We can’t create anything great alone.
Mary Alice Proffitt is a curious social observer with a keen understanding of human relatability.
She is a “radical centrist” who believes in the possibility of conflict to catalyze civility, fellowship and trust.
As an optimistic and inspired leader, Mary Alice helps transform workplace culture to hold itself to a higher standard. She works with businesses, organizations and individuals to help them realize their full potential.
Superconnector &
Relationship Builder
Mary Alice has spent decades of academic study and practical work in the fields of mediation, conflict resolution, dialogue facilitation, community organizing, political consulting and civic engagement.
Expert in Modern
Etiquette
Mary Alice’s life passion, both professionally and personally, is to create the conditions for people to understand each other better and to enjoy being together in community. She effortlessly weaves her gift of hospitality and natural warmth into designing for improved human discourse.
Open-Hearted
Academic
Mary Alice earned her B.A. in English Language & Literature from The University of Virginia with a focus on race and religion. She earned her M.A. in Religion & Public Life from the Harvard Divinity School. Additionally, she is trained and licensed by Vermont’s Champlain College as a professional mediator, by The Center for Real Dialogue as a dialogue specialist and by The Emily Post Institute as a professional business etiquette trainer.
Mary Alice’s professional experiences have allowed her to travel through diverse worlds: mentoring graduate students at The Yale School of the Environment, teaching middle school students in urban public schools, grassroots organizing in the intimate spaces of rural, small town America, and owning and operating a destination Southern food restaurant in Vermont.
Creative Entrepreneur
“Mary Alice is a dynamic connector who brings warmth and personality to her work. She is the person you turn to if you are looking for a reset. A naturally curious leader with a track record of achieving results, she is mission driven, deeply empathetic and results oriented. Every space that Mary Alice enters is improved by her contributions.”
– EVA MCKEND
National Politics Correspondent, CNN
“Mary Alice is an insightful, thoughtful, and genuinely curious person who is deeply committed to her community and to equity and justice. In her role as proprietor of Down Home Kitchen, Mary Alice connected with her customers in an extraordinary fashion, engaging them in meaningful conversation to learn what made them tick and listening to their hopes and dreams. With their permission, she took it one step further, introducing them to other customers with intersecting interests or passions. It was a beautiful thing to see and to experience. It was the creation of community in real time. Hers are skills that the world desperately needs.”
– ERIC BECKER
Partner, Clean Yield Asset Management
“Mary Alice is an expert in using Real Dialogue as a skill and a facilitation method. She completed the training to be a Real Dialogue Specialist and has contributed, along the way, to developing our training program. Working with her over these recent years, I have repeatedly witnessed her finesse and intelligence in being a social entrepreneur and innovator. I look forward to seeing more of how her unique approach to modern etiquette contributes to the return of civil discourse and creative dialogue. I endorse her work with enthusiasm.”
– POLLY YOUNG-EISENDRATH, Ph.D
Executive Director and Founder, Center for Real Dialogue
Psychologist and Author