Nesting Ambassadors

Applications are now OPIEN FOR THE SPRING 2027 Cohort.

“These graduates are the first of many who will help return humanity to its heritage of nestedness. They are not only trauma-informed but wellness-informed, understanding that the evolved nest is foundational for lifelong wellbeing. These ambassadors will spread the practices of Nested Kinship, our species’ heritage for living responsibly as Earthlings. As they help re-establish species-normal health, intelligence and wellbeing, humanity will return to honoring, respecting and nurturing a sentient planet.”

– Darcia Narvaez, PhD, Nesting Ambassador Program Instructor

want to do more?

Become a Nesting Ambassador

The Nesting Ambassador Program guides enrollees in developing a nesting worldview and knowhow to go with it. Enrollees learn and develop tools for nestedness in their walk of life and, as certified Nesting Ambassadors, help others re-nest into wellness and compassion. Nesting ambassadors empower others—e.g., parents, teachers, and/or professionals—to decolonize trauma-inducing systems and to move back onto our species-normal wellness-promoting pathway. The Evolved Nest and Kinship Worldview represent the ways all our deep ancestors lived and understood the world and their place in it. They arise from a holistic Living Earth consciousness, which is sorely needed today. Join us as an active participant in the planet’s arising immune system!

Take up the mantle of a wellness leader.

The Nesting Ambassador Program facilitates mindset change in participants who then, through their efforts, encourage mindset changes in others.

In order to shift the dominant culture from its trauma-inducing systems to wellness-promoting systems we need to:

1.

Change mindsets.

In this case, understanding our evolutionary history as cooperators who jointly raise children with love (according to evolved nest principles) is key. Also important is taking up the Kinship Mindset or Indigenous Worldview—this will be the focus of an additional ambassadorship module created later.

2.

Alter the objectives of the trauma-inducing systems.

We need to move away from the Sacred Money and Markets Story that has been forced upon us and return instead to the Sacred Living Earth Story that is part of our ancestral wisdom (Korten, 2015). The objectives of the latter story are to foster wellbeing in individuals and communities, human and non-human, and to keep Life flourishing and flowing into the future.

3.

Redistribute power regarding who decides the rules that govern each system.

Global efforts at localization—of food sources, investment, education, etc.—are fundamental to restore the power of decision making to local communities instead of global corporate colonialists (e.g., World Trade Organization) that hamstring nations’ capacities to self-govern towards wellness for its citizens. Evolved Nest ambassadors help grow collective efforts toward democracy and self-governance.

4.

Build knowhow for wellness promotion

Build knowhow for wellness promotion in self-care, relationships with humans and non-humans, and Nature’s ecological systems. The evolved nest provides the infrastructure for growing Kinship knowhow for living well with Earth’s ways of partnership and cooperation across natural systems.

5.

Change the story.

Part of Kindred World’s mission is to dismantle the myths that govern our lives—e.g., that how babies are treated doesn’t much matter (they won’t remember), that children need to be punished to be good, that only research studies can tell us how to treat children, that people are naturally selfish and aggressive, that hierarchy is normal for human communities.

Meet Darcia Narvaez, PhD
Nesting Ambassador Program Instructor

DID YOU KNOW?

Darcia Narvaez is a Professor of Psychology Emerita at the University of Notre Dame. She is the president of Kindred World.

In 2024, Dr. Darcia received the Presidential Citation Award from Division 24, the Society for Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, of the American Psychological Association (APA).

The 2024 award is the second time the APA has recognized Narvaez’s work. Her book, Neurobiology and the Development of Human Morality: Evolution, Culture and Wisdom, won the APA’s 2015 William James Book Award.

A trilogy of films featuring the science of the evolved nest, narrated by Dr. Darcia, are: Breaking the Cycle, The Evolved Nest: Nature’s Way of Raising Children; and Reimagining Humanity. All films are subtitled in 15 languages. The films have been translated into German, Spanish, and Turkish.

In 2022, Narvaez was elected a fellow to the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the largest international body of professional scientists in the world

In a 2020 analysis of top scientists, Narvaez emerged in the top 2% of scientists worldwide. Of the approximately eight million scientists in the world.

In 2017, Narvaez won the inaugural Expanded Reason Award for research, beating out more than 360 total entries from 170 universities and 30 countries.

In creating coherence for the transdisciplinary, holistic science of the Evolved Nest, she held four symposiums at the University of Notre Dame in 2010, 2012, 2014, and 2016.

Read Darcia’s full bio here.

Visit her University of Notre Dame page for publications.

Watch the Nested World film, shot on the campus of the University of Notre Dame, here.

Read Darcia’s posts on Kindred here.

What Is the Nesting Ambassador Program?

Nesting Ambassadors are emissaries to the world, local and global. A Nesting Ambassador is one who has learned the principles of the evolved nest and integrates them into their lifestyle, workplace and/or community, using their enhanced skills to lead others to follow evolved nest principles.

The first level of the program involves study and completion of the Evolved Nest Curriculum and a self-chosen course project.

Prerequisite: High school/secondary school diploma or equivalent.

Application: Documentation needed for application: (a) A resume regarding one’s life experiences and (b) a paragraph or two about what motivates you to become a Nesting Ambassador.

Material provided: Online classroom with recorded lectures, resources, and the capacity to communicate with your cohort members. Available resources include decades of resources from multiple Kindred World initiatives and projects, including Kindred Magazine, the Evolved Nest Initiative, and the Worldview Literacy Project.

Material needed: internet access for online classroom, a notebook for journaling and creative activities.

Cost: $1500 (one time payment or three payments of $500)

Limited scholarships are available. Contact us for information: nestedworldinitiative@gmail.com.

Nesting Ambassador Program Dates for SPRING 2027

Course structure: Holistic Science Sessions and Praxis Gatherings are held bi-weekly on alternating Saturday mornings at 10 a.m. Eastern Time.

HOLISTIC SCIENCE SESSIONS, with Darcia Narvaez, begin on January 9 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern. The Holistic Science Sessions with Dr. Narvaez are mandatory for course completion. There will be 11 online whole-group sessions, every other week on Saturday mornings from 10 a.m. ET to 11:30 a.m. ET. **REQUIRED**

PRAXIS GATHERINGS, with Lisa Reagan, begin on January 16. These are on alternative weeks and are intended to provide support, networking, socializing, and strategizing. NAP graduates share presentations or “Field Reports.” The Praxis Gatherings are not mandatory.

THE PROGRAM ORIENTATION on January 16 at 10 am Eastern Time is required.

Here is the schedule (*=mandatory sessions):

*January 9 –Introduction to Kinship Worldview.

Before January 9: Read introductory text and watch Dr. Darcia’s opening lecture, Human Pasts, Global Futures: Trauma or Wellness?

*January 16 – Mandatory Course Orientation and Classroom Tour

*January 23 – Topic: Nature Immersion and Partnership (Evolved Nest Component 1)

January 30 – Praxis Gathering.

*February 6 – Topic: Restorative Healing (Evolved Nest Component 2)

February 13 – Praxis Gathering.

*February 20– Topic: Free Play (Evolved Nest Component 3)

February 27 – Praxis Gathering.

*March 6 – Topic: Responsive Relationships (Evolved Nest Component 4)

March 13 – Praxis Gathering.

*March 20 – Topic: Positive Touch (Evolved Nest Component 5)

March 27 – Praxis Gathering.

*April 3 – Topic: Welcoming Social Climate (Evolved Nest Component 6)

April 10 – Praxis Gathering.

*April 17 – Topic: Multiple Mutual Nurturers (Evolved Nest Component 7)

April 24 – Praxis Gathering.

*May 1 – Child-Directed Breastfeeding (Evolved Nest Component 8)

May 8 – Praxis Gathering.

*May 15 – Soothing Perinatal Experiences (Evolved Nest Component 9)

May 22 – Praxis Gathering.

*May 29 – Death, Transition and Ancestral Continuity (Evolved Nest Component 10)

TBD: Graduation Session.

discover the emerging wisdom of our evolved nest

Nesting Ambassador Field Reports

Evolved Nest Postpartum Checklist

October 12, 2026 No Comments

By Kristyna Shea, Certified Nesting Ambassador DOWNLOAD THE PDF I created the Evolved Nest Postpartum Checklist to help prepare families for the 4th trimester in

Join the Nesting Movement: Restore the Science of the People & Reclaim Our Nested Kinship

August 23, 2026 No Comments

Join the Nesting Movement: Restore the Science of the People & Reclaim Our Nested Kinship About the Origin Story Discussion with Darcia and Lisa… In

Discovering the Lived Versus the Learning Experience of Humanity’s Evolved Nest

June 21, 2026 No Comments

Discovering the Lived Versus the Learning Experience of Humanity’s Evolved Nest Few humans have a lived experience of our Evolved Nest. Some have witnessed remnants

Integrating The Holistic Science Of The Evolved Nest: Self, Scholarship, And Teaching

June 17, 2026 No Comments

Integrating The Holistic Science Of The Evolved Nest: Self, Scholarship, And Teaching In this Nesting Ambassador presentation and discussion, Jill Brown shares her extensive research

Applied Connection Practices Within The Evolved Nest: With Jon Young And Sarah Fontaine

May 29, 2026 No Comments

Jon Young and Sarah Fontaine, Certified Nesting Ambassadors, share their lifelong work and insight into Nature Connection. In this presentation to Nesting Ambassadors, Jon says,

Integrating Evolved Nest Science Into Systemic Family Therapy

May 24, 2026 No Comments

Integrating Evolved Nest Science Into Systemic Family Therapy: Tracey Johnston and Peter Robinson By Peter Robinson, Psychotherapist My name is Peter Robinson. I’m a

“We are immersed in species-atypical spaces growing species-atypical human beings. Our baselines for what we think is normal have shifted so much we do not realize how atypical we are. Atypical environments leave us dysregulated, easily upset, and disruptive. Species-typical childhoods nurture a healthy neurobiology, sociality, and compassionate morality. Species-typicality, our evolved nest, is needed for species and planetary wellbeing.”

– Darcia Narvaez, PhD, author of the award-winning book,

Neurobiology and the Development of Human Morality: Evolution, Culture, and Wisdom

Watch the live launch of the Nested World website and Nesting Ambassador Program at the Maternal Gift Economy’s #88 Salon on November 15, 2025.

Watch the first lecture in the Nesting Ambassador Program 2026, Human Pasts, Global Futures: Trauma or Wellness?The lecture was a part of the Nested World Fall 2025 Lecture Series by Darcia Narvaez, PhD.

The Nesting Ambassador Program is now accepting applications for the 2026 Cohort.

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