lamb
Brian Ragen
Paul & Cheryl Strasser
St. John's Ophthalmic Association, Jerusalem
 
$500+
Anonymous
Andrea Azarm
E. Laird Mortimer, III & the Barnabas Foundation
Arthur & Pamela Bingham
Chevron Employee Matching Gift Program
Dick Clark
Anthony & Marica Coe
Jane Dean
John & Eleanor DeGroot
Joseph & Holly Fortner
Chris & Tina Frantz
Frederica Gamble
Christian Herman
Houston Congregation for Reform Judaism
Karen Manning
Chris March
Paul Schreiner & Ariane Mermod
Jean Moffitt
Robert Sheridan, III and
  Sheridan Family Charitable Fund
Dianne Strasser
Charles & Mary Teeple
Monte Tinkham
Anthony van Daalen

$250+
Michael & Alison Barry
The Rev. Thaddeus Bennett
Louise & Robert Bland
Jacob Brown
Chapman's Antiques, Wilmington, VT
Christ Church Cathedral, Houston, TX
Christ Episcopal Church, Greenwich, CT
Perrin Clark
Carol Coats 
Rabbi Michael Cohen & Alison Hill
Congregation Emanu El, Houston, TX
Elizabeth Swift Copeland
David Crosby
Lynn Enquist
Marilynn Geiger
Grace Episcopal Church, Sheldon, VT
Bruce Herzog
James Holubka
The Very Rev. Ernest & Elsie Hunt
Timothy Hunt
ILM Academy, Houston, TX
The Rev. Stephanie Johnson
Robert & Maria Johnston
Jonathan Justice
George Lewis & Sons Funeral Directors
Craig Machado
The Rev. Canon Anne Mallonee
Paul McKee
Charles & Alexa Mosteller
Jonathan Murphy
David Robinson
Richard & Jennifer Schaefer
Robert Sheridan, III
The Rev. Jean & Peter Smith
Jennifer & Christopher Smith
Michele & John Spike
Title Houston Holdings
Jay Traynor
Patricia Twining
John & Judy Urquhart
Virginia Theological Seminary
James & Meggan Walsh
Cassia Ward
Wesley Westmaas 
The Rev. Robert Windsor
    
$200+
Cammie Bertram
Dan & Bonnie Cromack
William Duncan
Edward & Christine Frese, Jr.
William & Joan Gartin
Peter Gascoyne
Ceci Goldstone
Alan & Loni Haas
Bill & Barbara Hass
Kathleen Loomis-Ward
Jocelyn Phelps
St. Mark's Episcopal Church, New Caanan, CT
Richard Stoll
David Sturges
Charles Trueheart & Anne Swardson
Two B's Accessories, Inc.

$100+
Anonymous
Patricia Anthony
Jeanine Baker
Joey Bergner
Kim Herzog Bonner
Roxanne Cargill & Peter Weston
Lucy Carter
The Rev. Norman & Zulette Catir
Walter & Jeanette Ciciora
The Rev. Lawrence Crumb
Kathy Dalton
Gabrielle & Barry Dennison
Julia DeWalch
The Rev. Marcia Dory
Helen Eddy
George Ferry
John & Kathleen Fields
The Rev. Deena & Richard Galantowicz
Wilminor Carl Russell Gardner
Edda Guglielmetti
The Rev. Samir Habiby
Brent & Serena Hall
Taylor Hallett
Glennda Hardin
Anne Elizabeth Harvey
The Rev. Stephen Holton
Victoria Hood
Peter & Carol Ann Johnson
Mr. & Mrs. Lawrence Kagan
Marc & Julie Karn
Jack Karn
Philip Kensinger
Betty Key
Nabila Kinghorn
Leslie & Edward Koehler
Laura Lewis
Eric Madunic
Richard & Adele Mattern
The Very Rev. Andrew McGowan
John & Judith Morgan
Ann Ottaviano
The Rev. Joseph Pace
Cotty & Andrea Peabody
John Pinto
Elizabeth Porter
Barrett Reasoner
Bonnie Rodriguez
The Rev. James Rosenthal, St. Nicholas Society
Betsy Rowley
Melvin & Norma Shakun
Eshagh & Rosalyn Shaoul
Edward Doyle Silvia
Julie Spivack
The Rev. Cecily Stranahan
Trinity Episcopal Church, Shelburne, VT
The Rev. Heidi Truax
David Wallace
Timothy Weed & Julia Jensen
 
$50+
Anonymous (3)
Mark & Margaret Anschutz
James & Linda Ballard
Charner Bolin
Gerald Brann
Mary Mannicia Brough
Bradley Buffoni
Arthur & Elise Burrows
Jay Diamonon
Susan Drake
Sarah Emes
Jeff Etheredge
Gary Flynn & Felicia De Dominicis
Guy Felixbrodt
Bart Geissinger & David Tuttle
Lissa Goodwin
Gracie Helms
John-Henry Gross
Dorene Herzog
Thomas Hyers
Wendy Kiblawi
Rose Lambert
Danny Lichtenfeld
Hannah Louise
Craig & Sylvia McBeth
Rob McCreadie
Edmund & Marcy McElroy
The Rev. Alan Murchie
Lisa Newton
Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church, Altar Guild
Amanda Englebert Phillips
Michael Pruitt
Carolyn Rivers
Carol Ross
Kelly Scheu
Nicholas Sellers
Vivian Sorvail
Jennifer & Paul Trieschman
Laura Elizabeth Trione
Diana Untermeyer
Sheila Upjohn
Eileen Weber
Jeremy Welland
Pamela Wesley-Gomez
Susan Williford
Michael Willis
 
$25+
Robert & Rebecca Anderson
Anonymous
Cullum Bolin
Jim Bowen
Susan Bowman
Bruce Campbell
Janet Covington
Madison Fletcher
Beckye Levin Gross
Guillot
Johanna Kincaid
Maddox Lamme
Doug Leonhardt
Chris Leonhardt
Penny Littlewood
Honey Loring
Monica Mansfield
Laura Marwill
Mary McCarthy
Daniel McCoy
Elizabeth McEwen
Sheila Moeschen
Sarah Mouton
Robin Pannier
The Rev. & Mrs. Edward Prevost
Sale Rhodes
Sue Rooney
Kerri Santero
Jim Schwarz
Linda Shannon
Laura Shea
Barbara Teague
Ann Trione
John & Elizabeth Ungerleider
Elly Untermeyer
 
$5+
Tom Anderson, Jr.
Anonymous (16)
Bob Appel
Lauren Chambers
Sue Christie
Alex Derbyshire
The Rev. Kenneth Dimmick
A. Duquette
Jodi Falk
Randy Gilchrist
Debs Gurton
Tom Harvey
Mary Beth Hauser
Liz Hooker
Claudia Lambert-Cadez
Hans Lee
Bruce Margetson
Greg Mariuzza
Teddy McGourthy
Mohsen Mehdawi
Nicky Mintz
Nickerson
Allison Pool
Leo Pusateri
Don Schiewer
Larry Schooler
Matt Schreiber
Emlynn Smith
Spanjar
Dean Tarrolly
Peter Whalen
Andrew Zehren

In-Kind Donations:
Barrett Outdoor Communications
Christ Church Cathedral, Houston, TX
IWagePeace
Kensinger Donnelly, LLC
Outdoor Venture Group
Dorothy & Nicholas Porter
Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church, Houston, TX

 



PORTER FELLOW & ST. GEORGE'S COLLEGE, JERUSALEM
Partnership strengthens ties year after year
Rev. Della and Rev. Stephanie outside the College last year
For a second year, Jerusalem Peacebuilders has benefitted from cooperation between the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale University, St. George's College and the Porter Foundation to send an outstanding Berkeley graduate to the College for a year of educational service and priestly formation.  Among the Fellow's responsibilities is teaching peacebuilding at a local school in East Jerusalem one day per week with JPB.  This year's Fellow was The Rev. Stephanie Burette, who taught at the Ib'daa Arts Academy.  Her outstanding contributions follow those of her predecessor the Rev. Della Wager Wells.  JPB is grateful to the Fellows for their contributions to advancing our mission and strengthening our partnerships with St. George's College and Cathedral.  To hear more about Rev. Stephanie's time in Jerusalem, check out this video!
     
Because the future of Jerusalem is the future of the world