Twice Privileged
I’ve had the privilege of founding two organizations that are dedicated to preserving and transforming relationships: Peacemaker Ministries and Relational Wisdom 360 (RW360).
I was raised on a ranch in Montana. Initially trained as a mechanical engineer, I worked for a medical research and development company in California. Leading a team of creative and highly competitive engineers triggered a life-long interest in building relationships, conflict management, and creative problem-solving.
I eventually returned to school in Montana to pursue a degree in law, thinking I would apply my engineering background to product liability litigation. But after clerking for a Federal judge for a year, I decided to devote myself to resolving conflict in a conciliatory rather than an adversarial manner, so I founded a nonprofit mediation organization that eventually grew into Peacemaker Ministries.
I spent thirty exhilarating years leading the Peacemaker team. During that time I taught in hundreds of settings throughout the U.S. and the world and mediated countless conflicts ranging from simple personal disputes to church splits and complex lawsuits.
Drawing on these experiences, I authored The Peacemaker (which has sold over 500,00 copies in seventeen languages), and coauthored three related books. I also helped to produce numerous articles, video series and training resources that are now being used to equip peacemakers around the world.
From Resolving to Preventing Conflict
In 2012, I decided to shift my focus from resolving conflict to preventing conflict by building healthy relationships. I began to develop and teach a concept I call relational wisdom or simply RW.
Our initial resources were faith-based, but as we saw a growing interest for our teaching in secular businesses, military bases, schools and other secular settings, we developed a parallel set of “values-based” resources to equip people to develop relational skills that were informed by their personal value systems.
Personal Blessings
I have been gratefully married to my wife, Corlette, who has actively partnered with me since we were married in 1982. Her Young Peacemaker curriculum is so robust that it has been used to teach conflict resolution not only to children around the world but also to former drug dealers in prison.
Corlette and I are blessed with two marvelous children, four captivating grandchildren, and one of the smartest dogs in the world.
I’ve had the privilege of serving as an Editorial Adviser for Christianity Today. I am a Certified Relational Conciliator™, as well as a Certified Emotional Intelligence Instructor, trained through TalentSmart.
In my free time, I enjoy reading, running, hiking, and skiing in the Beartooth Mountains just south of our home in Billings, Montana.
I’m glad that you’ve visited our new website. I look forward to sharing with you what I’ve learned about this exciting new discipline of relational wisdom.
— Ken Sande, April, 2019
