More About Our Founder

Beverly’s commitment to peacemaking and bringing people together has been a consistent thread throughout her life in Warwick. Before her 30-year teaching career, she was among the first trained mediators in Orange County, helping neighbors resolve conflicts through local village courts.

Following the events of 9/11, Beverly’s students, with broad community support, created the Sanfordville Peace Wall Memorial—a 60-foot circular stone wall at their school—serving as a lasting symbol of reflection, healing, and hope.

After retiring from teaching in 2010, in 2012 Beverly founded Family Central, a parenting support network designed to reduce isolation and strengthen connections among families. In 2016, she launched community forums such as Warwick Working Together, which created space for residents to address civic polarization, anger, distrust, and fear following Warwick’s Blue Line controversy. These early efforts laid the groundwork for what would become We the People Warwick.

In March 2021, deeply concerned by the growing division in the community following the Capitol insurrection, Beverly convened a group of residents to imagine new ways of connecting across differences. From that shared vision, We the People Warwick—an all-volunteer organization dedicated to constructive dialogue, personal storytelling, and action projects that strengthen community bonds and renew hope—was born.