Welcoming FOR-USA’s New
Director of Communications and Archives
It is with great pleasure that we formally welcome Erica Fugger as FOR-USA’s new Director of Communications and Archives! For the past three years, Erica has served in a consulting role as our in-house archivist with support from the Mae and Stephen Leeman Fund, working to undertake research and expand access to our historical records. During that time, she has also helped organize new groups and programs focused on peacebuilding and Palestinian solidarity in Buddhist community spaces.
“We saw the good work that Erica was doing and her deep commitment to FOR’s values of nonviolence and social justice, so it made sense to welcome her to an expanded role as a member of our staff team,” said The Rev. Dr. Christopher Ney, interim co-Executive Director of the Fellowship of Reconciliation-USA. Erica comes to this new position with a background in academic and movement spaces.
She brings previous communications experience from her work with the Oral History Program at Columbia University and contributed to public-facing projects at Washington College and Rutgers University, including oral history initiatives with peace activists, veterans’ families, queer leaders, and community organizers. Erica is currently working to complete her doctorate in American Studies at Rutgers-Newark, with her dissertation focused on the 1967 antiwar educational campaign called Vietnam Summer, which FOR consulted on.
Erica approaches this vital work through the Engaged Buddhist teachings of Zen Master Thích Nhất Hạnh, who organized for peace during the American War in Việt Nam and collaborated closely with the Fellowship of Reconciliation. She has practiced for fifteen years with Thích Nhất Hạnh’s Plum Village community, most recently serving as a founding member of the Plum Village Solidarity Council and as a Core Group member of the Action Wake Program at Deer Park Monastery. Erica is passionate about sharing radical peace histories within Buddhist and interfaith spaces, and encouraging intergenerational exchange of nonviolence strategies. She feels called to collectively cultivating the roots of peace across cultural and spiritual traditions.
“We look forward to all of the ways that Erica will share the story of FOR—our history and our current life and activities—with our community and the wider world. Keep a look out for the latest news and calls to action curated together by Erica and our staff team through FOR mailers, newsletters, and our social media accounts,” said Dr. Linda Alvarado-Arce, interim co-Executive Director.
Please feel free to get in touch with Erica about communications matters at gro.asurof@snoitacinummoc or historical inquiries at gro.asurof@sevihcra.
