Aïcha Doucouré is an NVC and certified integral coach, and Authentic Oakland organizer. She was born and raised in Paris, and has lived in the Bay Area for 20 years. Through her Malian parents' culture, Aïcha grew up with an ancient oral tradition that emphasizes intentional words to bond with the collective. After her first NVC class early in 2020, Aïcha dropped her career in design research to orient towards a life of service. Aïcha is passionate about helping people find their true self, feel comfortable being with potent emotions, and use somatic practices to find spaciousness and clarity.

Contact: aichads@gmail.com

Ali Miller, MA, MFT, Certified Clini-Coach® is a licensed therapist in California and a communication coach serving clients worldwide. Her speciality is helping couples overcome their communication challenges so they can love each other better. She offers couples communication workshops, private sessions, and is creating an online couples communication course to be released in 2022. Connect with Ali on Instagram or Facebook @AliMillerCoaching, her website www.AliMillerCoaching.com, or Ali@AliMillerCoaching.com.

David Johnson’s deep understanding of Nonviolent Communication is grounded in a decades-long meditative practice and the quality of compassionate acceptance, realism, and hope developed through years of working to bring basic services to parts of Central America and Africa ravaged by war and violence. His coaching is sharp and delivered with a clarity and sense of humour honed through his award-winning writing. David brings vast experience in people management across different cultures and complex multi-layered situations to professional coaching sessions. That this is all offered with a humility and acknowledgment of his own continuing journey gives people who work with him a sense of deep support and understanding.

Contact: David.NVC@yahoo.com

Emily Chaffin: I was introduced to NVC about ten years ago- the beginning of exciting growth in my capacity to connect to life and support others in this way. When people ask me what NVC is, one of my internal responses is an urge to introduce them to other people who practice NVC so that they can experience the powerful expression of NVC consciousness; that has been the way it has come to live in me. In the rest of my life, I work in healthcare management, love trail running, reading, and live music.

Contact: emilycnvc@gmail.com

Eddie Zacapa is the co-founder of Life Enriching Communication and a certified trainer with the Center for Nonviolent Communication (CNVC). He has facilitated nonviolent communication workshops, trainings and programs with individuals, families, parents, schools, and organizations and worked in the domestic violence field for over 19 years. Eddie offers NVC coaching, mediation and facilitation on a sliding scale.

Contact: 916-409-0879, eddie@baynvc.org

James Prieto is an author, poet, CNVC Certified Nonviolent Communication (NVC) Trainer, and nature-based Wild Heart guide. James guides toward connection and integration through NVC and depth-psychology -- inspired by Wild Mind - Field Guide to the Human Psyche by Bill Plotkin, Ph.D. He has completed the Animas Valley Wild Mind Training Program and is passionate about the intersection of Animas Valley inspired work with NVC as a way to contribute to Earth elder Joanna Macy’s “Great Turning” and Thomas Berry’s “Great Work.”

Contact: james.prieto@compassionateconnecting.com

Janey Skinner is a community college teacher, writer and NVC practitioner. She has experience in international nonviolence and human rights work, as well as training in public health. She has been studying NVC since 1998 and has assisted at NVC trainings since 2017. Janey leads workshops on NVC and writing, combining structured freewriting with NVC for deeper creative connection. In one-on-one coaching, Janey offers empathy, role plays, self-integration exercises, and support on interweaving NVC and social change. She is bilingual in Spanish.

Contact: Call/text 510-652-3932, or janeyskinner@gmail.com

Leah G. Sheldon is a coach and trainer based in the Bay Area. She works with people on conflict coaching, preparing for difficult conversations, mediation, and mentoring those new to NVC concepts. Since discovering NVC in 2010, Leah has trained for five years in NVC mediation and has taught it to incarcerated students at San Quentin State Prison. She brings mindfulness and somatic body awareness into all of her offerings, along with humor and a pragmatic approach.

Contact: leahgshel@gmail.com

Leeza Pesenson fell madly in love with NVC in 2018 and has been a dedicated practitioner ever since. In 2020, she attended the Living Peace Retreat and the BayNVC Immersion Program (BIP) and started assisting The Communication Dojo in organizing 4-week NVC courses, and practice groups. She has also completed a year-long program with trainer Arnina Kashtan, integrating traditional NVC with inner child work and Byron Katie's The Work. Leeza is deeply curious about how the mind functions and how we connect with ourselves and others. She has a Masters in Cognitive Science and works as a User Experience Researcher by day.

Contact: Sendtoleeza@gmail.com, 510-365-6917

Meganwind Eoyang grew up involved in street fighting on Chicago’s South Side, studied and taught martial arts and went on to learn full force fighting. Though these activities brought a sense of physical safety, they offered no way of connecting with others. She is delighted today to share Nonviolent Communication principles and tools to spread empowerment and choice. She offers training in NVC for the public, colleges and organizations; individual NVC coaching and couples support sessions; mediation.

Contact: meganwind.e@gmail.com or http://windsochange.com

Ranjana (Ranji) Ariaratnam offers a rare combination of deep care, nurturing compassion, and an ability to name difficult truths that has created openings for many people to risk looking at their most vulnerable places, knowing they are held with care and skill. As a CNVC Certified Trainer, both her personal and professional coaching sessions weave together Nonviolent Communication, contemplative practices, and therapeutic somatic training to help nurture the heart, mind, and body – supporting healing of the whole person. As someone who spent more than a decade working in war zones, Ranji is able to witness and support people moving through the spectrum of heartbreak and joy that is the human experience with equanimity and a healing presence.

Contact: Ranji.NVC09@yahoo.com

Ranjana (Ranji) Ariaratnam & David Johnson offer coaching and mediation sessions for individuals, couples, or groups. If you have taken Oren’s online courses in the last few years, you may have seen them in the forum as Assistant Trainers. They weave together decades of humanitarian aid work in conflict zones across the globe, over 15 years of Nonviolent Communication (NVC) experience, and a committed meditation practice to offer profound insights and compassionate support. Whether you seek to improve communication within your organization, heal relationships, or enhance personal growth, David & Ranji provide tailored sessions to meet your needs. Working together, they model how diverse personalities can connect meaningfully, inspiring hope in those who experience their partnership. Through their contrasting yet complementary styles, they support transformation so that each person experiences deep connection and understanding. Ranji’s embodiment of NVC consciousness as a CNVC certified trainer and David’s sharp clarity can guide you through the spectrum of human experience – from emotional distress to conflict resolution and systems transformation – with care and skill.

Contact: RanjiDavidNVC@yahoo.com

Sheila Menezes helps leaders and teams transform disconnection into connection and harm into healing, fostering authentic relationships to shift group culture. Her approach focuses on empathic communication, equity, and transformative justice. Since 2015, Sheila has supported incarcerated individuals through the Safer Communities Project, teaching compassionate communication skills. She has also facilitated trauma-healing groups with the Insight Prison Project’s VOEG program and serves on the Advisory Board of Transformative Programming Works. As the founder of Compassionate Return LLC, Sheila offers leadership coaching, communication training, and emotional intelligence assessments. She is a certified coach through the Co-Active Training Institute, a Nonviolent Communication (NVC) candidate, and an EQ-i 2.0/EQ 360 practitioner. She believes that leading with love creates change.

Contact: sheila@compassionatereturn.com

Shu Liu has been tutoring, mentoring, and teaching for over 20 years. He currently teaches yoga and brings an embodied and spiritual approach to NVC. His traditional education and trade are in engineering, which give him an appreciation for the details of NVC. Shu also works with entheogenic medicine and is in training to guide and hold space for healing. As an immigrant to the US, he is sensitive to the journey of discovering one’s identity and belonging amidst the complexities of culture, heritage, and self. He is inspired to use NVC to alleviate the suffering of disconnection, particularly among men.

Contact: shu.hxl@gmail.com

Zemaya Martinez: I identify as Xicana/x, Lesbian/Queer, Her/Them. I dwell on stolen Onosatis Land in Northern Ca., having lived on stolen Tongva Land in Southern Ca. for the first half of my life. Adding Medicines to my Medicine Bag has been my Path as I have dedicated my life to the study and practice of Curanderismo (healing practices) since the mid 1980’s. Along with the study and practice of NVC, my offerings as a practitioner include REIKI and other energetic work, Emotional Freedom Technique, Flower Essence Therapy, Visioning Guidance, Parenting Guidance, Limpias, Breathing Meditations and Ceremonialist. Website here.

Contact: zemayavuela@outlook.com

Nonviolent Communication Games

Made for facilitators, therapists, coaches, educators, leaders and parents, GROK Empathy Games build empathy through play. Learn how to:

• See through non-serving judgments with self-empathy

• Support connected, empathic conversations, so everyone feels heard

• Speak up openly, honestly and skillfully

Click here to explore GROK games, facilitation materials, and books. 

Vickie Chang, PhD, is the daughter of Chinese immigrants and a UCLA-trained clinical psychologist. She is a graduate of the Spirit Rock Dedicated Practitioner’s Program and trained in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction. She is deeply influenced by West African (Dagara) elder Dr. Malidoma Somé and Jicarilla Apache elder Dr. Eduardo Duran, as well as the time she spent living in a Taiwanese monastery and in Tiruvannamalai near the holy hill Arunachala. She teaches awareness classes that are connected to the land, the body, and ancestral trauma; facilitates healing circles; and is involved in climate justice. She enjoys working with individuals, couples, families, and organizations. Contact: vickieychang@gmail.com, www.vickiechangphd.com

Bryony Smith has been practicing Insight Meditation since 1991, is a licensed psychotherapist in Massachusetts and a certified Life Coach (working with folks all over the globe). She specializes in supporting folks navigate grief and how to use Self Compassion practice and mindfulness in daily life. As a Psychosynthesis-trained Life Coach, Bryony offers transpersonal approaches to help motivate clients to integrate small changes into their lives or to address unconscious patterns that are getting in their way. Her website is heartmindhealing.net. She offers sliding scale fees.

Contact: Email Bryony here

Andrea Gage is a trained Somatic Experiencing therapist and integrative bodyworker who decodes peoples nervous systems. Mind and body goes together but often in traditional therapies, the body is left out. Andrea’s work helps you how to bring awareness back to your body and use it to help you settle and keep the mind from taking over. Andrea is committed to her own ongoing anti-racism education to uncover my unconscious biases to expand my understanding and awareness.

Contact: andrea@easethebody.com

Rae Houseman is a trained therapist and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner for the healing of tauma. She is also a graduate of the Spirit Rock Community Dharma Leaders Program and the Guiding Teacher for Brattleboro Insight. She has practiced extensively with the Mahasi method and with Sayadaw U Tejaniya, and also holds a Masters degree in Somatic Psychology. Rae leads workshops integrating somatic awareness and Insight Meditation, and is former head of Coaching for the app 10% Happier.

Contact: raehouseman@gmail.com

Anthony “T” Maes: ​As a teen, I found myself struggling with addiction and cycles of harmful behavior. With the help of my teachers, mindfulness teachings on wisdom and compassion, a feminist analysis of systemic oppression, and a strong supportive community around me, I now find myself twenty years into a path of personal and collective liberation. My vocation offering Dharma Mentoring and trauma healing grows out of the lessons I've learned along the way. I'm grateful that I get to inspire and support others to also live an awake, engaged, and embodied lifestyle of joy, activism, and deep healing in line with their highest values.

Dave Smith is an internationally recognized Buddhist meditation teacher, addiction treatment specialist, and published author. His practice is rooted in the Insight Meditation tradition. He has extensive experience bringing meditative interventions into jails, prisons, youth detention centers and addiction treatment facilities. Dave teaches residential meditation retreats and classes, provides trainings and consulting in both secular and Buddhist contexts, and works with students through his meditation mentoring program. Learn more about Dave here. Learn about mentoring with Dave here.

Dawn Neal: Whether you are establishing or deepening a meditation practice, cultivating a balanced lifestyle, or coping with grief and loss, you will be met with kindness, deep listening, wisdom, and clarity.  Being coached this way can deepen your capacity for presence, relational skill and attunement, relaxation, and self-awareness. My approach is grounded in decades of contemplative practices, Buddhist teachings, and over 10 years of experience. Each collaborative conversation is also informed by my clinical spiritual counseling training, and my commitment to professional chaplaincy ethical standards. 

Contact: www.dawnneal.net/services, (650) 260-8401

Nolitha Tsengiwe is a Dharma teacher and board member at Dharmagiri Sacred Mountain Retreat Center, in South Africa that was founded by Kittisaro and Thanisara Weinberg. She has practiced since 1997, completed the Spirit Rock Community Dharma Leadership program and is a graduate of the IMS Vipassana Teacher Training. Nolitha is a Psychologist in private practice and is trained in Karuna (Group psychotherapy based on Buddhist principles) and Somatic Experiencing (SE). She is an executive coach and facilitator in leadership development. She offers Race Work for reconciliation using Insight Dialogue principles and online services in life coaching, Dharma mentoring, psychotherapy and couples counseling.

Contact: nolitha@couragetolead.co.za, read more here: http:/couragetolead.co.za/

Rachel Lewis: I began practising insight meditation in 2003, while completing my physics PhD at Yale. Since 2011, I have taught dharma and meditation classes and retreats in British Columbia and beyond. I completed the IMS/IRC 4-year teacher training in 2021, and am a guiding teacher of the British Columbia Insight Meditation Society. My dharma teaching interests include the power of music, humour, and creativity to increase our capacity for learning, as well as the way that practice supports and is supported by social justice work.

Contact: http://rachelmeditates.ca/

Rae Houseman is a trained therapist and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner for the healing of tauma. She is also a graduate of the Spirit Rock Community Dharma Leaders Program and the Guiding Teacher for Brattleboro Insight. She has practiced extensively with the Mahasi method and with Sayadaw U Tejaniya, and also holds a Masters degree in Somatic Psychology. Rae leads workshops integrating somatic awareness and Insight Meditation, and is former head of Coaching for the app 10% Happier.

Contact: raehouseman@gmail.com