Cultivating Multicultural Communities
of Inclusion and Belonging
Training educational institutions, workplaces and practitioners to build cultures of peace through:
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collective storytelling
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listening and inquiry
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mindful awareness
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cultural humility
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embodied social justice
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liberatory design
Bio
Dave Trachtenberg is a mindfulness guide & mentor, restorative justice educator, cross-cultural dialog facilitator, and inclusive leadership coach with over 20 years of experience practicing mindfulness. He has dedicated his life to integrating mindfulness & well-being with multicultural community-building and social justice, to co-create communities that honor our collective wisdom, celebrate our identities and lived experiences, and embody the courage and humility needed to create a more welcoming society.
Currently - Dave facilitates mindfulness, restorative justice, and multicultural leadership at American University's Antiracist Research & Policy Center, and the AU School of Education doctoral program: EdD Education Policy & Leadership. He also serves on the Peace of Mind Advisory Board, facilitates international cross-cultural dialog with Soliya, and consults with organizations to design more inclusive cultures utilizing Liberatory Design, Appreciative Inquiry, and Restorative Justice. He has helped people flourish in private practice as a Leadership & Well-Being Coach for over 15 years.
Previously - Dave has had the honor to serve with five different mindfulness in education nonprofits: Program Director and Senior Trainer with Minds Inc., and as a guiding teacher for Mindful Schools, Mindfulness First, Millennium Forum, and Peace of Mind. He has also facilitated mindfulness and restorative justice in DMV-area K-12 schools.
Storytelling - Dave is passionate about storytelling's power to inspire and give hope. His "Seven Foundations of Storytelling" training helps people engage listeners by discovering their innate voice to speak authentically, with confidence, and from the heart.
Integrative Mindfulness
Mindfulness
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Formal Mindfulness
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Applied Mindfulness
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Relational Mindfulness
Inclusion
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Celebrating Our Differences
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Cross-Cultural Dialog
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Honoring Our Lived Experiences
Community Building
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Sharing Our Stories
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Circle Facilitation
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Cultivating Empathy
Compassion
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Allowing Our Hearts to Feel
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Compassion for Self & Others
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Compassionate Action
Listening Circles
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Life Affirming Questions
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Speaking With Presence
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Listening With Heart
Self Discovery
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Embodying Your Values
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Intentions for Well-Being
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Living Authentically
WHAT I DO
I create intimate spaces for people to authentically share, begin a journey of self-discovery, and to live with greater awareness through mindfulness practice.
All sessions fully integrate mindfulness with community building, inclusion, and restorative practices that empower people to:
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Access their innate-wisdom
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Cultivate resilience
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Fully welcome & accept emotions
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Make healthier choices
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Listen with compassion
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Speak with presence
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Navigate difficult emotions
My Story
I teach mindfulness because it helped me transform my life.
The Struggle - When I was younger, I deeply struggled with depression, anxiety, and obsessive compulsive disorder. I was flooded by an all-consuming sense of loneliness, low self-esteem, constant self-judgment, and having no sense of self-worth or agency. Phases of overwhelm took over my life, causing a paralysis where I felt barely able to function.
The Transformation - Learning mindfulness and tai chi had a lasting impact on my life. It taught me to find a place within that was peaceful and steady. It allowed me to observe my mind, instead of blindly reacting to it. It opened up a new world of how I experience my body, and how tuning into body awareness allowed me to feel grounded amidst difficulty. Relational mindfulness helped me listen better, speak more authentically, and cultivate more empathy and compassion for other people.
Mindfulness allowed me to honor all parts of myself: my feelings, thoughts, and past experiences. It helped me feel whole. I began to treat myself with more kindness, and developed a fierce sense of self-love and gratitude for the hurdles I had overcome. For the first time in my life I felt a greater sense of peace and agency, born out of meditation's ability to cultivate greater clear-seeing, letting go of things I had no control over, and allowing myself to fully feel my emotions. With time, it allowed me to make healthier decisions, live in harmony with my values, and to access an unshakable resilience within during challenging times.
"When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it.
Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that last blow that did it, but all that had gone before."
Jacob Riis
Higher Education
American University
Antiracist Research & Policy Center
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Program Design & Facilitator - Multicultural Dialog & Cultural Humility Circles
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Co-Research Lead - Impact of Mindfulness, Restorative Justice & Inquiry Skills on Dialog
School of Education - EdD Policy & Leadership
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Executive in Residence
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Mindfulness, Restorative Justice and Community Well-Being
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Course Design & Facilitation
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Mindfulness & Social Justice Leadership
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Building Inclusive Teams & Growth Culture
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Facilitation Training
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Restorative Justice Circles
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Multicultural Community Building
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Organizational Design & Appreciative Inquiry
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Leadership Coaching
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Inclusive Leadership Coaching
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Well-Being Coaching
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Program & Research Design
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College of Arts and Sciences - Dep. of Public Health
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Course Design & Facilitation
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Mindfulness: Cultivating Social-Emotional Awareness, Resilience & Compassion
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Restorative Justice Fellows & Consulting Team
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AU Inclusive Excellence (university-wide program)
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RJ Facilitation Training
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RJ Coaching & Mentorship
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RJ Healing & Restoration Circles
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Georgetown University
ECIN - Early Childhood Innovation Network
Georgetown University & Children's National Hospital (Programs & Research) - Serving Washington DC Early-Childhood Educators, Families and Parents
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Collaborative Program & Curricula Design
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Educator Well-Being - Mindfulness Training & Community Building Circles
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Family Well-Being - Mindfulness Training & Community Building Circles
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Organization Development Consultant
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Inclusive Facilitation & Team-Building
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Team Communication Redesign
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Nonprofits & K-12 Schools
Education - K-12 Schools
Washington DC Area School Districts
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District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS)
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Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)
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Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS)
Educator Facilitation Training & Coaching
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Mindfulness & Emotional Learning
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Restorative Justice & Circle Facilitation
Education - Nonprofit Leadership
Minds Incorporated - Program Director & Senior Trainer Mindfulness & RJ programming in DMV-area schools:
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Serving over 18,000 students, educators, parents
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Serving over 40 schools in four school districts
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Stewarded team of 35 mindfulness trainers
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Curricula design for educators, teens, K-5th
Peace of Mind - Mindfulness & Peace Education
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Program Co-Designer & Co-Facilitator - Year-Long Educator Virtual Community Circles
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Advisory Board - Committee member & consultant
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Conferences - Community building & mindfulness
Soliya International - Global Circles Guide - College students from Middle-Eastern, North African and North American nationalities, deepening skills of:
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Cross-Cultural Dialog
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Empathy & Belonging
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Inquiry & Listening
Whole School Mindfulness
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Mindfulness & Social Justice Fellowship - Two-year cohort of national mindfulness directors
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Mindfulness Director Selection Committee - Co-process designer & committee member
Mindfulness & Education Nonprofits
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Mindful Schools
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Program Design (team revision of Mindfulness Teacher Certification Program)
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Guiding Teacher - MTCP educator cohorts
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Mindfulness First
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Program Design - Mindfulness Training Series for Educators
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Facilitator & Coach - Educator Wellness Circles
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Millennium Forum
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Guiding Teacher - Year-Long Mindfulness Circles Guide - Educator wellness & flourishing
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EDUCATION
M.S. Positive Organization Development
Case Western Reserve University
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Appreciative Inquiry
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Executive Leadership Coaching
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Positive Psychology
Certificate in Executive Coaching
& Emotionally Intelligent Leadership
Case Western Reserve University
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Compassionate Leadership
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Inclusive Leadership
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Intentional Change Theory
Graduate Certificate - Restorative Justice
EMU - School of Education
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Circle Facilitation
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Peace & Conflict Resolution
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Restorative Justice
Professional Coaching Certification
Newfield Network (exp. 2026)
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Ontological Coaching
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Human Wholeness
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Somatic Awareness
B.A. History
American University
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African History
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Middle Eastern History
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U.S. Cultural History
Mindfulness Training
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction
Qualified MBSR Teacher - 300 hrs
Teachers - Jon Kabat-Zinn, Saki Santorelli, Florence Meleo-Meyer
Engaged Mindfulness Institute
Certified Mindfulness Teacher - 300 hrs
Teachers - Fleet Maul, Jim Bastien
Guest-Teachers - Goldstein, Kornfield
Mindful Schools
Mindful Teacher Training - 300 hrs
Teachers - Megan Cowen, Chris
McKenna, Vinny Ferraro
Inclusive Facilitation Training
Appreciative Inquiry
& Inclusive Leadership
Case Western Reserve:
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Appreciative Inquiry David Cooperrider & Ronald Fry
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Compassionate Leadership Richard Boyatzis & Melvin Smith
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Inclusive Leadership Coaching Diana Bilmoria
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Positive Psychology David Cooperrider, Rich. Boyatzis
Circle Facilitation
& Restorative Justice
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Art of Hosting Facilitating Collective Wisdom
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EMU - Circle Facilitation & Restorative Justice (Ram Bhagat)
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EMU - Peacebuilding & Conflict Transformation (Judy Mullet)
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Kay Pranis - Circle Process & Peacemaking Circles
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School Talk DC - Restorative Circles
Cross Cultural Dialog
Certified Advanced Facilitation
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Soliya & United Nations Habitat Facilitation Training Program
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Soliya - International Connect Program Facilitator
Mind-Body Training
Personal Practice
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Mindfulness - 25 years
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Tai-Chi & Qigong - 12 years
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Silent Retreats - Bhavana Society, Insight Meditation Wash. DC, Southern Dharma, MBSR, Engaged Mindfulness, Mindful Schools
Guided Imagery & NLP
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Academy of Guided Imagery Certified Practitioner
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National Guild of Hypnotists Certified Hypnotist
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National Federation of NLP Certified NLP Practitioner
Tai-Chi, Qigong & Bagua-Zhang
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Michael Ward – Cloud Hands Tai Chi Tai Chi - Cheng Man Ching style
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Charles "Fran" Farrell Martial Arts, Tai Chi, Qigong
"The most precious gift we can offer others is our presence. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers."
Thich Nhat Hanh
Teachers & Inspirations
Wisdom Teachers from my Youth
My Parents & Family - For raising me to be curious, to ask questions, to always stand up for others (especially when they don't have a voice), for teaching me to trust myself, and for teaching me kindness and generosity.
Sifu Fran Farrell - For showing me the true spirit of martial arts: that warriors train to embody peace to self, peace to others, and to act with heart, mind, and courage. Never violence.
Sam Holt - My 9th grade history teacher, who taught me the strength to be vulnerable in front of others, the courage to be myself, and the importance of creating safe spaces for teens.
Caleen Jennings - My African American Arts professor, who taught me that our cultural differences can be celebrated, and that a sense of community and an honoring of our hearts belong in every classroom.
Steve Smith - My 8th grade history teacher, who taught me that the best teachers are the ones who challenge students, and think outside the box in order to best touch the lives of others.
Mayer Selekman - My Rabbi, who taught me that kindness and gentleness have no limits, to always ask questions, and how to speak with grace, intelligence, and conviction.
Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi - For teaching me that spirituality has no bounds, that humor can be found in everything, and that the wisest parts of ourselves know how to connect to the wisdom in others.
Richard Berendzen - My Astronomy professor, who taught me that sacredness and wonder belong in science, to embody humbleness, and that people who have harmed others are capable of change.
Allen Iverson - For showing me how to create and express with unbridled joy, to trust my intuition, and to find the grit and tenacity to keep getting back up.
Meditation teachers who continue to
inspire my practice and teaching:
Pema Chodron - Thich Nhat Hanh
Jonathan Foust - Florence Meleo-Meyer
Angel Kyodo-Williams - Bhante Gunaratana
Jon Kabat-Zinn - La Sarmiento
Marisela Gomez - S.N. Goenka
Alan Watts - Trudy Mitchell-Gilkey
Mushim Ikeda - Larry Yang
Ram Dass - Ma Joya Sati Bhagavati
My other great wisdom teachers:
Music - For being the art that helped me find joy and express sadness. For helping me process endless emotions. For tuning me into my true nature.
Storytelling - For creating spaces where every person has wisdom to offer, and cultivating empathy by learning from each person's unique life path.
Tai-Chi - For teaching me to how to let go. For showing me what it means to feel empowered in my body, and to befriend my body's innate wisdom.
Basketball - For teaching my younger self that was so hurt, angry, and self-loathing that we can find peace and resilience during our most challenging emotions.
Lloyd Alexander - For being the first storyteller who touched my heart, and made me want to read. For teaching me that we can learn from everyone, and that that purity still exists amidst life's sorrows.
James Baldwin & Ralph Ellison - For teaching me to explore the depths of injustice rooted in our systems, and to fully feel our anger is the first step to healing.
Richard Pryor - For embodying what it means to be an artist. For teaching me to balance dualities: that joy is tinged with loss, and that sadness can wear a smile.
Kobe Bryant - For teaching me discipline and work ethic. For challenging me to find resilience to work through adversity, and to pursue goals with tenacity.