Three North American professional women with wide international experience offer practical, step-by-step guidance for overcoming violence and building a culture of peace. Using paradigms that have proved successful in the disciplines of public health and community development, they address the problem of violence as an epidemic that is threatening our families lives and health. Moving beyond theory and demographic analysis, the authors offer a leadership manual for assisting communities as they envision and begin to realize a culture of peace. Drawing on their ongoing work in the United States, they provide readers with useful models of positive peace-building in our time.