Healing-Centered Futures: Education, Business, and Technology Summit

In a time marked by rapid transformation and profound uncertainty, we are called to reimagine the systems that shape our lives — from how we educate and lead, to how we build, innovate, and connect.

The Healing-Centered Futures Summit invites educators, entrepreneurs, technologists, and changemakers to gather in a shared exploration:

How might healing-centered principles guide the future of education, business, and technology?

Over the course of three days at the Garrison Institute, we will engage in contemplative practice, dialogue, and collaborative inquiry. Together, we will explore:

• Education models and practices that center well-being, belonging, and justice
• Healing-centered and regenerative approaches to business rooted in care, sustainability, and social impact
• The ethical and transformative use of artificial intelligence as a force for good and community transformation

Why Attend?

• Explore the future of education, business, and technology through a healing-centered lens, engaging in dynamic conversations and hands-on workshops that translate visionary ideas into actionable strategies.
• Connect with a vibrant community of leaders, educators, entrepreneurs, and technologists committed to building equitable, purpose-driven, and human-centered futures.
• Learn from pioneering research, case studies, and real-world applications that demonstrate how healing-centered practices can drive innovation, resilience, and systemic change.
• Reflect, recharge, and renew in a serene environment designed to foster deep contemplation, creativity, and meaningful collaboration—preparing you to return to your work empowered, inspired, and equipped for impact.

This summit is an invitation to pause, reflect, and seed the futures we long for. We welcome you to join a community committed to building worlds where resilience, imagination, and humanity remain at the center.

GETTING HERE ETC.

For more information on the facility and how to get here please visit us here.  Additional information may also be found on our FAQ page.

FEATURED SPEAKERS

Dr. Angel Acosta – Healing-Centered Leader & Founder, Acosta Institute has worked to bridge the fields of leadership, social justice, and mindfulness for over a decade. He holds a doctorate degree in curriculum and teaching at Teachers College, Columbia University. Acosta has supported more than educational leaders and their students by facilitating leadership trainings, creating pathways to higher education, and designing dynamic learning experiences. His dissertation explored healing-centered education as a promising framework for educational leadership development. After participating in the Mind and Life Institute’s Academy for Contemplative Leadership, Acosta began consulting and developing learning experiences that weave leadership development with conversations about inequality and healing, to support educational leaders through contemplative and restorative practices. As a former trustee for the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society, he participated as a speaker and discussant at the Asia Pacific Forum on Holistic Education in Kyoto, Japan. He continues to consult for organizations like the NYC Department of Education, UNICEF, Columbia University and others. Over the last couple of years, he has designed the Contemplating 400 Years of Inequality Experience–a contemplative journey to understand structural inequality. He’s a proud member of the 400 Years of Inequality Project, based at the New School. He is currently the Director of the Garrison Institute Fellowship Program and the Chief Curator at the Acosta Institute.

Dr. Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz – Racial Literacy Scholar & Professor, Columbia University is an award-winning Associate Professor at Teachers College, Columbia University. Her research focuses on racial literacy in teacher education, Black girl literacies, and Black and Latinx male high school students. A sought-after speaker on issues of race, culturally responsive pedagogy, and diversity, Sealey-Ruiz works with K-12 and higher education school communities to increase their racial literacy knowledge and move toward more equitable school experiences for their Black and Latinx students. Sealey-Ruiz appeared in Spike Lee’s “2 Fists Up: We Gon’ Be Alright”, a documentary about the Black Lives Matter movement and the campus protests at Mizzou. Her co-authored book [with Dr. Detra Price-Dennis] Advancing Racial Literacies in Teacher Education: Toward Activism for Equity in Digital Spaces will be published in April 2021. Her first full-length collection of poetry Love from the Vortex & Other Poems (Kalediscope Vibrations LLC) was published in March, 2020, and her sophomore book of poetry, The Peace Chronicles was released in July 2021.

Image by Rog Walker

Maria Tan is a first generation Filipino-American, educator, facilitator and consultant committed to serving communities through healing-centered education. She is a former Bronx high school science teacher where her direct experience of healing from teacher burnout inspired her to launch the Thriving Teacher Project in 2020, creating restorative spaces for educators during the height of the pandemic. She is now the founder of House of Thriving where she works closely with healing-centered thought leaders to help nurture their vision and bring their ideas to life. Her expertise includes designing and delivering courses and summits, producing and hosting podcasts, creative and strategic visioning, and curriculum/program research, analysis and evaluation. Some of her training includes restorative circle facilitation, trauma-informed mindfulness and somatic healing practices. As a passion project, she collaborates with her two older brothers to create offerings centered on intergenerational healing.

Drisana McDaniel, a healing-centered facilitator, educator, writer, and transformation activist, operates under the banner The Alchemy of Now. Her work delves into both individual and collective experiences, examining them through the lenses of embodiment, the social self, and psychospirituality, with a vision centered on achieving transformational justice through contemplation and meaningful action. As a co-founder of the Transformative Teaching Collective, Drisana offers guidance to organizations and communities, emphasizing generative conflict resolution, social justice education, empathy, non-violence practice, and collaboration, with the ultimate goal of radiating freedom and vitality through liberation and awakening. She curates workshops, seminars, and events exploring the potential unlocked through radical interconnectedness. With a Bachelor of Arts in Women and Gender Studies and Sociology, a Master of Arts in Women, Gender, Social Justice, and Spirituality, and a pursuit of a Ph.D. in Philosophy and Women’s Spirituality at the California Institute of Integral Studies, Drisana’s expertise extends to her role as a senior researcher at the Acosta Institute.

 Dr. Sará King – Neuroscientist, anthropologist and technologist is a Mother, a neuroscientist, political and learning scientist, medical anthropologist, social entrepreneur, public speaker, and certified yoga and meditation instructor. She is an internationally recognized thought leader in the interdisciplinary field that examines the relationship between complementary alternative medicine, social justice, art, and mindfulness from the perspective of neuroscience. Since 2019, she has been awarded several prestigious fellowships, including the Oregon Fellowship for Diversity in Research, the Society for Neuroscience Neuroscience Scholars award, the Garrison Institute Fellowship; the Restored Warriors Fellowship, and has become the first Liberatory Tech Fellow of Mobius, a non-profit dedicated to the creation of technology and systems that support global, holistic, collective thriving and aliveness. She is also a part of Google’s Vitality Labs – their well-being think tank, as a resident expert in the relationship between individual and collective healing and well-being.

Joshua Abiazar a Second Circle & Racial Equity/Healing Facilitator and practitioner experienced in designing and creating restorative spaces that centers the humanity of anyone in it by using second circle framework and practices. Participants experiencing these circles and spaces of belonging encounter holistic, practical, and sustainable ways to embody the tools and practices towards individual and collective liberation. As a Spanish speaking, first-generation immigrant, Joshua uses not just educational and somatic practices but also lived experiences to help others live authentically. Joshua launched UsirConsulting to continue the vision and mission of creating a Global Community of Belonging where everyone has access to holistic and practical ways to thrive, and calls the Dominican Republic, The Bronx, New York home.

Dr. Kia Darling-Hammond (she/they) holds a doctorate in developmental and psychological sciences in education, is author of the Bridge to Thriving Framework©, co-author of The Civil Rights Road to Deeper Learning: Five Essentials for Equity, and co-editor of T* is for Thriving: Blueprints for Affirming Trans* and Gender Creative Lives and Learning in Schools. As CEO of the research and education firm WiseChipmunk LLC, she leverages over 25 years of experience in youth development, education, and organizational leadership to offer healing-centered research, advising, coaching, counseling, and public speaking, as well as designs for professional learning, curriculum development, and organizational growth. Dr. Darling-Hammond’s work emphasizes the importance of combining the science of learning and development with healing justice and transformative justice to promote an evolution toward thriving for all. This approach is grounded in the knowledge that innovation driven by the wisdom of those furthest from power is key to improving everyone’s lives.

Dr. Justis Lopez experienced community organizer with a demonstrated history of working in the events services industry, K-12 & higher education. Skilled in student development, student leadership, event planning, culturally sustaining practices, and creative teaching pedagogy. Actively support students, university professionals, K-12 educators, and non – profit organizations towards the goal of communal & self-actualization.

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COVID-19

The health and safety of our guests and staff is a top priority for the Garrison Institute. To attend a retreat or event all guests, teachers, and staff are required to self-test (at home antigen test is acceptable) within the 48-hour window prior to arriving for a retreat on site, and to bring a 2nd self-test kit when coming on site. We encourage everyone to self-monitor for symptoms of COVID-19 and other illnesses before your visit. If you experience symptoms or have a positive diagnosis, please notify us immediately at events@garrisoninstitute.org We will continue to follow any COVID-19 guidelines set forth by our local officials, New York State and the CDC.