About Clarity Services
We are committed to supporting human relations that enhance a sustainable respectful human future.
Peggy Smith
Peggy Smith is a certified trainer with the International Center for Nonviolent Communication, with over four decades of teaching experience. She is at the forefront of bringing empathic thinking and communicating to our region.
Peggy holds a M.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and was a teacher in public and alternative schools for 32 years before devoting her full time energies to this endeavor. She offers trainings in a wide variety of venues. She has posted online a Courageous Communication curriculum developed over five years with men coming out of incarceration.
She is a co-founder of the Maine NVC Network and leads their monthly newsletter team.
Peggy has done international NVC work through Seeds of Peace International Camp, working with educators from the Middle East and South Asia both in Maine and in the region.
A student of Mindfulness since 1991, Peggy has been ordained as a teacher by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. She has a passion for helping everyone develop their innate capacity for empathy by integrating mindfulness into how we think and communicate.
Peggy enjoys designing and implementing programs that support empathic thinking and communicating as part of systemic culture change.
Leah Boyd
Leah Boyd is a certified trainer with the International Center for Nonviolent Communication and holds a BS in Education. She is a professional mediator, group facilitator, communication skills trainer & musician. With a diverse background including special education, human resources and professional music, Leah brings wide personal experience to her work.
For 10 years Leah worked in the field of special education as a teacher of students grades 7 – 12 with emotional and behavioral challenges. Leah created programs that fostered a sense of community and belonging, setting the conditions for her students to blossom academically and socially.
For 15 years Leah helped grow her family’s trucking company from 12 to 65 employees in the capacity of office manager and then Human Resources Director. It was while immersed in this work she discovered and honed her skill and passion for assisting people to communicate effectively, work cooperatively, and manage conflict productively.
Leah trusts the creative potential that is unleashed when all voices are heard and all needs are considered within a supportive structure, allowing creative tension to become a source of creativity.
In addition to serving private clients, Leah has served as a mediator for the Maine Department of Education as well as the Maine District Court System. She has also served on the Board of Governors for the Maine Association of Mediators.
Leah is also part of the musical duo, Peaceful Means, weaving together original songs and uplifting arrangements of choice covers. The duo combines vocals and accompanying piano, acoustic strings, and percussion to create music that inspires a consciousness of nonviolence.
CLARITY SERVICES is thrilled to strategically partner with Gregg Kendrick of Basilea LLC to enhance Whole Team Facilitation, Executive and Leadership Coaching and Cultural & Leadership Assessment.
Gregg Kendrick
For 19 years, Gregg was co-owner & CEO of a software technology training firm whose clients were primarily Fortune 500 corporations & federal agencies. Within this business, he brought an awareness of needs-based communication among the staff and transformed the structure & operation of the business to be a needs-centered culture.
Awed by the potency of that experience, Gregg founded Basileia LLC and has been a full-time consultant/trainer since 2004. His speciality is "whole-team" facilitated conversations that deepen connection among team members while advancing the team toward its goals.
Gregg's work focuses on developing "power-with" leaders rather than "power-over" — teaching a mindset and skill sets that inspire, empower and build trust among people. These leaders become more authentic, more empathic and more grounded as they create cultures of collaboration and purpose.
Gregg is a CTT Certified Consultant and a Certified Nonviolent Communication (CNVC) Trainer who has facilitated extensive trainings in the United States, Canada, Germany, Sweden, Australia, South Korea, India and South Africa — including being a trainer at International Intensive Trainings with Marshall Rosenberg, the developer of NVC.
He resides in Charlottesville, Virginia, with his wife and three daughters.
Alton Lane
Alton Lane was educated in the school of poverty, violence, abuse and addiction. First arrested at the age of twelve, Alton led a fast and dangerous life. In 2013 he was introduced to Nonviolent Communication while incarcerated. He quickly found it a valuable process for responding differently to the challenges of life.
Alton continues to inspire our work and provides us with a window into understanding and supporting the needs of people in the areas of:
addiction
painful behaviors
mental and physical health challenges
corrections and law enforcement
youth development
first nation development
Alton Lane is the author of the memoir, Only Human: a Journey from Convict to Mentor.
“Peggy Smith and Alton Lane are one powerful combination! Peggy’s unique and easily understandable approach to Nonviolent Communication is inspiring, engaging, and actionable.
Alton’s life experience shows us that hurt people will ultimately hurt other people unless empathy is discovered and learned. His life story and journey since meeting Peggy provides evidence that everyone has the potential to develop into an emotional healthy nonviolent person if given the opportunity and tools. Their presentations and workshops provide both!”