Synergos Cultivate the Soul: Stories of Purpose-Driven Philanthropy (MouthMedia Network)

Building trust and taking collective action are essential when tackling complex issues—and it is in this spirit that we bring you this episode from our partner System Catalysts, co-hosted by GPC member Jeffrey Walker and English Sall.  

System Catalysts shares stories of change makers who put their egos aside to improve the systems that run the world. In this episode, Ellen Agler, former CEO of the END Fund and Tsitsi Masiyiwa, Co-Founder & Chair of Higherlife Foundation & Delta Philanthropies tell us how involving and supporting donors, board members and community-based organizations can have an exponential impact. 

Listen to more of their episodes here. 

System Catalysts is produced by Hueman Group Media.

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Richard Schwartz began his career as a systemic family therapist and an academic. Grounded in systems thinking, Dr. Schwartz developed Internal Family Systems (IFS) in response to clients’ descriptions of various parts within themselves. He focused on the relationships among these parts and noticed that there were systemic patterns to the way they were organized across clients. He also found that when the clients’ parts felt safe and were allowed to relax, the clients would experience spontaneously the qualities of confidence, openness, and compassion that Dr. Schwartz came to call the Self. He found that when in that state of Self, clients would know how to heal their parts.

A featured speaker for national professional organizations, Dr. Schwartz has published many books and over fifty articles about IFS.

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Dr. English Sall is a Board Member of the Sall Family Foundation and is the Co-founder and CEO of Cymantix, a company specializing in discovery and insight generation with unstructured text data.

Listen to hear how English’s life was touched in her childhood by a beautiful act of caring and how that inspires her work to help humans reach their full potential. In her work she applies Industrial Organizational Psychology within informal economies as she examines how people, behaviours and perspectives meet systems.

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Kristine Tompkins is the president and co-founder of Tompkins Conservation, an American conservationist, and former CEO of Patagonia, Inc. For three decades, she has committed to protecting and restoring wild beauty and biodiversity by creating national parks, restoring wildlife, inspiring activism, and fostering economic vitality as a result of conservation.

Kristine and her late husband Douglas Tompkins have protected over 15 million acres of parklands in Chile and Argentina through Tompkins Conservation and its partners, making them among the most successful national park-oriented philanthropists in history.

Through Tompkins Conservation and its offspring organizations, Rewilding Argentina and Rewilding Chile, she has helped to create or expand 15 national parks in Argentina and Chile, including two marine national parks, and works to bring back over two dozen species that have gone locally or nationally extinct, such as the jaguar, red-and-green macaw, and giant river otters in Northeast Argentina, and Darwin’s rheas and extremely endangered huemul deer in Chile.

Kristine served as Patron for Protected Areas for the UN Environmental Programme from 2018-2022. The recipient of numerous honors, she was the first conservationist to be awarded the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy. In 2024, she followed up her 2020 TED Talk, "Let's Make the World Wild Again," with over two million views, with “A Bold Plan to Rewild the Earth—at a Massive Scale,” available in 14 languages, on the TED mainstage in Vancouver.

About Tompkins Conservation

Founded by the late Douglas Tompkins and cofounded by Kristine Tompkins, Tompkins Conservation is protecting and restoring wild beauty and biodiversity by creating national parks, bringing back species through rewilding, and fostering regenerative economies. Over three decades, the nonprofit has protected approximately 15 million acres of parklands in Chile and Argentina through the creation or expansion of 15 national parks in Chile and Argentina, in addition to two marine protected areas of 30 million acres. Through active rewilding, the organization is bringing back over a dozen species that are in critical numbers, endangered or locally extinct. In 2015, a kayaking accident in Patagonia took Doug's life. Alongside his wife Kris, the couple are amongst the foremost conservation philanthropists in history.

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Sudnya is an Indian American artist who has made San Francisco Bay Area her home since 1996. She has pursued her passion for storytelling through visual art, public installations, a novel publication, and now FREMONT, her first feature film.

As a champion of the world’s displaced sisterhood, Sudnya has made it her life’s mission to tell stories - arrestingly beautiful and awe inspiring stories - that have the power to move and change our subconscious narratives of fear around those who don’t look and sound like us. Towards that end, she has built a community that trusts her and has joined forces in this endeavor of storytelling to effect a powerful and much needed social awakening.

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Tomas Björkman is an author, social entrepreneur and the founder of Ekskäret Foundation

Listen to hear Tomas’ worldview that we are at a time of great transformation with an urgent need to increase our collective consciousness. His aim is to connect inner development to create societal change and he does this by providing safe spaces for individuals and groups to cultivate their inner capacities.

Tomas Björkman is an author and social entrepreneur and the founder of Ekskäret Foundation in Stockholm. He is also the co-founder of the research institute Perspectiva in London, of the Co-creation Loft and the media platform Emerge in Berlin and the 29k.org personal development platform. He is a member of the Club of Rome and a fellow of the Royals Swedish Academy of Engineering Science. He is also the author of three books: The Market Myth (2016) , The Nordic Secret (together with Lene Rachel Andersen, 2017) and The World We Create (2019). He divides his time between London, Stockholm and Berlin.

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Vuslat Doğan Sabancı is a business leader, a philanthropist and a leading voice on human rights, gender equality and freedom of expression both in Turkey and globally. In her 22 years at Hürriyet Publishing, the leading newspaper in Turkey, Ms. Doğan Sabancı served as the CEO between 2004-2008 and as the Chair of the Board of Directors for the following ten years. She left her position in May 2018 when the Doğan family divested from all of their major media assets. Under Ms. Doğan Sabancı’s leadership, Hürriyet not only succeeded to be the largest and most influential newspaper in Turkey, but also became the country’s largest digital content company, reaching one of every two internet user in Turkey.

While leading this digital transformation, she also spearheaded an editorial policy for promoting gender equality and minority rights and played a major role in the improvement of such rights in the public perception as well as in the legal system. The "No! To Domestic Violence" initiative, which she established in 2004 to advance the social empowerment of women, was the first example of her efforts to use media in order to create major positive social change. Through this initiative, which now continues under the umbrella of the Aydın Doğan Foundation, a major taboo was broken in Turkey through widespread educational programs geared at the general public, including everyone from imams to policemen. Launched as part of the initiative, Turkey's first ever 24/7 domestic violence hotline remains in operation today, and is also accessible to Turkish speaking communities around the world.

In 2020, Ms. Doğan Sabancı established Vuslat Foundation (https://www.vuslatfoundation.org/en), Turkey’s first and only global philanthropic initiative. The foundation aims to put the skill of generous listening— hearing beyond words— to oneself, others and nature at the center of all our connections by 2030. In line with this mission, the foundation supports academic research regarding listening, creates awareness through work with artists and storytellers and develops generous listening practices for youth and civil society. The foundation was invited as a special project partner to the 17th Architecture Biennale which took place between May - November 2021, and presented a monumental installation 'The Listener' by globally acclaimed artist Giuseppe Penone. The artwork intended to draw attention to listening as a significant thread within the exhibition's theme, 'How Will We Live Together?'

With the collaboration of Vuslat Foundation, a Generous Listening and Dialogue (GLAD) Center was launched at Tufts University. Housed at the Tisch College of Civic Life, the GLAD Center will collaborate with schools and departments across the entire university, building on the expertise of Tufts’ faculty, research centers and civic engagement programs. Its programming and interdisciplinary initiatives will help students, staff and faculty develop skills and awareness, address hard issues, and generate new knowledge. At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a ‘Vuslat Foundation Fellowship for Generous Listening’ was launched at The Transmedia Storytelling Initiative in the School of Architecture and Planning. 

Vuslat Doğan Sabancı holds a BA degree in Economics from Bilkent University and completed her graduate studies in International Relations and Media at Columbia University, in New York. Currently, she is a Member of the Board of Directors of Doğan Group, Hepsi Emlak and Hepsiburada. She is the Vice President of Aydın Doğan Foundation which promotes girls education and women empowerment in Turkey. She serves as a member of the Columbia Global Centers Advisory Board and the Columbia University Global Leadership Council. She is a member of the Board of Leaders at the Leaders for Peace. She is a Founding Board Member of Endeavor Turkey, an NGO cultivating high-impact entrepreneurship, a founding member of Turkish Businesswomen Association (TIKAD) and an active member of the Ashoka Support Network in Turkey. She is also a Board Member of Global Relations Forum (GIF/GRF), and a member of the Global Philanthropy Circle Members of Synergos.

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What I loved about this conversation with Satish is learning how he has taken action his whole life to transform the world into a spiritual place; and how he sees the intersection between spirituality and ecology. He shares his view of philanthropy as moving from me to we, from and ego to eco.

Peace-pilgrim, life-long activist, and former monk, Satish Kumar has been inspiring global change for over 50 years. He undertook a pilgrimage for peace, walking for two years without money from India to America for the cause of nuclear disarmament. Now in his 80s, Satish has devoted his life to campaigning for ecological regeneration and social justice. He is a world-renown author and international speaker, founder of The Resurgence Trust and Editor Emeritus of Resurgence & Ecologist – a change-making magazine he edited for over 40 years. To find more about Satish and join him in protecting people and planet click here.

Photo by Geoff Dalglish.

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Suzanne Koepplinger is the Director of the Catalyst Initiative at The Minneapolis Foundation.

Listen to hear how Suzanne she came to realize her purpose to help others by supporting their healing and growth. Through the work she is leading at the Catalyst Foundation, new pathways have been created to support culturally meaningful trauma healing practices.

Bio  

Suzanne Koepplinger has led the Catalyst Initiative since its inception at the George Family Foundation in 2014. Catalyst’s purpose is to honor and foster culturally authentic self-care practices to advance health and well-being. Three years after launching this community informed philanthropic approach to addressing trauma and toxic stress, Catalyst was spun off to the Minneapolis Foundation in 2018 to bring promising practices to scale. Key accomplishments during this time include successfully advocating for public investment in non-narcotic pain management and integrative healing therapies as an addiction prevention strategy; raising and re-distributing over $5 million into community initiatives to build resilience and foster healing; and influencing shifts in philanthropy, healthcare, education and government.

Suzanne previously served for ten years as the executive director of the Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center, leading the first research and community response in the country to address sex trafficking of American Indian women and girls. In that role she twice testified before U.S. Senate Congressional Committees on sexual exploitation. She is a certified trainer with the National Human Trafficking Training and Technical Assistance Center (NHTTAC) and the Office for Victims of Crime Training and Technical Assistance Center (OVCTTAC) and has extensive international experience as a trainer and public speaker. Topic examples include Reflective Leadership, Collective Action for Advancing Health Equity, Fostering Healing Centered Organizational Cultures, and Mind Body Medicine in Indian Country: Interrupting Historic Trauma.

Suzanne holds a M.A. in the Art of Leadership from Augsburg University.  She lives in Minneapolis and serves on the Board for Artspace Projects, where she leads the Board Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) Task Force. She is happiest when on a remote river or hiking trail.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/suzanne-koepplinger-0748534/

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Raza Jafar is a co-founder of the Global Sustainability Network (GSN), a platform which brings together leaders from faith, government, business, media, academia, and non-profits to achieve Goal 8 of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Listen to hear how Raza is living his life’s purpose fighting modern day slavery by bringing leaders together and creating opportunities for sustainable economic development. He shares some of the defining moments of his life and examples of how the individuals and institutions involved in GSN each play their part, including a story of how innovative technology was used to recover missing children. In his talk, Raza challenges us all to uncover our own purpose and consider what we are leaving for generations to come.

Raza Jafar is an entrepreneur and philanthropist and has led the development of numerous successful ventures and projects.

A member of the Synergos Global Philanthropists Circle, he has been a philanthropist since a very young age, and is currently focused on Sustainable Economic Development as identified in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Goal 8, which includes Ending Modern Day Slavery; Decoupling Economic Development from Environmental Degradation (Triple Bottom Line); Protect Labor Rights, Secure working and Living Environment for All Workers Men, Woman and Migrant Workers; Substantially Reduce Youth Unemployment by Job Creation and Education for Employment.

He is the founder of the Global Sustainability Network (GSN). GSN is a platform which brings leaders from each respective sector such as faith, government, business, media, academia, and non-profits to achieve Goal 8. Since its incorporation in 2016, GSN’s events held every year at Lambeth palace, the Vatican, the United Nations, and Dubai have led to over 300 global changemakers giving their input on working on this agenda and forming alliances and partnerships to achieve goal 8 together by the year 2030.

Raza’s business ventures include banking, aviation, real estate development, and hospitality management. His ability to convert vision to reality is what saw the creation of Palazzo Versace in Dubai. Under his leadership the hotel has received many accolades.

His other projects include development of Emirates Financial Towers, which is featured in the Guinness Book of World Records for having the world’s largest robotic parking facility; the D1 Tower, a high-rise premium residential tower ranked in the top 10 most impressive architectural building in the world by Emporis Skyscraper Award; and the Capital Club, a private members-only business club, listed by CNN as one of the top 10 private membership clubs globally. There are currently Capital Clubs in Dubai, Bahrain, and Nairobi.

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Listen to learn how Cristiane is working at a systems level to strengthen the philanthropic sector in Brazil as she builds strong partnerships with grantees based on trust and deep listening.

Cristiane has a Law Degree from Mackenzie University, a Masters in Banking Law from IBMEC-SP, with specializations in Private Bank from IBMEC-SP and Corporate Law from Getúlio Vargas Foundation, she also completed the Impact Investing Program at the CSP - University of Zurich. She has practiced Law for the São Paulo Stock Exchange, at BBA Creditanstalt Bank and at the Consenso Family Office, and has worked as Wealth Planning and Legal Superintendent at the Private Bank, Capital Markets and Corporate departments of Itaú Unibanco Bank. Furthermore, she was a partner at the banking department of Law Firm Veirano Advogados, has been the COO of Pedro Alberto Fischer Single Family Office, and founded BEJA Institute in 2021.

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Listen to hear how Kat and Mowlgi Mentoring are supporting entrepreneurs and leaders to build purposeful connections within themselves and others to better solve local and global challenges.

Kat is a global nomad who is driven to eradicate loneliness within and outside of ourselves. She is focused on nurturing connectedness, meaningful relationships and communities that enable people to overcome that which holds them back, discover and realise their true potential and have companions so that they never walk alone. To do her part in achieving this and to catalyse human, leadership, societal and economic transformation, she has made leadership, mentoring and coaching her primary focus.

Being the daughter of a serial entrepreneur and part of 2 startup businesses which were sold, she has repeatedly lived the entrepreneurial journey, albeit through a family business lens. Following a career in research and consulting in the Middle East, Kathleen joined Mowgli Mentoring in 2012 and as CEO has set and led the company’s vision and strategy with her passion for quality mentoring, programming, multi-level impact and growth at the core. She can talk for days about leadership, mentoring and coaching and lives it by being a mentor, a mentee and through the way she engages with others. She is a Coactive Training Institute (CTI) trained coach and is a Forum Trainer with the Entrepreneurs’ Organisation (EO).

Being a learning junkie, Kat has a BA Hons from Nottingham Trent Business School and has participated in numerous executive programmes at NYU, Columbia Business School, INSEAD, Wharton and Harvard Business School, as well as Sirdar’s Applied Directorship Programme. She continually seeks out opportunities to evolve as a leader through communities which give her meaning; she was previously the EO Kenya President and Board Member, as well as a member of the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE), The Room and the Global Philanthropists Circle (GPC).

She loves dabbling in a bit of interior design, traveling and adding to the list of 35 countries that she has travelled to and is a proud foster mom of 5 baby elephants.

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Steve Killelea is the Executive Chairman and Founder of the Institute for Economics and Peace, using data driven research to show that peace is a positive, tangible and achievable measure of human well-being and development.

Listen to hear how Steve has been guided by his sense of adventure, starting from his early childhood exploring the wild near Sydney to visiting some of world’s most conflict ridden places. His work focuses on measuring and creating peace by shifting systems, as he uses both a top down and bottom up approach to create change.

Steve Killelea is the founder of the internationally renowned global think tank the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP). He is regularly quoted in the media on subjects ranging from terrorism to conflict and is also a sought-after international speaker. His funding of the IEP was recognized as one of the 50 most impactful philanthropic gifts in Australia’s history by a coalition of Australian Foundations in 2013. He has been recognized as one of the world’s 100 most influential people on reducing armed violence. In acknowledgment of Steve’s deep commitment to peace, he has twice been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

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Jeffrey Walker is Chairman of New Profit, a venture philanthropy organization that backs breakthrough social entrepreneurs who are advancing equity and opportunity in America.

Listen to hear how Jeff has always been a seeker and the role meditation plays in his life. He discovered his purpose, to minimize suffering and enhance joy, on a trip to Bhutan. He shared how his approach to impact involves applying all of his skills, partnering with change-makers and listening to people proximate to the problem. Jeff gives examples of projects that he supports that are shifting systems through collaborations.

Jeff is Chairman of New Profit, a social change venture fund and is founding partner of the Community Health Acceleration Partnership, focused on front line health in Africa and the U.S. He also currently serves on the boards of the African Philanthropy Forum, Just Capital, UVA Center for Contemplative Sciences (where he is chair), Giving Tuesday, the Aspen Management Partnership for Health, Leadership Now Project on democratic reform and the University of Virginia’s Undergraduate Business School, where he was President for ten years. He is also a partner in Bridge Builders investment fund for Mindful Wellness. Jeff was on the board of the University of Virginia, Chairman of The Council of Foundations at University of Virginia (UVA), served on the Berklee College of Music Board, the Harvard Business School Dean’s Board of Advisors and the HBS Visiting Committee and is on the Advisory Boards of MIT Media Lab and the Harvard School of Public Health. He has been on numerous other for-profit and non-profit boards. Previously, Jeff was Executive-in-Residence at Harvard Business School, focusing on social enterprises and collaboration, and a Lecturer at the Kennedy School. At Harvard, he helped to develop a course in exponential fundraising for nonprofits. He served as the Chairman of Millennium Promise, partnering with the United Nations and Columbia University, an incubator to eliminate extreme poverty, and was the Chairman of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation (Monticello), where he is as an Emeritus Trustee. Jeff Co-Founded and was Chairman of Npower, an organization that provides shared technology services to nonprofits.  Jeff co-authored the book, “The Generosity Network”, about new approaches to gather resources to address causes each of us are passionate about. He is currently teaching, researching and writing on the issue of orchestrating and coordinating systems change. For twenty five years Jeff was CEO and Co-Founder of JPMorgan Partners, JPMorgan Chase Co’s $12 billion global private equity business, Vice Chairman of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Chairman of the JPMorgan Chase Foundation. He has an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.S. from the University of Virginia, is a Certified Management Accountant and a Certified Public Accountant. He received the John Whitehead award for philanthropy from the NYC HBS Club.

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Listen to hear how Farahnaz, based on her field experience from Bosnia to Afghanistan, is transforming her passion to contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through Insaan Group’s catalytic capital approach, now scaling through Impact Footprint.

Dr. Farahnaz Karim is founder and CEO of Insaan Group. Insaan works with philanthropists and impact investors to invest in solutions to poverty, with a focus on sub-Saharan Africa and India. Farahnaz’s philanthropic work is the result of her field experience working with the UN, the World Bank, and non-profits.

In addition to her passion for building a more equitable world, she has pursued a passion for building a more peaceful world through an academic path in International Relations (IR). 

She has recently completed a DPhil in Politics at the University of Exeter and holds a Master in Public Administration (MPA) from Harvard University.

She loves going to the field to due diligence or report on Insaan’s impact investments, and finds balance and joy through activities such as Pilates and Indian classical dance.

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What I love about this conversation with Howard is his passion for using impact investing to address large-scale social problems. He shared his story of personal transformation after facing a crisis, which led him to co-create Gratitude Railroad, working to create deep social and environmental impact through investments.

Howard is co-founder and Chief Evangelist of Gratitude Railroad. Gratitude Railroad is an educational, community building, and impact investment organization focused on catalyzing positive social and environmental change through for-profit businesses. GRR’s core focus is an active investment process led by its Founders, Advisors and Partners guided by its full time diligence team.

He is also the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Basso Capital Management, L.P. a hedge fund management company focused on Special Purpose Acquisition Corporations (SPACs). Howard is the portfolio manager for the firm’s dedicated SPAC fund and oversees all operating and marketing efforts.

Previously, Howard was co-head of the institutional convertible trading desk at Smith Barney. Before Smith Barney, Mr. Fischer was a convertible trader at Drexel Burnham and at Cohen Feit & Company. Prior to his trading career, Mr. Fischer was a Certified Public Accountant in both public and private practice. Howard serves on the Boards of 1% For The Planet and The Carbon Underground, and advises BrightEdge, the investment fund of the American Cancer Society. He also has advisory/board roles at DoneGood, Builders Fund, Atlas Impact Partners and Blackdirt Capital – for profit entities in which he has invested.

Howard holds a B.S.E. in Accounting and Finance from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and was a 2013 and 2014 fellow in the Advanced Leadership Initiative at Harvard University.

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Nipun Mehta is the founder of ServiceSpace, a global community working at the intersection of technology, volunteerism and a gift culture. As a designer of large-scale social movements that are rooted in small acts of service and powered by micro moments of inner transformation, his work has uniquely catalyzed "many to many" networks of community builders grounded in their localities and rooted in practices of cultivating deeper connection -- with oneself, each other and our systems. Today, ServiceSpace reaches millions every month, is powered by thousands of volunteers, and blossoms into ever-expanding local and virtual service projects that aim to ignite a "whole great than the sum of its parts". Nipun was honored as an "unsung hero of compassion" by the Dalai Lama, not long before former U.S. President Obama appointed him to a council for addressing poverty and inequality in the US. Yet the core of what strikes anyone who meets him is the way his life is an attempt to bring smiles in the world and silence in his heart: "I want to live simply, love purely, and give fearlessly. That's me."

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Listen to hear Bob share his personal story growing up and how this has influenced his view and work in the world. How, through the Fetzer Insitute, they are building a global movement grounded in love, human flourishing and our shared sacred story.

Bob Boisture has served as President and CEO of the Fetzer Institute since 2013, and during this time, helped the Institute adopt its current mission statement “helping build the spiritual foundation for a loving world.” This mission reflects the Institute’s view that humanity will never summon the will, courage, and hope to meet the challenges we face until a critical mass of us truly open our hearts in love to each other and the natural world. Trained as a lawyer, Bob spent most of his career in Washington, working with a broad range of nonprofits and foundations, including the Council on Foundations, Independent Sector, and the YMCA. His work involved strengthening nonprofit governance and helping to design and lead major national advocacy campaigns involving environmental and health issues and the right of nonprofit organizations to participate in the legislative process. Bob is married to artist Mary Margaret Pipkin, and they have three grown sons, two daughters-in-law, and five grandchildren. They spend as much time as they can on their farm in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley.

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Chavalit Frederick Tsao is the fourth-generation steward of TPC (Tsao Pao Chee), a family business with more than 120 years of history. Chavalit believes business reform is needed, and quantum leadership is the way. He is committed to this journey and is reforming his family business, TPC, with a renewed mission “To Serve Well-being of Life and Create Wealth at the Same Time.” He founded OCTAVE, a business model with an ecosystem for an integrated life journey towards well-being. He is Chairman of the Council of Wisdom for the Family Business Network (FBN) International to champion the impact community of the network.

Chavalit has authored 'Dawn of An Era Of Well-being', 'Quantum Leadership' and 'One Choice, One World'. In his latest book, 'One Choice, One World', he shares the role of Quantum Leaders in shifting the consciousness in business and their impact in stewarding the new humanity. These books are part of his anthology of 40 books published under Octave.eaaAAA

https://chavalittsao.com/

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Scott Kriens, chairman and former CEO of Juniper Networks, has been in the
technology industry for more than 35 years. In 1996, he co-founded Juniper
Networks, growing the company to $4 billion in global sales and more than 10,000
employees in 100+ countries.

In 2010, Scott and his wife Joanie launched 1440 Foundation, a grant making
organization committed to the cultivation of truly real and connected
relationships, with self and others, as a basis for living well. The work of the
Foundation led Scott and Joanie to launch 1440 Multiversity, a 21st century
learning destination in the California redwoods of Santa Cruz County.
At his core, Scott is a learner and a builder, committed to finding new ways to tie
the world around us to that which is real and powerful within us – whether for
the purpose of building teams as a leader in the tech industry or simply as an
advocate for the path to living lives of true resonance. Moving beyond having
more or suffering less, 1440 helps people and groups interested in finding their
own unique connection to meaning.

“I think the growing call in the world today for connection, meaning, and making a
difference, all indicate that there is an unmet need in many of us. The true mark
of 1440’s success will be that we can offer a welcoming and inspiring place to
serve the loud need for quiet time, and invite each person to find their own
answers to the questions that matter most.”

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Rodney McKenzie, Jr. is Vice President of Ally Development at the Fetzer Institute, helping build the spiritual foundation for a loving world.

Listen to hear Rodney speak about the role that the church played in his early years as a place to be seen as fully human. He shares how radical forgiveness supported his journey to understand that he is worthy of love and that in order to attract love, he has to model love for himself. Today, through the Fetzer Institute, Rodney and others are working to transform the world so all can flourish.

Rodney McKenzie, Jr., Vice President, Ally Development, Fetzer Institute

I am an openly gay person of faith, a community organizer, and a reverend. I come to Fetzer from Demos, a “’think-and-do’ tank that powers the movement for a just, inclusive, multiracial democracy.” I served there in many roles, most recently as executive vice president leading the organization’s programmatic, movement building, and communications functions. Prior to Demos, I worked at the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force—the nation’s oldest national LGBTQ advocacy organization—where my work focused on disrupting the national narrative that LGBTQ people aren’t people of faith and that people of faith don’t support LGBTQ equality and running smart campaigns to win power for marginalized communities. 

Earlier in my career, I co-founded Expansion Church where I served as its spiritual director, regularly preaching on Sundays using a framework of liberation theology. I also served as the executive director of Resource Generation, an organization comprised of 18-35 year olds with access to wealth who are among the richest top 10% of individuals or families in the United States. I currently serve on the boards of the Freedom Center for Social Justice in North Carolina, the National LGBTQ Task Force, and Seek Common Ground. I received my bachelor’s degree from the University of North Texas and a master’s degree in divinity from Union Theological Seminary in New York City. I grew up in Dallas, Texas.

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Camille Massey is President and CEO of Synergos, a global organization that has pioneered the use of bridging leadership, which builds trust and collaboration to solve complex problems. She joined the organization in this role in November 2023.

Camille combines decades of experience working on complex development challenges together with deep recognition of the values of inclusion, of listening, and of supporting people and institutions that are most proximate to those challenges.

Previously, she was Founding Executive Director of the Sorensen Center for International Peace and Justice. She also previously served as Vice President for Global Strategy and Programs at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, and has served in senior positions at Human Rights First and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, working in 23 countries with a concentration in Africa and Asia.

Camille founded Cue Global, a consulting business that designed and implemented strategic policy, legal, advocacy, communications, and resource mobilization plans for global organizations, was appointed a Human Rights Fellow at The Carter Center in Atlanta, and worked with musician Peter Gabriel to help establish WITNESS, an international human rights organization supporting local groups in the use of video.

As a long-time board member of Breakthrough, she works on projects worldwide to stop violence against women and girls. She also serves on the board of Outright International and the advisory boards of Global Witness, the Center for Business and Human Rights at New York University and House of SpeakEasy, a literary nonprofit organization.

Camille Massey earned her J.D. from CUNY School of Law, and a B.S. from Syracuse University's Newhouse School where she currently sits on the Advisory Board. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the American Bar Association, and the New York City Bar Association.

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Listen to hear how Tracy has transformed personal trauma to help others. How she is using art for healing, for connection and to raise awareness about social justice issues to affect change.

Tracy Ferron is the Founder and Executive Director of Life on Earth Art, a California-based non-profit organization working to heal trauma and division in our society by fusing community art-making, art therapy, and activism with touring large-scale art experiences.  LOEA offers transformative healing work to schools, social service organizations, public and correctional institutions, partnering with other non-profits. Ferron’s work illuminates social injustices which beg for awareness, compassion and action.  Her large winged heart artworks have graced protests for incarcerated rights at San Quentin Prison and the Women’s March in Sacramento, CA.  Her museum installations have explored medical experimentation (2018), the murder of global activists (2019), and community artmaking celebrating loved ones lost for Día de los Muertos (2021). 
Tracy conceived of and produced Unbound (2021-22), an 80-foot community made sculpture of hundreds of paper mâché winged hearts flying free from a cage in an innovative year-long partnership with 70 therapists at one of California’s largest psychiatric facilities. This project brought art-making engagement to over 500 psychiatric patients, 200 staff and 800 community participants–creating a sense of belonging and uplift.  Unbound was recognized with a first place award for Arts for Innovation by the National Organization for Arts in Health in November 2022. Tracy received her Master’s Degree in Engaged Humanities at Pacifica Graduate Institute. She has presented at Burning Man (2014), the Jungian Society for Scholarly Studies (2017), Google Headquarters (2018), the Northern California Art Therapy Association (2020) and Pacifica Graduate Institute (2021). 
For more information, see https://lifeonearthart.org or contact Tracy at tracy@lifeonearthart.org. 

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Rohini Nilekani is the Chairperson of Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies and Co-founder and Director of EkStep, a non-profit education platform. She is also the Founder and Former Chairperson of Arghyam, a foundation she set up in 2001 for sustainable water and sanitation, which funds initiatives across India. From 2004 to 2014, she was Founder-Chairperson and chief funder of Pratham Books, a non-profit children’s publisher that reached millions of children during her tenure. She sits on the Board of Trustees of ATREE, an environmental think tank. In the past, she has served on the Audit Advisory Board of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India and the Eminent Persons Advisory Group of the Competition Commission of India.

A former journalist, she has written for many leading publications such as Times of India, India Today, Mint, etc. Penguin Books India published her first book, a medical thriller called Stillborn, and her second non-fiction book, “Uncommon Ground”, based on her eponymous TV show. She has written several books for young children, published by Pratham Books, including the famous “Annual Haircut Day”. In 2022, she published an anthology of her writing titled “Samaaj, Sarkaar, Bazaar”, outlining her philosophy of restoring the balance between the state and markets by positioning society as the foundational sector.

In 2017, she was inducted as a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She has been a member of the Board of Science Gallery Bengaluru, the Advisory Board of the Well Being Project since 2019, and the Dakshin Foundation since 2021. Rohini was voted the Best Grassroots Philanthropist by the Forbes India Leadership Award in 2022. 

Rohini Nilekani is a committed philanthropist and has been named ‘the most generous woman in India’ for the third consecutive time in 2022 by the Hurun India Philanthropy Report. In 2017, she signed the Giving Pledge with her husband Nandan Nilekani, which commits half their wealth to philanthropic causes.

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Listen to hear Ajay’s reflections on love and service, about the importance of being instead of doing, about our inter-connectedness and the power of living the example.

Ajay was born into a working-class immigrant family from India. A deep spiritual calling led him to become a monk in his late teens, where he spent almost a decade in service, spiritual practice, and deep reflection on how to realize a healthy, conscious, and balanced society. He transitioned out of monastic life to apply his commitment to service and belief in the power of catalyzing change agents to lead a number of mission-driven organizations at the forefront of consciousness and social change. Along with serving as a guide and coach, Ajay is the founder of The Bhakti Society, a nonprofit he founded to support people in their spiritual journeys through sharing the teachings of Bhakti. His passion lies in supporting others in unlocking their full spiritual potential. Connect to learn about the Synergos Global Philanthropists Circle and Ajay’s Blog.

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Teresa Corção was the Chef and Owner of the restaurant O Navegador from 1981 to 2020. The restaurant closed during the Covid 19 pandemic.

In 2001, she joined the International Slow Food Movement as co-leader in Rio de Janeiro, becoming interested in the socio-environmental influence linked to the world of food.

In 2002, she created the Cassava Project, researching the importance of this root for Brazil, promoting Tapioca Workshops in public schools until 2012, innovating food education with a concept she created: “gastronomic identity”.

In 2007, she founded the Maniva Institute and the Ecochefs group, Civil Social Organization of Public Interest – OSCIP, a pioneer in working with gastronomy as an instrument for socio-environmental transformation: “valuing traditional foods and reestablishing lost ties between small and medium-sized farmers, their products and consumers”

She is the creator and screenwriter of documentaries: O Professor da Farinha (2004), Seu Bené Via Para a Itália (2006) (screened at the Berlin Film Festival in 2008), The Food Path (2015), Terra Preta, Aço Prata (2016), in addition to the TV series Bagunça na Cozinha shown on Canal Futura (2010).

She was chosen as Chef Ambassador of Brazilian Cuisine at SENAC, and she was a speaker at TEDX CAMPOS in 2012 and at TED GLOBAL-SOUTH during the Rio Olympics in 2015.

Teresa was a finalist for the Basque Culinary World Prize, which is considered the Nobel Prize for Gastronomy in 2016, for her work as an activist chef and researcher of healthy and sustainable Brazilian cuisine.

Other highlights:

Co-creator in 2019 and manager of the Projeto Gosto da Amazônia – whose objective is to open the Rio de Janeiro market for wild arapaima from Amazon management.

Consultant in the training of the 12th Military Region in Amazonas for training in cooking regional Amazonian products.

Co-creator of the Alimenta Manaus campaign during the pandemic that enabled the connection between family farmers and food insecure populations in the city of Manaus, promoting the acquisition of organic and culturally related products to the beneficiaries.

Co-manager of the Arroz Anã project in Porto Marinho, in the State of Rio. Curator of the Project at SENAC for the production of the book Very Prazer, Arroz Anã and lectures and show classes at events to promote the culture of this product.

Winner, by Instituto Maniva, of the Jabuti Award in 2020, the most important in Brazilian literature, in the Creative Economy category for the book Ecochefs, Parceiros do Agricultor – Editora SENAC, in the Creative Economy category.

Curator and consultant and Executive Chef at Bistrô SESC Convento do Carmo in 2023, 2024.

Teresa is a Fellow of the international organizations Ashoka and Synergos. She also participates in international Forums linked to the sustainability of Food Systems, such as Conscious Food Systems Alliance – CoFSA and Catalysts 2030 Brasil.

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Pascale Terra Deau is French Caribbean from Martinique, Black American, and Tsistitas (Cheyenne).  She works at the intersection of human development and sustainability. She is the creator of Haumea Ventures, a consulting firm that helps bring to life transformative and sustainable ideas and initiatives. Pascale is also the co-founder of Archery Foundation, an organization that supports young talents from French disadvantaged neighborhoods from the time they enter high school to the time they begin their professional journey. She holds a Master's in Counseling Psychology with an emphasis on spirituality from the California Institute of Integral Studies and is currently pursuing a Master's in Sustainable Management at Columbia University.

fondationarchery.fr

www.linkedin.com/in/pascale-d%C3%A9au-0050ab5b

Listen to hear about Pascale’s passion for connecting human development, psychology and sustainability; and how she is applying innovative methods to help organizations align inner with outer impact.

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Maureen Pelton, Co-Founder, ShiftIt Institute

Charlie Hartwell, Managing Director, Bridge Builders Collaborative

Listen to hear Maureen and Charlie’s personal stories of transformation that brought them to the work they do in the world. They each use their unique skills and gifts to support a common mission - to be of service to something bigger than themselves and shift systems.

They also share how they set intentions to live in harmony and connection with each other.

Maureen’s mystical presence emerged in her younger years as a Catholic, with a fierce devotion to “God,” but she quickly outgrew the external forms of religion. When Maureen was about to enter her senior year of College, she had to have a risky surgery that could potentially take her life.

The night before as she contemplated her options, Maureen entered such a deep state of surrender, it opened her up to the truth of oneness and then beyond. Maureen describes this presence as the cosmic mother, or unconditional love. She vowed in that moment to make her life an offering, and a service to that energy… then had a miraculous recovery from the surgery.

This experience sent her on a quest to understand what happened. She pivoted from her intended course of study in Law, to pursue an advanced degree in the Social Sciences. She started meditating, doing yoga, and studied dozens of modalities from spiritual, psychological and neurological traditions. Being a change agent, integrating systems theory and intuition, she pioneered courses, programs and retreats for Universities, healthcare systems, and corporations.

Her desire to transmit her mystical abilities to others led her down the path of mastering many healing modalities. Using these modalities she facilitates self exploration, and asks the right questions to help her clients trust their own wisdom. Equipped with many tools,

Maureen shifts paradigms wherever she goes. She has been described as a force of nature, who is powerfully wise and loving, blessed with the transformational capacity to see far beyond this physical world.

When she is not helping others cast out the repetitive loop of doubts and old stories, to become more fully embodied and live in love... you can find her spending time with horses, out in nature, hiking, getting people together for game night, doing yoga, traveling and enjoying time with Charlie.

Charlie started his first business, H&H Headquarters, in 2nd grade. He sold lemonade, made crafts and did odd jobs, and he’s been an avid entrepreneur ever since. He took a traditional path through Wall Street and Harvard Business School, but his post graduate work for major corporations left him unfulfilled. He left to help small businesses, and start new ones. One of these startups was the first for profit business expedition company in US history. The company promoted the Bancroft Arnesen expedition, the first ever all female crossing of the Antarctic Continent. The team used the expedition to empower girls and women to follow their dreams. This campaign generated 2.2 billion media impressions, and was endorsed by

Apple, CNN, Volvo, Motorola and the Girl Scouts. Charlie’s spiritual awakening began when he lost his grandfather and father in a 2 year period when his business was failing and his marriage died. This opened him up to the deeper calling of the universe. His spiritual awakening was amplified by meeting Maureen.

Their sacred union echoed Maureen’s dedication to be of service to love; ShiftIt is an extension of that love. Charlie is the “collaborative glue” of Bridge Builders, a group of investors focused on mental wellness, consciousness and spirituality based startups. He is a bottom up leader that empowers entrepreneurs, spiritual leaders, scientists, teams, and organizations. He connects businesses to ideas, people and resources, and major growth follows.

When he is not investing, consulting, writing, speaking or growing companies, you can find Charlie playing hockey, guitar, singing, recording albums, taking photos, or spending time with Maureen traveling and in nature.

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Listen to hear how Heather has been guided throughout her life by a concern for the welfare of others and how, in her earlier career, she sought to transform systems by working on the frontlines of education. She also shares the role science plays in spirituality, what this means to her personally and how this is put into practice at the John Templeton Foundation.

Heather Templeton Dill is president of the John Templeton Foundation. Most recently, she served as executive liaison to the president under her father, the late Dr. Jack Templeton. Dill is the granddaughter of the late Sir John Templeton.

Prior to joining the Foundation staff, she taught high school level history, government, and economics in Pennsylvania. While living in Charlottesville, Virginia, she was a homeschool educator as well as a manuscript editor and research assistant at the University of Virginia. She served as a trustee of the John Templeton Foundation from 1997-2003 and 2009-2015 and has been a member of the Foundation’s executive, finance, and strategic planning committees. Dill is currently a member of the board of First Trust Bank and previously served on the Templeton Religion Trust steering committee and the Templeton World Charity Foundation board.

She holds a master’s degree in American history from Villanova University and is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame with a B.A. in history and a concentration in public policy.

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Listen to hear how David Less and the Abrahamic Reunion are shifting consciousness by bringing people together in the Holy Land so they can change the narrative and move from separation to unity.

David is a founding member of the Abrahamic Reunion, a bottom-up grassroots organization designed to overcome the problem of segregation and separation in Israel and Palestine by bringing together groups of people from the four major religions to spend time together, work together, study together, and create an atmosphere of trust and understanding.

David has been teaching meditation and inner practice for 55 years and is recognized globally as a teacher of harmonious living, health, meditation and personal transformation.  He is the Spiritual Director & Founder of Rising Tide International, a Universal Spiritual Center in Sarasota, Florida.

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Ajay Dahiya serves at Synergos in the capacity of Managing Director of Philanthropy. 

Born into a working-class immigrant family from India, Ajay quickly internalized a sentiment that would dictate both his personal and professional lives for decades: the real privilege in life is the privilege of service.

Growing up in a diverse and disparate environment in the outskirts of London, Ajay realized that true fulfillment wasn’t found in material things but through community and a spirit of serving others.  

Ajay’s deep spiritual calling led him to become a monk in his late teens, where he spent almost a decade in service, spiritual practice, and deep reflection on how to realize a healthy, equal, and just society.

He transitioned out of monastic life to apply his commitment to service and belief in the power of catalyzing change agents to lead a number of mission-driven organizations at the forefront of consciousness and social change.

Ajay is committed to challenging the status quo and is deeply driven by the simple, yet impactful concept that uplifting the world is dependent on uplifting human consciousness.

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What I love about this conversation with Gary is learning how The Saville Foundation is creating genuine partnerships through deep listening and working from the inside out, with people in the center.

GARY SHEARER BIO

THE SAVILLE FOUNDATION

Born and schooled in Johannesburg South Africa, having a rich full-spectrum business experience in the IT wave of the ‘70’s and ‘80’s, including being a founding management team member of the now global Datatec Group.
Co-founded award-winning New York based wine trading entity Cape Classics Inc. with my brother in 1991, with the experience of over almost two decades of tough but creative and stimulating challenges growing the business from the ground up informing much of my current journey.

In 2006 I sold my shares to participate in the realm of Social Change, and am privileged to be the CEO of The Saville Foundation working around the globe within education and enablement of individuals and communities.
I have two fabulous thirty-something children, and since 2018 have lived in the UK in Bristol with my incredible soul-partner Lara. We make trips back to South Africa as often as possible.

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Esra Özsüer Is the President and Founder of Maya Vakfi Foundation, providing mental health and psychosocial support for trauma rehabilitation as a response to the complex needs of families and children in crisis.

Esra speaks about her transformative life experiences that helped her understand her purpose and the role that healing plays. By listening to her heart she created the Maya Vakfi Foundation and is launching the new online school of healing, HarmonySpiritus. Listen to hear how pure love transformed a child in their program and her advice on using intuition as a compass in philanthropy.

Esra Özsüer is a Reiki Master, a Sufi and contemplative practitioner. While facing a life threatening illness Esra found herself exploring new paths to health through energy work and wellbeing practices. Her experience was included in Dr Mehment Oz’s studies on energy healing at the Columbia Presbyterian hospital when she had major surgery at the age of 28. Following this transformative period Esra found new life through spiritual practices and evolved in a myriad of ways.

Her dreams led her on a heartfelt journey to launch Maya Vakfi (Foundation) in 2014 to provide mental health and psychosocial support for trauma rehabilitation as a response to the complex needs of families and children in crisis. The guiding principles of the Foundation are to provide a society formed by healthy individuals who spend their childhood and youth freely, safety, confidently and productively. She is a member of Synergos’ Global Philanthropist Circle, a network of over 90 leading international philanthropic families launched by David Rockefeller and his daughter Peggy Dulany. She is an active participant in their Funders of Mindfulness and Spirituality group. Esra is also engaged in the Global Sustainability Network on SDG 8, where members pledge to take action to terminate modern slavery by the end of 2030 and on the boards of the Istanbul Modern Gala and the Bosphorus Summit.

When COVID 19 triggered fear and isolation Esra was the architect behind the Embrace Circle. She gathered spiritual and energy leaders together to lead and support communities in times of uncertainty. Held biweekly with Esra at the helm as an energy harmonizer, the Embrace Circle, finds and explores open heart connections, compassion, social field awareness, systems thinking and collective wellbeing with the goal to be graciously present despite these chaotic times. As follower of Rumi’s wisdom, she includes Sufiism in her teachings.

After exploring this path of consciousness, she intuitively understands that new frequencies and vibrations are the keys to success and aims to reach leaders and change makers that can spread positive changes globally. Through partnerships, she enables people to reach to their optimal frequency to create mass mind shifts in order to heal and give fresh skills for people to rebuild their own lives. Building upon her work at the Foundation she continues to specialize in trauma rehabilitation. After her observation of systemic gaps in today’s practices used to support mental health she sought alternative approaches. Inspired by her experience at the Foundation she’s developing an integrated experience she calls HarmonySpiritus, a platform for healing, teaching certified alternatives to traditional approaches to trauma and psychology. HarmonySpiritus will improve current methods through universally accessible hybrid trainings and involves recognizing the relationship between the mind, the body, the soul and the heart to help better meet the needs of our times. She believes that mindfulness and subtle energy work will be the game-changing ingredient to offer a deeper and more sustainable process to address the needs of all populations. 

When not hard at work at the Foundation she can be found with her biggest pride of all, her husband, three active children and four small grandchildren. Esra is committed to spreading love and is devoted to helping others in their journey to inner harmony to create more impactful, abundant and joyful world.

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Alexa Firmenich is an investor, consultant and facilitator focused on climate and biodiversity. She is the founder of Naia Trust, an animist investment vehicle that supports early stage nature-based solutions, scientific research and new economic models. She is also senior advisor at the Crowther Lab at ETH Zurich, and was co-director of its initiative SEED that is developing the world's most holistic measure of biodiversity with the goal to steer financial and political decision-makers to crystallise the value of nature into the global economy. Parallel to this work Alexa is trained as a group facilitator in leadership development and ecological pedagogy, designing multi-day learning journeys through her role at Leaders' Quest.  She is also an author, podcast host of Lifeworlds, a founding board member of Terra Habitus, a Mexican environmental fund that operates large-landscape conservation and watershed restoration, and a wilderness guide. 

https://www.alexafirmenich.com/

https://www.naiatrust.com/

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Peter A. Seligmann is the CEO and co-founder of Nia Tero, working alongside Indigenous peoples and local communities in securing their rights, cultures, and well-being through agreements that secure the vitality of their oceans and lands. Peter is also the Chairman of the Board, and former CEO, of Conservation International.

Listen to hear how from an early age Peter felt a deep connection to nature. This connection inspired his life’s work in conservation and passion today to help people understand the reciprocal nature of all beings and the earth.

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Through A Growing Culture, Loren has worked to shift cultural narratives around food and farmers to center justice. The organization’s work has grown from over a decade of Loren’s work building relationships of deep trust with peasant- and Indigenous-led movements around the world — movements that are seeding radical hope for a just and dignified future for all. A Growing Culture brings together grassroots groups, farmers, advocates, and allies, through the belief that stories have the power to change our unjust systems, and that lasting change requires all of us.

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Listen to hear how Sister Jayanti and the Brahma Kumaris are spreading love and peace in creative ways and with great global reach. She shares how inner transformation can be a tool of positive change, including on issues like climate change.

Sister Jayanti is the Additional Administrative Head of The Brahma Kumaris, the world’s largest spiritual organisation to be led by women. She is a spiritual teacher, much sought after international public speaker, author and a visionary leader guided by spiritual values and principles.

Sister Jayanti embodies a unique blend of Eastern wisdom and Western education and culture; imparting the deepest spiritual truths with the utmost clarity. Her prominent speaking themes include leadership, environment & climate change, women's empowerment; health & well-being, racial harmony, interreligious friendships & global peace. In these critical times in which humanity is facing up to the challenges of change, her message invites each of us to embody a positive vision of a brighter world. Her spiritual knowledge, inner peace and radiant love have inspired millions across the globe to empower themselves to make changes to their lives.

The Brahma Kumaris is an international non-governmental organisation (NGO) of the United Nations, accredited with General Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). Sister Jayanti has been the organisation's representative to the UN in Geneva since 1982. She has championed the co-operative role of spiritual organisations in creating a just and peaceful world; and has brought spiritual principles to the discussion tables of politicians, economists, business leaders, scientists and nearly every stakeholder of our times. She spends a proportion of her year at the International Headquarters of The Brahma Kumaris at Mt Abu, Rajasthan, India. She is otherwise based in London at the National Coordinating Office, Global Co-operation House, UK.

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Listen to hear how Nitya is transforming her passion for public health to create systems change by working with communities academia and philanthropy.

Dr Nitya Mohan Khemka is Director of the Nand and Jeet Khemka Foundation, a family foundation that focuses on strategic philanthropy.  She is also Director, Global Alliances at PATH- a global Health think-tank focusing on health equity. Prior to PATH, she was the Head of the UK Liaison Office for the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) where she was instrumental in establishing the organization’s presence in the United Kingdom and has developed a large cross sectoral portfolio of projects. Nitya is also a visiting Fellow at Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge where she researches topics spanning gender inequality, poverty and human development and lectures on sustainable development and gender. A Fellow Commoner for Clare Hall College, Nitya advises the college on its academic programs and fundraising strategy.

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Marina is co-founder of Generation Pledge, a global community of inheritors who are committed to doing good with the resources they have available, and unlock billions of dollars that can be deployed to fund the most effective solutions to the world’s greatest challenges.

Listen to hear how Marina’s childhood experiences influenced her view of the world – others matter. Through her personal journey and in partnership, Marina is creating a new approach to philanthropy and social impact. Along with Generation Pledge members, she is using an innovative approach that is anchored in looking inside yourself with courage, envisioning with rigor and building with excellence.

Marina is co-founder of Generation Pledge, a global community of inheritors who are committed to doing good with the resources they have available, and unlock billions of dollars that can be deployed to fund the most effective solutions to the world’s greatest challenges. 

Marina is 4th generation of the Feffer Family, an active member in the family's governance structures, and board member at Arymax Foundation. 

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What I love about this conversation with Hali is how she is working to democratize and diversify the field and practice of philanthropy. Listen to hear highlights from her ground-breaking report Philanthropy Always Sounds Like Someone Else: A Portrait of High Net Worth Donors of Color, drawn from over 150 individual interviews of BIPOC donors across the US.

Hali Lee is delighted to have been co-builder of a few pieces of philanthropic infrastructure.  She is founding partner of Radiant Strategies. She co-founded the Donors of Color Network, was on the co-design team for Philanthropy Together, and is the founder of the Asian Women Giving Circle.  She is lead author of Philanthropy Always Sounds Like Someone Else: A Portrait of High Net-Worth Donors of Color, and is writing a book, The Big We, about how we, together, are much more powerful than the sum of our individual parts.

Hali was born in Seoul, South Korea, and grew up in Kansas City. She graduated from Princeton University, studied Buddhism at Mahidol University in Bangkok, Thailand, and received a master’s in social work from New York University.  Hali lives in Brooklyn, NY along with her dear husband, three college-age children, two cats and a big dog. In her free time, Hali loves to travel, read, play tennis, and keep rooftop honeybees.

Hali was recently profiled in Forbes 50 Over 50: Impact.

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What I loved about this conversation with Katherine is how she and her family are learning together to take action together on sustainability; and how her time working with farmers in Oaxaca laid the groundwork for life’s passion to fight climate change.

Katherine Lorenz is President of the Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation (www.cgmf.org), a grantmaking foundation focusing on environmental sustainability in Texas. She is the Leader of the Next Gen of the Giving Pledge, and Inside Philanthropy recently named Ms. Lorenz one of the most powerful heirs in philanthropy.

Previously, she served as Senior Advisor for the National Center for Family Philanthropy (www.ncfp.org) and Deputy Director for the Institute for Philanthropy (www.instituteforphilanthropy.org). Prior to that, Ms. Lorenz lived in Oaxaca, Mexico for six years where she co-founded Puente a la Salud Comunitaria (www.puentemexico.org), a non-profit organization working to advance food sovereignty in rural Oaxaca. She continues to be involved with Puente's work as an active board member. Before founding Puente, she spent two summers living in rural villages in Latin America with the volunteer program Amigos de las Américas and later served on their Program Committee and as a trustee of the Foundation for Amigos de las Americas.

Additionally, she currently serves on the Boards of Directors of the Environmental Defense Fund (Vice-Chair), the Tinker Foundation, and the Endowment for Regional Sustainability Science, and formerly was a Fellow and later Board Chair at the National Center for Family Philanthropy, Board Chair of The Philanthropy Workshop, a Board Member of Exponent Philanthropy, Resource Generation, the Amaranth Institute, and a member of the National Academies' Roundtable of Science and Technology for Sustainability.

Ms. Lorenz serves on the Advisory Council of Boldly Go Philanthropy, the Leadership Council of the Greater Houston Community Foundation, and the National Advisory Committee of USC's Irene Hirano Inouye Philanthropic Leadership Fund, and as a Senior Advisor for Philanthropy for Marsh Creek Social Works.

Ms. Lorenz holds a B.A. in Economics and Spanish from Davidson College.

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Julianne Lee co-founded Krueger & Lee, a Swiss-based non-profit organization which aims to bring the wisdom and practices of spiritual traditions into today's lifestyle and make them accessible for the contemporary seeker.

Listen to hear how Julianne has been exploring what it means to live well and how her outer life matches her inner values and what she believes in. She shares stories of her own personal transformation and why she creates experiences for leaders to examine the intersection of science, spirituality and wisdom.

Julianne Lee is the CEO of JULIANNE LEE & Co., which publishes ARS VITAE, a Korean-English bilingual, limited-edition publication series which explores what it means to live well.

She and her husband Christian co-founded Krueger & Lee, a Swiss-based non-profit organization which aims to bring the wisdom and practices of spiritual traditions into today's lifestyle and make them accessible for the contemporary seeker. Krueger & Lee works mainly in two areas: providing an evidence-based approach to spirituality through the Spirituality and Science Forum and enabling direct experiences through meditation retreats.

Previously, Julianne was the first Spokesperson of the National Security Council of Korea, and the youngest Presidential Secretary and Spokesperson for Foreign Press Affairs in the RohMoo-Hyun administration. Prior to joining the government, Julianne was a correspondent and news anchor at SBS, a major TV network in Korea. She was also the first female journalist in Korea to become a solo anchor of a prime time news hour in 1994.

She received her B.A. from Brown University and M.A. from Harvard University. In recognition of her unique career, Julianne was named Young Global Leader and New Asian Leader by the World Economic Forum and Next Generation Leader by the Korea Foundation. She is currently a board member of the Korea Foundation.

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Peggy Dulany is Chair and Founder of Synergos, a global organization helping solve complex issues around the world by advancing bridging leadership, which builds trust and collective action.

Listen to Peggy share how personal vulnerability is key for leaders to tackle some of the world’s most intractable problems. She believes that philanthropy is not just about money; it is also about connections, influence and skills. There is value in bringing ideas together, as well as people, and creating safe spaces for individuals to bring their full selves out into the world. She shares examples of how Synergos is doing this with philanthropists and in communities around the globe.

Peggy Dulany is Chair of Synergos, a global organization helping solve complex issues around the world by advancing bridging leadership, which builds trust and collective action.

Drawing from her experience living and working in Rio de Janeiro as a young woman, she realized that the people most affected by adverse living conditions also have the greatest energy and motivation to solve their problems. The resources they lack are connections to the economic and political realms where necessary changes can affect whole communities.

Peggy founded Synergos in 1986 to promote trust and collaboration among grassroots groups and government or business leaders and organizations, people who otherwise would not have access to each other, so that they can develop long-term relationships and forge new paths in overcoming poverty. In 2001, she co-founded Synergos’ Global Philanthropists Circle with her father, David Rockefeller, to support philanthropic families in using this approach.

Her career has included heading a public high school program for drop-outs and consulting with the United Nations and the Ford Foundation on health care and family planning, and with the National Endowment for the Arts on nonprofit management and planning. She was Senior Vice President of the New York City Partnership, where she headed the Youth Employment, Education, and Community Affairs programs.

Peggy is an honor graduate of Radcliffe College and holds a Doctorate in Education from Harvard University. She has sat on over thirty nonprofit and corporate boards including Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and the Africa-America Institute, among others. She runs two socially responsible businesses: a grass-fed beef and guest ranch in Montana and an ecotourism operation in Namibia. Through Synergos, she also guides wilderness retreats that offer participants a safe space in which to reflect on their deepest purpose in life.

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Listen to hear how Richard is forging a new way of family philanthropy. After 25 years in The Russell Family Foundation and co-Founding the Clementine Fund, Richard shares key learnings. He also shares examples of how they empower their partner communities, activate their values in every area of the business and practice trust-based philanthropy.

Richard Russell is a co-founder of the Clementine Fund – a foundation that exists to foster peace, justice, and well-being and to innovate within the world of philanthropy in the process. Richard serves as the Fund’s Executive Director, leading the board and staff, directing grantmaking and operations, and cultivating community relationships. In his work at the Fund, Richard is passionate about integrity and communication.

Alongside a career in communications consulting, Richard helped launch and govern The Russell Family Foundation (TRFF), a philanthropic organization founded with his siblings and parents Jane & George Russell. While with TRFF, Richard served multiple terms as Board President and helped the foundation advance its’ aims in environmental sustainability – including the dedication of the investment assets toward mission (now “impact”), enhancement of their community engagement strategy, and the production of a group of short films documenting important parts of the organization’s story over its’ first 20 years.

Separate from his work in philanthropy, Richard founded Studio Kumau (since 1984!), a consulting, design and production studio for collaborative, creative clients. Over the years this work included writing, leadership coaching, graphic facilitation, early work on “corporate culture”, as well as media production for proprietary programs. A writer and an artist himself, Richard has created and produced original music and lyrics, visual artwork and films throughout his lifetime. Richard also co-founded Pu’u O Kumau Ranch, an agricultural enterprise with a focus on regenerative farming and re-localizing the food supply.

Richard lives in Hawaii with his wife Jileen, where he enjoys writing and playing music with friends.

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Listen to hear Rodney speak about the role that he plays to support Love, with a capital “L” in today’s world. How, at Fetzer, they are creating space and communities to explore how one can demonstrate love in one’s philanthropy.

Meet Rodney

I come from a people where community is essential and life saving. Community has saved me from loneliness, from being afraid that I wasn’t loved by God and supported me in seeing the possibility of being at a special place like Fetzer.

Creating transformative communities has always been a pivotal part of my work. In earlier parts of my career, I co-founded the Expansion Church and acted as spiritual director, where I focused on building a deep sense of community with all who attended in their personal and collective journey of intersection of radical spirituality. As the ED of Resource Generation,an organization of 18-35 year olds with access to wealth, I worked to support young people who often felt disconnected from their peers and their families in building up a community of people they could trust and feel deep alignment with.

In my role as VP of Ally Development, I get deep joy from the ways we are creating and building community inside and outside of Fetzer. Within Fetzer, the Ally Development team is in deep community doing deep learning together, laughing a whole lot and being daring enough to take a bold stance that philanthropy at its best is centered in Love, Spirit, and the Sacred Mystery. Beyond Fetzer, we develop transformative relationships with leaders in the philanthropic community. In Ally Development, we know that transformative relationships and community are what leads to the openness, vulnerability, and genuine care that is required to have the real conversations about what we want for our future.

I hold a Master of Divinity from the Union Theological Seminary and I bring 20 years' experience as a leader in philanthropy and movement spaces and as a community organizer focused on political campaigns and issues of democracy and social justice. I am from Dallas, TX, and currently live in New York, NY.

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Victor is a social service worker and impact investor. He co-founded Tianren Culture, a next-generation social platform that serves as a catalyst and enabler of social innovation with the mission to foster positive global values and lifestyles. Tianren Culture's core philosophy is “One with Nature” and its strategic focus is to promote "One Wisdom, One Health" by encouraging and enabling contemplative practices and healthy lifestyles, especially those with roots in cultures and philosophies which believe that the health and wellness of human beings are interconnected with the health of the broader environment and ecosystem. Based in Hong Kong, Tianren Culture works with foundations, NGOs and business partners to put in place social service initiatives to help improve physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health and wellness. On the physical side, the One Health initiative has focused on food system transformation, promoting flexitarian diets, natural, non-factory farmed foods and innovation based on plant-based, fermentation and cell-based technologies. On the mental/emotional side, One Wisdom encourages and enables contemplative practices such as breathwork and meditation through communication and support of research and education. He is also a board director of Good Food Fund and on the advisory board of Global Wellness Institute.

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Bo Shao is the Co-founder and Chairman of Evolve, a philanthropic investment firm composed of a foundation, Evolve Foundation, and an impact investment firm, Evolve Ventures.

Listen to hear stories from Bo’s childhood growing up in China, how personal relationships shifted after he became a national math champion and the impact this has had on his life. Bo shares his view on the importance of inner work, gives examples of his own practices and how they influence him and the work he is doing to change the world.

Bio:

Mr. Bo Y. Shao, Chairman, Evolve

Mr. Shao is a co-founder and Chairman of Evolve, a philanthropic investment firm composed of a foundation, Evolve Foundation, and an impact investment firm, Evolve Ventures. With an initial capital of $100 million from the Shao family, Evolve aims to support organizations that relieve inner suffering and facilitate inner transformation.

Prior to Evolve, Mr. Shao was a founding partner of Matrix China, a leading technology venture capital firm in China, which manages over $7 billion dollars and has funded over 500 companies, 50 of which have become unicorns. Mr. Shao is also a serial entrepreneur and co-founded EachNet, BabyTree, NovaMed, Nuance Biotech, and Parent Lab. EachNet became the dominant consumer e-commerce company in China under his leadership and was acquired by eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) in 2003 in a landmark transaction. BabyTree (HKSE: 1761) was the leading parenting community in China with over 100 million monthly visitors.

Mr. Shao was born in China and was a winner of national mathematics competitions over a dozen times during high school. He left China when he was 17 years old for Harvard College on a full scholarship, one of the first such scholarships Harvard granted to a person from mainland China. After receiving a BA, summa cum laude, in physics and electrical engineering from Harvard College, he worked for the Boston Consulting Group and Goldman Sachs, and received his MBA from the Harvard Business School.

Mr. Shao is a recognized young business leader in China and the recipient of awards in China and abroad, including Young Global Leaders 2005 of the World Economic Forum and Entrepreneur of the Year 2003 by Asian Venture Capital Journal.

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What I loved about this conversation with Kim is hearing her personal stories and experiences that brought her to dedicate her life to belonging and social connectedness.

Kim Samuel is an activist, educator and movement builder. She is the Founder and Chief Belonging Officer of the Samuel Centre for Social Connectedness, named in honour of her late father. She is president of the Samuel Family Foundation; visiting scholar at the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative; and the first-ever Fulbright ambassador for diversity and social connectedness. Kim has lectured at institutions including Oxford, Harvard, and Vancouver Island University. Her first book, On Belonging: Finding Connection in an Age of Isolation was released recently by Abrams Press. 

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