Meet Mayme Donsker | Executive Director
We had the good fortune of connecting with Mayme Donsker and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Mayme, how does your business help the community?
What an important question. Tools for Peace believes we can create a more humane and peaceful world by cultivating compassionate relationships with ourselves and our surrounding communities. Our mindfulness-based social-emotional learning programs support community health and well-being.
Tools For Peace was founded in 2000 by The Venerable Lama Chödak Gyatso Nubpa (1951-2009) to provide people of all backgrounds with practical methods to develop compassion, peace, and well-being. Seeing that the root of all suffering begins with our own negative states of mind, Lama Gyatso wanted to show people how it was possible to use the traditions he had brought from his ancient Tibetan culture to create peace within our torn communities in Los Angeles.
Lama Gyatso once said, “We spend a lot of time pressuring our children to win at sports or to get good grades, but not much effort is put into teaching them how to be good, kind people. Something is lost when we don’t help them cultivate those qualities.”
Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Every person on our team landed here because Tools for Peace positively impacted their life. We all want to see our nonprofit continue to benefit as many people as possible. I dedicated my career to Tools for Peace because I felt supported by the TFP curriculum and witnessed countless others whom our transformative mindfulness curriculum has similarly uplifted. It helps people.
TFP’s primary program areas include our School-Based Programs in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), Annual Summer Teen Camp, and Public Mindfulness Programs. Through our Public Mindfulness Programs,, we host mindfulness-based workshops and trainings in various settings for youth and adults, providing participants with tools for stress reduction, improved focus, and conflict resolution skills.
Our School-Based Programs include in-school workshops and afterschool clubs that engage students in our evidence-based social-emotional learning curriculum. Students participate in mindfulness activities (yoga, meditation, and art), personal reflection, group discussion, and community service. We reach about 900 elementary through high school students in LAUSD each year, 78% of whom are socioeconomically disadvantaged. Melissa Ruiz, Tools for Peace’s Director of Programming, shared, “The middle school and high school years can make students feel like all of their value is external. This curriculum helps them go inside and discover their inherent worth.”
Through our Annual Summer Teen Camp, we host approximately 30 youth ages 13-18 each year. Camp is a transformative week-long mindfulness experience highlighted by extracurricular activities like hiking, arts and crafts, music, and game nights.
Our diverse team of staff facilitators once participated in TFP programs themselves before becoming TFP Facilitators. They are all LAUSD alumni, most of whom work in the same schools they themselves attended.
Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Once a year, our students go on a field trip to the Pasadena Humane Society. It’s so much more than a shelter; it is a resource for all animals in the community. Our students learn how they can care for animals in need. We donate handmade toys and blankets and leave notes with kind wishes next to every animal’s name, “I hope you find your’ forever home” or “May you be happy.” It’s beautiful to see our students’ warmheartedness increase. Central Park, across the street from the Humane Society, is the perfect location for a picnic.
The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Our team wants to thank L.A.C.E.R. Afterschool Programs and the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles for your outstanding partnership and support! When great organizations come together, we can accomplish amazing things.
Please consider becoming a part of the Tools for Peace community.
Website: https://www.toolsforpeace.org/
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Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/
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Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/
Other: Your donation matters! https://www.toolsforpeace.org/
Nominate Someone: ShoutoutLA is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
