Betty Williams

Betty Williams, along with Mairead Maguire, was awarded the Nobel Prize for her work as a cofounder of Community of Peace People, an organization dedicated to promoting a peaceful resolution to The Troubles in Northern Ireland. She heads the Global Children's Foundation and is President of the World Centers of Compassion for Children International. She is also the Chair of Institute for Asian Democracy in Washington D.C. and a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Nova Southeastern University. In 2006, Williams was one of the founders of the Nobel Women's Initiative along with sister Nobel Peace Laureates Mairead Corrigan Maguire, Shirin Ebadi, Wangari Maathai, Jody Williams and Rigoberta Menchu Tum. In the 30 years since the award, Williams has devoted her life to creating a new way forward, a movement to begin a reversal of thinking on how the world deals with the injustices, cruelty and horror perpetrated on the world’s children. Williams has travelled the globe recording the testimonies of children who have been subjected to horrors. In her travels, it became evident to Williams that to create the changes necessary and persuade governments to listen to the voices of their children, legislative changes must be implemented (legislation to protect children).