Percy Severn is looking for ambassadors to sow the seeds of nonviolence and teach others that there are alternatives to brutality.

"Each of us has violence within us," Severn told a group in Oxnard during a meeting Tuesday night in which she discussed the Alternatives to Violence Project.

The meeting was open to the public and held to inform them about how they can become volunteers with the project.

As a volunteer herself, the Newbury Park woman has visited inmates in prison, educating them on how violence breeds violence and that there is a better way.

The Alternatives to Violence Project was started in 1975 by a group of inmates at Green Haven Correctional Facility in New York in partnership with the Quakers as a way to reduce violence in prison. Since then, the project has spread to other nations and states, including California.

Severn said violence has decreased on average by 60 percent in prisons where inmates have been taught the project's principles.

Those principles include resolving conflicts by seeking common ground, listening to others before making judgments, using surprise and humor to defuse a potentially violent situation, and creating an environment based on honesty, respect and caring.

Project volunteers also teach the principles to those outside prison, including young people who live in troubled neighborhoods.

Among those attending Tuesday's meeting was Mike Matlock, assistant chief of police in Oxnard. He praised the project's goals.

"We want to see a more lasting change through the reduction of violence," said Matlock, recalling the gang violence that has plagued parts of his city in years past.

Matlock said much has been done to reduce that violence over the past five or so years. He said gang-related violence has decreased by 50 to 60 percent since 2002.

But much more needs to be done, he said. He fears this might only be a temporary lull in gang violence in Oxnard.

Those participating in the project's workshops go through exercises in building trust with others while learning about themselves through introspection. The workshop typically takes about three days.

For more information on coming workshops, call Severn at 427-4737 or visit http://www.avpcalifornia.org.