Who We Are

The M.K. Gandhi Institute of Nonviolence is a nonprofit that works to realize the vision of its historic namesake. The M.K. Gandhi Institute helps individuals and communities develop the inner resources and practical skill needed to achieve a nonviolent, sustainable and just world. Located at the University of Rochester, the M.K. Gandhi Institute collaborates with other nonprofits, academic institutes, students and driven peacemakers in the following areas:

 
Nonviolence Education - We offer lectures, workshops and courses on developing a lived practice of nonviolence, including mindful communication, sustainable living and restorative practices. 

 
Sustainability and Social Justice through Food - We create and support community projects to educate and improve health through planting community gardens, contributing to urban agriculture policy and projects for the city, and organizing community-wide events related to food and hunger.  

 
Social Justice and Nonviolence through Restorative Justice – The M.K. Gandhi Institute is determined to render Rochester “the most restorative city” in the United States. Restorative Justice presents a viable and necessary alternative to our punitive justice system. Focusing on the victims and harmed community that are often overlooked once punishment is rendered, the Restorative Justice System gives the afflicted a voice and elucidates to the offender the implications of the harms they committed and gives them a chance to offer reparations. Working with both the victim and offender, Restorative Justice aims to mend communities through nonviolent means like therapy, counseling, and service that build communities as opposed to tearing them apart. The M.K. Gandhi Institute works with community volunteers, students and local organizations, to create and support existing restorative work in area courts and to have restorative justice learned and practiced in area schools, colleges and neighborhoods.  

The Institute’s passion is to:

EDUCATE
• to create public awareness of nonviolence as knowledge critical for human thriving and the well being of the planet.
  EMBODY
• by training individuals in skills such as nonviolent communication, self reflection, meditation and experiential interconnectedness.
  SERVE
• through fostering sustainability practices in the Rochester area such as community gardening, urban agriculture and restorative justice projects.

History

The Institute was founded in 1991 by Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mohandas K. Gandhi, and his wife Sunanda at Christian Brothers University in Memphis, Tennessee . Sunanda Gandhi passed away in 2007 and Arun brought the Institute and its rich heritage to the University of Rochester.

The Institute’s launch date at the University of Rochester was Oct 2, 2007-Gandhi’s birthday and the first annual UN International Day of Nonviolence, to recognize the relevance of Gandhi’s social change model of nonviolence in the world today.