Peace Summit
Inaugural Peace Summit 2026
Collin College, Wylie Conference Center
391 Country Club Road
Wylie, TX 75098
September 14, 2026 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
About The Peace Summit
America has reached a level of polarization that makes respectful discourse almost impossible both nationally and locally. This “us vs. them” mentality threatens our efforts to promote peaceful interactions with those who disagree with our point of view and encourages a level of “dehumanization” of those who think or look differently.
To change this polarization, we need to practice the following:
Educate
and inform our community to correct misperceptions.
Engage
people in our community to stop promoting polarizing narratives.
Encourage
face-to-face conversations between people who think differently from us.
A Vision of Peacemaking
Featured Speakers
These presenters will have us listening with the intent to understand, creating space for conversation, rising above the noise of algorithm-driven division, and seeking to inspire meaningful engagement, and valuing respectful discourse.
Roza Patterson, Esq.
The Summit will open with a Wylie High School graduate and RYLA alumni, Roza Patterson. She is an attorney practiced in employment law. In 2021, she was one of five attorneys to be selected for Orrick's Racial, Social, and Economic Justice Fellowships. She works at the California Department of Justice as a Deputy Attorney General. Patterson is a UCLA School of Law professor and public speaker advocating for social and racial justice. In 2013, Patterson received the Rotary International Global Grant Scholarship to pursue her master's degree with a focus on Peace and Conflict Prevention/Resolution.
Rev. Celestin Musekura, PhD.
Dr. Celestin Musekura is President & CEO of African Leadership and Reconciliation Ministries, a global nonprofit with a vision of an Africa without violent racial, tribal, and religious conflicts. His personal loss during the Rwanda genocide has inspired him to transform devastation into the healing power of peacemaking. Dr. Musekura has spent three decades training and equipping leaders with unifying strategies to heal communities through Africa and continues to inspire intentional and sustainable social transformation at the community level. He will help us navigate the day.
Heather Hodges, PhD.
From here, Organizational Psychologist, Dr. Heather Hodges, will guide us through a research-backed framework that reveals how people naturally solve challenges to accelerate innovation. We will discover our unique creative genius and how that allows us to value perspectives different from our own. Dr. Hodges grew up discovering that culture - an invisible current that runs beneath everything - shapes behavior and our sense of safety as she has moved frequently throughout the world. We will benefit from Dr. Hodges curiosity and 25 years of diverse leadership.
Join Us This September for Our Inaugural Peace Summit!
This day will offer a face-to-face opportunity to gain perspective and practice fundamental peacebuilding skills. We anticipate a full day of skill building and engagement.
We will be known as peacemakers by our willingness to listen with the intent to understand; for our ability to create space for face-to-face conversations, rising above the noise of algorithm-driven division, and by seeking to inspire meaningful engagement and valuing respectful discourse.
This flagship event will not only strengthen the bonds of our community but also reflect Rotary's enduring commitment to peace, collaboration, and service as we work to build a connected and harmonious future.