Confronting Militarism at Home & Abroad

Click for: overview | schedule | speaker bios |

registration | info contacts | previous assemblies | flyer

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Western Washington Fellowship of Reconciliation invites all our members and friends to join us for our annual Spring Assembly on May 30, 2026, 8:45 am to 12:45 pm, online by Zoom.

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OVERVIEW

We will start with music, some tech notes, a welcome from the planning committee, and a land acknowledgement.

We’ll hear from 3 speakers

Karl Riecken, DO, MA, FMCP-M, will speak on “Conscientious Objection at the intersection of Medicine and War.” He is a is a member of the Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility Nuclear Weapons Abolition Task Force.

Oonaugh Foster-Bill will speak on “Intuitive Activism // Maintaining Perspective in Chaos.” She is a student at The Evergreen State College in Olympia and a member of the Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action Stewardship Council.

James Janko will speak on “Opposing Militarism by Addressing Climate Change and Honoring the Earth.” He is a member of the Veterans For Peace Climate Crisis & Militarism Project.

After their individual presentations, the speakers will discuss how the issues intersect and we will then invite Q&A and comments from attendees.

We will also hear from several youth activists who are currently participating in the 2025-26 cohort of the Mike Yarrow Peace Fellowship program and They will report on their projects and respond to questions as time allows. We also welcome one alumni from the 2015 MYPF cohort, now an Associate Professor at Seattle University, speaking about his current anti-militarism work, Dr. Edwin Carlos.

Adesoye Taiwo

Equity in Healthcare

Aram Jung

Peace in Practice: Multimedia Hub for Youth

Sneha Nandkeolyar

Gender Equity in Business

Dr. Edwin Carlos

Confronting U.S. Militarism in the Philippines

See https://wwfor.org/mike-yarrow-peace-fellowship-4/ for information about the MYPF program.

We will have one or two break-out sessions for small group discussion, and musical interludes along the way. The assembly will end with informal discussion.

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SCHEDULE

8:45 Zoom Space Opens

Check Settings, Music

9:00 Welcome, Tech Info, Land Acknowledgement

Presentation by Karl Riecken

Presentation by Oonaugh Foster-Bill

Presentation by James Janko

Panel with Three Speakers

Q & A with Everybody

Breakout Small Groups for Discussion

Break with Music/Poetry

Presentations by MYPF Youth Activists, Q & A

Poetry/Music.

Closing Remarks

12:00 End Formal Program

Informal Discussion

12:45 Close of Assembly

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SPEAKER BIOS

Dr Karl Riecken is a family physician with a background in sport performance and functional medicine. While he initially signed a military contract to serve as an Air Force physician, he started to have doubts about war and war preparation while completing his residency at a federally-qualified health center in Tacoma, WA. He eventually filed as a conscientious objector and was honorably discharged in March 2026. He now focuses energy on nuclear disarmament and nonviolence through organizations such as Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility, Veterans for Peace, AboutFace: Veterans Against the War, and the Civilian Medical Resources Network.

Oonaugh Foster-Bill is a 22-year old junior at the Evergreen State College with a passion for sustainable agriculture, land restoration, and reclaiming traditional ecological knowledge. She was born in Seattle and grew up in Indianola, WA, exploring tideflats and swimming in Puget Sound. Oonaugh has volunteered for various climate justice organizations over the years, and has spent the last two years participating in the Mike Yarrow Peace Fellow program to pursue interests in eco-grief work inspired by Joanna Macy and the nuclear weapons disarmament movement. Oonaugh is currently a member of the Ground Zero Stewardship Council and is helping to plan an August protest gathering at Bangor Base to revive awareness about the presence of nuclear weapons in the Puget Sound region. Click here to view/download event flyer.

James Janko works on the Climate Crisis & Militarism Project of Veterans For Peace, which aims to be part of a movement to transform the organizing principle of our society from dominance to equity, sustainability, community, and regeneration. See https://www.veteransforpeace.org/take-action/climatecrisis. James Janko refused to carry a weapon while serving in Vietnam as a medic in an infantry battalion commanded by Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer III. He studied ecology at UC Berkeley and received a B.S. in Conservation of Natural Resources in 1979. He is the author of three award-winning novels, including The Wire-Walker (2025), which primarily takes place in Nablus, Palestine.

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REGISTRATION – There are several ways to register!

Click here for Online Registration if you are making a donation.
(this will take you a a PayPal site with several ways to pay)
(you don’t need to have a PayPal account)
OR

Postal Registration if you are making a donation:
Send check to WWFOR with memo “Spring Assembly”
and include name(s), email, & phone number (optional)
to WWFOR, 225 N 70th St, Seattle WA 98103. OR

Registration without donation: Just tell us you want to attend
and send name(s), email, phone number (optional)
by postal mail to WWFOR, 225 N 70th St, Seattle WA 98103;
OR by email to wwfor@wwfor.org OR by phone to 206-789-5565

Note: You should get an email with Zoom connection info within a couple of days after we receive your info. If you don’t have an email account, we can give you Zoom connect info by telephone. If you don’t have the ability to use Zoom, we can give you info about connecting by telephone.

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FLYER

Click on image to

view or download

the flyer in pdf form

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Contact us: 206-789-5565 or wwfor@wwfor.org.

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Information and select recordings of presentations from
previous spring assemblies:

2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020

Click for: overview | schedule | speaker bios |

registration | info contacts | previous assemblies | flyer