Heidi Kühn has spent her life cultivating peace where once there was conflict. She is a graduate of UC Berkeley with a degree in Political Economics.

In 1997, having overcome a battle with cancer, she launched a battle of a different kind: one against the silent killers buried beneath the earth—landmines. Founding the humanitarian organization Roots of Peace, Heidi gave life to the “Mines to Vines” initiative, turning once deadly landscapes into thriving vineyards and orchards. Roots of Peace has facilitated the removal of over 100,000 landmines and unexploded bombs, restoring the land for agricultural bounty.

Her work restored food security and livelihoods to over a million farmers and families, with over seven million fruit trees planted in former war-torn regions across ten countries.

Heidi’s mission has drawn support from governments, international organizations, and private enterprises alike. Her life’s work has been recognized with numerous honors—the UC Berkeley’s Alumni of the Year Award in 2002, the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship in 2006, and the Jefferson Award for Public Service in 2007. She is also a recipient of the ‘Rotary Service Above Self’ Award and a proud member of the Rotary Club of San Francisco #2.

In 2019, she became the first American woman to receive the Mahatma Gandhi Global Family Seva Medal, and in 2023, the prestigious World Food Prize Laureate, a Nobel-like honor in the field of agriculture. She has also been awarded the Mother Teresa Award for Social Justice.

To date, Roots of Peace has impacted over 1 million farmers and families, spanning eight countries – Afghanistan, Angola, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cambodia, Croatia, Iraq, Israel, Palestine and Vietnam.