About Jon Kedi

My work explores how communities hold responsibility, conflict, and care — especially in moments of uncertainty, strain, and high stakes. I’m interested in how culture shapes behavior (and behavior reshapes culture), and how small decisions, made under pressure, can quietly determine whether a community adapts or fractures.

I’ve spent most of my life in spaces where people come together to learn, connect, and build something larger than themselves. Movement studios, educational workshops, alternative social spaces, and intentional communities—these have been my classrooms, my laboratories, and in many ways, my home.

Over more than twenty years of teaching and organizing, I’ve witnessed the full range of what humans are capable of with one another: tenderness and despair, collaboration and misunderstanding, conflict and repair. Communities are living systems. What happens inside them is shaped not only by individual actions, but by social structures, power dynamics, and shared beliefs.

Communities don’t thrive by avoiding conflict.

They thrive by learning how to hold it.

Philosophy

I’ve come to see conflict not as a sign of failure, but as a sign of life and vitality. Wherever people care deeply—about each other, about shared values, about a vision for how things could be—tension is inevitable. Conflict carries information. It points to competing needs, unspoken expectations, power dynamics, and the edges of existing structures. Rather than something to be avoided or suppressed, conflict is an invitation: to listen more carefully, to examine the assumptions shaping our reactions, and to evolve the systems we inhabit. When communities lack the tools or language to engage conflict skillfully, it often becomes personal, polarized, or destructive. When those tools are present, conflict can deepen trust, clarify values, and strengthen collective resilience. My work is grounded in the belief that communities thrive not by eliminating friction, but by learning how to hold it—thoughtfully, relationally, and with integrity. This means slowing down reactive processes, widening perspective beyond individual narratives, and designing containers — the roles, norms, and structures communities rely on — that can support complexity without collapsing under it.

Experience

I’ve spent years doing the essential labor of community leadership: navigating interpersonal conflict, responding to crises, repairing trust after harm, and helping groups clarify roles, boundaries, and decision-making processes. These experiences have given me a practical understanding of how power actually operates in real communities—not just in theory, but under pressure.

For more than two decades, I’ve worked at the intersection of movement, embodiment, and community life—as a teacher, facilitator, organizer, and advisor. I’ve supported hundreds of people in developing body awareness, relational sensitivity, and agency through movement-based practices and contemplative inquiry.

I bring these perspectives into my teaching and consulting, helping leaders and participants alike move beyond blame and reactivity toward responsibility, discernment, and sustainable culture-building.

Leadership is not revealed in moments of alignment, but in how we respond when clarity is scarce and stakes are high.

Writing

My writing grows directly out of lived experience inside these relational systems. It is shaped by years of observing what happens when ideals meet reality, when care meets limitation, and when communities are asked to respond to situations they were never structurally designed to hold.

My forthcoming book, Navigating Conflict in Community, weaves together conceptual frameworks, practical tools, and reflective inquiry to help readers understand the emotional, cultural, and structural dynamics that shape group conflict. Rather than offering rigid prescriptions, the work invites discernment, supporting leaders and participants in responding to complexity with clarity, compassion, and accountability.

Working Together

I work with individuals, leaders, and communities navigating complexity. If is something feels stuck, strained, or heavier than it should be (even if you don’t know why), I may be able to help. Waiting until the urgency of pending conflict demands action rarely turns out as well as planning in advance. 

My approach is relational, embodied, and systems-aware. Rather than offering one-size-fits-all solutions, I support people in slowing down, clarifying what’s actually happening, and identifying responses that align with their values and capacity. This often means working at multiple levels at once: personal experience, relational dynamics, and the broader structures shaping a situation.

Community & Organizational Support
I work with organizers, facilitators, and leadership teams to:

  • Navigate conflict and crisis without escalating harm
  • Clarify roles, authority, and decision-making structures
  • Develop healthier accountability and feedback processes
  • Strengthen relational culture and long-term resilience

This work may take the form of consultation, facilitated conversations, or longer-term advisory support.

Workshops & Teaching
I offer workshops that explore embodiment, attention, and relational practice through movement-based and contemplative frameworks. These sessions are experiential, accessible, and grounded in listening rather than performance—supporting participants in developing greater awareness of themselves, others, and the systems they inhabit.

Contact Me
If my work resonates with you, please feel free to reach out to me via email jon at jonkedi.com.

Some problems don't need to be fixed, they need discernment, patience, and a willingness to stay present without certainty.