Dear Friends,
Several weeks ago I spotted Bob Yamtich, in the photo above, seated outside a coffee shop near San Quentin prison. Bob, a Leadership Program graduate, volunteers at San Quentin on Wednesdays as part of the Safer Communities teaching team and sometimes beforehand sits outside this shop, ready to engage with people walking by about Nonviolent Communication. There's a sign saying "Free Empathy" and NVC materials on display.
I was inspired to see him and remember hearing of the fun others have had sharing NVC. For instance, Sigal Shoham and Matthew Blom, both Leadership Program graduates, used to attend their local farmers' market to pass out information, offer empathy and spread the word about Nonviolent Communication.
Have you shared NVC in some creative way? We would love to hear about it and celebrate with you. If you feel inspired to do something, let us know. For instance, we get regular requests to have a booth or table at local events (expos, fairs, etc.) and would love help! If you're interested, email nvc@baynvc.org.
Or would you like more of the people in your life to have NVC awareness and skills? Here are two strategies:
-Bring guests to one of our intro evenings for the general public in Oakland and San Francisco or to the monthly introduction for parents.
-Host a "house party" for at least 10 people, and we will send a trainer. Email nvc@baynvc.org if you would like to do this.
I was inspired to work at BayNVC in part because I believe the Bay Area has the potential to be the first area in the world to achieve a "tipping point" with Nonviolent Communication - meaning that sufficient numbers of people have the skills and consciousness to concretely affect the quality of everyone's lives. What would this mean? Less violence, lower rates of divorce, happier families, emptied prisons and jails, increased resources for education and the arts, higher measures of wellbeing and happiness in the population as a whole. I want to live to see this happen!! I know you do, too. Please join hands with us in every way you can to pull this future toward us.
This comes with love,
Kit Miller
Director/Celebrator
Bay Area Nonviolent Communication
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 Join us at Family Camp!
Just a handful of spaces are still available for our 6th annual Family Camp in Calistoga, California, June 22-June 29, led by Kathy Simon and Inbal Kashtan. Through structured learning, empathy circles, shared meals, rest and and play, we will explore how we are living NVC with ourselves, our children and each other, with the intention of deepening our ability to integrate NVC into our daily lives and building community with other families. To learn more & register, click here or contact Karin at karin@baynvc.org.
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Parent Peer Leadership Program (PPLP)
Led by Inbal Kashtan and Ingrid Bauer
Applications for the 2008-2009 program will be accepted until the program is full. This unique, 9-month leadership training program is aimed at supporting NVC practitioners to deepen their capacity to understand, live and share NVC with parents and families in their communities. The PPLP begins with a Family Camp in California (August 10-17), and continues as a long-distance learning program until April 2009 with teleclasses, individualized telesupport, reading and writing assignments, and more. For details or to receive an application packet, click here or email Karin - karin@baynvc.org.
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 Long-Distance Learning
Support for Building NVC Organizations and Communities - A Conversation with Kit Miller
Four-part series starts Thursday, May 22
These conversations are an opportunity to engage with Kit and others who are currently working for or who want to start an NVC organization or community, or people who want companionship with building NVC communities and organizations. It will be structured around the questions that participants bring. Learn more and register here, or contact the NVC Academy help desk for more information: help@nvcacademy.com.
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| Celebrations |
Leadership Training on the Road
Miki Kashtan is sharing NVC with current and future leaders in Brazil right now, and will be holding a training in Ghana later this month for African leaders interested in nonviolence. Do you know any leaders in Africa who might want to attend?
Restorative Circles Teleclass Goes Multi-National
People from all over the world have signed up for Dominic Barter's restorative circles telecourses! In addition to people from all over the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii, the other countries represented are Cambodia, Australia, New Zealand, Iran, England, France, Canada, Philippines and India.
Annual Report Is Ready To Go
Carol Hilson, a graphics designer in this year's Leadership Program, designed a beautiful 2007 Annual Report and Appeal for BayNVC, which will be mailed next week. Thank you, Carol!! We are hoping that this mailing will coincide with the Federal Stimulus checks going out to many people, so that some of that unexpected wealth can support BayNVC, too. If you don't receive the report and appeal by May 15 and would like to do so, please contact the office at nvc@baynvc.org or 510-433-0700.
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Requests
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Help us create our new website
BayNVC is developing a new website, and would like help from YOU:
- Are you willing to give us input about content and functions for our new site? If so, would you take 10-20 minutes to fill out this survey before May 15?
OR
- If you want to help us test run the new site later this summer, please contact Maja Bengtson.
Volunteers Needed: Join us in the BayNVC office, at events or out and about. Whatever your skills and availability, we can put them to good use. Click here to see the current list of job descriptions, but feel free to come up with your own! Contact Erica or call the office at 510-433-0700.
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Announcements
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Fashion Show to Benefit BayNVC
On Friday, May 9 at 6 p.m., students at an East Bay high school, Piedmont High, will be holding a fashion show and concert with original designs by a graduating senior, Nick Sayarad. The event is also a fundraiser for BayNVC. Tickets are $10 in advance, $15 at the door. The event takes place at 800 Magnolia Avenue, Piedmont. Anne Symens-Bucher will offer a very brief presentation about BayNVC that evening. For information or to RSVP, contact nicholassayarad@hotmail.com.
Peacemaking Skills for Youth
The Fellowship of Reconciliation's Peacemaker Training Institute will take place June 22-29 in the Bay Area. The PTI is an amazing opportunity to learn and teach concrete organizing skills; to network and grow with some of the most dynamic youth activists from across the country; and to sharpen your insight into the systems of oppression that keep us from building a just and equitable world.
For more information, please visit the Nonviolent Youth Collective's website, or contact Brie Phillips at peacemakertraining@gmail.com or
651-757-5353.
Save the Date!
The next Speaking Peace fundraising brunch will be held on Saturday, November 15 - a week later than usual, to help us all recover from the elections! Read about last year's event here.
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| Wishlist |
BayNVC is in need of the following:
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Words from Program Participants
"During Family Camp, I discovered a deeper understanding of NVC that has helped me get in touch with the connection I had always been hoping for with my family. The experience also awakened my understanding of the spiritual consciousness within NVC, of holding that your needs matter as much as my own."
- June 2005 Family Camp Participant
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Practice
Groups
For a list of practice groups in the bay area and beyond, click HERE
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More Information & Registration
Since many of our
events fill quickly,
please consider pre-registering to ensure your space. You may
pre-register by clicking the "Register Now" button at the bottom of most event descriptions, or by calling our office at 510-433-0700. You will receive a confirmation email with driving and public transit directions. Parking is free on all of the streets around BayNVC's wheelchair accessible
building in the Piedmont area of Oakland.
HERE for a complete, up-to-date listing of
our retreats, study series, workshops
and practice
groups in the Bay Area and beyond.
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