Matt Guynn has been actively involved with Training for Change since the age of 19.

Since 2001, Matt has worked with the church-based nonprofit On Earth Peace, which offers leadership development for faith-rooted efforts to stop violence and build reconciliation, where he provides a special emphasis on nonviolent social change.

He previously worked as co-coordinator of training for Christian Peacemaker Teams, preparing people to carry out nonviolent direct action and unarmed accompaniment in conflict zones, and served as an unarmed bodyguard in Chiapas, Mexico.

In 2010-2011, Matt consulted with both Greenpeace USA and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), providing skill-building resources on topics including facilitation and nonviolent direct action.

In his home of Portland, OR, Matt is a member of the strategy team for Bus Riders Unite’s Campaign for a Fair Transfer, an organizing initiative of OPAL Environmental Justice Oregon, a low-income and people of color-led organization.

Matt’s leadership is rooted in direct mentorship from women and men involved in the US Civil Rights movement, the pacifist and anti-war movements of the WWII and Vietnam eras, the feminist and LGBTQ movements, and the Quaker-inspired Movement for a New Society, which through its Life Centers across the United States inspired and equipped generations of environmental, anti-nuclear, and other activists.

Matt received an M.A. in International Peace Studies from the University of Notre Dame (1996) and an M.A. in Theology from Bethany Theological Seminary (2003).

He is licensed to the ministry in the Church of the Brethren, which has a three-hundred year history of opposing war and violence / standing for abundant life for all people, regardless of their background. Matt lives with his wife and partner, Sarah Kinsel.

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