Eric Dawson is the co-founder and President of Peace First, an organization he helped launch as an 18 year-old. This means that outside of a brief stint at Burger King, Peace First has been his only gainful employment. Peace First works on the twin challenges of youth violence and disengagement by preparing young children with the skills to be peacemakers. For over two decades, Peace First has successfully taught the critical skills of peacemaking (conflict resolution and civic engagement skills) to young people ages 3 - 14. With extremely promising data (a 60% decrease in disruptive incidences at schools, 81% of students reporting they can walk away from a fight), the organization is preparing to exponentially increase its reach and impact.

Working in areas as diverse as New York, Los Angeles, Johannesburg, Colombia, and Fairbanks, Alaska, Peace First has a powerful track-record of reducing violence and promoting the social emotional learning of young people by building the long-term capacity of schools to teach basic skills of peacemaking. Most recently, Peace First has launched the Peace First Prize, modeled as a “Nobel Peace Prize” for young people, to celebrate youth peacemaking across the country.

A native of the Midwest, Eric was lured away by a scholarship to Harvard College where he stayed on to get his M.Ed and an MDiv. He is an Ashoka, Echoing Green, and Pop!Tech Fellow. Besides the odd jobs of bartending, electron microscopy, a Stop and Shop commercial, and serving as the driver for the author of Curious George, Eric got his professional start directing a summer camp in Boston’s public housing complexes and doing organizing around disability awareness. A program evaluator at heart, Eric is particularly interested in the intersections of social change, social services, and movement building. He currently lives in Boston, MA with his wife and three – five children, depending on how you count them.