The University affiliate offers programs, workshops, and outreach to teach de-escalation practices.
As the enters its fourth decade, its leaders continue looking to the future to ease the pains of the past and present.
鈥淧art of our mission is to prioritize programming for youth between the ages of 12 and 24,鈥� says Gwen Olton 鈥�04, the institute鈥檚 interim executive director. 鈥淭eaching them how to grow vegetables in our garden, how to cook and sew, and how to repurpose clothes and upcycle.鈥�
And teaching them to build a world in which nonviolence is the norm鈥攏o easy task in a city besieged by violence. The institute, which is affiliated with the 人妻少妇专区, hosts programs for Rochester City School District students focused on transforming conflict along with workshops that emphasize de-escalation practices.
鈥淵oung people are often less set in their ways around conflict than grownups,鈥� Olton explains. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e more open and receptive to nonviolence, and more flexible in practicing new skills. We do this to honor the future of our city community and create a world that will work for everyone.鈥�
鈥擥wen Olton 鈥�04, interim director of the Gandhi Institute
Kit Miller was executive director from 2009 to 2021 and now serves as director emeritus. She鈥檚 proud that the institute provides 鈥渁 space of beauty, learning, and safety, visited by thousands of people since 2012.鈥� And she says focusing on youth has been part of the institute鈥檚 mission since she began working there.
鈥淧eople in this age group are making decisions that affect the trajectory of their entire lives,鈥� Miller says. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e also heavily impacted by negative cultural influences. We want to inspire youth to be their best selves.鈥�
Rochester alumna at the helm
The institute was founded in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1991 before moving to the River 人妻少妇专区 when it became a University affiliate in 2007. But its home for the past 10 years has been a 19th-century colonial building in the Plymouth-Exchange Neighborhood, across the Genesee River from the River 人妻少妇专区.
鈥淭he institute has close ties with the University while remaining its own organization,鈥� Olton says. 鈥淭he University has continued to provide some financial support for our operation, and we鈥檝e remained a resource for the University for workshopping, conflict support, restorative practices and dialogues, and other requests.鈥�
The nonprofit鈥檚 mission is to equip people to use nonviolence to create a sustainable and just world for all in collaboration with local organizations, academic institutions, students, and committed peacemakers.
Olton says Rochester undergraduates have been 鈥渁 phenomenal source of support鈥� through volunteer work in its nearly one-acre garden, which includes everything from potatoes and tomatoes to cucumbers and wildflowers. There are also numerous apple and pear trees on the land. This year, the institute began a community garden model where neighbors and community members can adopt a bed and take food from the garden.
Olton grew up in Palmyra, New York, outside of Rochester, and graduated from the University with a degree in philosophy and earth and environmental sciences. She worked two years as nursing coordinator and one year as a complex care manager for the office of mental health at the Hillside Children鈥檚 Center before spending five years as a consultant and director of training and practice transformation at Coordinated Care Services. She joined the institute in 2020 as director of training and education. Olton says it was a 鈥渘o brainer鈥� to take on the one-year role of interim executive director last July.
鈥淭he opportunity to do this kind of work all the time鈥攁nd do it with others who are as committed to nonviolence as I am鈥攎ade for an easy decision,鈥� she says. 鈥淎s someone who grew up with a lot of conflict in my family, I found myself negotiating with different folks early on. I had an interest in conflict and nonviolence, and one of the reasons I chose to attend Rochester was because it offered an option to take a nonviolence course as a first-year student.鈥�
鈥業 don鈥檛 think any single organization has the solution鈥�
Olton says racially charged incidents across the country, and continued violence in the city of Rochester, make for challenging times for an organization dedicated to nonviolence. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think any single organization has the solution,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e have a diversity of ideas and strategies we think will help, and we鈥檙e seeing more collaboration among those of us who are really committed to building a beloved community.鈥�
A podcast project is in the works to share narratives from community members who have been successful in de-escalation and nonviolent work. 鈥淲e get so used to hearing what鈥檚 not working,鈥� Olton says. 鈥淲e want to flip the script. There are a lot of tools out there. It takes imagination and vision. Nonviolence is not just stopping and objecting to what we don鈥檛 like, but actively building the future that we want.鈥�
That future includes expanding current programs and building relationships with the formerly incarcerated. Staff members work with prisoners at Attica and Groveland, offering tips on practicing nonviolence in turbulent situations, and Olton would like to extend such efforts to other prisons and increase de-escalation work and support.
She also wants to continue offering youth programs 鈥渋n new and inventive ways.鈥� Last summer, high school students from the Rochester City School District and Monroe County were hired to make TikTok videos for the institute鈥檚 channel, @thegandhiinstitute, on the video-sharing app. The videos focus on content related to the institute鈥檚 four pillars鈥攏onviolence education, racial justice and antiracism, restorative practices, and sustainability.
鈥淚鈥檓 hoping the videos reach the young audience and help us further our mission: helping individuals and communities develop the inner resources and practical skills needed to achieve a nonviolent, sustainable, and just world,鈥� Olton says.
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