The Evolved Nest Initiative

Founded in the middle of American’s 50 year fall to the bottom of all international indicators for maternal, infant, and family wellness, Kindred World (a 501(c)(3) nonprofit) has worked in deep collaboration with researchers, nonprofit partners, and visionary wayfinders for over 20 years to create and steward public education programs, websites, projects, and events to “Welcome a Wisdom-based, Wellness-informed World.  

While Kindred World has helped lead and sustain this consciousness-raising movement, we see ourselves as part of something far greater than any single organization or individual. Through processes of deep listening, presencing, and co-sensing with human and more-than-human worlds (see Lisa Reagan’s work), we are collectively letting go of outdated patterns (Old Story and Dominant Worldview) and letting come a New Story of relational wellbeing (Kinship Worldview). We are participants in a living, collective re-emergence of kinship consciousness and human potential, stewarding these ideas with care so they may ripple outward through coalitions, communities, and generations yet to come.Welcoming a Wisdom-based, Wellness-informed World:

Today, Kindred World’s long history as a nonprofit has provided an ideal, stable, and values-aligned “container” for Evolved Nest science to mature from academic theory into a practical, scalable, and culturally integrative framework. Here’s how that evolution has unfolded: 

1. Kindred World’s Long-Term Nonprofit Mission Alignment (Since 1996) Kindred World began in 1996 as a grassroots, consciousness-raising organization focused on family wellness, conscious/attachment parenting, maternal and child health, and critiquing the U.S.’s poor performance on international family indicators. For over 25 years, Kindred World has advocated for holistic, sovereignty-affirming, and wellness-informed approaches to childrearing. Kindred World’s container created a pre-existing cultural creatives hub, activist container and living social soil that was already: 

• Parent- and practitioner-centered (not purely academic).
• Open to integrating science with consciousness, holistic practices, and Indigenous wisdom.
• Committed to media, education, and community-building (via Kindred Magazine/Media).

When Darcia Narvaez’s Evolved Nest / EDN research became prominent in 2014 with the Neurobiology and the Development of Human Morality book, containing the seed of the Evolved Nest, Kindred World was perfectly positioned to receive, grow, and distribute its message as cultivated and living social field. Kindred World’s nonprofit structure allowed for the creation of a strategic ecology of initiatives and projects and a multi-year, decades-long development of curricula, programs, and adaptations. 

2. From Theory to Praxis: Key Expansion Mechanisms Kindred World’s container enabled several critical expansions of the Evolved Nest science: 

• Media, Messaging, and Accessibility: Kindred Magazine has disseminated Narvaez’s research through articles, interviews, podcasts, and glossaries — translating dense science into accessible language for parents, educators, and cultural creatives.
• Nesting Ambassador Program: NAP turns the science into train-the-trainer / decentralized leadership — creating coalitions of stakeholders (parents, wellness professionals, educators, etc.) who adapt and apply EN science and its Kinship Worldview locally. NAP’s strategy and mission is to close the Theory-Praxis Gap.
• Trauma-Informed & Kinship Integration: Kindred World’s long history and emphasis on conscious parenting and holistic wellness provided the insights and experience needed for Lisa Reagan to develop the Learning Experience of the Evolved Nest: re-sequencing the nine components for safety (front-loading worldview literacy, nature connection, restorative practices, and play), trauma-informed language, and the Nested Kinship umbrella that weaves in Indigenous Kinship Worldview.
• Community & Coalitions: Kindred World’s history of consciousness-raising fostered networks, from the beginning, that support participatory tools, gathering groups, websites, conferences, and global networking necessary to support the emergent conscious parenting movement. These organizational insights and experiences have also been integrated into the Nesting Ambassador Program through its Kinship Praxis Gatherings.

3. Cultural & Values and Nonprofit “Container” Benefits 

• Holistic Worldview: Kindred’s roots in conscious parenting made it receptive to integrating neurobiology with relational, ecological, ceremonial, and heart-led approaches — rather than reducing it to mechanistic parenting advice.
• Sustainability & Scalability: Nonprofit status supports grant/donation funding, longevity, and global dissemination without diluting the mission.
• Bridge-Building: Kindred World connects academic science with grassroots movements, nonprofit activists and partners, Indigenous wisdom keepers, practitioners, professionals, and policymakers — enabling the “Science of the People” positioning developed to support the reclaiming of our Evolved Nest and its Kinship Worldview: Nested Kinship.

Kindred World’s 30-year track record as an advocate for family wellness created a trustworthy, mission-driven ecosystem where Evolved Nest science could be protected, adapted, taught, and lived — evolving from a scholarly concept into the practical, trauma-informed, kinship-infused framework it is today through the Nesting Ambassador Program and expanding Nested Kinship work. This container has been essential for making the science not just known, but usable for worldview shift and regenerative culture change. Visit Kindred World’s website for an overview of the nonprofit’s historical timeline of service and stewardship.

 Darcia Narvaez is a Professor of Psychology Emerita at the University of Notre Dame. She is the co-founder of the educational outreach project The Evolved Nest Initiative whose nonprofit mission is to share her science research into developing appropriate baselines for lifelong human wellness and providing guidelines for fostering full human potential. This wellbeing baseline is imperative at this time as the United States ranks 41st out of 41 developed countries in public policies that support families. 

Darcia is the current president of the award-winning, venerable nonprofit Kindred World, who has been "serving the re-generation since 1996." The Evolved Nest is an initiative of Kindred World. See all of Kindred World's strategies and initiatives for advancing a Wisdom-based, Wellness-Informed Society here.

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 and publisher of the prestigious journal Science. Narvaez was honored for her distinguished contributions illuminating typical and atypical development in terms of well-being, morality and sustainable wisdom. 

For the first portion of her career, Narvaez investigated moral psychology and moral development in typical ways — through studying reason, cognition, and education. But several years ago, she grew deeply interested in cross-disciplinary insights into evolutionary issues. As she read deeper into neuro- and clinical sciences, she began to see all sorts of connections that sparked further research.

“I realized that all these fields bore on moral development. I was awakened to the fact that human beings are a particular species with particular needs that, especially in early life, need to be fulfilled in order to construct an individual’s sociality and compassionate morality,” she said. “The key insight was realizing that our species’ evolved nest is vital for fostering our cooperative human nature. When the evolved nest is degraded, as it is in industrialized countries, it can impair capacities for cooperation and compassion because early stress is toxic to species-typical neurobiological function.”

Her empirical, theoretical, and applied research now focuses on the kinds of characteristics notable in communities that provide the evolved nest to children from conception, and nest all

ages throughout life, societies that demonstrate wellbeing, heart-minded morality, and communal imagination. 

In a 2020 analysis of top scientists, Narvaez emerged in the top 2% of scientists worldwide. Of the eight million scientists in the world, the analysis concerned those who had at least five articles published in scientific journals between 1996 and 2017-- over six million scientists. Individuals were ranked according to various criteria, including number of citations of their work.

Narvaez’s book, Neurobiology and the Development of Human Morality: Evolution, Culture and Wisdom, was chosen for the 2017 Expanded Reason Award from among more than 360 total entries from 170 universities and 30 countries. Narvaez received the prize, including a substantial monetary award, at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences in Vatican City on September 27, 2017. The book also received the William James Award from the American Psychological Association in 2015. She is former executive editor of the Journal of Moral Education.

Narvaez hosted interdisciplinary conferences at the University of Notre Dame regarding early experience and human development in 2010, 2012, and 2014. In 2016 she organized a conference on Sustainable Wisdom: Integrating Indigenous KnowHow for Global Flourishing. (Click on the links to see the full conferences in video on the Evolved Nest's YouTube Channel.)

She is the author or editor of numerous books and articles, see The Science page for listings. 

She is the president of the venerable American nonprofit, Kindred World, a contributing editor to Kindred, the first global eco-parenting magazine, a board of directors member of Attachment Parenting International, and an advisory board member of the Association for Pre- and Perinatal Psychology and Health, APPPAH. 

A strategic vision-holder for normalizing nurturing as a path to reclaiming our humanity and healing the Earth, Lisa Reagan is the founder of Kindred World, the editor of Kindred Magazine, and the co-founder of the Evolved Nest Initiative.

Introduced as a “force of nature” by Cassandra Vieten, IONS president, at the first Mindful Motherhood Conference in NYC in 2011, Lisa Reagan’s passionate dedication to empower American activists, professionals, and families to envision and create a Wisdom-based, Wellness-informed Society has led to the founding of multiple inspired nonprofit initiatives and collaborations since her transformative motherhood initiation in 1997.

Lisa’s Mother-of-a-Quest began with co-founding a grassroots organization of Wayfinders, Trance-breakers, and New Cycle Makers fiercely intent on protecting American’s children with educational initiatives to counter the country’s anti-nurturing culture and America's resulting free fall to the bottom of all developed nations’ wellness indicators. 

In her writing at Kindred, Lisa frequently weaves personal and collective journey stories that position Kindred World’s mission as a response to listening to and partnering with non-human intelligences. These are not abstract concepts, but grounded, lived experiences as a mother, farmer, naturalist, Reiki practitioner, and student of Indigenous worldviews and shamanism.

Over the past two decades, Lisa tells the story of Kindred World’s evolution as a shift from individual conscious parenting to a broader cultural awakening. She describes consciousness as relational and ecological — emerging through deep listening to human and non-human intelligences. This frames Kindred’s mission as stewarding a “Wisdom-based, Wellness-informed Society” that reintegrates humans into the web of life.

Today, Kindred World is an award-winning nonprofit whose vision and mission are more relevant and critical than ever. Integrating a quarter century of cultural transformation insights into grounded Wayfinder Wisdom, Lisa currently shepherds Kindred World's nonprofit work through multiple initiatives and partner collaborations, including (see all here):

The Evolved Nest Initiative, a virtual learning center featuring the award-winning science and research of Darcia Narvaez, PhD. Lisa and Darcia collaborate on the creation of virtual educational outreach projects of the Evolved Nest, including the short film, Breaking the Cycle, Mighty Networks discussion groups, as well as monthly live discussions. Darcia Narvaez is ranked among the top two percent of scientists worldwide. Her research into humanity’s Evolved Nest reveals our “evolutionary pathway to wellbeing”. Darcia currently serves as Kindred World’s president.

Kindred Magazine is an alternative media platform championing a New Story of the Human Family. Lisa serves as Kindred’s executive editor, working with contributors to create podcasts, interviews, special feature series, and the expansion of Kindred’s New Story Glossary (because a new story needs new language). Kindred’s innovative media platform allows the many Kindred World initiatives and partner collaborations to interact and integrate personal stories, shifting worldviews, and cultural transformation victories. Our challenge, to bring visibility and coherence to cultural transformation, is achieved through Kindred Media’s holistic storytelling strategies.

The Worldview Literacy Project was created in partnership with Four Arrows and Darcia Narvaez and features Kindred's Worldview Chart by Four Arrows, a 90-day study and survey, and multiple resources to download for free for the self-directed and community learning program.

The Meet the Wayfinders Oral History Series was produced at the request of La Leche League International for their 65th Conference in 2021. This series integrates both Kindred’s many years of tracking unheralded victories of cultural transformation as well as introducing the concept of Kindred Activism, which explores both how the activists were successful in their quests and how their wayfinder advocacy can be duplicated. 

Lisa continues to steward Kindred World’s original vision of a Wisdom-based, Wellness-informed Society as the award-winning nonprofit serves an international following, expands collaborations with partners, and welcomes new volunteers and board members. To discover the ecology of Kindred World’s initiatives, visit www.KindredWorld.org. 

Read Lisa's full bio on Kindred.

Learn more about Kindred World and see its historic timeline of stewarding the Conscious Parenting Movement for over 25 years here.