Wed, Mar 25, 2026
5:00pm–8:00pm
Lessons from Hiroshima: Cultivating Mindful Peace Leadership
In an age of deep division and growing global challenges, education has a vital role to play in cultivating peace.
Barger Leadership Institute is committed to nurturing leaders who will promote peace, compassion, dignity, and well-being in their communities.
This symposium centers on the voices and lessons of Hibakusha peace activists to inspire ethical leadership, compassion, and sustainable action. The panelists have developed pedagogical interventions informed by the experience of Hiroshima and the narratives of Hibakusha peace activists to promote the need for mindful peace education.
Free and open to the public, registration required.
Symposium Moderator
& Panelists
As Associate Vice President for Student Life at the University of Michigan, Dr. Connie Tingson Gatuz leads eight units focused on holistic student development, inclusive learning, and social change education. With over thirty years of leadership in higher education, she is currently championing initiatives to advance religious, secular, and spiritual life, fostering mindfulness, compassion, and interfaith collaboration on campus.
Dr. Connie Tingson Gatuz
Symposium Moderator
Ray Matsumiya is Director of the Oleander Initiative, which empowers global peacebuilders through immersive programs in Hiroshima, Japan. Since 2016, the Initiative has engaged educators, policymakers, and NGO leaders from 14 countries, translating Hiroshima’s lessons of peace into action worldwide. For over two decades, Ray has designed and led international peacebuilding programs in partnership with organizations including the U.S. Department of State and UNESCO.
Ray Matsumiya
Symposium Panelists
Mitchie Takeuchi is a social entrepreneur, writer, and filmmaker raised in Hiroshima and now based in New York City. Her grandfather directed the Hiroshima Red Cross Hospital during the atomic bombing of August 6, 1945, and both he and her mother survived. Mitchie produced and co-wrote The Vow from Hiroshima, a documentary highlighting survivor Setsuko Thurlow and global nuclear disarmament activism. The film was endorsed by Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui and earned Mitchie the 2021 Japan Film Renaissance Conference Peace Film Award during its Japanese theatrical run.
Mitchie Takeuchi
Symposium Panelists
Ram Mahalingam is an award-winning teacher, mentor, and researcher. He was initially trained as a civil engineer and held more than 12 jobs, including 8 years as a structural engineer, before becoming a psychologist. He is currently the Barger Leadership Institute Professor of Psychology in the Personality and Social Contexts program at the University of Michigan. He serves as the Director of the Barger Leadership Institute.
Ram Mahalingam, PhD
Symposium Panelists
Kathleen Sullivan, PhD, is the Director of Hibakusha Stories, an arts-based initiative and partner of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons that has shared atomic bomb survivor testimony with over 50,000 young people worldwide. An international educator and advocate for nuclear disarmament for more than 30 years, she is co-chair of the Nuclear Truth Project, a Nagasaki Peace Correspondent, a Hiroshima Peace Ambassador, and a filmmaker whose work highlights the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons.
Kathleen Sullivan
Symposium Panelists