Celebration of Life, Mike Caruso
Mike Caruso, (1948 - 2026)
Mike, our co-founder and inspiration, passed away on July 13, 2026. Mike is remembered as an unwavering champion for peace and global nonviolence both as a member of Rotary and as a community leader. Mike joined the Rotary Club of Newberg Oregon (USA) in 2001 and a decade later founded the Rotary Peacebuilder Clubs in District 5100. Since that time, Peacebuilder Clubs have grown to more than 550 Clubs globally sponsoring education programs, festivals, webinars and much more to remind communities that peace is possible and essential. Mike served as District Governor in District 5100 during the 2011-12 Rotary year and for 11 years as the District Rotary Peace Fellowships Sub-Committee Chair and Co-Chair of District 5100 Peacebuilder Clubs committee. He received the Rotary International Service Above Self award as well as the Citation for Meritorious Service, The purpose of the awards is to recognize those individual Rotarians who have demonstrated exemplary humanitarian service, in any form and at any level, with emphasis on personal volunteer efforts and active involvement in helping others through Rotary. This is Rotary International's highest honor for individual Rotarians.
Mike also supported those in need within the community such as an ex-convict rehabilitation organization originally known as Thugz Off Drugz (now Helping Hands) providing opportunities for ex-convicts committed to ending drug addiction. Mike and two other Rotarians financially supported the purchase of a home to house its members. The program was recognized by local law enforcement as having the least recidivism rate of similar organizations. Mike also, on his many Rotary trips to Guatemala, supported Transiciones through its co-founder John Bell, to ensure that disabled Guatemalan children had a place to call home, learn a skill, and be safe from harm. Mike looked to the future as he undertook project after project to ensure long-term success and sustainability. Each of these projects is flourishing today.
Mike saw something good in each and every person regardless of politics or personal beliefs. He saw a world much larger than himself and believed that all of us matter. He had a disarming quiet and genuineness, and twinkle in his eye as each of us volunteered to undertake one more assignment, one more project. Those who worked with Mike became lifelong members of the “I Can’t Say No To Mike” Club. We will carry on as peacebuilders and in our Fellowship for Global Nonviolence – and Mike will always be in our hearts, our thoughts, and in our prayers.
Welcome To Our Website
We offer you lots of information - "sort of like drinking from a fire hose." Some of that information may seem unrelated to peace activism but the wars of today are not your grandpa's wars. Today, science and technology have been co-opted to support wars of greater lethality, speed, and less humanity. But bullets still pierce flesh, bombs still destroy and the destruction and long-term consequences of these actions are still felt long after the last bomb drops. We see in front of us a commitment to confront war and its enablers, co-create a future aligned with our values of peace, nonviolence, justice and ethics. Our approach is to inform and form community, with you and like-minded organizations and to succeed at reaching a global and sustainable peace.
4 Global Nonviolence Vision
DOING GOOD & STOPPING BAD
"The focus on doing good rather than stopping bad means that many peace programs never address the systems (or individuals) that promote or perpetuate war. As a result, they miss the mark of what is needed to change things sufficiently to ensure that peace is achieved and is sustainable. " At 4 global nonviolence we seek to support both positive peace and confront war.
Lessons Not Learned - Yet
John F. Kennedy US President (1961 - 1963)
“While we proceed to safeguard our national interests, let us also safeguard human interests. And the elimination of war and arms is clearly in the interest of both and ...The United States, as the world knows, will never start a war...we shall also do our part to build a world of peace where the weak are safe and the strong are just...Confident and unafraid, we labor on...toward a strategy of peace.”, JFK Listen to JFK's speech.
Dwight D. Eisenhower US President (1953 - 1961)
"Throughout America’s adventure in free government, our basic purposes have been to keep the peace; to foster progress in human achievement, and to enhance liberty, dignity and integrity among people and among nations... We must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. " Dwight D. Eisenhower, Read more.
What You Can Do
WARS, CLIMATE CHANGE...HAVE JOINED FORCES TO DESTABILIZE EARTH & THREATEN OUR EXISTENCE -- LEARN WHAT YOU CAN DO
SEE BELOW
STAY INFORMED
This is a moment of extraordinary opportunity. Our key threats are wars and climate change. Learn more about what you can do.
- LEARN WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
- UNDERSTAND EMERGING THREATS
- LEARN HOW THREATS DESTABILIZE
TAKE ACTION
Not all of us are ready to face off against a bunch of masked fully armed dudes. Find out something you are willing to do and do it.
- ENGAGE: ARMCHAIR ACTIVISM+
- CREATE COMMUNITY RESILIENCE
- JOIN PEACE/CLIMATE NETWORKS
ENABLE PEACE
Both positive peace and confronting war are part of the same equation leading to sustainable peace. We know war, but what's peace? It's hard to work towards peace if we can't visualize it. What's your vision of sustainable peace?
- VISUALIZE PEACE
- BEST PRACTICES
- ROLE OF SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS
CONFRONT WAR
There are thousands of peace organizations and yet wars and their intensity are increasing, as is our climate crisis. Models predict that by 2100 these cumulative impacts will devastate the planet. What can reverse this dynamic?
- HOW WARS HAPPEN
- SUPPORT ALTERNATIVES TO WAR
- HOLD OFFICIALS ACCOUNTABLE
About 4 Global Nonviolence
ROTARY'S INFLUENCE
At 4 Global Nonviolence, our Board members are either Rotarians, Rotary Peace Fellow Alumni or both. We are guided by the 4-Way Test. Our commitment is to enable actions resulting in positive and measurable impacts.
HOW WE STARTED
During the 2025 Rotary International Convention in Calgary, Alberta Canada, we presented our Fellowship to Rotarians. Our Vision was well-accepted and we pushed forward to develop a Fellowship to serve as a place of learning and doing.
MEET OUR BOARD MEMBERS
Mike Caruso, Co-Founder, Board Chair (1948 - 2026)
Mike Caruso, Co-Founder, Board Chair (1948 - 2026)
Mike Caruso, Co-Founder, Board Chair (1948 - 2026)
Rotary District 5100 Past District Governor
Reem Ghunaim, Co-Founder
Mike Caruso, Co-Founder, Board Chair (1948 - 2026)
Mike Caruso, Co-Founder, Board Chair (1948 - 2026)
Rotary Peace Fellow, Fields of Peace Executive Director
Jec Borlado, Treasurer
Mike Caruso, Co-Founder, Board Chair (1948 - 2026)
Kathi Futornick, Secretary
Past President, Rotary Club of Jaro-Centraline Rotary District 3850
Kathi Futornick, Secretary
Mike Caruso, Co-Founder, Board Chair (1948 - 2026)
Kathi Futornick, Secretary
Peace Builder, Rotarian, Environmental Scientist
Phil Gittins, PhD, Member
Phil Gittins, PhD, Member
Phill Gittins, PhD, Education Director for World BEYOND War
Seth Kinzie, Member
Phil Gittins, PhD, Member
Rotary Peace Fellow/Makerere University, Uganda, Director of the African Peacemaking Database.
Andrew Stone, Member
Andrew Stone, Member
Rotary Peace Fellow alumnus, research and work related to environmental issues in Southeast Asia