Korean and Paraguay businessmen at a recent conference in Paraguay discuss opportunities for investment and development.

A few years ago, I was meeting with company managers to discuss our goals for the next fiscal year.

The managers looked at their accounting numbers and told me, “We grew 30 percent last year, so we are going to grow at 30 percent this year.”

I asked them, “Why are you predicting the current year’s market opportunities based on last year’s growth rate?” In my eyes they were limiting the company’s potential by presuming that they would not exceed the previous year’s growth rate. In essence they were limiting the future based on experiences from the past.

I challenged them instead to set future goals based on what they wanted the company to become.

As we began to identify the many market opportunities, the managers began to see numerous possibilities. Eventually, they saw the tremendous potential for growth beyond that original 30 percent. The “stretch goal” I had proposed now seemed very possible.

All it took was a different perspective. The managers understood that when they looked beyond their past reality and seized current opportunities they opened up unlimited possibilities.

Whether you are a manger asked to grow a company, a parent raising children or a social innovator taking on complex global  issue, leadership takes this kind of innovation.

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I know that it takes a transformational experience to own the principle of living for the sake of humanity. Thus, I am always seeking for ways to create opportunities for experiential learning.

We obtain knowledge through experience.

Why does a child touch a burning match even though he is told not to? It is because the truth a parent tells their son doesn’t belong to the child until he experiences it for himself.

Children want to learn everything. They ask, “What is this? What is that?” But it takes experience for them to own knowledge. I once showed my daughter how to draw something; immediately she wanted to do it herself. This is how our children learn. They take ownership through experience.

It is more so with the most important truths. Just because we tell them, children will not understand that that the most meaningful life is a life lived for others. They have to earn their convictions through defining experiences, just like the child who burned his finger.

This is why all my education is experience-based:  whether it is in my family, in leadership training programs, or service projects. I know that it takes a transformational experience to own the principle of living for the sake of humanity. Thus, I am always seeking for ways to create opportunities for experiential learning.

Furthermore, as a parent, I know that my example provides living guidance and nourishment to my children as they venture out to gain the experiences that enable them to own the greatest vision, principles and values. Thus, I too relish each experience as an opportunity to learn and own the principles and values of one family under God.

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In 2010, I was in Asuncion, Paraguay for the first Latin American Global Peace Leadership Conference. At the conclusion of the conference, participants issued and ratified the Asuncion Declaration.

It was a historic milestone that laid the ground for continued progress in Paraguay and Latin America. Two years prior, Paraguay had held its first ever peaceful transition of power. Similarly, other countries in Latin America have been moving towards political stability and economic progress.

The signers affirmed their “desire to work – beyond religious, political, social, and ethnic differences – for the unity of Latin America as a continent of peace and future that can shine light in a world filled with uncertainties and confusion.” It outlined the need to “revive the civic values and virtues that reflect the better spiritual, democratic, and plural traditions of humanity in this continent,” and “promote education in ethical principles and universal values that can empower children and young adults to become better human beings and good citizens”. And it entrusted this nontransferable “sacred duty” upon “media outlets, and especially those having more influence and reputation.”

The declaration presents a new approach to peacebuilding and development. It integrates not just economic, political and diplomatic strategies. It grounds itself in shared spiritual and universal values and principles. It also outlines a vision large enough to bring together all the diverse nations, cultures and faiths into a united Latin American effort to “cement one America of liberty and peace, under a culture of mutual respect”.

I was honored to be part of such a historical event. They have made it their personal commitment to see declaration through. It has given birth to many substantial discussions and initiatives.

Latin America is in a period of great transition and opportunity. To seize these opportunities, we have to see beyond old way and grasp a new vision of the future. That moment stands as one where courageous people stepped with a renewed spirit of leadership to commit to a vision would guide this region through the demands of this new era.

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Dr. Jun Sook Moon delivers the inaugural address for the launch of Global Peace Women in 2011. Seoul, Korea.

At the close of the Global Peace Convention 2011 in Seoul, Korea, Dr. Hyun Jin Moon launched Global Peace Woman, an initiative to engage women as crucial participants of peacebuilding.

He said, “The dream of peace cannot be achieved without the support of women who constitute half of the world’s population.  The original nature and the experience of women strengthen social activities and are essential to realizing the dream of establishing One Family under God.”

Below is the address given at the launch by Dr. Jun Sook Moon.

I would like to share with you just briefly, some of my thought and hopes of what we as women can do to build a more just and peaceful world.

I’m sure that you would agree that women have increasingly important roles to play today in our communities and nations. In fact, many today talk about this as the age of women. I believe that you would also agree that women bring unique qualities, aptitudes and talents to whatever roles we play. It has been said that women hold up one half of heaven, without our support, heaven would crumble, and the dream of peace never be realized.

We live today in a world of rapid and often confusing transformation, yet, there are some things that do not change. No matter how far we might travel, most of us have a special place in our hearts for our hometowns, and even more so for our homes. When I say home, what comes to your mind? Perhaps some thoughts of warmth, comfort and nurturing, all within the embrace of family. Home after all is where the heart is.

And our thoughts and feelings about home are interrelated with family.  However grand or humble the external circumstances, what is most important to us is the heart that we feel within our family. Who is the center of the home, the source of nurturing within the family?  It is the mother.

My husband, as you know is very passionate in promoting the vision of One Family Under God, a vision that we sorely need to bring our fractured world together. Recently he has been urging me to get involved in the critical role that women must play in making this vision a reality. In fact, women have tremendous practical gifts, and a unique role in helping this vision take root and become a settled way of life.

After all, every man emerged from a womb, and every adventurer strode out of his lover’s arms to make his mark on the world. Women, as mothers, wives, sisters and daughters, have a natural gift to create an environment and experience of home and family. With those gifts they must take a lead in translating the vision of One Family Under God into a living reality, one family at a time.

That is why we are launching Global Peace Women. We believe that we can make an indispensable contribution to realize the dream of One Family Under God, by engaging and empowering women of all backgrounds and stations in life in this great endeavor.

Our first task, I believe, is to encourage and empower women in their unique roles in the family. Mother’s nurture and educate the next generation, and invest the heart that binds the family together. Ideally they instill in their children the seeds of hope and peace. To me, empowering women means providing information, understanding and tools that enables them to make positive advances in their daily lives. I want to connect efforts and share the successes that we achieve locally to our growing global network.

As all women know, and wise men understand, we women are tremendously resourceful. Give us a won and we will make it go a long away.

Last year at the GpF in Nepal I visited one of the community libraries that we had set up. Women were learning to read for the first time in their lives, and that experience was transforming to not only themselves but their entire families and communities. Those who could read wanted to teach their neighbors, especially other women who had not yet learned. Lesson such as this learned in Nepal, for example, could then readily be shared with women in the Philippines or Kenya, seeking new opportunities.

Motivated by the vision of One Family Under God, I believe that Global Peace Women can become a significant contributor in communities and nations around the world.

But experience shows that our work should not just be about engaging women from comfortable backgrounds in good homes, but reaching out to women in the poorest circumstances and giving them the little they need to elevate themselves and their families.

In conclusion, I would like to share with you our vision statement for Global Peace Women, which I believe encapsulates the spirit with which we begin this vital work.

“The patient heart of a mother, the sympathetic heart of a wife, the supporting heart of a sister, the devoted heart of a daughter, bringing humankind together into One Family Under God.”

Our troubled world surly needs our commitment, our effort and most importantly, our love. I hope you can join with me in this noble effort.

May God bless you and your family. Thank you very much.

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