World Leader for Peace and Security Award 2025

Summary

GURUDEV SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR HONOURED WITH WORLD LEADER FOR PEACE AND SECURITY AWARD

Since 2015, the Boston Global Forum has honored such visionary leaders with the World Leader for Peace and Security Award. This prestigious accolade recognizes those who have made remarkable contributions to fostering peace and ensuring security around the world.

Each recipient has continued to shape the course of world events, upholding the principles of peace and security. Their collective efforts have made our world safer and more united.

In 2025, we mark a significant milestone—10 years of the World Leader for Peace and Security Award.

We are honored to present this year’s award to Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Founder of the Art of Living Foundation, for his exemplary leadership in promoting peace and security in India, Asia, and the world.

Gurudev has been a driving force in:

• Building bridges of harmony among people of different faiths and nations through dialogue, compassion, and understanding.
• Healing divided communities and conflict zones through non-violence, meditation, and humanitarian service.
• Promoting mental well-being, ethical leadership, and spiritual resilience in an age of uncertainty.
• Inspiring millions to embrace peace as a living practice—within themselves, their communities, and the world.
• Advancing a global movement of compassion and mindfulness that aligns perfectly with the vision of the AI World Society: a world where technology and spirituality unite for human dignity and peace.

Award announcement

Award Ceremony

Remarks by Governor Michael Dukakis and Nguyen Anh Tuan Honoring Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Harvard University Faculty Club, November 3, 2025

Your Holiness, distinguished leaders, scholars, and friends,

It is a profound honor and privilege to stand before you today to recognize one of the world’s great spiritual and humanitarian leaders — Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar — as the 2025 World Leader for Peace and Security Award recipient.

From the very beginning, the Boston Global Forum (BGF) has sought to celebrate those whose leadership transcends borders, politics, and ideology — individuals whose vision uplifts humanity and reminds us of the moral foundation of peace. Gurudev, you embody precisely that spirit.

Through The Art of Living Foundation, you have touched millions of lives across continents — teaching peace not as an abstract ideal, but as a daily practice rooted in compassion, forgiveness, and understanding. You have shown that inner peace is not separate from world peace — that governance, technology, and progress must always be guided by the light of conscience.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has dedicated his life to building bridges among faiths and cultures, to universalizing wisdom, and to nurturing compassion, love, and mutual understanding — toward a stress-free, violence-free world. Guided by the Gandhian principles of nonviolence, you have advanced reconciliation and healing in conflict-stricken regions such as Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, India, Iraq, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Venezuela.

At moments when our world feels fractured — by war, polarization, and fear — your voice has reminded us that reconciliation begins in the human heart. You have built bridges between nations and faiths, between reason and spirituality, and between humanity and nature.

The Boston Global Forum and the AI World Society (AIWS) are deeply inspired by your message that technology must serve humanity, not dominate it — that the intelligence of machines must always be guided by the wisdom of the spirit. Through the AIWS model, we seek to bring spiritual and interfaith values into the digital age — to build a world where innovation and compassion advance hand in hand. In honoring you, we affirm that the future of peace depends on both ethical innovation and moral imagination.

As we celebrate the tenth anniversary of this Award — whose past recipients include world leaders such as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chancellor Angela Merkel, and President Emmanuel Macron — we see in you, Gurudev, a beacon of continuity: the union of spiritual leadership and ethical responsibility in an age defined by artificial intelligence and digital power.

On behalf of the Boston Global Forum – AIWS Family, we express our deepest respect and gratitude.

Now, the 2025 World Leader for Peace and Security, Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, becomes a distinguished and esteemed member of the BGF–AIWS Family.

Your Holiness, your life’s work reminds us that peace is not merely the absence of conflict, but the active creation of harmony — within individuals, among societies, and across our shared planet.

May your example continue to guide global leaders and citizens alike toward a more compassionate, secure, and enlightened world.

Congratulations, Gurudev, and thank you for your unwavering service to humanity.

Governor Michael S. Dukakis
Chair and Co-Founder, Boston Global Forum
Director, The Michael Dukakis Institute for Leadership and Innovation

Nguyen Anh Tuan
Co-Founder, Co-Chair, and CEO, Boston Global Forum
Director, The Michael Dukakis Institute for Leadership and Innovation

Acceptance Address and World Leader Spirit Lecture by Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar for the 2025 World Leader for Peace and Security Award

Harvard University Faculty Club, November 3, 2025

Dear Your Excellency Governor Michael Dukakis, Mr. Nguyen Anh Tuan, Distinguished Leaders and Professors,

I accept this honor from the Boston Global Forum for World Leaders, Spirit and Peace and Security.

And I dedicate this honor to all the volunteers who have been tirelessly working for peace of various NGOs around the world.

The root cause of conflicts had to be dipped at the very bud. And for this peace education, I feel, is very essential.

And inspiration through the form like Boston Global Forum, which upholds the moral, spiritual,

and ethics of human existence place a very important role. Peace cannot come just by words.

It has to translate into action. Where there is conflict, we need mediators who can build the bridges.

And people, if you have to build bridges, they have to be free from any type of agenda or bias. Just compassion and clarity in action will make the way for it.

A moral and spiritual force is essential to quell the distress and mistrust that our society has formed over the years.

I’m glad that artificial intelligence world society is joining hands in this you know very noble cause to bring peace a living reality.

The purpose of technology is to bring comfort. And we have to question ourselves. In this age, are there enough comfort? Yes, physical comfort is there. But mental health crisis have skyrocketed. One of the biggest challenges today we have mental health issues. Whether it is in the school, in school districts or the college campuses, at the prison, at home, everywhere in the world, depression and mental health issues,

suicide issues are rising. So it’s very important to bring peace to the doors of people. Darkness cannot come to light but light has to go to the dark where there is darkness.

And this is an effort that all of us will have to be engaged in making it a reality. So I once again thank the forum for honoring me with this award and I’m sure this form is a theme or goal of one’s life.

In short, I would say let us all dream for a violence -free and stress -free society. A disease -free body, a mind with happiness and joy and a heart full of compassion and resilience and a creativity that brings more joy and happiness in society than destruction.

Thank you very much for being with me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Sw7Sskqi0Y

World Leader for Peace and Security Award Recipients and the Next Decade

Harvard University Faculty Club, November 3, 2025

To Our Distinguished World Leaders for Peace and Security Award Recipients,

It is with profound respect and gratitude that we write to you as we celebrate ten years of the World Leader for Peace and Security Award (2015–2025) — ten years of honoring extraordinary leaders whose vision, integrity, and humanity have strengthened the moral and strategic foundations of global peace and security.

From its inception, the Boston Global Forum (BGF) has sought to highlight and support those who lead with both conscience and courage — leaders who understand that true peace is built not only through policy but through principle.

From Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chancellor Angela Merkel, to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, President Toomas Hendrik Ilves, President Sauli Niinistö, President Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, President Ursula von der Leyen, Speaker Andreas Norlén, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the People of Ukraine, Mata Amritanandamayi Devi (Amma), President Emmanuel Macron, and now Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar — each of you has inspired the world to see leadership as service, innovation as responsibility, and power as stewardship.

A Decade of Moral Leadership: 2015–2025

Since the first World Leader for Peace and Security Award in 2015, this recognition has celebrated those who have shaped global harmony and advanced the cause of democracy, dialogue, and human dignity.
Each recipient represents a pillar of peace — and together, you form a living fellowship of leadership that transcends borders, ideologies, and generations.

Your collective example has inspired the creation and growth of the AI World Society (AIWS) — an initiative founded by BGF to define and build a human-centered, ethical, and enlightened civilization in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.

The BGF–AIWS Family and the World Leader Spirit

As we begin the next decade, we are proud to introduce a new movement —
the World Leader Spirit, a symbol of the unity, wisdom, and moral imagination that define our shared global purpose.

The BGF–AIWS Family now brings together:

• All World Leader for Peace and Security Award recipients,
• All World Leader in AIWS Award recipients,
• The BGF leadership, scholars, and innovators,
• And the Enlightenment in Action Alliance (EAA) — an international community of outstanding students from top universities such as Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Oxford, and Cambridge.

Together, we represent a global alliance of conscience — a living embodiment of peace, ethical innovation, and interfaith understanding.

New World Leader Spirit Events

In celebration of this 10th anniversary, and in anticipation of the next chapter, BGF and the AIWS Family will host a series of global events — uniting leadership, culture, and moral imagination:

🌍 World Leader Spirit and Interfaith Values

A dialogue among world leaders and spiritual figures — across Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Judaism — dedicated to integrating spiritual and ethical wisdom into governance and AI development.
2025 laureate Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar will lead this initiative as its guiding moral voice.

🕊️ World Leader Spirit Symposium

An annual forum of world leaders, scholars, and innovators — hosted at Harvard University, MIT, and distinguished global venues — to deliberate on moral governance and peace in the AI Age.

🎵 World Leader Spirit Concert

A celebration of humanity and creativity — featuring global artists and orchestras in partnership with AIWS Music for Humanity, symbolizing unity, empathy, and enlightenment through music.

🍷 World Leader Spirit Dinner

An intimate gathering for dialogue, reflection, and fellowship — celebrating leaders who embody moral courage and human values in a complex world.

Honoring Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Legacy

We hold with deep reverence the legacy of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, one of our earliest and most inspiring honorees.
Following his tragic passing, the Boston Global Forum established the Shinzo Abe Initiative for Peace and Security on July 10, 2022, to honor his vision of a Free and Open Indo-Pacific and his lifelong commitment to peace through strength and moral clarity.

In continuation of that legacy, the AIWS Film Park is producing a feature film about Shinzo Abe’s life and leadership, highlighting his courage, vision, and enduring impact on global peace.
This film will be presented to the world on July 8, 2026, marking four years since his passing and serving as a tribute to his spirit — a leader whose ideas continue to inspire generations.

The Next Decade: Building the New Society in the AI Age

In the decade ahead, the BGF–AIWS Family will focus its collective resources, intellectual capital, and moral strength on creating the New Society in the Age of AI — one built on peace, innovation, trust, and human dignity.

Our initiatives include:

1. AIWS Government 24/7 — creating responsible, transparent, and citizen-centered governance enhanced by AI;
2. Trusted Digital Asset Economy — setting ethical, cultural, and technical standards for digital assets;
3. AIWS Cultural and Creative Innovation Parks — merging art, technology, and humanity through film, music, and design;
4. Global Collaboration for AI Ethics and Security — uniting world leaders, innovators, and faith communities to ensure AI serves humanity responsibly.

Our Shared Vision

The BGF–AIWS Family believes that the next chapter of world leadership will be defined not by dominance, but by moral depth — not by speed, but by wisdom.

Together, we will continue to build:

• A world where technology serves humanity,
• A world where peace is guided by conscience,
• A world where leadership is inspired by spirit.

With our deepest gratitude for your leadership and friendship over the past ten years,
and our sincere hope for your continued guidance and collaboration in the years to come,
we welcome you — always — as the heart of the BGF–AIWS Family.

With respect and admiration,

Governor Michael S. Dukakis
Co-Founder and Chair, Boston Global Forum

Nguyen Anh Tuan
Co-Founder, Co-Chair, and CEO, Boston Global Forum