Heidi Kuhn Keynote Speaker

Heidi Kühn is a visionary leader whose life’s work has been dedicated to cultivating peace in places once ravaged by conflict. A graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, in 1979 with a degree in Political Economics, Heidi emerged from the era of the Peace Movement with a determination to transform its ideals into tangible action. In 2002, she received the Cal Berkeley Alumni of the Year Award for Excellence and Achievement.

Her early career in journalism saw her founding NewsLink International, a news agency reporting on glasnost and perestroika from the Soviet Union. From Alaska’s frozen frontiers to the heart of Cold War tensions, Heidi’s stories for CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, Nippon TV, and Sky News helped bridge divides, fostering understanding where walls once stood.

In 1997, following her own battle with cancer, Heidi took on another silent killer—landmines. She founded Roots of Peace, a humanitarian organization dedicated to replacing fields of destruction with fields of life. Through the “Mines to Vines” initiative, Heidi has transformed war-torn landscapes into thriving vineyards and orchards. For Heidi, landmines were a “cancer of the earth,” and her mission was clear: restore hope, food security, and livelihoods to millions.

Roots of Peace has made an extraordinary impact: over 100,000 landmines and unexploded bombs removed, more than 7 million fruit trees planted, and agricultural livelihoods restored to over 1 million farmers and families across ten countries, including Afghanistan, Angola, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cambodia, Croatia, Iraq, Israel, Palestine, and Vietnam.

Notably, Heidi’s leadership in Afghanistan contributed to a transformative USAID program, which increased the country’s agricultural exports from $250 million in 2014 to over $1.5 billion in 2024.

Born into a pioneer family that settled 2,500 acres in San Rafael, California, in the 1860s, Heidi’s reverence for the land runs deep. A proud Daughter of the American Revolution, she continues this legacy of stewardship, passing it on to her four children and seven grandchildren.

Heidi’s memoir, Breaking Ground (2020), chronicles her extraordinary journey, serving as both an inspiring narrative and a call to action for global peace. Today, Heidi lives in San Rafael with her husband, Gary. She serves as Chairperson for the Smithsonian’s 250th Anniversary of America (2026), continuing her mission to bridge divides and plant the seeds of a more peaceful future.