Lauri Jones Pastrone | Source | Founder and CEO at Peace by Piece International

Lauri Jones Pastrone founded Peace by Piece International (PbPI) in 2017 to create bridges between corporations and underserved communities. Every day, she is inspired to see how companies’ gifting choices shift the direction of people’s lives – especially women who have been homeless, incarcerated, trafficked, or abused. She believes that every act of gifting can and should be a way to help lift up individuals who deserve a second chance.

Prior to founding PbPI, Pastrone created and co-produced The SHARE Cookbook, published in 2012 by Kyle Books. Selling over 65,000 copies globally, the book focuses on the work of Women for Women International, a one-year sponsorship program that helps women survivors of war and conflict to become self-reliant. Artists, chefs, and humanitarians including Paul McCartney, Nelson Mandela, Annie Lennox, and Emma Thompson contributed recipes, and Meryl Streep wrote the foreword.

Pastrone spent nearly two decades in data and media intelligence with executive positions at International Data Corporation and PressChoice of London. She is a graduate of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California with a BS in international economics. She also attended Pontifícia Universidade Católica in Rio de Janeiro and speaks Portuguese fluently. Pastrone lives in Los Gatos, California, with her husband Paul.