Catch the Fire

Charlie Murphy is renowned for his group facilitation and program design work integrating the arts into youth development. He was an award-winning musician with over 30 years experience in the field of experiential learning. Charlie is co-founder of Partners for Youth Empowerment. Together with Peggy Taylor, he spent more than two decades developing the Creative Empowerment Model, a process for building creative, heart-centered learning communities with youth and adults from diverse cultures and backgrounds. Charlie is co-founder of Power of Hope, a creativity-based youth program in the Pacific Northwest, and he was the recipient of an Ashoka Fellowship, in recognition of his achievements as a social entrepreneur. Charlie lost his battle with ALS in August 2016 and is survived by the love of his life, Eric Mulholland.

Peggy Taylor is a writer, musician and creative development specialist, and is co-founder of Partners for Youth Empowerment (PYE), a program of Commonweal since 2022. Together with Charlie Murphy, she developed the Creative Empowerment Model (now Community Empowerment Model), a process for building creative, heart-centered learning communities with youth and adults from diverse cultures and backgrounds. Peggy is co-author of Chop Wood, Carry Water: A Guide to Finding Spiritual Fulfillment in Everyday Life that sold over 250,000 copies worldwide. She is co-founder of Power of Hope, a creativity-based youth program in the Pacific Northwest and co-founder of Hollyhock, a learning center in British Columbia.