Creating an Authentic
Alternative for the Future

As an interfaith organization, the Mastery Foundation is committed to working in those places where religious differences are a source of conflict.

We believe that the fundamental work to be done in our time is the work of reconciliation. Yet how can reconciliation take place in cultures and environments that argue for maintaining your identity, preserving your history, and defining yourself by injustices and wrongdoing? In those conditions, it is almost certain that the future is going to look very much like the past.

What the Mastery Foundation has to offer here is not in the area of conflict resolution, mediation, or problem solving. We do not have answers or any special knowledge of the issues. What we do have to offer are tools and approaches that can empower those already working on peace and reconciliation in the creation of powerful, new, and effective possibilities for the future.

These enormously dedicated and generous individuals know there can be no lasting peace without relationships built on trust and respect; no way forward unless people at every level and segment of a society have the means and willingness to enter into authentic dialogue; and there can be no change, no new future without reconciliation and healing.

By working with these men and women in a variety of settings and programs—from intensive workshops and conferences to training courses—they can acquire and develop tools that will help them:

• Bring people together in ways that call them to be inclusive and accountable for the whole community
• Connect people to their common concerns and to each other in relationships of trust and respect
• Learn to use language in a way that dramatically increases their effectiveness and gives them new access to making things happen
• Deal with the legacy of the past in a way that honors that past yet frees them to create a new future
• Create new conversations and new possibilities which can make a lasting, positive difference

We bring to this effort a proven track record of empowering others in their commitments; an exceptional team of leaders and volunteers; and almost 20 years of work with people of all faiths that has not asked for concessions or compromises but has built bridges of understanding, respect and trust.

Currently, the Mastery Foundation is doing this work in Northern Ireland and Israel.

Portion of a peace mural in Omagh, Northern Ireland

"In the making of peace, the first thing you must do is expunge the word failure from your vocabulary. It takes perseverance; it takes patience. And anyone can claim failure at any point short of success."

Senator George Mitchell