About Me
Kerr Mesner
I am a consultant, facilitator, spiritual director, and teaching artist, offering workshops, retreats, and trainings to colleges an universities, K-12 schools, nonprofits, and other workplaces. I specialize in working with organizations seeking to more deeply align their values and commitments with their work in the world. I bring particular expertise in gender and sexual diversity, experiential learning, Theatre of the Oppressed, communication and conflict transformation skills, and group facilitation.
I bring a unique and winding path to my current work, including work as a college professor, a queer Christian pastor, a performing artist, a director of several nonprofits, a mediator, and an activist.
Educationally, I’ve completed a Ph.D. in Education at the University of British Columbia, and an MA in Theological Studies at Vancouver School of Theology, as well as a conservatory training program in musical theatre performance at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy. As a Theatre of the Oppressed facilitator (or “Joker”,) I’ve trained with Augusto Boal, as well as numerous other leaders in this field.
I’ve developed, implemented, and assessed training and facilitation experiences in a wide range of community-based organizations, including an educational theatre company for women with experience of the criminal justice and mental health systems, a residential outdoor education centre, a neighborhood mediation service, and a number of churches in Canada, the US and the UK. I’ve worked as an educator, facilitator, youth worker, and activist, with a wide range of communities, including children and teens, women ex-offenders, l/g/b/t youth and adults, local government and health staff, Indigenous youth, and individuals with disabilities.
I see all of my work—whether as a consultant, a facilitator, an executive coach, or a spiritual director, as collaborative efforts. I strive to create and hold spaces that are grounded, thoughtful, and—dare I say it—loving. I am rooted in a profound commitment to the work of justice-making… of engaging in my own learning and development to better embody anti-oppressive practices, and of encouraging those with whom I work to do the same.