Alumna working to reduce violence globally
Mindy Grantham ’92 (mass communications) was recently at Flag Is Up Farms, home to the real-life horse whisperer, Monty Roberts and his wife, Pat Roberts, renowned sculptress, for the international launch of Lead-Up International. Lead-Up workshops are conducted with vulnerable youth with the goal of breaking the cycle of violence and creating the next generation of peaceful and powerful leaders through workshops with horses. Ten Monty Roberts instructors were certified to impart Lead-Up workshops in Australia, Austria, Brazil, Germany, Guatemala, Hungary, Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The Lead-Up program is based around workshops with horses in which participants are introduced to humane ways of handling and interacting with horses. Participants discover non-violence and non-aggression for themselves through interactions with horses and principally through the experience of Join-Up® with a horse, the non-violent training system designed by Monty Roberts author of The Man Who Listens to Horses. Convinced there must be a more humane and effective system to train horses Monty created Join-Up, a consistent set of principles based on the horse’s inherent body language and herd-behavior. The result of Join-Up is a willing partnership based on mutual respect and trust. Lead-Up International, an affiliate of Monty Roberts’ Join-Up International, recently announced that the journal ‘Human Animal Interaction Bulletin’ published a report by Dr. Judith Gibbons and team with scientific evidence of reduced violence and abuse toward horses and people through the Lead-Up program.
Grantham’s corporate career path changed significantly after being laid off at the end of 2012. With the idea of coming to Guatemala for one month in order to get out of a Minnesota winter and take a much-needed break, she didn’t realize that this one simple decision would change her life. For the first three years in Guatemala, Grantham worked as the Director of Marketing and Communications for De la Gente, a non-profit working with small-holder coffee farmers and cooperatives in Guatemala to create economic opportunities that improve the quality of life for their families and communities.
During this time, Grantham met Katie Cunningham, founder of Lead-Up. While at MSUM, Grantham held different positions on the Campus Activities Board, producing events on campus. It was her love of theatre that moved her to produce The Vagina Monologues in Antigua. She decided that all of the profits should go to an organization working to reduce violence, which led her to Katie. From there, the relationship blossomed into more and today, Grantham is the Program Manager for Lead-Up International.
“I feel that the pieces all fell together; that I was supposed to be here in Guatemala,” said Grantham. “I have been blessed with many opportunities to use my education and corporate experience to help people and now to reduce violence around the world.”
“The Lead-Up Program helps participants learn how to improve their self-awareness and regulate their body language and emotions through specialized interactions with horses and specifically through the embodied experience of Join-Up. Participants intrinsically learn that violence is not necessary and that they can be powerful yet peaceful leaders through self-awareness and better control of body language and emotions,” said Katie Cunningham, Founder, lifelong horsewoman and promoter of equine and human welfare.
Roberts has been recognized by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II who acknowledged his work by honoring him with the Royal Victorian Order and who is also Patron of Join-Up International, the 501 c 3 non-profit formed to educate people in these concepts. The Queen has also recognized Catherine Cunningham, Founder of Lead-Up International for her efforts to reduce violence in Guatemala. Queen Elizabeth is following the development of this program for the humane treatment of animals and trust based relationships with humans.
The Lead-Up team has been developing the program since 2012 and has partnered with global organizations and local NGOs in Guatemala who have expressed the growing need to reduce violence in the communities they serve. Their team is international and varied in their talents but have in common the desire to take these groundbreaking methods to the world.
For more information, visit Join-Up’s website.