Paul Griffin

Founded City at Peace, Inc. in Washington, DC, in 1994, then founded and now leads City at Peace-National—a nonprofit that uses the performing arts to empower teenagers to transform their lives and communities across the United States. Directed the creation and performance of 10 original musicals written from the real-life stories of diverse groups of teens and has overseen the creation of 30 more. City at Peace now has programs in seven US cities, several communities in Israel, and in Cape Town, South Africa. Prior to his work with City at Peace, he was co-director of the Theater of Youth, a company member of the No-Neck Monster Theater Co. in Washington, D.C., a member of Impro-Etc. performing improvised Shakespeare classics in England and Scotland, and a student/performer with Ryszard Cieslak from Jerzy Grotowsky’s Polish Lab Theater. Honored as one of Tomorrow's Leaders Today by Public Allies, he also received the Hamilton Fish Award for Service to Children and Families. He and City at Peace have appeared in numerous venues across the country, including the Arena Stage, The Public Theater, “Nightline” with Ted Koppel, and HBO in a documentary on the City at Peace program. SLC 2008–