Introducing the Garrison Institute’s Spirituality & Social Change Program
The Garrison Institute’s Spirituality & Social Change Program seeks to make visible, learn from, and catalyze a generative field at the intersection of contemplative practice, spirituality, and social change. Rooted in the belief that spiritual organizations bring unique, adaptive perspectives to our world’s greatest challenges, the program works to unify and amplify this growing network.
We are drawing together organizations that see contemplative practice, spirituality, or inner work as:
- Essential to their values
- Core to their theory of change and/or
- Integral to the way they deliver programs
Over the next year, the program will emphasize:
Mapping the Field: creating a dynamic, social systems map that illuminates connections and patterns.- Collective Learning: conducting research and hosting field-wide dialogues for shared meaning-making.
- Collaborative Engagement: building opportunities for organizations to exchange practices, strategies, and partnerships.
The Spirituality & Social Change program is guided by contemplative values and is led by a diverse community of global practitioners from across the field. By gathering stakeholders, mapping the ecosystem, and building relationships rooted in shared purpose, we are cultivating what we call a “generative social field.”
Our vision is a dynamic, values-driven collective of wisdom-keepers and practitioners, actively engaged in sharing insight, offering support, and inviting collaboration—all with reciprocity, care, and a commitment to the common good.
The Conscious Change Collective: A Generative Field of Contemplative Social Change
The signature project of Garrison’s Spirituality and Social Change Program, created in collaboration with Circles for Conscious Change, is the Conscious Change Collective.
The Conscious Change Collective is a crowd-sourced, living map of this emerging field. It is a community of organizations applying inner work, contemplative practice, and spirituality towards social change.
The map includes dynamic, filterable network connecting practitioners, methodologies, and wisdom worldwide. It is designed to illuminate the field, spark collaboration, and support the flow of learning and resources. By building community and making visible the deep wisdom already at work, together, we can co-create and scale deep, systemic transformation.
Can contemplative practice really shift society?
What does mindfulness or spirituality have to do with artificial intelligence, Indigenous youth leadership, urban health, or law enforcement reform
Across the world, a quiet revolution is underway.
- Engaged Buddhists for Responsible AI use Buddhist-derived practices to shape AI policy, safety, and ethics.
- Project Venture works with Native youth, using mindfulness and nature-based practice to strengthen ancestral connection, wellbeing, and life outcomes.
- Inner-City Muslim Action Network fosters healing in urban neighborhoods through holistic health, arts, and spirit-driven organizing.
- Mindful Badge trains law enforcement officers in mindfulness to reduce lethal violence, build resilience, and improve community trust.
- CTZNWELL confronts systemic barriers to wellbeing through courageous conversations, community building, and collective action.
They work in different sectors, geographies, and traditions—but they are all part of a growing movement at the intersection of inner and outer change.
The trouble is: many don’t know this movement exists.
The Issue: Fragmented Efforts in a Time of Crisis
As social and environmental crises escalate, many change leaders find themselves stretched thin—navigating burnout and urgent needs. Too often, we feel pressure to choose between inner work and outer action, between care for the soul and care for the world.
If we get too disconnected from each other, from the land, and from our deeper wisdom, we can rush to fix complex problems without the grounded presence or collective insight needed for lasting change.
Meanwhile, many of us are so focused on our specific issue area that we don’t have the opportunity to explore the parallel breakthroughs—and struggles—happening elsewhere.
The Opportunity: A Recognized Field, A Stronger Movement
What if our efforts were part of a visible, connected, generative field—one that values reflection and action, spirit and strategy, healing and justice?
Now is the time to unite, connect, and make this field visible—to co-create a movement rooted in interconnection, wisdom, and collective transformation.
Why This Intersection Matters
Research and anecdotes show that inner work isn’t just personal wellness—it’s a catalyst for systemic change. Inner work:
- Strengthens Ethical, Compassionate Leadership: Mindfulness and self-awareness foster integrity, curiosity, and moral courage, even under pressure.
- Expands Systems Thinking: Reflection enhances our ability to see patterns, connect the dots, and avoid short-term fixes.
- Fuels Innovation: Contemplative states prime the brain for creative problem-solving.
- Deepens Collaboration: Self-awareness reduces bias, builds trust and compassion, and enables work across divides.
- Anchors Purpose and Engagement: Inner work keeps leaders and teams grounded in their “why,” sustaining change over the long term.
Your Invitation to Join
Pause for a moment.
Breathe.
Imagine being part of a community committed to integrating deeper inner work into movements for collective transformation. What might be possible together?
That’s the Conscious Change Collective—a place to find peers, share practices, collaborate on action, and grow the inner foundation of lasting change.
How to Engage
- Explore the Map: See who’s working at this intersection and discover shared wisdom.
- Join the Collective: If you are a practitioner working at this inner-outer intersection reach out to become part of the Conscious Change Collective.
- Advance the Field: Save the date to celebrate the field and its wisdom, January 20-23, 2026 for our summit at the Garrison Institute.
This is the work of Garrison’s Spirituality & Social Change Program: weaving presence into purpose, awareness into action, and reflection into transformation.
Welcome to the movement where inner work powers the change our world needs.
Gretchen Steidle serves as the Director of Spirituality & Social Change. She is the author of Leading from Within: Conscious Social Change and Mindfulness for Social Innovation (MIT Press, 2017) and lectures and teaches on mindfulness and social change worldwide. Gretchen is the Founder and President of Circles for Conscious Change, a transformative education firm working with social entrepreneurs, nonprofits, and corporations on the use of mindfulness as a design tool for social innovation. She is also the founder and President of Global Grassroots, an international organization that operated a social venture incubator and mindful-leadership program for women and girls in East Africa.
