Azim spoke at Healing From Trauma conference in Riverside on August 4, 2016 to 200 social workers and therapists, including Sylvia (pictured here). Having lost three nephews to gang violence, she had a major healing from the presentation. Says Azim, “I received several hugs from her. Many were moved and forgiveness was in the air.…

The news came today that Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor and Nobel winner, passed away. The world has lost another great soul. I had the privilege to meet him and be highlighted along with him in a documentary called “The Power of Forgiveness,” which featured his journey as a Nobel Prize laureate and a Holocaust survivor…

On June 10 I had the honor to speak before the The California Club LA Rotary to about 150 people. It starts with awareness about peacemaking, and I was pleased that I was able to share with the audience the serious challenges of youth violence but also to offer a solution. The highlight was that…

On May 17, I attended the Lions club event with approximately 40 people. I made the point that “children killing children’ is not a MARK of a civil society. We are the most violent first-world nation and a very poor role model when it comes to violence for the rest of the world. What happens…

Today – January 21 – marks the 21st anniversary of my son Tariq’s tragic passing.  My heart at this time of the year does get heavy – not so much from grief or mourning but more from muscle memory. The work done in Tariq’s name was spawned as a result of this tragedy, and the…

On January 10, I was so honored to speak at a private event for the World Affairs Council of Orange County (website: worldaffairscouncil.org).  The host Serge Tomassian, pictured below, had this to say: “Thank you very much for your very heart-touching presentation.”

I spoke before the California Institute for Women on December 14. It was very well received. I spoke to many inmates, and during the Q&A and afterwards there was a large line of the women wanting to speak with me and shake my hand. Mostly my presentation focused on self-forgiveness, where I taught them the…

I was honored to present to the La Jolla Rotary Club on December 4. One of the major messages I shared dealt with the idea of our collective society. Civic society needs to address the increased levels of violence in our society. While they do amazing work around the world – part of being a…

For the mini-forgiveness workshop on November 4 at San Diego State University, we had a group of 22 students and the results were great. Justine Darling, who teaches this course, said that the students “said the forgiveness work with you and your presentation transformed heir lives for the better.”

On October 9, I attended the “Trauma Informed Care and Organizational Wellness Conference” in Los Angeles. A large conference of 450 people was attended by social workers – many that work for the Children’s Institute, which was established in 1906 and has some 30 programs for youth and children and other agencies in greater Los…