Sandra Amiry - Director

Sandra Amiry has practiced and shared Nonviolent Communication (NVC) since 2004, driven by a lifelong commitment to stronger relationships and sustainable, integrated communities. Raised in an internationally mixed family and confronted early on with the effects of alcoholism and violence, Sandra has devoted much of her life’s work to examining and elucidating these complex dynamics. After exploring many frameworks, encountering NVC produced immediate, profound shifts that inspired her to dedicate herself to teaching.

Since 2010, teaching NVC has been central to Sandra’s life. She trained with numerous NVC teachers, including Marshall Rosenberg, and joined Rose City NVC. Through the Oregon Prison Project (OPP)—co‑founded by Rose City NVC—she gained extensive practicum experience, teaching at Oregon State Penitentiary, Columbia River Correctional Institution, the Reentry Transition Center, and Coffee Creek Correctional Facility. She finds this work profoundly meaningful for supporting justice-system change and helping incarcerated people reintegrate more safely and effectively.

Sandra pursued certification through The Center for Nonviolent Communication (CNVC), completing a rigorous trainer-community process emphasizing 360‑degree feedback; she has been a Certified NVC Trainer since 2016. In 2017 she assumed leadership of Rose City NVC and the Oregon Prison Project, working with a volunteer team committed to expanding the community.

Sandra integrates trauma work, codependency recovery, cognitive‑behavioral approaches, interpersonal neurobiology, mindfulness, and body‑awareness practices to strengthen NVC’s integrity. While she values NVC’s language and structure, she uses it for its intended purpose—as scaffolding to cultivate the inner consciousness from which compassion naturally arises.

When Sandra’s not NVC‑ing in prison, she’s NVC‑ing while enjoying outdoor activities, dancing, singing, and gardening.