Board of Directors

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“Kindred has been a godsend for realizing that aiming for the wellbeing of people, communities and planet is not hopeless. Thank you, Kindred, for your years of wise guidance!” - Darcia Narvaez, PhD

Darcia Narvaez is a Professor of Psychology Emerita at the University of Notre Dame. She is the founder of the public and professional educational outreach project, The Evolved Nest Initiative, whose nonprofit mission is to share her science research into developing appropriate baselines for lifelong human wellness by meeting the biological needs of infants. This baseline is imperative at this time as the United States ranks 41st out of 41 developed countries in public policies that support families.

In a 2020 analysis of top scientists, Narvaez emerged in the top 2% of scientists worldwide. Of the eight million scientists in the world, the analysis concerned those who had at least five articles published in scientific journals between 1996 and 2017-- over six million scientists. Individuals were ranked according to various criteria, including number of citations of their work.

Narvaez’s book, Neurobiology and the Development of Human Morality: Evolution, Culture and Wisdom, was chosen for the 2017 Expanded Reason Award from among more than 360 total entries from 170 universities and 30 countries. Narvaez received the prize, including a substantial monetary award, at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences in Vatican City on September 27, 2017.  The book also received the William James Award from the American Psychological Association in 2015. 

The Evolved Nest is a breakthrough concept that integrates findings across fields that bear on child development, child raising and adult behavior.  The Evolved Nest promotes optimal health and wellbeing, cooperation, and receptive and sociomoral intelligences. Societal moves away from providing the Evolved Nest have contributed to the ill being and dysregulation we see in one another and society. Learn how to nest your children and re-nest yourself.

Narvaez’s prior careers include professional musician, classroom music teacher, business owner, seminarian and middle school Spanish teacher. Dr. Narvaez’s current research explores how early life experience influences societal culture, wellbeing and sociomoral character in children and adults. She integrates neurobiological, clinical, developmental and education sciences in her theories and research about human nature and human development. She publishes extensively on moral development, parenting and education. Recently she has been studying the Evolved Nest and how it influences wellbeing, sociality and morality. 

On the Evolved Nest’s YouTube channel, you can view the many interdisciplinary conferences she hosted at the University of Notre Dame regarding early experience and human development. In 2016, she organized a conference on Sustainable Wisdom: Integrating Indigenous KnowHow for Global Flourishing, and whose essays were published in a book by the same name in 2019.

The Evolved Nest Collection: Podcasts, Videos, Articles, and Posts

BLOG POSTS:

Psychology Today

Kindred Media, Complete Collection

SOUNDCLOUD PODCAST PLAYLISTS: 

All audio podcasts: https://soundcloud.com/evolvednest

Book Reviews: https://soundcloud.com/evolvednest/sets/book-reviews

The Evolved Nest Explained: https://soundcloud.com/evolvednest/sets/the-evolved-nests-nine

The Evolved Nest’s 24 part series: https://soundcloud.com/evolvednest/sets/evolved-nest-podcast-series

YOUTUBE PLAYLISTS:

Notre Dame Symposium to Address Early Human Experience 2010, complete conference playlist.

DOWNLOAD THE EVOLVED NEST FLYER TO SHARE HERE.

 "As a neuroscientist, mother and grandmother, I feel intimately linked with the mission of Kindred to provide resources that promote equanimity, inner confidence and co-regulation for children and families. At this juncture in history when safety is illusive and often non-existent, inner anchoring, alignment and personal empowerment are crucial. If we are to meet this existential threat and systemically transform society we need the Kindred orientation towards connection and alliance with the natural world. I speak for both the TARA Approach for the Resolution of Shock and Trauma (www.Tara-Approach.org) and Climate Change & Consciousness (www.cccearth.org). These two global organizations are dedicated to a more beautiful world for the children of the future." – Stephanie Mines, PhD

Dr. Stephanie Mines is the author of five books that reflect over three decades of research as a neuroscientist. She has investigated shock and trauma as a survivor, a professional, a clinical researcher, and healthcare provider. Her nonprofit The TARA Approach is instrumental in the systemic change she promotes as a Regenerative Health paradigm.

Dr. Mines also developed Climate Change & Consciousness to facilitate inner transformation for grounded climate action. Climate Change & Consciousness serves an international and intergenerational community of visionary activists.

In addition, Dr. Mines is an award-winning poet. Her poetry has been published in anthologies and in chapbooks. 

Dr. Mines’ latest book, Memoir of An Embryologist: How I Discovered the Secret of Resilience, will be released in 2023 from Inner Traditions/Sacred Planet Books.

She is a contributor to Kindred Media, a past presenter in the Kindred Fellowship program, and a member of the KFP Advisory Board.

“Stephanie Mines, moves through the complex territory of healing with refreshing grace, candor and immense wisdom.” ~ Pat Ogden, Ph.D., Founder of Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute, Author of Trauma and the Body

“The TARA Approach is a masterful design for regeneration and profound healing. In a world of constant debilitating shock, Stephanie Mines offers skillful means to resolve personal and collective wounding in ways that illuminate as well as heal.” ~ Jean Houston, Ph.D.

“This work you are offering is validating the human experience in a way that all of my schooling and all of therapy did not touch.”  ~ Sheila Norquay

Read Stephanie's posts and podcasts on Kindred Media.

"Wisdom is the experience of wholeness. To become a wisdom-based society, we must first become a wellness-informed society." – Lisa Reagan

Introduced as a “force of nature” by Cassandra Vieten, IONS president, at the first Mindful Motherhood Conference in NYC in 2011, Lisa Reagan’s passionate dedication to empower American activists, professionals, and families to envision and create a Wisdom-based, Wellness-informed Society has led to the founding of multiple inspired nonprofit initiatives and collaborations since her transformative motherhood initiation in 1997.

Lisa’s Mother-of-a-Quest began with co-founding a grassroots organization of Wayfinders, Trance-breakers, and New Cycle Makers fiercely intent on protecting American’s children with educational initiatives to counter the country’s freefall to the bottom of all developed nations’ wellness indicators. Today, Kindred World is an award-winning nonprofit whose vision and mission are more relevant and critical than ever. (Read Kindred World’s Great Nonprofits’ reviews here.)

Integrating a quarter century of cultural transformation insights into grounded Wayfinder Wisdom, Lisa currently shepherds Kindred World in carrying out its ongoing nonprofit work through multiple initiatives and partner collaborations, including:

The Evolved Nest, a virtual learning center featuring the award-winning science and research of Darcia Narvaez, PhD. Lisa and Darcia collaborate on the creation of virtual educational outreach projects of the Evolved Nest, including the short film, Breaking the Cycle, Mighty Networks discussion groups, as well as monthly live discussions. Darcia Narvaez is ranked among the top two percent of scientists worldwide. Her research into humanity’s Evolved Nest reveals our “evolutionary pathway to wellbeing”. Darcia currently serves as Kindred World’s president.

Kindred Media is an alternative media platform championing a New Story of the Human Family. Lisa serves as Kindred’s executive editor, working with contributors to create podcasts, interviews, special feature series, and the expansion of Kindred’s New Story Glossary (because a new story needs new language). Kindred’s innovative media platform allows the many Kindred World initiatives and partner collaborations to interact and integrate personal stories, shifting worldviews, and cultural transformation victories. Our challenge, to bring visibility and coherence to cultural transformation, is achieved through Kindred Media’s holistic storytelling strategies.

The Meet the Wayfinders Oral History Series was produced at the request of La Leche League International for their 65th Conference in 2021. This series integrates both Kindred’s many years of tracking unheralded victories of cultural transformation as well as introducing the concept of Kindred Activism, which explores both how the activists were successful in their quests and how their wayfinder advocacy can be duplicated. Kindred Activism is further explored in the Kindred Fellowship Program.

The Kindred Fellowship Program captures insights from Lisa’s 25 years of activism and explores the need for a more sustainable approach to social justice education and cultural transformation advocacy. KFP’s instructors are leaders in their fields of human development and consciousness. This live program integrates Lisa’s decades of allyship with minorities and women to change the lives of children, her Worldview Literacy Facilitator training from IONS, and her professional experience as an educational program director with multiple nonprofits. KFP’s work with college-level fellows and facilitators resulted in the creation of Kindred Activism, a childhood-centered, worldview-based activism that equips and empowers a new generation to create a Wisdom-based, Wellness-informed Society.

Lisa continues to shepherd Kindred World’s original vision of a Wisdom-based, Wellness-informed Society as the award-winning nonprofit serves Wayfinders, Trance-breakers, and New Cycle Makers, expands its collaborations with partners, and welcomes new board members. To see all of Kindred World’s initiatives, visit the site here. To volunteer or partner with Kindred World, please contact Lisa and Kindred World’s board at hello@kindredworld.org. And please support Kindred World’s ongoing nonprofit work with your tax-deductible donation here.

Read Lisa's posts, editorials, features, and listen to her podcasts on Kindred.

Susan Pagels is a Nonprofit Finance Executive offering eight years' experience driving the financial health of non-profit organizations through sound financial planning, strategy formulation, and expansion. She supports nonprofits by establishing direction and overseeing growth through implementing policies/procedures and transforming operations in alignment with mission and targets. Susan acts as a partner in key decision-making by providing a holistic overview of the company’s financial standing to the Executive Director and Board of Directors. She is a collaborative leader skilled in empowering teams to complete work independently, while sharing ideas and process improvements.

Four Arrows, (Wahinkpe Topa) aka Dr. Don Trent Jacobs, faculty in the School of Leadership Studies at Fielding Graduate University. Formerly Dean of Education at Oglala Lakota College and tenured Associate Professor at Northern Arizona University. With doctorates in health psychology and in Curriculum and Instruction (with a cognate in Indigenous Worldview) he has authored 21 books and numerous other publications relating to wellness, critical theory, education and Indigenous worldview. His publications have been praised by a number of notable thinkers, including John Pilger, Greg Cajete, Noam Chomsky, Thom Hartman, Henry Giroux, Sam Keen, Bruce Lipton, Dan Millman, Vine Deloris, Jr. and many others. 

AERO elected him as one of 27 visionaries for their text, Turning Points, and he is recipient of a number of recognitions for his activism, including the Martin-Springer Institute's Moral Courage Award.

He is currently involved in helping create the first No Take Zone Marine Park on the Costalegre in Mexico. Four Arrow was first alternate for the 1996 Olympic Equestrian Endurance Team and placed 4th in the World Championship Old Time Piano Contest. He enjoys a number of ocean sports at his homes in Jalisco, Mexico and British Columbia, Canada with his photographer wife. He is a popular and thought-provoking keynoter and has presented on various topics in Australia, Canada, the U.S., Mexico, South Korea, and Japan and is on the Fulbright list of International Scholars

In 2022, Four Arrows and Darcia Narvaez published the book, Restoring the Kinship Worldview: Indigenous Voices Introduce 28 Precepts for Rebalancing Life on Planet Earth.

In 2018, The Chicago Wisdom Project, selected Four Arrows's book, Teaching Truly A Curriculum to Indigenize Mainstream Education,  as one of the top twenty education books of all time along side such distinguished authors as Neil Postman, Paulo Freire, John Dewey and others.

You can read, listen, and download Narvaez and Four Arrows’ collaborative work on Kindred World’s multiple initiatives and projects:

Download a PDF or buy a poster of Four Arrows’ Worldview Chart.

Read about the Evolved Nest and Restoring the Kinship Worldview with Darcia Narvaez and Four Arrows on Kindred Media.

On Four Arrows' book Teaching Truly: 

"This enlightening book reminds us that the grim prognosis for life on this planet is the consequence of a few centuries of forgetting what traditional societies knew.. pay careful attention to their educational practices as brought to us in these thoughtful chapters." — Noam Chomsky, Professor Emeritus at MIT

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“Educators should be paying attention to what Four Arrows offers in this book.” — Bill McKibben, distinguished scholar and founder of 360.org.

Watch the video on the biography of Four Arrows' life as a social transformer: The Fearless Engagement of Four Arrows.

For the past 25 years, I’ve been an academic researcher, studying babies’ innate ability to communicate and connect with other people. I have loved what the field of Developmental Psychology has taught me – why it is that a child’s earliest years have such a profound effect on their later years, including their emotional security, their trust in others, their self-confidence, and their relationships. Now I want to help ensure that this knowledge is spread as widely as possible.  I frequently act as partner or speaker for a wide range of organizations throughout the UK and abroad – including police, educators, health workers, nursery staff, parent groups, and children’s theatre groups – helping them to better understand the neuroscientific, biological, and psychological evidence concerning human’s need for emotional connection.  If we overlook the early years, then we all pay for it, through the services that governments need to fund, such as prisons, mental health programmes, hospitals, fostering arrangements, and others. Tackling many of society’s challenges can best be done by paying attention to the emotional needs of babies.

My professional history started in the USA, where I gained a BA in Psychology at San Diego State University followed by a PhD in Developmental Psychology at Yale University.  In 1993, I took up an academic post in the UK, as a Developmental Psychologist based at the University of Dundee.  I have remained there ever since, currently holding the post of Honorary Fellow.  During my career, I have served on a range of committees and in a variety of roles.  These include co-editor of an academic journal, chair of a committee of the British Psychological Society, Associate College Dean, Coordinator of Research Postgraduate Students, and external examiner.  I have organised a number of conferences and events, including creating a national event that allows psychology students from throughout Scotland come together to present the findings of their research dissertations.

Visit Dr. Zeedyk's homepage.

Discover Dr. Zeedyk's posts and podcasts on Kindred Media.

Dr. Zeedyk was an instructor for the Kindred World Fellowship Program in 2022, where she presented insights into Scotland versus the United States' acceptance and actions for the emerging trauma-informed movement. As Zeedyk shared in this video, Scotland's attachment science orientation welcomed the knowledge of the trauma-informed movement, whereas the United States – lacking attachment science awareness and cultural acceptance (no paid family leave or breastfeeding support) – meant a lack of framing for trauma-informed efforts.

Read and listen to Dr. Zeedyk's interview on Kindred, How A Grassroots Vision Is Driving Scotland To Become the First ACES Aware Nation.

Read Dr. Zeedyk's 2023 paper, The Science of ACES and Attachment: Insights Into Their Shared History In Scotland And Beyond. 

“The Book Fairy Pantry Project would not exist in the world if not for Kindred World and the beyond believable support of Lisa Reagan. From the moment I brought my idea for this project to Lisa she has been the wind beneath my Book Fairy wings. Every time I find a new way to get more free books donated to more children, Lisa finds more ways to support that effort. We have grown from getting donated books to food pantries to also getting books to young children in WIC programs, Early HeadStart programs, and elementary schools. We now provide personal 13-book Little "Freedom" Libraries to children who cannot access school, or public libraries because of Covid closings, and we are getting Little Free Libraries built and installed in public housing neighborhoods. Being an initiative of Kindred World has opened doors for the Book Fairy Pantry Project to become a global presence in supporting the literacy of families, and every day I am thankful for the blessing of their support.” – Pam Leo

Pam Leo is a family literacy activist and founder of the Book Fairy Pantry Project, an FCL initiative. She is the author of the classic and well-loved book, Connection Parenting, inspired literacy and bonding poetry, a contributing author to Kindred and a future children's book, Please Read To Me. Pam has worked with children and families for more than forty years. From her work with teen parents, parents in prison, parents in recovery, and low income parents, she learned that all parents want very much to provide for their own children. She has "never met a parent who didn't want life to be better for their children than it was for them." Her enduring love of children's  books, her passion for literacy, and her commitment to empowering parents, are combined in her new role as the founder of a grassroots literacy movement, the Book Fairy Pantry Project, whose mission is "No Child With No Books" - because "Books change children's lives...for good."

Read Pam's posts on Kindred.

“If we are going to make real change on the planet, then it must start with exploring this vital question: what conditions are needed to create a just, compassionate and sustainable society? Families for Conscious Living not only asks this essential question, but seeks also to find answers, and support a community around those answers. What an ambitious calling for a non profit, and how well they answer that calling.” – Kelly Wendorf

Kelly Wendorf, PCC, MECD is an executive coach, author, transformational mentor, and socially responsible entrepreneur. She was the founding editor and publisher of Kindred when it was first a print magazine and then moved to a purely online platform. Kelly is now the Founding Partner of EQUUS, an innovative leadership development organization that she runs with her partner J. Scott Strachan in Santa Fe, New Mexico. EQUUS uniquely combines neuroscience, systems theory, contemplative wisdom, attachment theory, somatic processes and nature based wisdom in their coaching approach that is both experiential and transformative. Her commitment is to changing the narrative inside leadership platforms to one that steers the world towards sustainability, compassion, and humanity.

Throughout her life she has lived and worked around the world, studying with many spiritual and Indigenous leaders in India, Africa, Indonesia and Australia. Such immersion in multi-cultural perspectives has honed a passion for creating a new narrative in the human condition, empowering organizations, leaders and high performance individuals to wield meaningful change in their communities and in the world. She has worked inside a wide spectrum of clientele – from Amazon to some of the most underserved communities.

An intuitive lifelong horsewoman and gifted educator, Kelly developed The EQUUS Experience® — an equine-assisted learning process — in response to her frustration with the limitations of conventional learning methodologies. The process works with horses as co-facilitators, to illicit breakthrough learning through engaging in a 56-million-year-old system – the horse herd. The work, grounded in evidence-based research into the neuro-biological approach to learning, engages the limbic pathway where the re-wiring of emotional and psychological habits is possible, translating into lasting change and growth. The EQUUS Experience® is trending as a powerful differentiator in organizational change circles.

Read Kelly's posts on Kindred.

“Kindred World helps bridge the vast gap between scientific research and practice, what is happening within the culture that often cuts against scientific evidence regarding ways to promote human thriving and flourishing. Parents and families deserve to know the best ways to raise healthy, happy, socio-emotionally developed, loving children and this is exactly what Kindred provides!”  – Mary Tarsha

Mary Tarsha is a PhD student in Developmental Psychology and Peace Studies at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Research at the University of Notre Dame.  She conducts research investigating human flourishing and moral development in the Evolutionary Moral Psychology Laboratory under the directorship of Dr. Darcia Narvaez.

Listen to Mary Tarsha’s podcast series with Darcia Narvaez on the Evolved Nest.

And listen to her book reviews with Dr. Narvaez on Kindred.

“Kindred World has served my family in so many essential ways over the last decade. The information, articles and resources provided in their website, as well as authors and contributors have helped my family to strengthen a given stance, change direction or provide talking points for discussion with friends, relatives and professionals about family topics near to our hearts. The integrity of materials, and firm grounding on a family’s freedom of informed choice are a rare commodity in our current age of parent-culture dogmatism.
 

“I am grateful to see this information stream continuing forth and am always glad to forward on such stellar items to those looking for more information.” – Liberty Liscomb

Liberty Liscomb is the past president of Kindred World. Liberty mothers five children in Harwinton, Connecticut, and works to revive and evolve a more self-sufficient and sustainable family and community life, beginning with her own. Her children spend their days world-schooling alongside her, collectively following their own interests, and learning more about the world as they go. She is the co-founder of the Connecticut FCL Gathering Group, a La Leche League Leader and former Bradley Childbirth Educator. She has been an integral part of FCL's growth and vision since 2003.

“I am very grateful that Kindred World exists. In the mainstream media it is difficult to find truth and wisdom for families who want to raise their child in a conscious and mindful way. The beauty here is that new ideas, incredibly interesting topics, and important concepts are introduced in non-threatening and heart opening ways. I consider myself to be someone who keeps her finger on the pulse of the holistic movement and yet I also find new ways of thinking about my work with families and completely new ideas here. It is a place to calm down amidst the busyness of life and the complications of living/managing a modern household and also a place to spark the fire inside you when you need warming.” – Laurel Wilson, IBCLC, CLE, CLD, CCCE

Laurel Wilson, BSc, IBCLC, RLC, CCCE, CLE®, CLD, CPPFE, CPPI owns MotherJourney in Morrison, Colorado. She has her degree in Maternal and Child Health – Lactation Consulting. With over twenty six years of experience working with women in the childbearing year and perinatal professionals, Laurel takes a creative approach to working with the pregnant family and perinatal professionals. She is co-author of best-selling books, The Greatest Pregnancy Ever: The Keys to the MotherBaby Bond and The Attachment Pregnancy: The Ultimate Guide to Bonding with Your Baby. She is also a contributing author to Round the Circle: Experienced Doulas Share What They Learned the Hard Way and original editor of the CAPPA Lactation Educator Manual. She currently travels the world presenting on such hot topics as Social Media and the Pregnant Family, Epigenetics and the Microbiome and First Foods, and Cannabis and Perinatal Health.

Read Laurel’s full bio here and read her contributions, including her TEDx Talk, “Milk: The Food That Evolved Humanity” here.

Jamie Grumet is the author of Modern Attachment Parenting: The Comprehensive Guide to Raising a Secure Child. She is the CEO and founder of I Am Not the Babysitter LLC, Co-Founder of Emmenemoi.com, Project Director of Nurture Tomorrow by VCA International, and a well-recognized advocate for children’s health issues. Jamie has been featured on the cover of TIME Magazine, Pathways to Family Wellness and The Attached Family. She has been interviewed and featured in Kindred, PDN, TODAYonline, Yahoo and The Huffington Post. Jamie has written for HLN, MomsLA, The Adoption Magazine, Blogher and Pathways to Family Wellness. She has made media appearances on “Huffington Post Live,” “CNN,” “Nightline,” “Today Show,” “Anderson,” “Dr. Drew,” “The Ricki Lake Show,” “Carte Blanche,” “60 Minutes Australia” and “Good Morning America” among many others.

Read Jamie Grumet’s interviews and articles on Kindred. Learn more about the Meet the Wayfinders oral history series produced by Kindred Media and featuring Jamie's activist story for La Leche League International's 65th Conference in October 2021.