Location: Missouri, USA 

Level of Training: (Level I- 2021)

About: 

Sheila Burton is the Director of the Ubuntu Center for Peace in East St. Louis, Illinois. The Ubuntu Center is a program of Join Hands ESL, which Sheila Founded in 1990 to serve those struggling in poverty in East St. Louis, IL. She is the Founder and the Former Executive Director of the Join Hands ESL. With an emphasis on relationships, education, and journeying with people in solidarity, Join Hands serves youth and families struggling in poverty, opens doors of opportunity, and provides a space where people try to make the beloved community real.

Rooted in agape love, the concept of ubuntu, and the philosophy of Dr. King, The Ubuntu Center for Peace is an oasis in the midst of extreme poverty and violence. In 2018, North Lawndale Peace Warriors introduced teens from Join Hands to Kingian nonviolence, and in 2019 trained Join Hands teens to train other teens in East St. Louis. Join Hands Peace Warriors have been sharing the philosophy of Kingian nonviolence with East St. Louis youth since then.

In 2021, Sheila transitioned from Executive Director of Join Hands to Director of The Ubuntu Center for Peace to fulfill the desire expressed in the Join Hands strategic plan to expand the justice and equity work of the Ubuntu Center for Peace. Part of this work will include offering adult classes in Kingian nonviolence beginning in 2022. Sheila graduated from the University of Notre Dame, as well as the University of Illinois College of Law. Her professional legal career was spent advocating for the rights of those on the margins through her work with Land of Lincoln Legal Aid in East St. Louis.

Contact Information: sburton@joinhandsesl.org