Grassroots-led war divestment campaigns are springing up all over the world, from students organizing to divest university endowments from weapons manufacturers and war profiteers, to municipalities coming together to divest public pension funds from the war machine.

This summer, World BEYOND War led a successful campaign to divest the city of Charlottesville from weapons and fossil fuels. Now the county of Arlington is turning to Charlottesville for advice on how to divest. Join us on November 23 for a divestment forum to talk about the steps needed to cut ties to the war economy and successfully divest Arlington from war.

Our featured speakers include:

• Paki Wieland: Paki is an activist with CODEPINK: Women for Peace. She was part of the Free Gaza Movement campaign and the Witness Against Torture campaign. She participated in the spring 2011 delegation to Afghanistan to join the Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers. She has extensive experience campaigning for war divestment.
• Cecili Thompson Williams: Cecili is the Executive Director of Beyond the Bomb, leading a team of kick-ass campaigners and activists to mobilize against the threat of nuclear war and weapons. She has nearly two decades of experience leading mission-driven campaigns with organizations including Amnesty International USA, RESULTS Educational Fund, and the National Partnership for Women & Families. A strong believer in continually building power and capacity, Cecili has trained thousands of campaigners on how to maximize their impact within their organizations and in the world at large. She also serves as a faculty member at the Center for Social Design at the Maryland Institute College of Arts where she teaches a graduate seminar on campaign strategy.
  
• David Swanson: David is an author, activist, journalist, radio host, and the Executive Director & Co-Founder of World BEYOND War. He is also a campaign coordinator for RootsAction.org. David's books include War Is A Lie and When the World Outlawed War. He is a 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 Nobel Peace Prize Nominee, and the winner of the 2018 Peace Prize by the U.S. Peace Memorial Foundation. Based in Charlottesville, David initiated and led the successful campaign to divest the city from weapons and fossil fuels.
• Andy Shallal: Andy is an Iraqi-American artist, activist, and entrepreneur. He is best known as the proprietor of the Washington, DC area restaurant, bookstore, and performance venue Busboys and Poets.

Co-Sponsors: World BEYOND War, CODEPINK, Beyond the Bomb, and Busboys and Poets.