Beth Schuman

Founder of American Friends of Combatants for Peace (AFCFP)

Former Executive Director of AFCFP

Beth Schuman founded American Friends of Combatants for Peace in 2016, and served as the organization’s first Executive Director until 2023. Under her leadership, Combatants for Peace more than quadrupled it's budget, grew the Joint Memorial Day Ceremony from 1,500 attendees to nearly 300,000 viewers, and developed Combatants for Peace from a virtually unknown NGO - to a household name known throughout the world. She guided the organization’s growth and development: building programming, training staff, creating organizational infrastructure, and helping to secure Combatants for Peace’s 2018 Nobel Peace Prize nomination. Most recently she founded Points to Grace Consulting where she supports nonprofit organizations and causes to grow their work.

Prior to working with Combatants for Peace, Beth lived in India for seven years, working for a poverty relief NGO. During this time, she helped write five books, and edited six more. These books have been published in over a dozen languages, and sold throughout India, the United States, and Europe. Prior to this, Beth spent seven years as an Elementary and Middle School teacher, where she focused on building environmental science, and theater curricula.

Beth holds an MA from Columbia University and a BA from Smith College.