Danny L. Thomas, Executive Director

Danny L. Thomas is professionally trained in conflict management skills.  His primary focus is reconciliation and bridge building, especially around the issues of racial, economic, and educational disparity.  Prior to The Peace Center, Danny served several communities in New Jersey as a pastor. The congregations he has led have become active change agents and advocates in their communities.

During his seminary years, Danny served for a year as chaplain to the regional hospital in Jinja, Uganda, developing a partnership between caregivers and hospital staff to assure proper food and medical access.  He has had the opportunity to experience the Israeli-Palestinian conflict while traveling with a team from the Delaware Valley chapter of the Association for Conflict Resolution on a project designed to build bridges of listening.

Danny holds a Master of Divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary and a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Virginia Tech.  He is trained in Inhalation Toxicology, Developmental Behavior/Ethology, as well as Pastoral Care/Counseling and Grief and Bereavement.

Kate Whitman, Director of Educational Programming &
Bullying Prevention Resource Center

holds an MA in International Peace and Conflict Resolution from Arcadia University. Ms. Whitman is a certified mediator in the state of Pennsylvania, and is trained in restorative practices, Healing and Rebuilding Our Communities (a trauma healing program), and Alternatives to Violence Project. She has studied issues of youth, education and peacebuilding in Northern Ireland and West Africa. Ms. Whitman coordinates The Peace Center’s Bullying Prevention Program Respecting Me, Respecting You, our diversity and inclusion program Celebrating Me, Celebrating You, Peer Mediation, and SPEAK, a leadership and peacebuilding training for high school students.

Karin Kasdin, Director and Founder of Girls Unlimited

holds a BS in communications from Northwestern University and a MA in Education from Harvard with a concentration on the media and its impact on children and adolescents.  She has worked with young people for more than three decades in varied environments, first in the classroom, and later as the owner/director of The Kasdin School of Dramatic Arts, and as a founding director of The Friendship Circle of Bucks County, an organization that pairs teenage volunteers with children who have special needs.  She is also a published author of five books on various subjects related to parenting and currently writes a blog for baby-boomers on The Huffington Post.

Gayle Evans, Director of Community Programming

is a peace educator for Respecting Me, Respecting You and the Girls Unlimited program. She brings to The Peace Center Board a rich and varied background working in both the for-profit and non-profit world. Gayle has managed programs and grants, (doing amazing work in the Bristol community in a leadership capacity with United Way) and was an adjunct teacher with Bucks County Community College. She also led the Diversity office of BCCC.  Gayle is a graduate of the University of South Carolina and Holy Family University. She lives in Newtown with her husband and is the mother of six daughters, and has just become a grandmother.

Supportive Alliance for Family Empowerment (S.A.F.E.)

providing trauma-sensitive and resilience-focused personal growth and
violence intervention services in the Greater Philadelphia Area.

John Anthony Bochnowicz, M.A.
Founder and Director of S.A.F.E.

holds an M.A. in Rehabilitation Counseling, from the University of South Florida. He specializes in working with perpetrators and victims of violence – self-referred or court-mandated. Since 1982 John Anthony Bochnowicz has developed and ran programs in South Lake Tahoe, California, Reno, Nevada and Bel Air, Maryland  to empower men and women to take responsibility for their behavior and to stop the violence in their lives. In 1994 John Anthony Bochnowicz launched the SAFE Counseling Program Inc., a domestic violence intervention program for men and women at The Peace Center, Langhorne, PA.

Vera T. Tzenova-Bochnowicz, M.A.
Director and Group facilitator of S.A.F.E.

holds a B.A. Degree in Political Science and M.A. Degree in International Peace and Conflict Resolution from Arcadia University, Glenside.  Vera is certified in Traumatic Stress Studies, in Teaching Yoga within the Criminal Justice System, and in Domestic Violence Risk Assessment. In addition, she finds great joy in working as a certified practitioner of Reiki Levels I and II and in teaching special workshops on emotional intelligence and mindfulness. Vera takes pride in being an insightful and committed professional, an avid learner and an attuned parent. She works toward her vision of safe, connected and resilient families and communities by facilitating personal transformation and growth in her clients and welcoming partnerships with community stakeholders.

 

Program Peace Educators