Candidates for Programs Resource Circle: 2022


The following 16 people are candidates for five (5) open seats on the Programs Resource Circle (PRC), listed in reverse alphabetical order by first name. To see the candidates' introductions, click on the person's name or scroll down the page.

  1. Sudha Shankar (India)
  2. Robert Maoz Kržišnik (Portugal)
  3. Matthew Rich Tolsma (Netherlands)
  4. Leonie Smith (Canada)
  5. Kanya Likanasudh (Thailand)
  6. Juergen Licht (Germany)
  7. Gert Skoczowsky-Danielsen (Norway)
  8. Éva Rambala (Hungary)
  9. Dmitriy Kopina (Slovenia)
  10. Claudia Patricia Sánchez Bedoya (Colombia)
  11. Camila Reyes (Colombia)
  12. Azzam Talhami (United States)
  13. Anniken Poulson Beer (Norway)
  14. Ann Birot-Salsbury (France)
  15. Angela Walkley (Canada)
  16. Amal Hadweh (Palestine)

In addition, you can see the Members who nominated these candidates, and the reasons they gave for nominating them in English | Deutsch | Français | Español | Italiano. Out of the 40 people who were nominated, the 16 people on this page accepted the nomination and agreed to be part of this election.

The election survey will open on 08-Aug-2022. You can see the full description and mandate of the PRC in this document.
 

1. Sudha Shankar

Sudha Shankar

Email Sudha  |  Country: India

Languages: English, हिन्दी (Hindi), বাংলা (Bengali), മലയാളം (Malayalam), and some தமிழ் (Tamil). I recently began learning Kiswahili (Swahili)  |  Ethnicity: Indian

Skills (that we asked candidates about using a checklist):

  • I have been a trainer or organizer for one or more IITs during the past 5 years
  • I am connected with one or more NVC communities
  • I have experience engaging with people from different cultures
  • I have the ability to think at a systems level, I enjoy working collaboratively with others
  • I am not a perfectionist - I know when to say, “this is good enough for now”

Brief Summary: I see IITs as instrumental in upholding the integrity of NVC consciousness and practice. The values of inclusion, transparency, and diversity speak to my heart. It will be extremely meaningful for me to be part of shaping the programmes of CNVC, and aligning these with the aspirations of trainers, keeping the realities of local communities in mind. 

Meet Sudha in this video introduction:

If you cannot watch the embedded video on this page, watch it on Youtube.


Full Introduction: I never met Marshall. I regret that. He came to India in 2004 and 2006, of which I was unaware. In 2009, I attended my first training with Saleem Ebrahim. He was, and is, my inspiration. I remember feeling gobsmacked at what I heard the first day. I was well into my 50s and I could not fathom why no one had mentioned ‘Needs’ to me till then despite actively working on personal growth and healing.

I attribute the spread of NVC in India to the International Conventions that initially Saleem initiated with Aniruddha and, later, the Indian community (of which I became an active part) organized annually. Saleem also helped set up the Delhi practice group in 2009. Today, 13 years later, it continues to be an active, vibrant group that meets every week. My continuing learning and growth has been, and is, primarily, through this practice group, which some of us (then complete novices) tentatively held together, with the conviction that this is something precious and an unspoken determination that we would not…could not…let it go. Training with certified trainers was a difficult proposition those days; and the only opportunities we had were at the annual Conventions. The practice group, therefore, nourished and nurtured our engagement with NVC.

Briefly, about me. I work in the seemingly diverse areas of editing books and journals, hypnotherapy and other healing modalities, and sharing NVC. I am on the Governing Board of three Indian NGOs: CARENIDHI (works with care-providers of disabled children), Society for Labour and Development (works for labour rights) and Studio Nilima (seeks to build linkages between individuals in the fields of education, governance, public policy, law and the creative arts). My family spans four generations…my mum, my husband and I, our three children and their spouses, and a grandchild (with one more in the offing!).

I am passionate about the spread of NVC. When I look around and see the extent of ‘othering’ both in my country and in the world, I lean into the hope that the NVC consciousness offers. I was certified in 2017 and opted to tread the Assessor-in-Training path subsequently. India is a vast country and even a thousand certified trainers seem too few a number to reach the masses. I am, therefore, ‘driven’ by a desire to see NVC spread in the subcontinent. Toward this end, I, along with eight others, formed a not-for-profit organization in 2020 called NVC Trust. One of its objectives is to support the emergence of certified trainers. I am excited and nervous to have been nominated to the PRC. On being elected, I hope to contribute consciously to the values of clarity, transparency, inclusion, diversity and openness. I see the IITs and VITs as being instrumental in upholding the integrity of NVC consciousness, training and practice. I am keen to explore the area of continuing education for CTs, imagining that we can collectively come up with creative strategies.
 

2. Robert Maoz Kržišnik

Robert Maoz Kržišnik

Email Robert  |  Country: Portugal

Languages: Slovenščina (Slovenian - mother tongue), Српско-хрватски (SerboCroatian) (second language), a tiny bit of Deutsch (German)  |  Ethnicity: Slavic-European

Skills (that we asked candidates about using a checklist):

  • I have been a trainer or organizer for one or more IITs during the past 5 years
  • I am connected with one or more NVC communities
  • I have experience engaging with people from different cultures
  • I have the ability to think at a systems level
  • I enjoy working collaboratively with others
  • I am not a perfectionist - I know when to say, “this is good enough for now”

Brief Summary: Born in 1966 in Yugoslavia, a citizen of Slovenia, living in Portugal. MSc. Psych, have been working with groups as a trainer, facilitator, mediator for over 34 years. Shared NVC in 30 countries. Excited about intercultural aspects of sharing NVC, widening our horizons as trainers and deepening our embodiment through continuous learning. 

Meet Robert in this video introduction:

If you cannot watch the embedded video on this page, watch it on Youtube.


Full Introduction: Dear friends, I am feeling truly honoured to see there are several colleagues who nominated me, and grateful for the trust I imagine led them to do so. I would like to first introduce myself very briefly, focusing on what I imagine is most relevant, and after I want to share a few excitements of mine in regards to PRC:

  • In order to not keep reinventing the wheel but rather learn from each other as a learning and evolving community, I would like us to consider creating an internal “Wikipedia” on IITs, where trainer teams would be, after the IITs, contributing learnings and good practices in an easy-to-search format, so that future teams could easily browse what they would be curious about, learn… Writing reports from IITs does not seem to be doing the job, as it would be extremely time-consuming to now go through old reports and try to find some inspiration on, for example, designing the first day of an IIT.
  • Intercultural aspects of sharing NVC: as I still, from time to time, work as an intercultural trainer, and as I have travelled and worked around the world relatively a lot, I am at least beginning to be aware of how complex this field is and I would like us to raise intercultural awareness and skills of trainers, as well as make sure that we, as a community, don’t end up walking around the globe as modern missionaries, overriding the cultural values of non-western societies, creating more divisions instead of connection. I share more about this aspect in this video.
  • Continuous learning – As Thomas Aquinas famously said: “Beware of the person of one book”, I would love us to be aware that NVC is not a tool for just about everything, but can work very well, in complementarity, synergy, with other modalities, for example Art of Hosting, and similar innovative and potent bodies of knowledge on designing and carrying out large-group facilitated processes… As we all know when one has only a hammer as a tool, all they will tend to see around them will be nails. I believe very much in the old wisdom that a teacher/trainer, who does not see themselves as student first, will not be a teacher/trainer for very long. So I would like the CNVC to encourage trainers’ continuous learning, both in deepening the NVC embodiment as well as in widening our horizons and embracing complementary practices.

With the new breeze I have been experiencing in the CNVC, I am rather enthusiastic about the possibility of being elected for this role. I am aware that there will likely be frustrating moments, and moments in which there will be more work to do than what I would easily be willing to contribute, yet I believe that with our communication skills we can contribute to our community and to the world a lot. So I am rather optimistic.
 

3. Matthew Rich Tolsma

Matthew Rich Tolsma

Email Matthew  |  Country: Netherlands

Languages: English, Nederlands (Dutch)  |  Ethnicity: Afrikaans (White South African

Skills (that we asked candidates about using a checklist):

  • I have been a trainer or organizer for one or more IITs during the past 5 years
  • I am connected with one or more NVC communities
  • I have experience engaging with people from different cultures
  • I have the ability to think at a systems level
  • I enjoy working collaboratively with others
  • I am not a perfectionist - I know when to say, “this is good enough for now”

Brief Summary: I am a South African and Dutch certified trainer, Assessor-in-Training, and organisational consultant, with a background working with schools, organisations, and communities in Africa, Asia, and Europe. I am deeply involved in work around decolonisation in Higher Education and have extensive experience leading global complex change projects. 

Meet Matthew in this video introduction:

If you cannot watch the embedded video on this page, watch it on Youtube.


Full Introduction: I am a South African and Dutch certified trainer and organisational consultant, with extensive experience working with schools, organisations, and communities in Africa, Asia, and Europe. I was the first South African to be certified and one of the earlier African certified trainers (I was certified in 2012 (my assessor was Towe Widstrand). I have a background in education (working from early childhood through graduate level) and encountered NVC for the first time working in democratic education in South Africa in 2005. My grassroots work with children, teachers, and school leaders in Africa and Asia - where I first began teaching NVC - drew heavily on critical pedagogy and focused on decolonisation and transformative leadership. I moved on to work as an academic where I explored the intersections of transformative learning and leadership in universities in response to wickedly complex global challenges (which culminated in the publication of a book series on this topic) as well as overseeing a project on strategic foresight in Africa and serving as a visiting scholar at the Global Change Institute at Wits University in Johannesburg).

I am still doing some work in Higher Education: I teach entrepreneurship and innovation at leading management school in The Netherlands, I have been teaching NVC to faculty at an engineering school here (where I also offer strategic consulting services), and I am leading an equality, diversity, and inclusion programme for senior leaders at the UK’s leading music and drama conservatory where I also led a psychoeducational group about intersectionality and identity for students. I am also presently busy training as a group analytic psychotherapist at the Institute of Group Analysis (UK) where I chair the curriculum subgroup of the Power, Position, and Privilege working group which oversees a project for decolonising curriculum. For many years I served as an executive director of an award winning organisational consultancy (before striking out on my own). I have experience leading complex international change projects in a range of different types of organisations.

Recently I have been more focused on working with complex and intractable conflict in organisations and helping groups to reflect on difference, power, position, and privilege. I am particularly interested in discourses of decolonisation and thinking about how this applies to pedagogy, consulting, and services. As an NVC trainer: I am a member of the Dutch language NVC circle, I am currently an Assessor-in-Training with the English Speaking European Assessment Team, and am involved in a project supporting African Certification Candidates (where I am engaged in conversations about decolonising NVC certification). I am on the trainer team for the IIT in Nairobi which will be taking place in December.
 

4. Leonie Smith

Leonie Smith

Email Leonie  |  Country: Canada

Language: English  |  Ethnicity: Afro-Caribbean

Skills (that we asked candidates about using a checklist):

  • I am connected with one or more NVC communities
  • I have experience engaging with people from different cultures
  • I have the ability to think at a systems level
  • I enjoy working collaboratively with others
  • I am not a perfectionist - I know when to say, “this is good enough for now”

Brief Summary: Leonie Smith is a first-generation Canadian of Jamaican heritage. She uses a relational and skill-building approach to coaching, training, and mediation. Her work and life are centred around sharing people-centred modalities such as Nonviolent Communication, Restorative and Transformative Justice practices, and Sociocracy to support people who are traditionally marginalised to show up in their full humanity.

Meet Leonie in this video introduction: (Note: Due to poor sound quality in this video, we recommend clicking "CC" to see the transcript).

If you cannot watch the embedded video on this page, watch it on Youtube.


Full Introduction: I am interested in serving on the PRC because I have skills that will support creating IITs that are inclusive and expand NVC community to populations that struggle to find space to exploring their learning around NVC in the current structures. My approach is work from and anti-racist and anti-oppressive lens that supports the full participation of all peoples interested in and committed to creating a world that works for all through nonviolent means. I have also successfully nurtured the creation of spaces for Black, Indigenous, People of Colour that welcomes their perspectives.

I also continue to work collaboratively with trainers and others from the dominant culture who are interested in expanding NVC community and learning how to do so with minimal harm. In addition, I have extensive experience creating networks, organising events, and participating and leading in collaborative teams. I look forward to exploring this opportunity to contribute to this community in a meaningful and personally fulfilling way.

5. Kanya Likanasudh

Kanya Likanasudh

Email Kanya  |  Country: Thailand

Languages: English, ภาษาไทย (Thai)  |  Ethnicity: Chinese Thai

Skills (that we asked candidates about using a checklist):

  • I am connected with one or more NVC communities
  • I have experience engaging with people from different cultures
  • I have the ability to think at a systems level
  • I enjoy working collaboratively with others
  • I am not a perfectionist - I know when to say, “this is good enough for now”

Brief Summary: I am committed to working towards more diversity, equity and inclusion - geographic and cultural. I hold an awareness of power dynamics and have a strong intention to respect and support communities and resources on the ground in the countries where trainings take place. 

Meet Kanya in this video introduction:

If you cannot watch the embedded video on this page, watch it on Youtube.
 

Full Introduction: NVC has changed my world from a life of a software engineer in Silicon Valley pursuing the next killer app to a life filled with purpose and meaning. Bringing NVC to Thailand helped me realize I am passionate about including voices from the Global South and committed to making NVC more relevant to address the turmoil in the world. I have been serving on the CNVC Board since 2020.

While ACC (Assessors Coordinating Circle) takes care of our people, Projects Circle (PC) of our projects, the Program Resource Circle (PRC) is one of the governing bodies dedicated to programs to help us move toward the vision of CNVC. Holding this big picture in mind, I am committed to working towards more diversity, equity and inclusion - geographic and cultural, in alignment with the feedback gathered through the environmental scan. I hold an awareness of power dynamics and have a strong intention to respect and support communities and resources on the ground in the countries where trainings take place. If I am elected to the PRC team, I want to focus on the following:

  1. Stewardship of Marshall’s gift, through every governing body within CNVC
  2. Systematizing, proceduralizing, and making decisions transparent to the community for IITs and VITs, towards more equity and in alignment with the integrity of NVC
  3. Creating more access to CNVC resources and participation on global forums for NVC practitioners from the Global South as well as from marginalized communities within the Global North. I am passionate about creating more opportunities for new generations of trainers.
  4. Building an awareness of cultural humility and power dynamics
  5. Openness to explore gaps of information and awareness in our organization
  6. Collaborating with the ACC and CNVC's assessors towards more support for Trainers’ candidates
  7. Developing a program through Continuing Education that will support our trainers to facilitate large groups, work in different parts of the world in ways that are culturally sensitive, and model the sharing of power.

With the joy of a child feeding a hungry duck, I would be honored to serve our community by being part of the PRC team for the next 2 years.
 

6. Juergen Licht

Juergen Licht

Email Juergen  |  Country: Germany

Languages: English, Deutsch (German), Français (French)  |  Ethnicity: European German

Skills (that we asked candidates about using a checklist):

  • I have been a trainer or organizer for one or more IITs during the past 5 years
  • I am connected with one or more NVC communities
  • I have experience engaging with people from different cultures
  • I have the ability to think at a systems level
  • I enjoy working collaboratively with others
  • I am not a perfectionist - I know when to say, “this is good enough for now”
  • Economist, Budgeting, Organisation

Brief Summary: I enjoy supporting individuals and groups in shaping their lives together and gather my experiences through my life in "Ro70" a communal living project in Weimar, Thuringia. Community, Co-operation, Support and mutual care combined with joy and dedication are values I appreciate and find in my work and life. 

Meet Juergen in this video introduction:

If you cannot watch the embedded video on this page, watch it on Youtube.
 

Full Introduction: After more than 30 years in management positions, I changed my life and became a systemic coach and mediator. For several years I have been involved in German-speaking and international NVC communities, conducting and arranging trainings, conferences and network groups. Attending the IIT in Slovenia in 2019, I learned how valuable the IIT format has been for my personal development. I see that IITs and possibly other forms of trainings and meetings can provide wonderful chances to spread the idea of NVC around the world and I wish as many people as possible can join in such events.

As the organiser of the German IIT this year, I realised what it means to plan and run such training and to live my NVC values. In the PRC I see an opportunity to continue the work of the IIT-Resource teams and support local teams in creating training and community building gatherings in many places. I want to contribute in the building of systems that support the local teams as well as provide sufficient funding for CNVC and the events themselves while facilitating inclusion of people with limited access to financial resources and face language issues.

7. Gert Skoczowsky-Danielsen

Gert Skoczowsky-Danielsen

Email Gert  |  Country: Norway

Languages: English, Español (Spanish), Português (Portuguese), Français (French), Norsk (Norwegian)

Ethnicity: Caucasian/Nordic  |  Minority Group: LGBTQIA+

Skills (that we asked candidates about using a checklist):

  • I have been a trainer or organizer for one or more IITs during the past 5 years
  • I am connected with one or more NVC communities
  • I have experience engaging with people from different cultures
  • I have the ability to think at a systems level
  • I enjoy working collaboratively with others
  • I am not a perfectionist - I know when to say, “this is good enough for now”
  • I have organised online trainings and been a trainer at various online NVC trainings in several languages (useful for the VITs)

Brief Summary: A passionate and versatile NVC practitioner, conflict transformer, dancer ;), social justice #activist” and linguist, I would love your trust to serve on the PRC. I served on the former IIT Resource Team and would like to contribute again, with commitment, to ensure sustainability, fairness, inclusion and diversity.

Meet Gert in this video introduction:

If you cannot watch the embedded video on this page, watch it on Youtube.
 

Full Introduction: Having served on the IIT Resource Team (IIT RT) for two years (May 2019-April 2021), I am grateful for having served the CNVC and IIT and VIT organisers and trainers across the world. I attended my first IIT in Sweden in 2005, through a scholarship given to me by Marshall, and he also invited me on a scholarship to attend the Orchidea Lodge Special 14 days Training in Switzerland that same year. As a Certified Trainer since 2018, I have shared NVC in four languages in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East, and online. I was on the Organising Team of the 2017 Denmark IIT and I am now the Organiser for the first ever IIT in Norway in 2023. I organised the first ever online Empathy Festival for the Nordic countries and I have served on the Board of NVC Norway as Director and Secretary. Moreover, I have been a trainer at the residential NVC Summer Festival in Spain and at the online NVC Festival Viviendo CNV organised from Argentina.

Grateful for and enriched by my Master’s Degree in International Relations and Spanish in the UK and my Master’s Degree in International Relations, Peace and Conflict Resolution from Buenos Aires, Argentina, I am also a trained mediator and a current member of the Norwegian Mediation Council. My experience includes volunteering with and managing NGOs, working with the United Nations for ten years in four continents, teaching in primary and secondary schools and at a South African University and managing my own company, Empathos Partners, sharing NVC and conflict transformation with the private sector, governmental institutions, political parties, organisations and individuals. A priority of mine has been providing educational opportunities for underrepresented groups, particularly youth from Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and Asia, as well as members of the LBGTQIA+ community.

I am deeply grateful for the nomination to the PRC and I have reflected profoundly on my desire to contribute and my capacity to do so, concluding that I would love to serve on the PRC. While on the IIT RT, I initiated work on the IIT RT Terms of Reference and contributed to the Key IIT RT Documents, such as the IIT RT Agreements, the IIT RT Guidelines and the Manual for Organizing IITs. My main interest in being part of the PRC is to contribute to the institutionalisation of sustainable policies, guidelines and procedures in order to prevent so-called “ad hoc” decisions and ensure coherence, fairness, diversity and inclusion. I would also work hard to contribute to:

  1. Increased impartiality on the PRC, among other things ensuring that no PRC member be involved in decisions regarding IITs, VITs or CETs where they themselves will be a trainer or an organiser;
  2. More IITs and VITs in (and for) underrepresented countries, groups, languages and socio-economic classes; and
  3. Safer IIT, VIT and CET experiences for participants, particularly through zero tolerance for sexual harassment, abuse of power, racism, “Occidentialism” and classism.

I thank you for your trust.
 

8. Éva Rambala

Éva Rambala

Email Éva  |  Country: Hungary

Languages: English, Magyar (Hungarian) |  Ethnicity: Many people perceive me as white female, but I am Eastern European

Skills (that we asked candidates about using a checklist):

  • I have been a trainer or organizer for one or more IITs during the past 5 years
  • I am connected with one or more NVC communities
  • I have experience engaging with people from different cultures
  • I have the ability to think at a systems level
  • I am not a perfectionist - I know when to say, “this is good enough for now”
  • I have an unshakable commitment mixed with excitement to notice more and more details on how to collaborate in a caring and effective manner.

Brief Summary: Having been in this network for 20+ years, experiencing being at the top, at the bottom, I do not have idealistic images, but an unshakable commitment to find my way to serve the greater community.

Meet Éva in this video introduction: (Note: This video contains portions of two meetings)

If you cannot watch the embedded video on this page, watch it on Youtube.
 

Full Introduction: I believe I could give a lot, since I have a great amount of experience from the original source, working with Marshall for several years, I have served in IIT RT, and can see clearly what are the missing points that can support organisational memory. For continuous learning, I have about 20 years of experience on how to inspire people to start and follow sharing NVC. I am very committed to creating a structure which inspires each trainer to find their next steps. I was in this network, already at the top, at the bottom, so I do not have idealistic images, but an unshakable commitment to find my way to serve the greater community.

In some ways, I am questioning whether I would be a good fit for the PRC. For example, I heard Fr. Chris says that we have been on the IIT-RT long enough and it might be time to give others a chance. Also, I might be too loyal to Marshall, or not fully aware of the pain that I still carry in relation to him, which can make it harder for me to see present needs and the opportunity for evolution. Nevertheless, I have many ideas about how to make our organisation a more life serving place and I am inspired to contribute to this through the PRC. I am also trusting the new PRC members to bring fresh and current perspectives and for us together to transition smoothly.

I am coming from this experience : Between 1999 and 2005 I assisted Marshall Rosenberg at more than 40 IIT-s. Those days, he had about 300 workshop days a year, and IIT-s were almost holidays to him, so he invited mainly the trainers he had ease to be with for 9 days. His experience, knowledge and fame sold the IIT-s, and guaranteed the quality. It was a small group who was invited, which generated a great amount of pain in the community. I want to acknowledge, this is what we as a community inherited.

For a couple of years I struggled with some guilt, I should give back something if I got so much. I am ever grateful for Fr. Chris (colleague from Sri Lanka) for helping me to stay in the present moment and to find what springs from my heart. And I have hope Continuing Education Training will not only help us to deliver more life serving NVC training by supporting each trainer to find their own next steps in this process, but strengthen our community. I see great development in the structures of IIT-s since Marshall handed them over and still, I wish to have a transparent system for who can organise IIT-s, I would like us to harmonise:

  • how to create a team of trainers, who has the experience and well trained to pass on the knowledge of IIT curriculum,
  • handle the emotional challenges,
  • cultural differences
  • equal chance for each trainers
  • a lower ecological footprint
  • How to handle when a trainer is behaving in a way, colleagues are not satisfied with?
     

9. Dmitriy Kopina

Dmitriy Kopina

Email Dmitriy  |  Country: Slovenia

Languages: English, Slovenščina (Slovenian), Hrvaški (Croatian), Српски (Serbian)  |  Ethnicity: Slovene

Skills (that we asked candidates about using a checklist):

  • I have been a trainer or organizer for one or more IITs during the past 5 years
  • I am connected with one or more NVC communities
  • I have experience engaging with people from different cultures
  • I have the ability to think at a systems level, I enjoy working collaboratively with others
  • I am not a perfectionist - I know when to say, “this is good enough for now”

Brief Summary: I'm devoting myself to NVC for many years, and I am excited about sharing it with various people and organizations. I enjoy serving as a full-time NVC trainer, having lots of meaning in contributing to well-being or people's lives. I have years of experience in training, developing programs, educating, and organizing events and workshops, including 4 IIT's so far.

Meet Dmitriy in this video introduction:

If you cannot watch the embedded video on this page, watch it on Youtube.
 

Full Introduction: I envision CNVC being a part of a global movement, inviting millions and billions of people into a more open, connecting, and conscious world. I would love to see CNVC programs meaningful, supporting, inclusive, and available to all people worldwide, regardless of their culture, gender, skin color, beliefs, religions, shoe sizes, or financial capabilities. And at the same time, I would really like all of the CNVC offerings and support systems would be financially viable, supporting the operations and growth of the whole and communities all around the globe. | Meet Dmitriy in this video introduction:

I'm a full-time NVC trainer and coach for the past 8 years, I'm certified with CNVC for 4 years, and involved in organizing four IIT's so far. I had many amazing experiences during that time and faced many challenges in that time, including Covid. I have been a full-time trainer on one IIT so far, hoping for some more in the next year and years to follow. I'm super excited to share NVC and promote its activities, also inspiring others to be part of it. I also work with several NVC trainers, organizing many events and workshops so I have wide experience and I find lots of joy in doing it. I'm also a father of six children, devoted to nature, promoting sustainability, enjoying movement and dancing, and love to work in the food garden. I can easily see myself serving NVC communities and CNVC as part of the PRC. Looking forward to your support, if you may see me in that role too.

10. Claudia Patricia Sánchez Bedoya

Claudia Patricia Sánchez Bedoya

Email Claudia  |  Country: Colombia

Languages: English, Español (Spanish)  |  Ethnicity: Latina

Skills (that we asked candidates about using a checklist):

  • I have been a trainer or organizer for one or more IITs during the past 5 years
  • I am connected with one or more NVC communities
  • I have experience engaging with people from different cultures
  • I have the ability to think at a systems level
  • I enjoy working collaboratively with others
  • I am not a perfectionist - I know when to say, “this is good enough for now”

Brief Summary: I have been practicing NVC since 2012 and was certified in 2021. For three years, I have run an 8-month NVC program with youth at a school in Colombia. Working with youth has been amazing and they see NVC as a safe space. I also work with family counselor so I am interested on mental health. I love continuity, building community and hosting learning and conversation spaces to tap into collective wisdom. I connect spirituality with social transformation.

Meet Claudia in this video introduction:

If you cannot watch the embedded video on this page, watch it on Youtube.


Full Introduction: I read Marshall’s book when I was at university in Colombia and wanted to participate in an IIT but at that time the option was doing it in the USA, years later I was able to attend to one in Chile and then organized one in Argentina.  I can say that my first IIT changed my life and I want that for other people. | Meet Claudia in this video introduction:

I have been an organizer of 1 IIT and 2 VITs — one in Argentina, one bilingual, and one in Spanish. In my experience, trainers and organizers need support, guidance and context when organizing these events. I would love to co-create ways to have a flow of communication and wisdom passing. Personally, I want to connect legacy and new visions and ideas.

11. Camila Reyes

Camila Reyes

Email Camila  |  Country: Colombia

Languages: English, Español (Spanish)  |  Ethnicity: Latin

Skills (that we asked candidates about using a checklist):

  • I am connected with one or more NVC communities
  • I have experience engaging with people from different cultures
  • I have the ability to think at a systems level
  • I enjoy working collaboratively with others
  • I am not a perfectionist - I know when to say, “this is good enough for now”

Brief Summary: My primary experience has been bringing NVC to the peace-building field in Colombia including starting an organization that shares NVC in Colombia and Spanish-speaking countries. We are a team of seven people who support people who are committed to social change and climate issues, and also bring NVC skills into systems oriented to use and share our power to stay connected to love.

Meet Camila in this video introduction:

If you cannot watch the embedded video on this page, watch it on Youtube.
 

Full Introduction: I've been choosing to commit my life path to integrating and sharing NVC consciousness, and therefore, I want to play an active role joining the PRC, if our global community considers that my contributions can add value to our collective process. Here is how I think I can contribute. | Meet Camila in this video introduction:

  • Empower local leaderships: I also want to see IITs and VITs as a strategy to empower the leadership of local trainers in the part of the world I belong.
  • Democratize our ways: I will love to find ways to develop a more democratic and transparent way to decide who are the people that are going to be the trainers for each IIT and based on what criteria’s, so we can bring more inclusion and shared power to the process.
  • Make it relevant to each context: I have noticed that many people in my region have access to NVC for the first time through IITs, since that first time is so crucial to connect with people, I will love to elevate the care we put in those spaces, to make NVC relevant to every context.
  • Belonging, having structural power: I would like increase my sense of belonging to our community, and I think that taking responsibility is a way to do that.

I want to express gratitude to the people that nominated me, your reasons and support were a huge motivation to me!
 

12. Azzam Talhami

Azzam Talhami

Email Azzam  |  Country: United States

Languages: English, עברית (Hebrew), العربية (Arabic)  |  Ethnicity: Middle Eastern, Arab

Minority Groups: Muslim, Arab, Palestinian, immigrant

Skills (that we asked candidates about using a checklist):

  • I have been a trainer or organizer for one or more IITs during the past 5 years
  • I am connected with one or more NVC communities
  • I have experience engaging with people from different cultures
  • I have the ability to think at a systems level
  • I enjoy working collaboratively with others
  • I am not a perfectionist - I know when to say, “this is good enough for now

Brief Summary: I’m a Palestinian trauma therapist, CNVC Certified Trainer, and international peace builder specializing in trauma work and cultural competency. Originally from the West Bank, I now live in California, where I work with immigrants and refugees, primarily from countries impacted by war, including Cambodia, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Sudan, and Yemen.

Meet Azzam in this video introduction:

If you cannot watch the embedded video on this page, watch it on Youtube.
 

Full Introduction: I’m deeply interested in serving on the PRC because I am invested in advocating for all communities to have the opportunity to be reflected in the CNVC training curriculum. Working as a trauma therapist for refugees, and a CNVC Certified Trainer has shown me how much cultural competency and humility can nourish connection. Born into a marginalized community in the West Bank, Palestine, one of the most controversial places in the world, a conflict zone that has never seen or experienced complete peace, I have been grateful for the multitude of experiences that granted me resilience and curiosity about possibilities for healing. This grounding has afforded me the ability to search within every desperate situation for the possibility for transformation.

Having trained hundreds of people across the Middle East, Europe, and the US in peace-building and Nonviolent Communication (NVC), has deepened my appreciation of cultural sensitivity and possibilities for great shift. Dedicated to supporting historically conflicting communities towards a just peace, highlight of communities I have trained include: the MidEast International Intensive Training in NVC in Beit Jalla, Palestine; The Deep Dive Virtual Intensive Training; and many international organizations. Believing in NVC has inspired me to offer many trainings for free to marginalized communities, relying on my own funding, as well as to source funding, to support these trainings.

This year, I was able to partner in launching the only mental health clinic in San Diego, California dedicated to trauma-informed, culturally and linguistically competent mental health care for Arab-American and Muslim-American immigrants and refugees. As needs in the community rapidly expand, we have been grateful to recently serve over 300 Ukrainian refugees new to San Diego, California with mental health services including learning NVC for greater connection. In 2020, I founded the NVC Arabic Academy, where I lead in-person and online classes for Arabic-speaking journalists, psychologists, and aspiring peace builders across the world, as well as creating programs that train international peace organizations, such as for forumZFD. I have given countless training to people in the Middle East, including and limited to people in Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Iraq, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Morocco. That same year, I founded the Holul Institute for NVC training and peace building which emphasizes cultural competency and a trauma-informed approach.

Through the lens of compassion, I have been grateful to be a guest speaker and teach around the U.S. and internationally about trauma-informed NVC and cultural competency. I have served as an on-camera political analyst, news correspondent, documentary filmmaker, journalist, translator, and war-zone photographer for many Palestinian, Israeli, European, and American media outlets. Among these, I have been a Middle East journalist consultant and translator for the AT&T Original Documentary The Volunteers, as well as writer and reporter for Huffington Post Arabic. I’m excited about the PRC committee and to continue the conversation as a community, to deepen our connection through cultural competency.
 

13. Anniken Poulson Beer

Anniken Poulson Beer

Email Anniken  |  Country: Norway

Languages: English, Dansk (Danish), Norsk (Norwegian), Svenska (Swedish)  |  Ethnicity: European, white

Skills (that we asked candidates about using a checklist):

  • I have been a trainer or organizer for one or more IITs during the past 5 years
  • I am connected with one or more NVC communities
  • I have experience engaging with people from different cultures
  • I have the ability to think at a systems level
  • I enjoy working collaboratively with others
  • I am not a perfectionist - I know when to say, “this is good enough for now”

Brief Summary: Anniken is ready to serve on this team, looking forward to collaborate on making IITs grow and thrive, to be part of a resource group that can support the IIT structure the best way possible. She is also interested in becoming an assessor and sees the link between IIT's and assessments.

Full Introduction: I have been a certified trainer for 10 years and I am the CEO of NVC Norway for 2 years. I served at my first IIT in Slovenia this year and enjoyed it very much. I also recently organized an assessment here in Norway and am considering becoming an assessor. I am engaged in the growth of our community here and want to expand my field of engagement. I see IIT's as a golden opportunity to let people experience what a difference NVC can make in their lives - and I'd like IIT's also to have a more active role for candidates - a place where they can show themselves and get feedback, perhaps have a chance to work on the CPP in ways that involves the community. I imagine a win -win situation here.
I love working with others, I get much more creative meeting other creative minds.

Being part of a trainer’s team this year when there was no longer an active IIT-RT and not yet the new PRC available, there were things we would have liked to discuss with a resource group – like missing out on one trainer 3 days before traveling to the IIT – and how to deal with C-19 – and making hybrid solutions. Another situation was planning for upcoming IITs next year – how to decide who gets to organize and host – where, and when – we would have benefitted from having a resource group supporting these kinds of challenges. Also when conflicts may arise among the trainer team – that there would be someone to assist/support.

Sitting with experiences like these, I’d like to contribute to IIT’s growth and wellbeing in a team. I have worked as a principal for many years, and I’m used to think in teams in order to get good results. I am married to a man from another country – also European but still different in many aspects and along with having colleagues from other cultures I can say I have some experience with other cultures. I am a full time trainer and have time available for working with PRC.

Note from Anniken, with regrets about not participating in a Meet-and-Greet session and therefore not seeing a video from her:

Dear community,

As much as I would have loved to be part of the party, I send you this note to let you know that I’ve just come out of surgery- my ankle broke last week. And my brain is not really very active. Pretty doped with painkillers. But I’m still happy to be elected if there’s a wish for that. Right now you’ll have to do with the short info I wrote previously.  I’m very glad we’re going to get this group together and I see it as an important structure for CNVC and all of us. 

Warm regards from the hospital bed! 
Anniken 
 

14. Ann Birot-Salsbury

Ann Birot-Salsbury

Email Ann  |  Country: France

Languages: English, Français (French)  |  Ethnicity: White

Skills (that we asked candidates about using a checklist):

  • I am connected with one or more NVC communities
  • I have experience engaging with people from different cultures
  • I have the ability to think at a systems level
  • I enjoy working collaboratively with others
  • I am not a perfectionist - I know when to say, “this is good enough for now”
  • I was part of the organizing team for the 2014 IIT in Luxembourg

Brief Summary: Living/working on multiple continents, I have experience with many cultures and with co-creating efforts across cultures. Along with my NVC experience, I want to contribute my systemic coaching, project/program management and mindfulness to the PRC to establish effective systems that welcome diversity, are truly inclusive and demonstrate commitment to equity.

Meet Ann in this video introduction:

If you cannot watch the embedded video on this page, watch it on Youtube.
 

Full Introduction: I am honoured to be nominated for the PRC which definitely has a mission in line with my values around sharing NVC and supporting diversity, equity and inclusion in the world. I have lived on 3 continents and have participated/organized/assisted and/or lead NVC trainings on 4 continents. I started my NVC path in 2000 when I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area. I participated for 2 years in the “BayNVC Leadership Program” in the early 2000s which included direct contact with Marshall. I also attended my first IIT with Marshall in 2001. I completed the “Mediate Your Live” program with John Kinyon and Ike Lasater and later assisted them in Europe and Australia. While living in France, I followed the international NVC certification process and was certified in 2011. In 2014, I was part of the organizing team for the Luxembourg IIT and co-facilitated the post IIT international trainers meeting using an innovative systemic coaching model with which I have since been certified. I experience IITs and VITs as a precious gift from Marshall and a way for CNVC to strengthen communities and support social change in the world.

My career path includes 20 years as a Project/Program manager for a large US corporation working with a multi-national team, as well as 5 years leading Fundraising/Development for various NGOs in the US and Australia, including Amnesty International. For the past 13 years, I have been working as an independent coach/trainer, applying my skills as a certified individual coach and an ORSC systemic coach (Organization and Relationship Systems), certified NVC trainer and certified SIT Mindfulness teacher. I am hoping to contribute my skills as a Project/ Program manager to bring structure and efficiency in the way IITs/VITs are planned for, organized and delivered.

Moving to France in 2009, I have been active in the French speaking NVC networks bringing my systemic lens to various initiatives including co-creating a process to truly and consciously “welcome” new certified trainers to the network. During this time, I also initiated what evolved into a community of 11 NGOs collaborating with people with refugee status and co-creating cultural events, sporting events, language tutoring, etc. basically living “in community” working to create “positive narratives” around refugees. Additionally, I am an active volunteer with Youth For Understanding (YFU) and co-managed the roll out to Train the Trainers on the YFU Coloured Glasses Program (in French), which is focused on taking intercultural learning methods into middle and high schools.

With this broad experience related to NVC trainings and other initiatives both over time and across cultures, I believe that I can contribute to the PRC establishing effective systems that welcome diversity, are truly inclusive and demonstrate commitment to equity. My aim would be to do that in the spirit of embracing local cultures and supporting them to raise awareness of their richness while using NVC consciousness in a way that could work to move our international community from spaces of “unconscious bias” to conscious inclusion and welcoming diversity.
 

15. Angela Walkley

Angela Walkley

Email Angela  |  Country: Canada

Languages: English, Español (Spanish), Français (French)  |  Ethnicity: caucasian settler

Skills (that we asked candidates about using a checklist):

  • I have been a trainer or organizer for one or more IITs during the past 5 years
  • I am connected with one or more NVC communities
  • I have experience engaging with people from different cultures
  • I have the ability to think at a systems level
  • I enjoy working collaboratively with others
  • I am not a perfectionist - I know when to say, “this is good enough for now”

Brief Summary: I am a Trainer and Assessor based in Canada with a deep well of experience leading collaborative processes with communities around the world. I deeply value the contribution of IITs (and CETs) and the opportunity to bring the richness of multiple world views and experiences to the foreground of the IIT experience.

Meet Angela in this video introduction:

If you cannot watch the embedded video on this page, watch it on Youtube.


Full Introduction: I'm interested in lending my skills and passion in organizational development, mediation, grassroots process and diversity inclusion to the PRC. I have been involved as an Assessor, Trainer and Supporting Trainer in several IITs. I value the opportunity to step back and ask how we can best use IITs and CETs to build community, bring NVC to even larger global audiences and tenderly uphold the integrity of NVC and Marshall's gift of the IITs.

Dating back to my Masters in Organizational Development and Leadership, my passion has been working with collaborative grassroots processes. My specialization in this field brought me to lead a national initiative with Minister of Environment in Ecuador and pivotal processes with First Nations (indigenous) Self Government Agreements in Canada’s North. There is much to be harvested from the community feedback we have received and the available wisdom of our local and global NVC communities. Informed by this input,, I would enjoy working with all voices of our global network to develop systems to:

  • support new(er) trainers to step into roles at IITs and CETs (clear processes and capacity building initiatives)
  • maximize the potential of celebrating, supporting and building up the local countries/communities where IITs are held
  • increase the engagement of under-represented demographics
  • hold inspired space for realities in the local context and the experiences of participants coming from a diversity of world views and experiences
  • deepen the learning opportunities for Trainer Candidates
  • maximize the financial potential, while being creative to ensure access and inclusion.

In addition to my work supporting Trainer Candidates and teaching NVC, I have led hundreds of multi-party and organizational processes. From grassroots local planning in the ‘zonas populares’ in Guayaquil, to Community Policing policy, to National and provincial co-governance of Parks, all the way to a multitude of strategic planning and capacity development initiatives. My work with the PRC will draw on this well of experience. With my experience growing up in First Nation communities and the years I spent in India and Ecuador I have a keen sense of the richness that comes from our different world views and the challenges that come from the role of history and the ways that our societal structures grant greater access/support to some and not others. I value inclusion and access, including looking at how to make IITs/CETs spaces for all.

16. Amal Hadweh

Amal Hadweh

Email Amal  |  Country: Palestine

Languages: English, العربية (Arabic)  |  Ethnicity: Christianity  |  Minority Group: Member of the Greek orthodox Christian group

Skills (that we asked candidates about using a checklist):

  • I have been a trainer or organizer for one or more IITs during the past 5 years
  • I am connected with one or more NVC communities
  • I have experience engaging with people from different cultures
  • I have the ability to think at a systems level
  • I enjoy working collaboratively with others
  • I am not a perfectionist - I know when to say, “this is good enough for now”

Brief Summary: I have been bestowed an honorary Doctorate degree from the Universitat Politecnica de Catalonya in Spain in Novermber 2016, I have been Appointed by Bethlehem University to the Board of Trustees and elected to the Beit Jala Municipal Council in 2012. After 26 years working in refugee camps, I recently retired from the UN, where I served as program manager, manager of the Millennium Development Goals and field administration officer, where I oversaw the daily management of all UNRWA facilities in Jerusalem and West Bank and supervised 4,000 employees. I am a founding member of the Palestinian-Israeli Women’s Dialogue. I am the leading Palestinian trainer of Non Violent communication- Mideast NVC Palestine . I hold a PhD in human resource management, a master’s degree in education and a bachelor’s degree in English. I am a part-time lecturer at Bethlehem University and Al-Quds University.

Meet Amal in this video introduction:

If you cannot watch the embedded video on this page, watch it on Youtube.


Full Introduction: I have been working as an NVC trainer since 1996; I did conduct trainings related to non violent communication skills, , conflict management and NVC , problem solving NVC training, in addition peace building and coexistence. I did prepare and tailored trainings and developed training material related to the above mentioned subjects. Throughout my work of 25 years in UNRWA and nongovernmental organizations I was very keen on building community capacity. Community participation was the ultimate goal of our work. I did conduct capacity building activities with the youth, women and men and with the very influential women in the community. I was very keen on building Palestinian and Israeli women capacities. Working together at the PIIWHR (Palestinian Israeli women dialogue group) we conducted peace building activities with youth women and very influential women in the community. We together did plan and conduct training programmes aiming at women empowerment and promoting peace and coexistence unity.

I have been working hard to raise high the voices of Palestinian women, strengthen their capacities to take leadership positions in the Palestinian community and promote gender equality. In order to achieve my goals in life I have been working according to the strategy which outlines approach to mainstream peace building in creating a structure for change. Joining this program I will be acquiring and being updated with the new skills and knowledge of NVC and this will be of mutual benefit to all NVC practitioners.