Boulder Rotary Club recently recognized Peter and Beth Ornstein as the 2023 recipients of the Jim Swaeby Peace Award. Their recognition comes for their work with the nonprofit organization Sustainable Israeli-Palestinian Projects (“SIPP” – www.sipprojects.org).
Peter & Beth Ornstein
The award recognizes outstanding achievement for “the advancement of international understanding, goodwill, and peace through a world of fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service”. It is awarded
annually to a person or persons living or working in Boulder County or to an organization based in
Boulder exemplifying the ideals of Rotary.
Long-time Boulder residents Peter and Beth Ornstein are founding members of SIPP. Through partnership, expertise and small grants, SIPP supports Israeli and Palestinian communities working on multicultural environmental and civil society projects that benefit people in the region. SIPP’s work focuses on environmental projects to bolster food,
energy and environmental security and on civil society projects that develop leadership and economic empowerment skills. Examples of SIPP’s projects include training women about rooftop gardening techniques, providing health and
safety training relating to electronic waste, and supporting an environmental education center near Hebron.
Peter is the retired Deputy Regional Counsel with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Denver Office. Beth, the founder and manager of Colorado Mediation Center, LLC, provides mediation and other dispute resolution services to help individuals and organizations resolve conflict. Peter and Beth Ornstein will have their names inscribed on a plaque and monument to be publicly placed at the Penfield Tate Municipal Building in Boulder. The Peace Award commemorates the contribution of Boulder Rotarian Jim Swaeby, who gave his time, talent, humor and passion to build a better world. He
carried out a life mission to “do an unexpected act of kindness or generosity for someone less privileged.”