About Kit

I have a longstanding curiosity about culture and how groups work together, courtesy of having attended the Industrial Labor Relations School at Cornell University.  My interest in nonviolence came from becoming a stay at home mom with three kids, from being a “stepmom,” and from navigating the learning opportunities of being in a politically and religiously diverse marriage with my beloved spouse of 33 years. 

I had the chance to connect these interests working as a volunteer on the Center for Nonviolent Communication board, from serving as director/celebrator of Bay Area Nonviolent Communication in Oakland, CA, and then serving as director of the MK Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence in my hometown of Rochester, NY.  I have been a student and a practitioner in the fields of nonviolence, organizational change, anti-racism, and restorative practices for more than two decades. 

At the Gandhi Institute, I am proud to have helped to establish projects and policies embedding restorative justice in the Rochester City School District, other K-12 districts, the University of Rochester, Rochester Institute of Technology and elsewhere. I worked with the Western NY 7th Judicial District to utilize restorative practices in civil court cases, a first of its kind project.  

These days, in addition to working at the University of Rochester, I volunteer on numerous projects focused on advancing human rights and equity.  I value volunteering with the Indigenous Peoples Day Rochester Project and with the Exploring Racism Project. I help to facilitate a monthly support group on war tax resistance with Pace e Bene and with friends from National War Tax Resistance
Coordinating Committee.

I received beautiful support from dozens of people directly to write Culture Shift: Nonviolence at Work—interviewing colleagues to check assumptions, co-creating much of the text with my friend Rivera Sun, financial support from the amazing Rick Smith, beautiful graphics from friend and colleague Bianca Pointner, and visionary editing from Erin Bechtol. Indirectly, thousands of people I have met in retreats, workshops, meetings and projects help me to trust the usefulness and urgent need for applying principles of nonviolence at work.