A Peaceful Warrior-ette: IONS Circle member Julianne Fitzgerald
When Julianne Fitzgerald arrives in a group you can feel it – visionary possibilities and enthusiasm follow in her wake. Her passion to make bold dreams happen is palpable and infectious. Mothering nine kids gave her experience in organizing unruly activities, which has grown her into a natural leader. Recently, she has turned her focus towards the creation of a Department of Peace (DOP), for which she serves as the Utah Campaign Coordinator. Creating a DOP also feels very aligned with her deep connection to IONS.
After more than a decade in IONS’ orbit, she has become “totally sold� on its importance. Her twin passions fuel each other, “In order to have world peace, we need inner healing. We are all wounded spirits, so we need to address that as part of working for peace initiatives.� The 2005 IONS conference in Washington, D.C. provided particular inspiration; in fact, she has “never been to anything more powerful.� As she entered an “exciting� empty-nest phase, with her last child entering college, she found the conference a “real call to action as humans on this planet.�
Julianne’s energy level is phenomenal, which she attributes to daily chanting and meditation, her passion to make a positive contribution, and terrific people in her life, starting with her husband and biggest fan Kevin, all the way to her assistant Michelle. Somehow, she manages to hold down a day job as a real estate broker for Angel Rock Real Estate in Moab, Utah, but she spends much of the remainder of her time on the Department of Peace. She’s even enrolled her 84-year-old mother Ruth, who is now happily stuffing envelopes with Peace bumper stickers and paraphernalia from an online store Julianne has helped develop for the Peace Alliance. We suspect it won’t be long before her four grand-children are involved as well.
Get her talking about the Department of Peace and she rolls out inspiring statistics and a sense of pending possibility: 75 House co-sponsors, 24 countries with DOP-inspired legislation, coordinators in every state. Her only challenge is reining in the enthusiasm which verges DOP-aholism. IONS helps her keep the big picture in view and living her life of dedicated service with great allies. She’s therefore delighted to support IONS as a dedicated donor and enthusiastic champion.
Her one request for IONS members reading this? “Please go to the Department of Peace website (www.thepeacealliance.org), endorse the legislation and send your friends!�
Julianne can be reached at julianne@moabutah.com or via www.moabutah.com.
