Nobel Peace Prize nominee Judith Jenya is a colorful and resilient woman who expresses her vitality through writing, art, and humanitarian work. She lives a life filled with love and beauty in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.

The recipient of many awards for her groundbreaking work on peace and healing, Judith founded Global Children’s Organization, which gave direct services to children during and following active conflicts in Bosnia, Croatia, Northern Ireland, Los Angeles, California, and northern New Mexico. Children from opposing sides of a conflict lived and played together in a safe summer camp setting in each setting. The program focused on healing and resilience and healing through the arts, nature, peace-making, and nurturing. Between 1991 and 2003, GCO served 1600 children.

An award-winning documentary-short film, Memories Do Not Burn, profiling the GCO work on Badija Island, Croatia, and the summer camps was directed by Judith Jenya and her team of volunteers. Judith also developed the curriculum and taught non-violent conflict resolution programs that have been adopted by many programs in the U.S. and around the world. 

In addition to her memoir, Judith has published a bilingual book of poetry, Aromas de dos Pueblos, with co-author and poet Eugenia Yllades. Her short stories and essays have been published in online journals and in the anthologies Solamente en San Miguel', Mexico Hoy, and Supernatural Tales from Maui. Her writing has also been featured in collections, including Project Heaven on Earth,  and she has written articles published in Time magazine, the Los Angeles Times, and other magazines and newspapers.

Never limiting her creativity to words alone, Judith is a talented painter and photographer and has had solo exhibitions in Mexico, California, Hawaii, and Bosnia. She is also a wife, mother, grandmother, and friend who volunteers with a children’s organization in Mexico and PEN International in Mexico, where
she now lives full-time.