Certified Trainers at the Center for Nonviolent Communication

Robin is an educator and author living in Silver City, NM. She spends her time teaching at the local Montessori school, offering support in a self-empowerment retreat space and serving as a leader in her community’s NVC practice group. Robin is dedicated to strengthening her community through honest, loving communication and authentic connection. She will be releasing her first book - a collection of poems and prayers - in May. 

CNVC trainer candidate, software engineer, and mother

All my life I have been puzzled about how to speak without attacking or being a doormat when facing another person’s anger. I hate attacking so I most likely either chose to be silent or not knowing what to reply, being unconsciously frozen. I was afraid that what I will speak next will only trigger more pain in the other person and this will trigger more and more paralysing pain in me. I am still wondering how to speak my own truth but not explaining out of the defensive energy. I am still puzzled on how to overcome my story about “It will only make matters worse if I open my mouth” and  to have that capacity to speak out the truthness of my heart with compassion. How to take that first step when my heart has shut down towards opening my heart to that light within me again?

I studied NVC since I wanted to understand what walking in love means for me? How I can radiate compassionate presence even when there is a storm inside me. For me, the real freedom is to choose to take one step closer to connection, no matter what I feel: trembling rage or petrifying paralysis, painful guilt or deep shame. Radiating compassion is something I want to remind myself every day. This is how I want to live my life.

I have been organizing Finnish NVC family camps from 2018 - 2021. In these camps it has been deep in my heart to build structures where families will have all the community care and support to attend the NVC sessions and kids having unforgettable memories.

Currently, I am a chairperson in the board of Finland NVC associate, where we long to make NVC events more reachable for Finnish people.

I was a member of the organizing team in IIT Finland Midnight summer 2022. My passion was to create a bubble where participants have a sense that they already belong when they arrive at the IIT. This is my second time organizing IIT and I cannot wait to be part of creating that magical environment where people can meet on that field, feel and being deeply touched by the divine energy.

Tosha has been a massage therapist since 1990.  He had practices in Los Angeles, California and, beginning in 1993, Sedona, Arizona.   In 1995, Tosha was trained as a Mediator by the Arizona Attorney General’s office and provided mediation services for Coconino County Superior Courts, Yavapai County Juvenile Courts and the US Postal Service.  In 1996 he was introduced to NVC (NonViolent Communication) and began incorporating NVC consciousness into his mediation work, his healing work and his personal life. ​

Tosha has offered Intros, Workshops and Practice Groups in NonViolent Communication.  In 2003 he began organizing the Sedona, Arizona NVC Community, bringing in trainers, working with fellow volunteers, offering monthly Coffee and Connections, seeking and obtaining donations and loans to establish a local NVC bookstore and lending library and making book and video donations to local public libraries.  He has worked as volunteer staff at the Flagstaff Center for Compassionate Communication, assisted and presented at International Intensive Trainings (IIT's offered by the International Center for Nonviolent Communication [CNVC]),  been active in a number of advanced trainings  and was a presenter at the Conference on Nonviolence held in Eugene Oregon during the Summer of 2008.

In 2009, Tosha began participating in Gina Cenciose’s programs in Canada and stayed around to support and assist her in her work.  As her partner and husband since 2010, he is active in all the work she does and has learned immensely from her.

Tosha has provided mediation services in local Arizona communities and for the US Postal Service and is a trained supporter for the local Restorative Justice Program in the Verde Valley of Arizona (SORJ). 

Tosha has been a massage therapist for the past 30 years and has worked with myofascial release, core belief systems, Course in Miracles, Applied Kinesiology and other integrative principles and practices.

May is the co-founder of To Dam - a creative non-profit organization . She graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from the University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Ho Chi Minh City and a Bachelor's degree in International Business Administration. May follows a systemic approach in working with people, based on a foundation of universal needs, autonomy and empowerment. May nurtures open, peer-to-peer environments, as the fertile ground on which the multifaceted growth of each individual within their family, organization and community can flourish. May also nurtures her son Lam, whose name means “forest” in Vietnamese. Lam helps May better understand the importance of integrity and congruence in all contexts of her life - at work, at home, and as a human being.

Martin Kozah is the Founder and former Executive Director of Peace Empowerment Foundation. He is a Global Goodwill Ambassadors and an Ambassador with THANKS WING and Refugee International Network for Peace (RINP).

Martin is also the Former national organizing Secretary of Civil Society Advance Forum on Sustainable Development Goals in Nigeria and a member of International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse (INPEA-Nigeria Chapter). He worked as a Hausa interpreter with certified trainer Duke Duchscherer and Sister Franca Onyibor from the Centre for Nonviolent Communication to facilitate NVC Training in Adamawa, Kaduna, Kogi, and Plateau State of Nigeria and to intervene in the Fulani Herdsmen/Farmers Clashes in Adamawa using restorative cycle. He is also part of the team that is working on bringing NVC to Nigeria. He has undertaken several courses in the area of Social Development which include Negotiation and Conflict Management, Conflict Analysis, Interfaith conflict resolution, Understanding the right of women and girls, Workforce collaboration and development, Servant Leadership and Community Organizing for action. He loves volunteering.

You can contact him for any tourist attraction needs and issues in Nigeria.

Ruth Olari Proscovia is a dedicated development practitioner from Uganda with a passion for social transformation through the principles of Nonviolent Communication (NVC).

Ruth was introduced to NVC in 2019 during her peacebuilding work in the communities of the Teso sub-region in eastern Uganda, particularly in the prevention and response to Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and Violence Against Women and Girls (VAW). Through NVC, she learned how to build and maintain relationships, partnerships, and collaborations that promote mutual respect for the feelings and needs of all, with the awareness that every human being has needs that matter.

Ruth's commitment to NVC has led her to participate in extensive NVC training programs facilitated by trainers from the Center for Nonviolent Communication (CNVC), including a 9-day International Intensive Training on NVC in Tanzania (2022), a 10-day Residential NVC training in Uganda in November 2023, and a 10-day Residential NVC training in Kenya in December 2023. These experiences have equipped her with invaluable skills for facilitating training and discussions that significantly enhance the quality of life and promote harmony in society.

Ruth has accumulated over five years of experience engaging communities and leaders in meaningful conversations aimed at addressing the deep-rooted challenges faced by underserved populations. She has done this through training, collaborations, partnerships, Alternative Dispute Resolution (mediation), appropriate referrals, counseling, and providing empathy to survivors of gender-based violence. She coordinates dialogues among community leaders—male and female cultural, religious, political, and government leaders, as well as policymakers—to influence policies, by-laws, and ordinances that support equality between men and women for peaceful coexistence in the Teso sub-region of eastern Uganda.

Ruth is currently leading a women and girls' social change initiative (the Women and Girls Empowerment Program), which seeks to empower survivors of obstetric fistula in the Northern, Eastern, and Central regions of Uganda by providing them with skills, capacity, and knowledge in civic education and advocacy. She applies NVC principles to offer psychosocial support and empathy to survivors of obstetric fistula and GBV, facilitating dialogues with policymakers, health workers, civil society organizations, government leaders, and survivors to advocate for improved maternal health outcomes in Uganda.

Through her work, Ruth passionately advocates for community engagement, partnerships, collaborations, alliances, and movements among like-minded individuals, organizations, policymakers, politicians, and government leaders to promote policy frameworks that support proper planning and decision-making for national development. Her efforts aim to uplift and empower marginalized communities, fostering a culture of understanding and empathy.

If you are seeking support with the logistics for the 2025 Kenya IIT or wish to connect with Ruth for assistance, particularly with registration, bookings, and general information, feel free to reach out to her via the form at the bottom of this page.

Lars Veraart, veterinarian by trade, is now giving his life energy to creating pathways towards a living planet for all.

Lars is living with his wife Robyn (trainer at this IIT) and their son Carsten in the community where our village IIT will be held. Lars and Robyn founded Provision Transylvania, an ecological farm and learning center with the mission of creating living and learning opportunities that contribute to health and well-being for the planet and people. Regeneration and Nonviolence are key themes in their work and NVC camps, teachings and counseling are core elements of Provision Transylvania.

Lars also co-founded and runs ALPA, a local land trust which focuses on common stewardship for agricultural lands and biodiversity protection within the broader concept of bioregional regeneration. Lars is the local logistics coordinator for our IIT.

Begüm has worked in the International Financial Reporting field for 14 years, and is a permaculture designer who hasworked with communities who support community supported agriculture and ecological food. She is a mother of two children, a son and a daughter.

Begüm began her involvement with Nonviolent Communication after she gave birth to her second child, and witnessed behavioral change in the elder child. By that time, she discovered that NVC was her healing field rather than her children’s. With the help of NVC, she empowered to be centered in herself and to connect with others and herself empathically. She has met with her "self-actualization power” in NVC fields.

Being born and raised in Switzerland I always dreamt of another life in a warm country and so, in 2006, I left Switzerland. I did not imagine it would be a goodbye for good but I have not returned to live there since. After traveling the world for some months, I ended up in Costa Rica, the place not only where my son was born but where I was reborn.

I love to connect with nature and I am a big animal lover. Going on my daily beach walks with my dogs early in the morning is my meditation and it is where I can get grounded and connect with mother earth and myself. Costa Rica has a wonderfully special energy, which invites you to look deeper and reconnect with yourself and nature.

I was gifted with a son whose soul clearly came to this world to guide and transform me. It very soon was clear, I cannot parent this child the way I was parented. It would mean rebellion and constant conflict and a lot of power over and lack of autonomy and freedom of choice. This did not align with me at all and I decided to look for support.

Finding NVC was like finding the language to describe what I feel in my belly, what my intuition tells me, or in other words, I discovered my feelings and needs and started to understand them. It was such a relief for my mind, to finally be able to understand what my heart always knew and have a concept for what I always felt. 

Since I can remember I have this deep desire to be an active part of change in this world. I have been working with the local community for over a decade, first through a project where we held workshops about menstruation and handed out free menstruation cups to the participants. Now I am eager to bring NVC into our canton, which is the least developed and poorest of Costa Rica and an area often forgotten by the government.

I want to share NVC because I truly believe in its power and magnificence. My dream is to spread NVC in Latin America and make it accessible also to the ones with less resources. I am currently on the path to become a CNVC certified trainer. I am also active in creating NVC community within Costa Rica, especially where I am at home, offering NVC workshops for free or at an affordable price to low-income communities.

Sandra is a clinical psychologist and has been facilitating groups for over 20 years with her life and work partner, Yuri Haasz, seeking, in diverse contexts and groups, to promote conflict transformation and systemic change towards a more empathetic and life-centered society.

Sandra is co-founder of Sinergia Comunicativa and has experience sharing NVC in Brazil and internationally. Over the years she has been conducting and organizing several events and retreats, seeking to strengthen the practice of NVC in Brazil and strengthen the connection with the international NVC community. She was the organizer of IIT Brazil 2019 and IIT Brazil 2023.

During the pandemic she conducted support programs for health professionals based on NVC, reaching hundreds of people, and she coordinates a project to spread empathy at the Hospital das Clínicas in São Paulo.

She was a columnist for UOL and for the magazines Bons Fluidos and Viva Saúde.

Manager of educational department of the Korean Center for Nonviolent Communication for the last 12 years and has experience of organizing 3 International Intensive Trainings.

Khuyen graduated with a Master's degree in International Development and completed a certificate in Mediation and Reconciliation in Ireland. Khuyen has more than 18 years of experience in the fields of Human Resources Management, training, career coaching and operations, and has participated in several NVC International Intensive Trainings. Khuyen strongly believes that deep inside people & organizations are beautiful and legitimate needs. Realizing these needs is the foundation of social growth and development. Khuyen strives to increase the understanding of needs, collaboration and effectiveness at the organizational and societal scale through various training and coaching projects to build a happier and more compassionate society.