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Meet the 2024 Ignite Peace Award Winners

Ignite Peace is excited to honor these wonderful peace advocates at our Annual Gathering on Wednesday, October 9th!

Saad Ghosn

2024 Bob Maxwell Peace Builder Award

Saad Ghosn, a native of Lebanon, has been living in Cincinnati since 1985. A retired medical professional and educator, a Professor Emeritus of Medicine at the University of Cincinnati, Saad resorts to visual and spoken art to express himself and convey his social and political views.

Saad is the Founder and President of ‘SOS (Save Our Souls) ART’, a Cincinnati-based non-profit organization whose mission is to encourage, promote and provide opportunities and venues for all the arts as vehicles for peace and justice, and for all artists to use their art as their voice for a change and for a better world. Through SOS ART more than 4000 local visual artists, more than 700 local poets and many many performers, all ages and backgrounds, have been able to date to share their voice and their messages for a better world.

Saad thinks that art can inform and challenge and that it can lead the viewer into thinking and into action. He believes that true art is a reflection of the artist in their entirety and that, as a result, activism is at the heart of art expression.

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Ignite Peace, formerly Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center, established the Bob Maxwell Peace Builder Award in 2017 in honor of Robert “Bob” Maxwell who passed away in 2016 and who was a steadfast supporter of the work of Ignite Peace. The Bob Maxwell Peace Builder Award recipients are distinguished by giving public witness to justice issues to bring about peace. They have contributed to building understanding, collaboration, and trust in Greater Cincinnati, while holding the belief that peace is possible.

Previous Award Winners: 

  • Bonnie Neumeier – 2017 
  • Christina Brown – 2018
  • S. Monica McGloin, OP – 2019
  • Rev. Nelson Pierce Jr. – 2020
  • Kristen Barker – 2021
  • Mona Jenkins – 2022
  • Ethan Nichols – 2023

Sharon Harris

2024 Margaret Fuller Peace Award

Sharon is a mom, a caregiver, a microbiologist, an Associate of the Sisters of Notre Dame, and a retired educator. She is a Master Teacher (according to the State of Ohio) and was awarded a Radio Shack National Teacher Award, Outstanding Teacher Award (conferred by the Cintas Center, UC, NKU, and XU), and is a Steinbeck Fellow. The United States Antarctic Program presented Sharon with the Antarctic Service Medal for significant contributions to scientific research in Antarctica.

Sharon has engaged in public forums to stop the dumping of nuclear waste at Maxey Flats in Eastern KY and other environmental justice issues. She has participated in several mission trips to understand border and immigration concerns. When she connected with Ignite Peace and began attending the Anti-Death Penalty Grassroots meetings she was inspired by the folks she met. Since then Sharon has continued to do whatever she can to abolish the death penalty in Ohio. She participates in letter writing campaigns, calling interested parties, writing birthday cards for inmates, tabling, and attending prayer vigils, legislation hearings, and Peace Potlucks. She works hard to help others see the humanity in all, especially the imprisoned, and will celebrate the day when the death penalty is abolished in Ohio and across the entire country.

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The Ignite Peace Margaret Fuller Peace Award was established in 2015 in honor of Margaret “Peggy” Fuller who passed away in 2014 and whose trust has benefited the work of Ignite Peace. Peggy was a passionate activist for social change and worked tirelessly for peace and justice throughout her life. Recipients of the award are distinguished for having made significant contributions, over a period of years, to the promotion of peace through their volunteer work with Ignite Peace.

Previous Award Winners:

  • Linda Davis – 2016
  • Don Sherman – 2017
  • Donna Park – 2018
  • Mary Anne Bressler – 2019
  • Sue Prieshoff – 2020
  • Sandra Onate – 2021
  • Louise Lawarre – 2022
  • Linda Ford – 2023

Student Alliance for Immigrants and Refugees

2024 Youth Justice Award

Founded in February of 2023, the Student Alliance for Immigrants and Refugees is a student-based organization committed to uplifting and engaging Cincinnati’s immigrant and refugee communities. SAIR was founded around a three-pronged framework: education, community, and awareness. SAIR operates programs both virtually and in-person in these focal areas, working to maximize its impact by facilitating relationships between immigrants and students and encouraging students to explore their own cultural identities. SAIR promotes literacy in immigrant and refugee communities by emphasizing the value and importance of education and fostering a love of learning. SAIR supports existing programs and creates new opportunities to further the education of both youth and adults. Community efforts focus on providing material, social and emotional support for immigrants and refugee families to create a sense of belonging and welcome as they build new lives in our communities. SAIR strives to uplift local and immigrant and refugee voices, recognizing and celebrating their experiences to educate and inspire our community.

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The Ignite Peace Youth Justice Award was establish in 2022 to honor the visionary and innovative efforts of young people in the work for peace and justice. This award is given to a club, group, or extracurricular program of high school students who have made a dedicated effort to promote justice in Greater Cincinnati.

Previous Award Winners:

  • Hands Across Campus (McNicholas High School) – 2022
  • Seton Helping Saints (Seton High School) – 2023