Originally from Nashville, Tennessee (yes, I do like country music), I graduated from David Lipscomb High School (Go Mustangs). After receiving my BA from the University of Tennessee (Go Vols), I attended the University of Arkansas (Woo Pig Sooie) for my MA and finally received a PhD from the Institute of Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University (Go Patriots).

After volunteering in Domestic Violence shelters in 1990 in Fayetteville, Arkansas, the questions that the survivors asked -- that they deserved answers to -- always haunted me. While preparing for my dissertation work, I started Domestic Violence Safe Dialogue (DVSD) in Portland, Oregon as a pilot project in 2000. 

DVSD (dvsdprogram.org) which became a non-profit in 2006. We are still located in Portland, Oregon. I served as the Executive Director and Board Chair until June 2018. The program is now in the capable and amazing hands of Lutheran Community Services in Portland. 

A happily married mother of 3 VERY active kids that has moved overseas twice and landed back in the rainy northwest, I would not change a thing... well, a little less rain would be ok...

About me....

I am available for speaking engagements, conferences and DVSD trainings... and sometimes a good lunch.​

carrie outhier banks