Annie Tasker, Content Crew

Now through June, Play for Peace is partnering with the experiential learning app Kikori to develop a one-stop shop for activity plans -- a project powered by an international group of volunteers dubbed the Content Crew. Meet one of the volunteers whose time and talents are bringing high-quality activities to facilitators around the world.

Annie Tasker, Chicago suburbs, Illinois, USA

Profession: “I’m a project manager with Prudential Financial's inclusion & diversity unit.”

What do you do on the Content Crew? “I'm at the very end of the content creation process, giving activities a final review before hitting ‘publish.’ I also pull together profile information for these volunteer spotlights.”

What's your favorite Kikorified activity so far, and why? “I’m not from a teaching or group facilitation background, so I’m kind of fascinated by all of the activities I’ve reviewed so far.  

Relapse prevention tools, in particular, stuck with me. Blindfolded participants walk across a ‘minefield,’ with partners on the sidelines telling them how to steer toward helpful props (representing things in your life that provide support) and away from obstacles (representing risk factors). It’s a great metaphor for leaning on your people to navigate life’s challenges.”

If you had a blank check to do one thing to bring peace to your community (however you define community), what would you do? “This is an adaptation of a project I read about years ago. If I had a blank check, I’d start an exchange program here in the U.S. where people had to live with someone whose identity -- ethnic, gender, political, socio-economic, whatever -- makes them uncomfortable. One person would live in the other person’s home for a week, then they’d switch. It’s easy to villainize or ‘other’ people when they’re theoretical. What better way to counteract that than two weeks of eating dinner and dealing with laundry and making small talk in the kitchen together?”