About S3
Why S3. Why Women, Peace & Security. Why now — and why Salt Lake City is the place to build what comes next.
Why S3
S3 convenes changemakers who refuse to treat peace as a pause between conflicts. We gather to design infrastructure — financing, partnerships, and practices — that women already lead and the world must finally resource.
Women Build Peace is the 2026 expression of that platform: focused on prevention, recovery, and the investment models that make both durable. Each year, S3 returns as a living coalition — not a one-off conference.
Why WPS
Women’s leadership is not optional in security — it is the architecture of lasting peace.
Why now
Crises are compounding. Financing and coalitions must move at the speed of those holding the frontline.
Annual vision
A recurring Salt Lake platform that turns solidarity into sustained partnerships and capital.
Core themes
Prevent. Recover. Invest & Innovate — the editorial spine of every track, lab, and field experience.
Prevent
Atrocity prevention, peace technology, and community early-warning systems.
Recover
Trauma healing, economic agency, and community resilience after harm.
Invest & Innovate
New partnerships and capital models for women-led peace.
Why Salt Lake City
Nestled between mountain ranges, Salt Lake City carries a tradition of civic convening and international solidarity — from the International Peace Gardens to institutions ready to host hard conversations with open hospitality.
We chose this valley because peace infrastructure is local before it is global: cities, faith communities, funders, and frontline practitioners sharing one horizon.
Program principles