Featured Personality: Putney's Nobel Peace Laureate, Jodi Williams

Jody Williams

[From Local Heroes website: http://www.junction-city.com/localheroes/jodywilliams.asp)

Jody Williams [of Putney, Vermont and 1997 Nobel Peace Laureate] is the founding coordinator of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), which was formally launched by six nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in October of 1992. Ms. Williams has overseen the growth of the ICBL to more than 1,000 NGOs in more than sixty countries. She has served as the chief strategist and spokesperson for the campaign. Working in a unprecedented cooperative effort with governments, UN bodies and the International Committee of the Red Cross, the ICBL achieved its goal of an international treaty banning antipersonnel landmines during the diplomatic conference held in Oslo in September 1997.Ý In her capacity as ICBL coordinator, she has written and spoken extensively on the problem of landmines and the movement to ban them.

Prior to beginning the ICBL, Ms. Williams worked for eleven years to build public awareness about U.S. policy toward Central America. From 1986 to 1992, she developed and directed humanitarian relief projects as the deputy director of the Los Angeles-based Medical Aid for El Salvador. From 1984 to 1986, she was co-coordinator of the Nicaragua-Honduras Education Project, leading fact-finding delegations to the region. Previously, she taught English as a Second Language (ESL) in Mexico, the United Kingdom, and Washington, D.C.

Ms. Williams has a Master's Degree in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (Washington, D.C., 1984), a Master's Degree in Teaching Spanish and ESL from the School for International Training (Brattleboro, Vermont, 1976), and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Vermont (Burlington, Vermont, 1972).
International Campaign to Ban Landmines
110 Maryland Ave NE
Box 6, Suite 509
Washington, DC 20002
202-547-2667
icbl@icbl.org
www.icbl.org

Article: www.nobel.se/peace/articles/williams/index.html