This week, we will explore what it means to be in a state of Flourishing in today’s modern world. In this period of late stage capitalism, we have ‘extracted’ almost as much as we can from both the earth and humans as “resources.” When we look around at the state of affairs related to our environment, economies, social bodies, political bodies and more, we find ourselves in a state of depletion and degradation on many fronts. How do we change this and reorient toward a healthy way of life? One where we flourish in all ways? 

We will barely scratch the surface on these vast topics. We will start by looking at organizational, group, and team flourishing. We will take a neuroscience and medical science perspective, as well as apply reframed ancient wisdom and practices to a modern context. Finally, we will end with the topic of individual flourishing, how we can learn from the state of nature, and how we show up for others.

Convener:
Jim Garrison, President Ubiquity University

Moderators:
Tom Eddington
Tom Eddington is an author, Executive Coach, Business Advisor, and Executive Producer of documentary films. As a scholar of Conscious Leadership, he is passionate about bringing more conscious leadership into the world which he does through his coaching and advisory work, film and media projects and Board positions. As CEO of Endangered.global he brings his commitment and experience to impacting climate change and biodiversity loss. He holds an M.S. in Organization Dynamics from the University of Pennsylvania.

Carson Kelly
Carson is an entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience in technology start-up management, Enterprise Software Sales, Nonprofit Governance, Civic Engagement, Product Development and Positioning, Business Planning, and Strategy. Carson lives at the intersection of product and organizational culture interventions that are scientifically validated. He believes care based cultures is not "soft" but the basis for expansive ideation. This results innovation around product development and operational excellence, and it can be validated through new models of ROI. Carson is a firm believer that there are business models that align human and environmental benefits with venture-scale business models. The models that do this embrace our neurobiology, and are true expressions of human brilliance.

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February 12th, 2024

Day 1 Flourishing, Founders and Wellness

Founding an organization of any type takes great effort and can create great emotional strain. The relationship between founders and funders can also be very difficult, particularly when the relationship is framed around extraction rather than generation. Today’s panelists will discuss their efforts as venture capitalists who are approaching their work with a focus on humans first.

Panelists: 

Josh Haynes | Founder, Masawa Fund
Josh is the founder of the Masawa Fund, dedicated to catalyzing startups in the mental wellbeing space. He has 20 years’ global experience designing, leading, communicating, and partnering around complex concepts across various industries (technology, fintech, process design, human rights, mental health) and sectors (private, non-profit, government).

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February 13th, 2024

Day 2 The Science and Flourishing

For this episode, we will have panelists from the Institute for Advanced Consciousness Studies (IACS), discuss their work on Aesthetic Chills and the positive affective states they induce. IACS is an independent neuroscience lab in Santa Monica, CA, using experiential technology to promote human flourishing. Additionally, our friends from Seity Health will discuss their work in creating scientifically validated approaches to identifying a person’s core values, and its positive influence on their well-being.

Panelists: 

Felix Schoeller | Researcher - Institute for Advanced Consciousness Studies
Felix is a results-driven entrepreneur and scientist passionate about building life-changing innovations. He founded 3 startups in neurotech, digital therapeutics, and AI. He secured $6M+ in grants, published 40+ papers, and pioneered new affective computing datasets and devices. He is a former MIT Media Lab member, CRI Fellow, and Entrepreneur First. He has been featured in Vice, BBC, Rolling Stones, and Ars Electronica. His mission is to elucidate the mind and drive progress through creativity.

Nicco Reggente | Principal Investigator - Institute for Advanced Consciousness Studies
Nicco Reggente, Ph.D. is a neuroscientist and co-founder of the Institute for Advanced Consciousness Studies where he currently serves as Principal Investigator. The overarching theme of his research is the development of neuroimaging-informed, personalized neurotechnology to help individuals achieve desired outcomes. Nicco’s research has spanned the domains of memory, consciousness, and psychiatric disorders. His current focus is on leveraging immersive technology to induce maximally beneficial qualia (e.g. meditative, entheogenic states) that can be captured and re-instantiated via neurofeedback.

Chris Hawley | Co-Founder - Seity Health

Chris is the Co-founder and Chief Medical and Vision Officer at Seity Health. Seity Health is a mental health and wellbeing solution for schools, businesses, and teams. Seity is comprised of a  multidisciplinary team of researchers, psychologists, educators, artists, and engineers working to create a whole person mental-health solution. While many mental health and wellness solutions are science-based, Seity scientifically validated its groundbreaking methodology with independent university researchers. They waded through all the complexity so people can enjoy the simplicity of improving their wellbeing every day.

Sam Romeo | Co-Founder - Seity Health

Dr. Romeo is an experienced practicing physician and an innovator in whole person health. As Cofounder and CEO of Seity Health, his team created an evidenced based whole health ecosystem focused on “what’s right with you,” and not “what’s wrong with you.” Its novel online and mobile applications provides a process where participants discover their unique and empowering set of 4 Core Values, and then they learn how to live them out in all areas of their lives (World, Body, Mind, and Spirit). Seity is shifting the health and life paradigm from reductive to holistic because it knows everything affects everything, and we can’t solve complex problems with simple thinking. Dr. Sam’s Core Values are Impact, Encouragement, Wisdom, and Spirituality and those inspire all of his life pursuits.

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February 14, 2024

Day 3 Pro-social Teaming: Humanity based Organizations

Our panelists for today both offer approaches on how people can work together outside of traditional frameworks of power-over dynamics. They both work to bring forward a humanity-first approach to organizational execution that centers our pro-social and empathic relationships first and foremost for greater human flourishing. 

Panelists: 

Lori Hanau | Founder, CEO - Global Round Table Leadership
Lori Hanau is the Founder and CEO of Global Round Table Leadership (GRTL), a Certified B Corporation, and training and coaching company dedicated to providing transformational learning and leadership development for conscious companies, teams, and networks. For more than 20 years, Lori has supported group vitality through her advising, facilitation, and co-creative practices, including GRTL’s Shared Leadership Framework™ and The Compassionate Accountability Process™. She also works as an advisor, coach, and guide for founders, CEOs, Executive Directors, and leadership teams whose organizations focus on systemic change with an emphasis on social, economic, and environmental justice.

Nour Elkhattaby Strauch | Executive Director - Yes!
Nour is a passionate and dedicated leader who strives to create positive social change and build inclusive and resilient communities, with 15 years of experience in the nonprofit sector. As the Executive Director of YES! World, he oversees the strategic vision, operations, and partnerships of a global network of thousands of young changemakers who are transforming the world through their actions and initiatives. Prior to this role, he worked in organizations and projects across North Africa, the Middle East, North America, and beyond. Nour is motivated by the belief that everyone deserves a voice, a home, and a future. Nour is committed to empowering and supporting diverse and marginalized communities through his work.

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Day 4  Ancient Wisdom in a Modern framework

Today’s panel will look at flourishing through the wisdom of ancient teachings with a modern framework. Practices that have been handed down for generations have now met the modern world and have been reframed in modern language without losing any of the relevance and power of the practices.

Panelists: 

Scott Snibbe | Author - “How to Train a Happy Mind” 
Scott Snibbe is a new media artist, author, and entrepreneur. He serves as the executive director of A Skeptic’s Path to Enlightenment, and hosts its popular meditation podcast. Snibbe’s first book, How to Train a Happy Mind, will be released in March, 2024, featuring a foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. As a pioneer of interactive art, Snibbe’s installations have been incorporated into concert tours, museums, and airports; and he has collaborated with musicians and filmmakers including Björk, Philip Glass, Beck, and James Cameron. His work can be found in the collections of New York MoMA, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and other institutions. 

https://www.skepticspath.org/how-to-train-a-happy-mind-book/

Shivani Modi | shivani@ceekr.com

Shivani is an Impact Entrepreneur and a craft activist focused on the promotion and development of rural artisans. She is a former teacher at Integral Education School "Mirambika," and has been a meditator and a follower of Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev for the past 2 decades. Her heart and special interest lie in the area of human consciousness and Yogic Wisdom. http://www.yogimeter.us or http://www.ceekr.com

Ankur Jain |  ankur@ceekr.com

Ankur Jain is a Public Health Graduate from Johns Hopkins University. He has been a technology entrepreneur, with 25 years of experience in satellite communication and internet projects.Ankur is a student of behaviour sciences, Vedanta thesis and Yogic Wisdom and is passionate about the human mind and its systems. http://www.yogimeter.us or http://www.ceekr.com

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Day 5 Flourishing for the Individual

Individual flourishing can be brought into our lives by both being present to what already is, and then by bringing that awareness with deep intention to those in our lives. Our colleagues, our family, our friends, and people in our community will benefit from this intentionality. Today’s panel will explore individual flourishing lessons from the natural world, and how we show up to those people in our lives in an authentic, meaningful way. 

Panelists: 

Lori Schwanbeck | Psychotherapist & Teacher
Lori is a leadership coach and business consultant. She is a passionate advocate for creating lives of meaning and engagement in both personal and professional realms. A near fatal bicycle accident in her early 40’s triggered a humbling re-evaluation of her values, actions and identity. Utilizing evidence-based practices and skill building, she has developed and facilitated experiential programs where the competencies of mindfulness, emotional intelligence, growth mindset, compassion, resilience and social skills are learned through engaging interactive exercises. She is dedicated to supporting others desiring to have a similar positive impact.

Mark Coleman | Mindfulness Teacher, Wilderness Guide, Author
Mark is a life-long nature lover and is passionate about guiding people into the beauty of meditation and nature. He has led wilderness nature retreats for over twenty years worldwide. Through his organization Awake in the Wild Mark leads  year-long nature meditation teacher trainings in the US and Europe. Mark has trained extensively in the Buddhist tradition, both in the Insight meditation and in the Tibetan tradition. He is a senior teacher at Spirit Rock Meditation Center and has taught insight meditation retreats since 1997. Co-founder of the Mindfulness Training Institute Mark also leads year long professional mindfulness teacher trainings in Europe and the US. He is author of many books including: Awake in the Wild - Mindfulness in nature as a path to self-discovery; Make Peace With Your Mind - How Mindfulness and Compassion can free you from the Inner Critic; From Suffering to Peace The True Promise of Mindfulness; and his recent book A Field Guide to Nature Meditation - 52 mindfulness practices for joy, wisdom and wonder. Mark is a sought after speaker, consultant, trainer and coach. He lives in Sausalito, Marin and likes nothing more than hiking biking and kayaking in the outdoors.

Claude Silver | Chief Heart Officer, Vayner Media  
Claude Silver’s life purpose is to be of joyful service and unlock emotional optimism in all. Claude is a coach, manager, and mentor. As the first ever Chief Heart Officer, she leads VaynerMedia, working for approximately 2000 Humans. She is in touch with the heartbeat of every single one. She believes cultivating Emotional Optimism is the most effective tool in revealing the greatness that resides within people. It is the answer to the question of ‘how can I make the people around me be better’; ‘how can I make the people around me do better?’ The key lies in the heart.