Abstract:
As a Harvard University freshman in 1992, Eric Dawson began working on a social service project known as Peace Games, a one-day festival to teach school-age children about peace and cooperation. Dawson, however, had bigger ideas for the program. Operating first within Harvard, and later through the independent nonprofit that he founded, Dawson transformed Peace Games from a simple celebration of community into a kindergarten-8th grade, year-long conflict-resolution curriculum that he hoped to implement in schools across the country. As challenging and as critical as the program design itself, however, was the need to create, fund, and manage an organization capable of carrying the project forward. This case tells the story of how Dawson developed Peace Games in the Boston area; established a Peace Games outpost beyond Massachusetts; and attempted to launch a major nationwide expansion deemed essential not only to reach significant numbers of children and communities, but to attract the funding the organization needed to survive.
Learning Objective:
The case can be the basis of discussion about public sector entrepreneurship, nonprofit management, and the structure and effectiveness of school-based conflict-resolution programs.
