Keynote speaker · Author · Founder
Dydine Umunyana Anderson
Founder and President of Kind Kulture
A survivor of the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi, Dydine has spent more than a decade turning testimony into a practice of healing. She is the author of Embrace Life and speaks to universities, museums, schools, companies and law enforcement in three countries.
At a glance
- 100,000+students reached since 2014
- 3countries: Rwanda, the United States and Colombia
- Since 2016permanent speaker at the Museum of Tolerance, Los Angeles
- 4,000+women leaders in law enforcement at her 2023 keynote
- 3editions of her memoir, in English and Spanish
Her story
From survival to the work of a lifetime.
Dydine Umunyana Anderson is a Rwandan-born author, speaker and peacebuilder, and a survivor of the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi. For more than a decade she has built a practice that uses storytelling as a way of healing, for the person who tells a story and for the people who receive it.
Her work began in peace building. In 2009 she joined an Aegis Trust peace-building education program at the Kigali Genocide Memorial, and since 2013 she has served as an Aegis Trust Youth Peace Ambassador. In 2012 she founded Umbrella Cinema Promoters in Kigali, training Rwandan women to tell their own stories through film.
Since her first keynote at the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies in 2016, she has spoken at Harvard Kennedy School, Talks at Google, Meta, TEDx Cornell, the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York, and Temple Beth-El of Great Neck on Yom Kippur. At the 2023 Women Leaders in Law Enforcement Symposium she gave the keynote to more than 4,000 women leaders from across the United States.
For nearly a decade she has been a permanent speaker at the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles, working with law enforcement agencies, LAUSD educators, Canadian law enforcement leaders (each year since 2024), the Freedom Writers educator network and corporate leaders. Her testimony is permanently archived at the Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial in Boise, Idaho.
Her work reaches from the United States to Colombia, where her memoir was co-published with the Universidad de Cartagena and presented at the Bogotá International Book Fair. In 2025 she gave testimony at Kwibuka 31 in Los Angeles, the annual commemoration of the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi.
How it began
Seven minutes, 700 students.
Her first time speaking in public was in 2015 at the University of San Diego: seven minutes in front of more than 700 students at a global youth peacebuilding event, then a panel and student workshops. On that panel sat Arno Michaelis, author of My Life After Hate and co-founder of Serve 2 Unite. It began a decade of work together, from Facebook’s Menlo Park headquarters to the stage of the Kravis Center.
In March 2016 she gave her first keynote, at the Kroc School’s International Women’s Day Breakfast. Public speaking was never the plan. The invitations kept coming, and she kept saying yes.
Founder of Kind Kulture
The work she leads.
In 2020 Dydine and Alex Anderson founded Kind Kulture, a Los Angeles nonprofit that uses storytelling as a way of healing. As Founder and President, Dydine leads its programs and is building the Kind Kulture Institute, a permanent home in Los Angeles for survivor testimony and human dignity.
Its first public chapter is Stories in Color: A Human Dignity Exhibition, opening in Los Angeles in Spring 2027.
Mirror · Bridge · Change
- Youth Voices
- Testimony & Ethical Memory
- Corporate Humanity Program
- Law Enforcement & Community Dialogue
Schools, universities, companies and agencies book these programs with Kind Kulture directly.
Keynote topics
What Dydine brings into the room.
Story as Healing
How personal narrative becomes a pathway to resilience and identity.
Story as Bridge
Reducing bias and rebuilding trust across difference.
From Trauma to Transformation
Lessons from survival applied to leadership, education and community systems.
Humanity in the Digital Age
Preserving empathy in a world shaped by technology.
Youth, Identity & Voice
Helping young people understand their story before the world defines it.
Custom keynotes
Every community is different. Dydine works with organizers to shape a talk for the specific room, the moment and the people in it.
Who books Dydine
Who she speaks with.
- Universities and colleges
- Museums and memorials
- Schools and educators
- Law enforcement and public agencies
- Companies and leadership teams
- Faith communities
- Conferences and book fairs
Where she has spoken
A decade on the record.
| 2024 to 2026 | Museum of Tolerance: Canadian law enforcement leadersLos Angeles | Three consecutive years |
| 2025 | Kwibuka 31Los Angeles | Testimony at the annual commemoration |
| 2024 | Museum of ToleranceLos Angeles | Embrace Life launch |
| 2024 | Bogotá International Book Fair (FILBo)Colombia | Featured speaker |
| 2024 | University of AntioquiaMedellín, Colombia | Peace and reconciliation dialogue |
| 2024 | Universidad de CartagenaColombia | Spanish edition and academic engagement |
| 2024 | Kravis Center for the Performing ArtsWest Palm Beach, Florida | Conversation with Arno Michaelis |
| 2023 | Women Leaders in Law Enforcement SymposiumUnited States | Keynote to 4,000+ leaders |
| 2020 | Holocaust Museum LAOnline | Embracing Survival talk |
| 2018 | Facebook (Meta), Project ReciprocityMenlo Park, California | Sessions with staff |
| 2018 | Temple Beth-El of Great NeckLong Island, New York | Yom Kippur address |
| 2017 | Anne Frank Human Rights MemorialBoise, Idaho | Testimony permanently archived |
| 2016 | Museum of Jewish HeritageNew York City | Book launch |
| 2016 | Joan B. Kroc School of Peace StudiesSan Diego | First keynote |
| Since 2016 | Museum of ToleranceLos Angeles | Permanent speaker |
Also: Harvard Kennedy School · Talks at Google · TEDx Cornell · University of Southern California · University of Texas at Austin, Human Rights Documentation Initiative · Monroe Community College · Milwaukee Bradley Tech High School · Weber State University · WorldLink · Women’s re-entry program, Las Colinas Detention Center, San Diego
In their words
What audiences say.
“Thank you for sharing your truth. I looked so forward to your presentation and you surpassed my expectations.”
“You are a living, walking, amazing example of this spiritual work.”
“It was an honor to have Dydine as a guest, and we hope that her story will inspire many others.”
“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.”
“I was in Rwanda right after the genocide. I cannot believe you are here. That you made it here.”
Press and media
Coverage and appearances.
- Harvard GazetteFeatured in Women Lead Rwanda’s Renaissance
- El ColombianoColombia tour and University of Antioquia engagement
- El EspectadorColombia’s national memory and reconciliation coverage
- Shepherd ExpressProfile of her peacebuilding work with youth
- Black Nouveau, Milwaukee PBSBroadcast feature, 2016
- WUWM Lake Effect, Milwaukee NPRRadio interview, 2016
- Freedom Writers PodcastGuest interview, 2023
Press inquiries: press@kindkulture.org · Press and Media
Books and writing
In her own words.
Embrace Life
Survival, identity and healing after the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi. First published in 2016 as Embracing Survival, relaunched at the Museum of Tolerance in 2024 with a foreword by Linda Blanshay.
Abrazar la Vida
Co-published by Artimaña Editorial and the Universidad de Cartagena, and presented at the Bogotá International Book Fair.
Still Here
A Survivor’s Case Against Hate. Her next book, on storytelling as the answer to dehumanization.
Contributing author“Butterflies Sat Next to My Heart,” in Imagine: Reflections on Peace (The VII Foundation), and Life, I Swear (HarperOne, 2021).
Dear HumanityHer letter, every Sunday, on memory, healing and the people who carry both.
The Kind Kulture PodcastConversations with Alex Anderson on storytelling and kindness, launched in 2023. A new series is in development.
Booking questions
Before you reach out.
What does Dydine Umunyana Anderson speak about?
Resilience, healing and human dignity, drawn from her survival of the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi. Her keynotes cover storytelling as a way of healing, bridging difference and reducing bias, turning trauma into leadership, empathy in the digital age, and youth identity and voice. Every talk is shaped for the audience in the room.
Who books Dydine as a keynote speaker?
Universities and colleges, conferences, companies and leadership teams, museums and memorials, law enforcement and public agencies, faith communities and high schools. She has spoken at Harvard Kennedy School, Talks at Google, Meta, TEDx Cornell, the Women Leaders in Law Enforcement Symposium and the Museum of Tolerance.
What occasions is she booked for?
Keynotes and conference plenaries, leadership retreats, staff learning days, book talks and commemorations, including Genocide Awareness Month and Kwibuka in April, International Holocaust Remembrance Day in January, Women’s History Month in March, the International Day of Peace in September and Human Rights Day in December.
Does she travel or speak virtually?
Dydine is based in Los Angeles and speaks across the United States and internationally, in person or virtually.
What are her speaking fees?
Keynote fees typically begin at $5,000, plus travel for in-person events, and depend on format, audience and location. Schools and nonprofits with smaller budgets can ask about Kind Kulture programs. Speaking fees are payments for services, not tax-deductible donations.
What formats are available?
Keynotes with audience questions, moderated conversations, panels and workshops. Length and format are set with you.
How far ahead should we book?
We recommend reaching out three to six months ahead. April and spring dates fill first.
How do we book Dydine?
Send the inquiry form below. We read every inquiry and reply within 3 business days.
Book Dydine to speak
Begin with a conversation.
Tell us about your event, your audience and what you want them to leave with. We read every inquiry and reply within 3 business days.
A keynote or talk by Dydine
Dydine is engaged directly as the speaker for your event. We confirm the speaker agreement, fee and travel with you before anything is scheduled.
A Kind Kulture program
A workshop, series or dialogue for your school, campus, company or agency, delivered by Kind Kulture under a program agreement.
See the four programs →Speaking fees and program fees are payments for services, not tax-deductible donations. Not sure which fits? Choose “not sure yet” below and we will help you decide. For the speaker one-sheet, email bookings@kindkulture.org.
Support the work
Stand with Kind Kulture.
Kind Kulture is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in Los Angeles. Gifts carry survivor stories into classrooms today and help build the Kind Kulture Institute for the years ahead.