Peace Ambassadors

Peace Ambassador Mission

At the heart of the Peace Ambassador role is commitment, maintenance, and practice of nonviolence at all times. Peace Ambassadors must be well-trained in de-escalation skills and put those skills to practice in tense, often high-risk, situations. This includes individual and team preparation, risk assessment before planned actions and situation awareness while serving. Effective Peace Ambassadors are impartial mediators who use de-escalation skills, wisdom, creativity, humility, authenticity, candor, and humor to build trust and rapport and to create space for understanding and relationship-building.

General best practices

The Gandhi Team uses the specific term “Peace Ambassador” to refer to those who serve with us in a safety capacity during public actions. In other contexts, this role can also be referred to as safety marshal, safety monitor, protest marshal, demonstration marshal, or peacekeeper. The term traffic marshal is also used occasionally, but then it is usually limited to performing street/traffic duty only, and not de-escalation.

Serving on a peace team, even in a nonviolent action, involves inherent risk to personal health and safety. We commend the discipline, diplomacy, and moral courage of individuals who step up to volunteer in this capacity. We also offer the following best practices to help you serve more safely and effectively in this role:

Ahead of the event, assess the protest action, goals, and organizing groups to ensure they are aligned with your own.
Get advanced training in traffic control, de-escalation, and bystander intervention. Ensure your readiness to serve in a safety and peacekeeping capacity: physically, mentally, and emotionally. Recall and refresh your skills regularly. Learn from more experienced safety members.
Invest in the right gear. A yellow vest with pockets and a fanny pack is preferred over a backpack. Bullhorns are great for getting the attention of the crowd or cars.
Come well prepared in mind, body, and spirit. Ensure adequate rest, sleep, nutrition, and hydration. Dress appropriately for the duration, location, and conditions of the event. Do not consume drugs or alcohol, and be aware of medications that may affect your ability to serve.
Prior to vesting and assuming duties, connect with the safety team lead for the nonviolent action, ideally in advance of the event or well in advance onsite before the action begins. Introduce yourself and your skills. Inquire about the needs for that action and ensure their needs align with your skills. Understand your own role and responsibilities. Know who are the safety lead, police liaison, and medic(s).
Know the communication protocol and escalation matrix. Understand the schedule of events. Acquaint yourself with the location and march route (if any).
Partner with another trained and prepared safety team member.
Stay mentally and physically alert. Maintain spatial and situational awareness. Pay attention to your surroundings and continually scan for potential issues or conflicts. Monitor the crowd’s mood, tone, and energy. Tune into the escalation of microaggressions. Take short breaks to avoid fatigue, if needed, but ensure there is coverage for your area.
Do the intervention assessment steps before you engage in a situation, and practice CLARA when you do. Re-humanize the parties involved, particularly the person(s) being harassed. Assess the use of various intervention techniques. Remain aware of your personal identity and characteristics which may or may not be advantageous in a given situation (color, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, immigration status, religion and culture, ability, socio-economic status, trauma, height/weight, language and accent).
Demonstrate and promote respect for human dignity regardless of individuals’ views or behavior. Be open to hearing, sharing, and learning from others. Assume goodwill when hearing advice, critique, or correction. Practice active listening and maintain a respectful tone and language.
Document and/or report all potential threats, incidents, hazards, accidents, near-misses, and unsafe conditions to the safety lead immediately or as soon as feasible.
Seek assistance and/or disengage if you feel triggered or unsafe. Notify your partner and the safety lead if you cannot continue serving safely and effectively at the action.
Check out before leaving and debrief any situations that occurred, if appropriate.
Take accountability for your actions and seek continual improvement.

Additional expectations by the Gandhi Team

Nonviolence is our core value as a way of life and not just as a strategy for social change. What ultimately makes us most effective as individuals and as a peace team is our own individual commitment to the practice of nonviolence in daily life. Authenticity, courage, humility, empathy, wisdom, disciplined love, and respect for human dignity are the bedrock of peace and justice that we hope to see in the world. The ends must be consistent with the means. As practitioners and advocates of nonviolence, we must model the behavior we expect of others. This is the best way to ensure safety in the present moment and peace and justice in the long-term.

As an unincorporated group of volunteers, the Gandhi Team does not have the legal or financial means or support services to assist individuals who may sustain injury as a result of their peace ambassador duties. In such cases, it is common to ask participants to sign an agreement about the assumption of risk. We ask that each Gandhi Team member sign our Release of Liability form. Signing the waiver once serves as the overarching exculpatory agreement that releases the Gandhi Team leadership from liability.

To serve in an official “Gandhi Team Peace Ambassador” capacity, we expect our team members to abide by the general best practices stated above as well as the following code of conduct:

Attend required de-escalation training provided by the Gandhi Team and regularly refresh your skills. Participate in social events to get to know other team members.
Attend pre-event meetings and review provided materials including the safety plan, march route, event schedule, etc.
Wear the provided “Gandhi Team Peace Ambassador” vest when serving in that official capacity at a Gandhi Team-supported action. Do not wear the vest when serving in an individual capacity and/or with a different team. Be aware that you do not represent the Gandhi Peace Team at that particular function. Inform others of that difference, if asked. The reason for this difference is liability. We only officially support events where we have collaborated with the organizers to ensure our safety standards are met. You may wish to invest in a different non-branded vest for those actions. When not serving at all, the vest can serve as an advertisement and recruitment for our team’s work in de-escalating training and peacekeeping.
Know the chain of command, the escalation matrix, the designated police liaison, medics, and other pertinent information for the action.
Serve in a nonpartisan capacity during the event. Do not wear political apparel, give speeches, conduct interviews, lead chants, hold signs, engage in political debates, or conduct any other activities that would detract from your role as a peacemaker and mediator.
Maintain strict focus and attention on fulfilling your role. Refrain from phone calls, texts, chatting with friends, or other interactions unrelated to your duties.
Show up at least 1 hour early, stay for the duration of the event, and remain until debrieffing and dismissal unless otherwise agreed with the action safety lead.
Sign our Release of Liability form.