Pharmaceutical sales director Chris Manfuso also has a background in philanthropy. In addition to founding and leading the nonprofit Be More for several years, Chris Manfuso is an active supporter of the international organization PeacePlayers.
Started in 2005, PeacePlayers creates youth sports programs and peace education courses in communities impacted by ongoing violence or unrest. Since 2005, more than 70,000 young people have been positively affected by PeacePlayers’ programming. The nonprofit encourages cross-cultural interactions in socially divided regions such as the Middle East and Northern Ireland while engaging young people in sport.
PeacePlayers has organized regional games since 2019. In spring of 2020, the organization launched its first-ever Friendship Games, which brought together youth from its five partner sites across the world for 6 weeks of tournaments and peace-building activities. While the public health crisis resulted in the in-person games transferring from Israel to a virtual format, more than 100 young people and their coaches were able to participate in the Friendship Games.a
