16 Jan 2020
Bass Lake, CA, (January 15, 2019) – The 2nd Annual Yosemite Peace Symposium will bring together peacemakers from around the country to educate, motivate, and activate attendees. The Symposium will take place on March 20 – 21, 2020, at The Pines Resort, Bass Lake, California, just outside the southern entrance to Yosemite National Park.
The Symposium is two days of motivating general sessions. Andrea Fono (FonoArt.com) will be the opening keynote, engaging the audience with an interactive presentation of creating peace through art. Tracy Hollister, Program Engagement Partner with Living Room Conversations (LivingRoomConversations.org), will round out the first day with Peace Through Conversation, or how to engage in peaceful conversations across our differences.
There will be four tracks of breakout sessions: Peace and the Environment | Peace and Our Youth | Peace and Human Dignity | Peace and the Arts. Hear from experts currently working in the area of peace with messages designed to engage and enlighten. You can be sure; there are no “talking heads” at this conference. You will be a big part of the dialogue.
The final breakout session in each track gives you the confidence to keep the peace going. “We've created an event that helps you implement a plan for peace in your community,” says Susan Madden, Yosemite Peace Symposium Planning Committee Chair. “So we are including an interactive, facilitated session we call 'Peacemaking, Mission: Possible!'”
Saturday opens with a powerful, important, one-woman play. “Janka,” played by Janice Noga and written by Oscar Speace, tells the story of Janka Festinger (Oscar's mother), who survived the Nazi Holocaust and immigrated to the United States. The conference closes Saturday afternoon with a speaker, songwriter, and advocate for the arts in healthcare, Karl Anthony. His presentation, “Hold the Sky: The Courage to Connect,” was inspired by a young child undergoing chemotherapy.
To register and for more information on the Yosemite Peace Symposium, including session descriptions and sponsorships opportunities, please visit,
