July 23-30, 2022
Meet the Training Team
Jeyanthy Siva is an international trainer in communication and conflict resolution. Jeyanthy’s vision and greatest hope is to contribute to healing, reconciliation and peaceful coexistence of all the different communities of Sri Lanka and by extension the world.
She shares NVC skills for people to resolve conflicts without resorting to violence, to stay connected with each other even when there is a disagreement and to gain access to resources needed to sustain life powerfully and peacefully.
She has been facilitating trainings and team retreats since 2000 and travels extensively between Asia, Europe and other parts of the world.
Jeyanthy has trained teachers, university students, NGO staff and media personal as well as doctors, psychiatrists & counselors. She has also trained teams in private sector companies, business leaders, coaches and others looking to improve management, communication and conflict resolution skills.
In the late 90’s, along with other trainers from Berkeley, CA, she co-founded the Diversity Project to bring Nonviolent Communication to minority groups in the USA who have traditionally been blocked in their ability to access equal opportunity.
Jeyanthy studied Nonviolent Communication with NVC founder Marshall Rosenberg and Joanna Macy.
At the age of 12, I left my home in Thailand to study alone in what was then called Madras, India. I was forewarned by our guide not to give any money to beggars when we got off the train. But then a small skin-to-bone child who was probably my age approached me for money and I gave it to her without a thought. A small school of kids came out of nowhere surrounding me stretching out their hands to my face. The guide rescued me while I stood motionless.
These few minutes left an indelible mark on my memory. Together with my other experiences living in England and America, I experienced the world from the perspective of an outsider and at the same time, I had a profound sense that inside we are all the same. We want love. We want to give love. We want to belong and be treated with respect and dignity.
In the heart of the Silicon Valley, I became, on the outside, a successful professional in the computer software field. On the inside, I was so far away from who I deeply am. With the sudden death of my mother and a diagnosis of cancer a year later, I was shaken out of my normal busy life. Thus, I began the journey of discovering and returning to who I really am. – Kanya
Kanya returned to live in Thailand in 2009, where she works as a trainer, coach and consultant in communication, conflict resolution, and personal growth. She is a certified CNVC Trainer who teaches NVC skills and supports teams with conflict resolution. She is a graduate of Naropa University and trained in Hakomi and Internal Family Systems.
Kanya has worked in prisons, schools, and hospitals as well as for-profit organizations changing the culture so that people collaborate on the organization’s toughest challenges.
Kanya gets people to talk to each other so that everyone can see the big picture, appreciate the challenges they face, and reduce tension among team members. She helps senior leaders and workers at every level hear each other’s concerns and then create solutions that work for all.
Her light-hearted style puts people at ease. By telling the truth about things that are not usually discussed, she gets people laughing and sharing at a deeper level. She embodies an open, compassionate facilitation style that engages people in difficult conversations and builds connection. She helps people talk about different levels of power and privilege without judgment, to that they can explore the heart of the matter.
I love creating spaces where the wisdom of the group can emerge. I’m interested in how our nervous systems react to one another when there is perceived threat and mistrust; and what is needed to build bridges. I like to explore taking the jargon out of NVC. It’s hard, but not impossible. – Mika
Mika is a Japanese-Canadian Certified CNVC trainer based in Vancouver, British Columbia. As a master of violent communication, she is constantly learning how to “be NVC” without the jargon. She enjoys working with multicultural groups in both working-class and middle-class contexts and is interested in what is needed to create safety and trust between people across power differences. She gave birth to her greatest teacher and credits her son for keeping her ‘human’.
My work is about sharing with people of colour and other marginalised folks, ways of responding to racism and other forms of oppression with nonviolent consciousness. I also focus on ways to support teams, groups, movements and organisations to find ways of working that create space for humanity and generate less harm. This commitment comes from my own experience of decolonising my understanding of myself and in support of my two most important needs—freedom and choice.
Leonie Smith is a first-generation Canadian of Jamaican heritage and co-founder of POC4NVC, along with Uma Lo, a network dedicated to supporting people of colour in NVC community. She is founder of a consultancy dedicated to supporting organisations and individuals find ways of working that are less harmful and more inclusive, The Thoughtful Workplace. She has more than 20 years experience in senior management positions championing an approach to leadership that supports care and efficiency towards a shared purpose.
Organizing Team: Gail (Shivani) Carroll, Amber Carroll, Martha Lasley
Empathy Labyrinth Trainer
Marc Weiner is a professional comedian, TV actor, puppeteer, and creator of the Empathy Labyrinth, a tool to teach NVC and foster joyful empathic Heart-to-Heart connections.
Marc focuses on deep self-empathy work to heal and discover new possibilities for connection. Marc has been teaching Nonviolent Communication at Kripalu for 10 years.
For more information: www.theempathylabyrinth.com
Host
Gail is a CNVC Certified Trainer bringing 15 years of personal practice and application of NVC to her teaching. Professionally, Gail co-organizes NVC programs, including the East Coast Mediate Your Life Immersion Program, which trained mediators and others on how to use NVC to better resolve personal and interpersonal conflicts. Gail also produces and organizes the week-long New York Intensive in Nonviolent Communication, an annual residential intensive held in New York State for all interested in the practice of NVC.
In her private client practice and in the numerous workshops and classes that she leads, Gail focuses on relationships, mediating conflict, and empathy.
Gail practiced NVC for several years before she graduated from Bay NVC’s intensive year-long leadership program in 2006, after which she launched her own practice and established NVC Boston. Through her practice of NVC, she has developed a stronger relationship with herself and a deeper understanding of her own emotions and needs. She has also fostered strong communication-based interpersonal relationships, including those with her daughter and partner.
As a teacher, Gail is known for her compassion, practice, and care. Her strong commitment to the transformative power of NVC and her own story of how it has brought authenticity, clarity, and compassion into all her relationships inspires both clients and students. One fellow teacher says, “Her commitment and integrity in living the process in her own life have met the needs for connection, peace, love, and support for so many of us.”
To contact Gail, email her at gcarroll@nvcboston.org or call her at 617-840-4898.