When Sam Flood walked into a packed auditorium at a public event on women’s leadership in peace and security, she didn’t yet know it would mark the beginning of a deeper journey with the organization behind it—the Dallaire Institute for Children, Peace and Security. 

Then a political science student at the University of King’s College and Dalhousie University, Sam was drawn to the Institute’s mission of preventing the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict. What began as a practicum placement soon grew into something more: a meaningful collaboration that shaped her academic path, contributed to real-world advocacy, and brought fresh insight to the Institute’s work. 

In a dusty classroom in Abyei, children once surrounded by conflict now gather each week—some no older than three, others in their teens—to learn, ask questions, and simply feel safe. The woman at the front of the room, Sierra Leonean Chief Superintendent Zainab Gbla, began her career in peacekeeping over a decade ago. But it was a five-day training with the Dallaire Institute in 2014 that offered her a new lens: one that changed not just how she saw children in armed conflict—but what she believed was possible for them.