John Prendergast (Photo Provided)

The best-selling author and founding director of the Enough Project, John Prendergast, will share his message at Manchester University with “Ten Building Blocks for Making a Difference in the World and in Your Neighborhood.”

The presentation is 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 17, in Cordier Auditorium on the North Manchester campus. The presentation is free and open to the public. He will discuss easily applied and effective means of promoting human rights locally, nationally and internationally.

Prendergast created the Raise Hope for Congo campaign, supporting a more comprehensive peace process and highlighting the issue of conflict minerals, which are produced from illicit mining and fuel the cycle of violence. The campaign’s companion Conflict-Free Campus Initiative draws on the power of student leadership and activism, and encourages university officials and stakeholders to commit to measures that pressure electronics companies to responsibly invest in Congo’s minerals sector.

He is a board member and strategic advisor for the organization Not on Our Watch, founded by George Clooney, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle and Brad Pitt. Clooney and Prendergast founded the Satellite Sentinel Project, http://www.satsentinel.org/ which aims to prevent “a return to full-scale civil war between northern and southern Sudan and deterring and documenting threats to civilians along both sides of the border” Satellites passing over Sudan and South Sudan report evidence of pending mass violence. The Enough Project then sounds the alarm by notifying major news organizations and a network of activists on Twitter and Facebook.”

Prendergast worked with NBA star Tracy McGrady to create the Darfur Dream Team Sister Schools Program that raises funds to support Darfur refugee camps and create partnerships with schools in the United States. He has also worked for the Clinton White House, State Department, National Security Council, UNICEF, Human Rights Watch, the International Crisis Group and the U.S. Institute of Peace, and has won multiple awards, including the United Nations Correspondents Association Global Citizen of the World Award and the U.S. Department of State Distinguished Service Award.

Part of the Big Brother program for more than 25 years, he recently co-authored a memoir, Unlikely Brothers, with his first Little Brother. Other books include Not on Our Watch and The Enough Moment: Fighting to End Africa’s Worst Human Rights Crimes, which he co-authored with Don Cheadle.

A book signing will follow the Feb. 17 presentation. This event is sponsored by the MU Peace Studies Institute with underwriting from the Ira W. and Mable Winger Moomaw Lectureship/Seminar Fund.