ABOUT US

Who We Are

Bridge2Peace is a non-profit, non-governmental, 501(c)(3) charitable organization operating in the United States and Sri Lanka. The mission of Bridge2Peace is to empower the children of emerging countries and their families, through Montessori education, teacher certification, and vocational training programs; so they will become informed resourceful self-reliant leaders able to shape a peaceful world for themselves, and those around them.

Bernadine Anderson and Amali Tower founded Bridge2Peace in January 2005, along with co-founders Nientara Anderson and Nalin De Silva.  The founders and founding board members have tirelessly volunteered their time and services in order to help the children of Lunugamwehera recover, rebuild, and empower their lives through education.

Founding Board Members
	Bernadine Anderson	:	Executive Director
	Amali Tower	:	Director, Relief and Development
	Timothy Maloney	:	Chairman of the Board
	Tracy Maloney	:	Community Relations
	Mark E. Crone	:	Secretary
	Tim Hickerson	:	Treasurer
	BethAnn Johnson	:	Development

Recently an Executive Committee has been formed for Bridge2Peace.  This group will be resource for Bridge2Peace to facilitate many projects.  This is a team of parents who have known Bernadine Anderson personally over the past several years and who are committed to Bridge2Peace's mission.
The Executive Committee members include:

Executive Committee Members
	Marie Lim
	Susan Murphy
	AnneMarie Piehl
	Jennifer Sanford
	Josee Scheen
	Heather Singer
	Negest Retta

What We Do

Bridge2Peace is a nonprofit organization building a series of free Montessori educational facilities in Sri Lanka. Founded in direct response to the 2004 tsunami, the organization will provide programs designed to educate, empower, and create a brighter future for the children and families of that disaster and for those affected by the country’s devastating civil war.

The programs will include:

• Preschool through high school Montessori-based education
• Child and family psychological counseling
• Teacher and computer technician certifications
• Training in cultural preservation
• Conservation agriculture
• English as a second language
  

The first facility, Bridge2Peace Montessori School located in Lunugamvehera, in southeastern Sri Lanka is now open and serves 54 students.

Why Montessori

Bridge 2 Peace is committed to the Montessori Method of education, created by Dr. Maria Montessori in Italy in 1912, as it offers a unique and diverse learning experience that encourages creativity and independent thinking. The Montessori approach offers a broad vision of education as an aide to life. It is designed to help children with their tasks of inner construction as they grow from childhood to maturity. Montessori classrooms provide a prepared environment where children are free to respond to their natural tendencies to work. The Montessori Method is predicated upon activities that

“cultivate the children’s ability to express themselves and think with clarity.” - Dr. Maria Montessori

These activities focus on:

• Practical life ( care for themselves, for others and their environment)
• Sensorial (building cognitive efficacy, learning to order and classify impressions)
• Language
• Cultural extensions (geography, history, biology, botany, zoology, art and music)
• Mathematics
  

Bernadine Anderson, Founder of Bridge 2 Peace, owns and/or operates three Montessori schools in Sri Lanka and the United States.

Bridge2Peace's name and mission were inspired by an excerpt of an interview with Dr. Maria Montessori and Mahatma Ghandi on November 19.1931