—Umuco W’Urukundo · Los Angeles · Operating globally
KIND
KULTURE
Storytelling as
a Way of Healing
Hate is taught. And anything taught can be unlearned.
Kind Kulture uses personal storytelling — led by survivors, young people, and those history tried to silence — to interrupt the cycles of dehumanization that lead to violence, division, and inherited trauma.
Founded by Rwandan genocide survivor and author Dydine Umunyana Anderson, we have spent over a decade proving what peacebuilding researchers have long argued: the human story, told well, is the most powerful tool against hate that we have.
THE PROBLEM WE EXIST TO SOLVE
Dehumanization doesn’t start with violence. It starts with silence.
Before every genocide, every hate crime, every act of mass violence, there is a slow erasure
— of stories, of names, of the human face of the “other.” It happens in classrooms where history is flattened. In police stations where communities and officers never meet outside of crisis. In families where trauma is inherited but never spoken.
The research is clear. When people hear a real story — not a headline, not a statistic, a human account — empathy increases. Prejudice decreases. Something shifts.
The problem isn’t that this doesn’t work. The problem is that almost no one is doing it at scale, in the rooms that need it most.
That’s where we come in.
12+ years
Years of storytelling & community work
3+
Countries reached through programs
8+yrs
Leading Educators & law enforcement dialogue sessions for tools for tolerance at MOT
100,000+
Students reached
OUR APPROACH — THEORY OF CHANGE
Three stages. Ten years of evidence.
Story as Mirror
A survivor shares their lived experience. Participants see their own fear, loss, or inherited pain reflected back. Something opens.
Story as Bridge
In facilitated dialogue, people who would never meet in ordinary life begin to speak — and more importantly, to listen. LAPD officers and immigrant teenagers. Holocaust survivors and Rwandan survivors. American high schoolers and Colombian youth.
Story as Change
Participants leave with something they didn’t have when they walked in — a question, a commitment, a changed way of seeing someone they were taught to fear. In our eight-year partnership with law enforcement dialogue sessions alone, we have seen officers change how they describe the communities they serve. Behavior shifts. Culture shifts.
FOUNDER
Dydine Umunyana Anderson Author · International Speaker · Co-Founder
Dydine survived the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi in Rwanda. She was four years old.
In the thirty years since, she has built a body of work dedicated to one question: how does a human being rebuild after the world has tried to erase them — and how do we stop that erasure from happening to the next generation?
She has spoken at Harvard Kennedy School, TEDx Cornell University, Talks at Google, and most recently delivered testimony at Kwibuka 2025 in Los Angeles — standing in witness alongside the Rwandan diaspora community at the official annual commemoration of the Genocide Against the Tutsi.
Alex Anderson A CINEMATOGRAPHER · CREATIVE DIRECTOR · CO-FOUNDER
Alex Anderson is a creative director, filmmaker, and storyteller dedicated to crafting meaningful narratives that bridge culture, identity, and human connection. As co-founder of Kind Kulture Community, his work sits at the intersection of visual storytelling, social impact, and community engagement.
As Creative Director of Kind Kulture's production efforts, Alex leads the visual and narrative execution of the organization's content — producing films, campaigns, and digital media that inspire reflection and dialogue.
Shepard Century Productions: A creative studio producing high-quality, story-driven content for brands, artists, and purpose-aligned organizations. Films · Campaigns · Digital Media. Led by Alex Anderson, Creative Director.
What We Do
Kind Kulture operates across three core areas:
Publishing
Books and stories that carry lived experience across generations — including Dydine’s memoir Embrace Life, its Spanish edition Abrazar la Vida, and her forthcoming Still Here: A Survivor’s Case Against Hate (2027).
Programs
Storytelling experiences for schools, law enforcement, community organizations, and institutions — built around our three-part framework: Mirror, Bridge, Change.
Partnerships
Long-term collaborations with universities, cultural institutions, nonprofits, and global foundations to bring this work to the communities and systems that need it most.
Testimonials
"Dydine, I am the teacher of this class. Thank you for sharing your story with my students. Really all I wanted to say is: wow. What a beginning."
— Middle School Teacher · San Diego, CA
"I was in Rwanda right after the genocide. I cannot believe you are here. That you made it here." — Law Enforcement Officer · Los Angeles dialogue session
— Law Enforcement Officer · Los Angeles MOT dialogue session
"When I speak it, you hear it. And when I speak it, I see it. That is why we must never stop telling the truth." — Rose Beryl · Holocaust Survivor · 91 years old
— Rose Beryl · Holocaust Survivor · 91 years old
Museum of Tolerance · Harvard Kennedy School · Google · Meta · TEDx Cornell · FILBo Colombia · Kwibuka 2025 · Aegis Trust · Serve to Unite · LAPD & Law Enforcement Agencies· Holocaust Museums nationally
UMUNYANA COFFEE
A cup that carries a story.
Umunyana Coffee connects Rwandan women genocide survivors to international markets —bringing economic opportunity and dignity to those who rebuilt their lives after the genocide, while educating American consumers about where their morning cup comes from.
“Umunyana” — Kinyarwanda for “something you see once in a lifetime that brings you luck.”
Every bag is a story. Every sip is solidarity.
THE ASK
We are building work the world cannot afford to lose.
Kind Kulture exists to interrupt cycles of silence, dehumanization, and inherited trauma — through storytelling that restores dignity and connection.
What we have built works. What we need now is the support to scale it.