Margret Ellwanger
    Margret Ellwanger is President and cofounder of Pillows for Peace. The company evolved from twelve years of hands-on work in Cambodia, which included building homes for widows, landmine victims, families displaced by war and famine as well as AIDS orphans. Its primary partner is Tabitha-Cambodia, a charitable trust founded and directed by Janne Ritskes. Pillows for Peace finances micro-enterprise cycles, silk weaving product development, community infrastructure like the “Wells for Life”  clean drinking water initiative,  agricultural projects , and the “Pig Connection” . Additionally, every year Mrs. Ellwanger leads teams of volunteers to various Cambodian provinces and teaches “by doing” exemplary models of permanent poverty elimination through economic self reliance. The teams raise the funds to build  houses side by side with villagers enrolled in Tabitha’s community development. Universities have approved “Semester Abroad” studies in recognition of the effectiveness of this program. Since 2002, high school aged members of Pillows for Peace organize themselves in student directed ASAP Clubs (All Students Against Poverty) to participate in fundraising and sale of cottage industry goods.
 Pillows for Peace imports cottage industry products including hand woven silk purses, bedding, sterling silver ornaments, and jewelry for retail and wholesale as well as designs custom products for companies. There are no paid positions and everyone volunteers their time and resources, including all administrative overhead costs. Hence, all profits are churned back 100%   into reaching out to more families desirous of working themselves out of poverty and human trafficking.
In 2005 a partnership with Na’amat Technological High School in Nazareth was added to benefit at risk girls of Muslim, Druze, Jewish and Christian Arab family background with learning disabilities. Teachers and administrators have been recipients of grants for the “Peace through Teacher Dialogue” initiative with focus on professional development and friendship across cultures and faiths.
Mrs. Ellwanger resides in Caesarea, Israel. and San Juan Bautista, California. She has previously lived in   Singapore, Japan, The Netherlands, India and Germany. She holds a B.S. in Physics with a minor in Mathematics and Chemistry from TU Clausthal in Germany. She has also performed graduate work at the Technical University Munich and holds a Master’s Degree in Solid State Physics from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. She was employed at Siemens Research Laboratories and  taught German at Fuchu Shi Community College in Tokyo, Japan. She has held extensive volunteer positions in a variety of national, international and academic organizations.  She is a member of Zonta International.
You can reach her at pfpcd@yahoo.com.