Meet the Team

	Elke Haggerty, Copywriter and Program Development Team Member When she was 18, Elke wanted to become an interior designer. She was dissuaded from that and went on to complete a Master of International Law in Amsterdam and a Master of Business Administration with a focus on organizational analysis in Canada. She has discovered her greatest passion in Nonviolent Communication (NVC) and brings her abundant creativity in creating fun tools for learning and facilitating NVC. Her primary focus is supporting families in connecting peacefully and helping individuals to discover their gifts and interests so that they can bring these to the world with confidence. She also loves to build communities of action in NVC. She has four children who she is delighted and charmed by. When she is not engaged with her family or with activities involving NVC – which is rare; after all, what could be more fun!? 😉 – she loves singing, ballroom dancing, and creative problem-solving. Elke supports the NVC Academy as a copywriter and does outreach as part of the Program Development Team. To learn more about the Affiliate Program or to get creative ideas on how to get the program working for you, you can contact her at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
	Jessica Vogt, Live Course Coordinator and Help Desk Team Jessica is dedicated to helping people deeply connect, accept each other's differences and celebrate our common humanity. She offers bilingual French-English training and coaching infused with the Nonviolent Communication approach and philosophy. Originally from France, Jessica brings her international experience and expertise in working with corporations and nonprofits. Certified by the renowned Coaches Training Institute and accredited by the International Coach Federation, she's dedicated to coaching people through clarifying their aspiration, owning their talents, and realizing their potential. Jessica is passionately convinced that NVC is one of the best tools we have to make the changes and the positive impact the world needs. She lives in France right now with her husband Jack where they enjoy a minimalistic life, share creative projects and make sure they laugh every day!
	Lore Baur, Live Course Coordinator As a Live Course Coordinator, Lore works to create a system that supports our participants in learning NVC. Lore is a certified trainer for the International Center for Nonviolent Communication. She holds a master's degree in science education from the University of Iowa and has taught public school since 1993. Her mornings are spent playing and learning with middle school students. Lore's interest in inquiry and curiosity lends itself to her practice of compassion and mindfulness. She finds inspiration in the ways that nature designs systems to meet needs through interdependent relationships. And draws hope from research that suggests we are cooperative beings, seeking connection and belonging, and that our language influences our perceptions of the world. She resides in Iowa City, Iowa with her loving husband Steve and the two of them hold dear their grown sons, Dan and Chris, and their sweet dog Togo.
	Mark Schultz, Co-founder Mark is cofounder of the NVC Academy. He was introduced to Nonviolent Communication in 1989, and has been enthusiastic about NVC ever since. Mark started a web design consultancy in 1995, and together with Mary, created the first online training site for Nonviolent Communication in 2006. In addition to NVC, Mark's interests include physics, astronomy, unusual phenomena, and pizza.
	Mary Mackenzie, CEO Mary Mackenzie is a CNVC Certified Trainer and executive director of Peace Workshop International. She is the author of "Peaceful Living: Daily Meditations for Living with Love, Healing and Compassion". Mary holds a master's degree in Human Relations and is a trained mediator. Mary's first career was as a fundraiser in higher education, where her listening skills helped people realize their dreams and helped her raise millions of dollars for the universities where she worked. She ended this 15-year career to begin work with the newly formed Flagstaff Center for Compassionate Communication. Mary's guiding vision is to help people fully connect to themselves and their world so that they may experience more joy. Toward this end, she teaches Nonviolent Communication to children, adults, families, couples and adolescents, and she works with organizations by offering individual or group workshops and facilitating organization-wide restructuring.
	Melissa Pai Ling, NVC Library Editor With a talent for developing creative solutions and bringing a high level of attention to both "big picture" and detail in her work, Melissa's background includes: Implementing over four years of NVC leadership, in various contexts - including her work as former board director at the BC Network for Compassionate Communication, and NVC Facilitator Honing her seven years of writing and editing experience Applying collaboration and customer service in various organizations since 1996 Developing and running entrepreneurial ventures since 2001, and Consistently incorporating NVC learning and practice since 2012 Besides deepening her NVC integration and questioning NVC culture, what are some things that bring her joy? Dance flash mobs, improv games, mutual inspiration, empowerment, and daydreams of "being in a serene, cuddle-snuggle pile of chubby kitties and bunnies".
	Rachel Garmon, Audio Editor Rachel and her husband Bob have held eclectic positions over the years. Their last grand adventure was to own and run a Health Food Store in Phoenix, Arizona. As such, Rachel brings an amazing amount of information about the science and spiritual aspects of physical health. While some have questioned her detail-oriented manner, her perfectionistic proclivities are perfectly matched as the NVC Academy Audio Editor. Rachel brings experience running her own business, as well as clarity and passion to her work. Personally, Rachel and her husband Bob live in a home they built themselves in Cornville, a small rural town in northern Arizona. She has two grown sons who adore her. Rachel has a strong value for community and so she spends much of her time organizing and facilitating local NVC gatherings and trainings. Rachel is a deeply spiritual person who pursues many other avenues for deeper connection with herself and others in addition to her NVC passions; she shows devotion to them all. And if you are lucky enough to get even just one of Rachel's big smiles directed toward you, you would understand that spirituality is an inside-out experience.
	Ranjitha Jeurkar, Social Media Manager Ranjitha Jeurkar manages NVC Academy's social media presence. Ranjitha is a Certified Trainer with the Center for Nonviolent Communication. She lives in Bangalore, India, where she shares NVC with individuals and organizations. Ranjitha began her career as a communications professional, and for the last six years worked in the non-profit sector, in the space of mental health awareness. She brings her skills from both of these spaces to the work she does now. "For the last couple of years, I've been exploring ways in which I can make cooking extremely simple: how do you break down complicated-sounding recipes to clear instructions anyone can follow and apply? My approach to sharing Nonviolent Communication is similar; it's about how we can begin exploring and living these principles in our daily lives, starting from where we are now."
	Robin O'Brien, Live Course and Help Desk Team Leader Robin's current roles in her world include wife/partner, mother, homeschool teacher of 3, care taker, social activist, and student of life and love. She is passionate about creating social change and world harmony through compassion, parenting, and community. She has spent the last 15 years in study of Nonviolent Communication. She is a martial artist and shares empowerment self-defense in her community. She is especially passionate about the intersection of NVC, martial arts, and self-defense. She has participated in and served as assistant to the Parent Peer Leadership Program. She was a founding member of Maryland Families for Safe Birth, which introduced legislation to legalize home birth midwifery in Maryland. Robin is especially passionate about work with teen girls.
	Sofie De Wulf, Program coordinator Sofie is a cultural manager, social change activist, art lover and internationalist from Belgium. In all her work she's been driven to combine two passions: art and social change. She worked as a producer in the Belgian theater company LOD and did voluntary work with several Belgian NGOs in Africa and Latin-America, executing photography and theater workshops. Since 2014 she's been living in Mexico-City, where she founded MasterPeace México, an NGO that promotes peace. With MasterPeace México she has been organizing a wide variety of projects and events with the aim to promote a peace culture through artistic practice. In 2015 and 2016 she held two editions of a photography, short story and cartoon contest with the theme of the 43 disappeared students of Ayotzinapa, in collaboration with the Embassy of the Netherlands, the Memory and Tolerance Museum and MasterPeace Colombia. Between 2016 and 2019 she organized with her team a series of lectures, called PeaceTalks, in which artists and cultural managers shared their high-impact peace-building projects through the arts. In 2017 she started the Peace Neighborhoods project inviting youth-at-risk to participate in artistic training with a Nonviolent communication component. Sofie is a CNVC certification candidate and is giving NVC workshops to youngsters, social entrepreneurs and enterprises in Mexico.