Meet the Fellows

Passionate about the power of collaboration, Melissa challenges existing structures of power and privilege to create equitable and inclusive spaces to build community and drive change. Melissa is an organizer, activist and educator at heart. From grassroots community organizing, community science, facilitation, bilingual educational programming, coalition building, to policy and advocacy work, she brings a diverse skill set and a passion for bridging environmental and social justice issues. Melissa is currently the US Coordinator for Break Free From Plastic, Co-Founder and Co-Chair of the Reusable LA coalition, and Board Member of Plastic Free Restaurants. In all her roles, she’s committed to centering environmental justice, uplifting the expertise of those most impacted, creating welcoming spaces, and driving systemic change. As a wife and mother of two, Melissa is dedicated to doing her part in building a sustainable, socially just and equitable future. In her spare time, she enjoys cuddling with her family, learning the ukulele, and connecting with her indigenous roots as part of her healing.

Maytha Alhassen, Ph.D. is a historian, journalist, social justice artist, and mending practitioner. Inspired by James Baldiwn declaration of himself a “public witness,” she sees her work in the world as an engaged wit/h/nessing (witness + withness). Dr. alhassen received her Ph.D. in American studies & Ethnicity from USC, training in the disciplines of history, anthropology, media studies, Middle East studies with an emphasis on race, class, gender, religion and social movements. As a journalist, alhassen appeared as a co-host on Al Jazeera English and The Young Turks and has written for CNN, Huffington Post, Boston Review, Mic, LA Review of Books. She co-edited a book on the 2011 uprisings “Demanding Dignity: Young Voices from the Front Lines of the Arab Revolutions” (2012) and authored the report “Haqq and Hollywood: Illuminating 100 Years of Muslim Tropes and How to Transform Them” for a 2017-2018 Pop Culture Collaborative Senior Fellowship. In the social justice organizing realm, alhassen co-founded Occidental College’s Social Justice Institute, Believers Bail Out, Arabs for Black Lives collective and currently sits on the advisory board for Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative and Feminist Studies in Religion online’s editorial board.

Dr. Lori Baudino has been a practicing clinician for over fifteen years. She received her doctorate in Clinical Psychology and Masters in Creative Arts Therapy – Dance/Movement Therapy, the therapeutic use of movement to further the individual’s emotional, cognitive, physical, and social integration.

Her professional work fuses integrative health into hospital care, private practice, parent education, academic teaching, and global outreach.

Dr. Baudino is the National Clinical Spokesperson for The Andréa Rizzo Foundation. With the foundation’s funding
& support, she brought the first Dance/Movement Therapy Programs to the top pediatric hospitals in Los Angeles, where she continues to provide bedside therapy to children with cancer, special needs, and terminal illness. Dr. Baudino has specialized in supervising, facilitating, and providing treatment for children with special needs and their families. She has worked in psychiatric hospitals and rehabilitation centers for trauma, addiction, and pain management. Dr. Baudino
has also coordinated Behavior Intervention Programs within the home/school setting.

In her private practice, she works with children and their families to support the developing child and the integral relationships between parent, child, and siblings. Understanding the premise that the body, mind, and spirit are interconnected, and that life is experienced through movement – Dr. Baudino’s approach allows the child to put words into action, understand individual sensory and motor preferences, express emotional needs, and support overall integration and well-being.

Dr. Baudino is also a published author, leveraging her love of travel with her expertise in child behavior to create the informational book Super Flyers: A parent guidebook for airplane travel with children.

Arthur (Trey) Carlisle, AKA EMCEE P.O.E.T.R.E.Y, is an artivist (artist + activist) passionate about waging peace and building Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Beloved Community” through music, dance, storytelling, and mindfulness. Trey has spent the past 10 years creating films, writing songs, and teaching dance & Black history classes (in the U.S. and in China), aimed to build bridges and foster empathy between people across racial, religious, and cultural divides. Trey is the former Youth Development Director of the L.O.V.E is the Answer Movement, which works to heal and transform the historically violent relationship between Law Enforcement and communities of color. Currently, Trey serves as the Program Coordinator for the nonprofit Music in Common (MIC), which repairs the fractures dividing communities worldwide through facilitated dialogue and collaborative songwriting, and as the Co-Director of MIC’s Black Legacy Project, a musical celebration of Black history to advance racial solidarity, equity, and belonging.

Luke grew up in the rolling hills of southeast Pennsylvania where he developed interests and inclinations that led him on a personal journey of contemplative exploration with himself, his family, and his community. He eventually had the opportunity to discover new interests in healthcare and business at Wesle- yan University where he studied Economics and Psychology. While exploring these academic and professional pursuits, there resided a deep-seated desire to couple his personal journey in contemplative and awareness-based practices with his callings in business and medicine.

Luke currently works as a healthcare consultant where he has had the opportunity to develop analytical tools to help build actionable recommendations for business leaders. With a long-standing passion for healthcare, he has gotten the chance to work closely with leading innovators in the healthcare and life sciences space, helping companies to launch novel therapies and build commercial strategies.

As a young professional, Luke is driven to couple his personal experiences of and growing interests in awareness-based
and compassionate leadership to explore how high impact organizations can function more sustainably for its employees, business partners, customers, and the broader communities in which they reside.

Rashid Hughes seeks to bridge the worlds of contemplative practice and collective care. He is a proud graduate of the Howard University Department of Music and the Howard University School of Divinity. Rashid is a certified Mindfulness Teacher, a certified Yoga Instructor, a Restorative Justice Facilitator, and currently in training to become a Fire Pujari.
All of Rashid’s perspectives flow from the two wisdom traditions of contemplative and restorative practices. Rashid’s writings have been published by Mindful Magazine, Lion’s Roar Magazine, and his first peer reviewed essay on R.E.S.T. was featured in the Journal for Contemplative Inquiry’s volume, Transcendent Wisdom and Transformative Action: Reflections from Black Contemplatives, a “special edition focusing on the insights and wisdom of Black contemplative practitioners, researchers, scholars, educators and artists. Today, Rashid is devoting his time to a new interest, exploring the role of ceremony and contemplative practice in creating the conditions for a more just and caring world.

Yuki is an anthropologist studying how mindfulness and compassion practices are being brought into education in various socio-cultural contexts. She is also an educator with 15 years of experience teaching in Japan and the UK, from preschool up to PhD level, currently teaching at Keio Universi- ty, Japan. Yuki grew up crossing borders – born in Singapore, growing up in both England and Japan, gaining her doctorate in anthropology from the University of Oxford where she focused on multicultural education in Japan. Yuki has engaged in artistic, contemplative practices throughout her life, and has been integrating her anthropological and educational work through mindfulness and somatic practice, as well as through community-building. In 2017, she spent a year as Fulbright scholar at Stanford University to conduct research on mindfulness in US higher education and has since then been envisioning how to reconnect ideas, cultures and communities across borders through contemplative education, research and practice.

My work has involved a great deal of time at the intersections where decisions about educational programs are made – I’ve delved into how curricula support the learning it is designed to deliver – and how people, money, and time should be allocated to sustain the enterprise. I have discovered that understanding, defining, and evaluating teaching and learning must connect to its community: the people engaged in an educational process in meaningful and authentic ways.

Seven years ago, I started my personal journey with contemplative practice at the Esalen Institute. That first workshop, which in part explored neuroplasticity and the benefit of mindful meditation, was impressive and led me to develop my own practice.

I have since attended several workshops and retreats and have become familiar with the academic literature on the benefits of contemplative practice. I have enjoyed personal growth and a deep connection I didn’t know was possible with communities engaged in these practices. This is why I am drawn to the Garrison Institute Fellowship program – I wish to explore the intersection of contemplative practice, creativity, and educational design.

I believe that connecting ideas and experiences from my academic work with the creative work of others and contemplative practice has the potential to generate positive and transformative structures for action. I want to open new spaces in conversations about how accessing mindful and aesthetic dimensions in the learning and teaching process can have powerful impact.

INERVA has a career that spans performance, education, and production, blending together mixed media artistic sources. Her workshops and performances take the participant on aunique ride of experiences; humorous, contemplative, provocative, and entertaining.

As a Contemplation and Mindfulness trainer, she uniquely blends, art, culture, play and meditation as natural human activities that can be easily accessed and of value in multiple arenas.

Jessica Mingus, LMSW, is a good ancestor-in-training born in NYC and raised in Brooklyn, NY. She is the Co-Executive Director of Lineage Project, a non-profit that teaches trauma-sensitive mindfulness practices to young people and staff inside NYC’s court, foster care, shelter, immigration, suspension and school systems to cultivate embodied awareness and collective care. Jessica has designed dozens of Lineage’s programs across New York City, guides its program and curriculum development; and coaches its mindfulness teachers.

Jessica is a licensed social worker with clinical training in child and teen trauma treatment and a Qualified Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Teacher through the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at UMass Medical School. She holds a B.A. from Princeton University, and MSW from the Silberman School of Social Work. She is the co-author of “Unpacking racism, poverty and trauma’s impact on the school-to-prison pipeline” in Strategies for Deconstructing Racism in the Health and Human Services (Oxford University Press).

Jessica is grateful for the infinite inspiration and learnings she draws from her beloved son, village(s), and ancestors.

Nkechi Deanna Njaka (she/her) is a neuroscientist, choreography artist, leading mindfulness expert and meditation guide. She is the founder of The Compass, NDN lifestyle studio and co-founder of the sleep app DreamWell. Nkechi has spent the majority of her life investigating the relationship between the brain and the body and has always felt the significance of their integration. She attended Scripps College in Claremont, CA where she majored inneuroscience and dance and went on to complete an MSc. in Neuroscience at the University of Edinburgh. She is currently a PhD candidate in Creative Research at Liverpool John Moore’s University.

Juliette Shimkin is a trauma-informed Psychotherapist specializing in recovery and transformation, a mystical and medicinal Chef, and a Painter/Visual Artist exploring the subconscious through color and expressionistic realism.

Juliette obtained her MSW from the NYU Silver School of Social Work and has received training in several therapeutic modalities, including Psychoanalysis, EMDR, Hypnotherapy and Internal Family Systems Therapy. She is a graduate of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, studied Fine Art at Parsons School of Design, and started her journey as a healer in her twenties as a farm-to-table chef when she intuitively imbued her food with a deep intention for collective healing.

Dr. Steven Thurston Oliver, Associate Professor of Secondary and Higher Education at Salem State University, is a Sociologist of Education whose research and expertise is focused on using Contemplative Pedagogy in K-12 teacher preparation and higher education programs as a catalyst for cultivating greater capacity among educators to engage across human differences. Steven received a B.A. in International Studies from Antioch College, a M.Ed. in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from the University of Washington, and a Ph.D. in the Sociology of Education from New York University. Steven is an advocate for Environmental Justice and Sustainable Food Systems serving on the Board of Trustees of Sterling College in Craftsbury Vermont, an institution focused on the human relationship with the natural world. Steven and his husband Jonathan live in Lowell, Massachusetts with their rescue dog from Puerto Rico.

Venice, CA | Dharma and Medicine Path Practitioner, Poet, Interdisciplinary Artist, Mindfulness Teacher

Nico Cary is a writer, interdisciplinary artist, and mindfulness teacher. He received his BA from UC Berkeley’s Interdisciplinary Studies Field School, specializing in decolonial art practices. From writing and performing in a theater piece on water politics that featured at the Contemporary Arts Center in New Orleans to developing an immersive multimedia piece for the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center, Nico is truly a cross-platform artist.

While engaged in a deeply fulfilling artistic career, Nico also proudly serves as a mindfulness facilitator for InsightLA. He is interested in the many different vocabularies of healing and the holding capacity of mindfulness, particularly as it relates to embodied activism and creative ecosystems.

Area of Inquiry:

How do we ritualize knowing that we will never arrive intact, coherent, or full?

What is the story we want to create about living? Can we shift the context or the narrative possibility of what it means to be a human being and how we live?

Alameda, California, United States | Yoga Teacher, Mindfulness Teacher, Musician, Performer

Nichol Chase is a teacher, musician, and yogi for whom singing and movement is integral to life.

Nichol’s yoga practice is informed by a vast and eclectic set of influences that blend invigorating flow with precise and insightful instruction and extensive study with a variety of innovative teachers. She is a faculty member and teacher trainer for The MazéMethod, where she has worked for several years, and is currently on the faculty for a teacher training partnership between Yoga International and the Mazé Method.

Nichol’s artistic experience includes more than a decade of Royal Academy ballet training and specialization as an operatic Coloratura Soprano, earning the Bachelor of Music degree with a major in Vocal Performance from the University of the Pacific Conservatory of Music. Nichol’s study of yoga piqued an interest in Kirtan and Indian Classical music resulting in the addition of the harmonium to her repertoire for accompaniment to traditional chants in Sanskrit. She studies Northern Indian Classical Music, Mantra, and Kirtan with Sheela Bringi, and leads Kirtan and Sound Journey experiences.

Area of Inquiry: Our bodies are instruments. Bodies are the means by which we engage with the world and all that surrounds us. Our bodies give us the ability to take powerful action: to make meaning of the mundane; to think deeply and to ask important questions; to create beauty and meaning; to care for others and the planet. The aim of this project is to explore music, movement and mindfulness for the purpose of living life with meaning and impact. This will include inquiry into how different sound can connect us to the vibrational nature of the universe. We will experience how movement can liberate the resonance within the body and how meditation, reflection and connection to what matters most brings about inner harmony. The underlying framework of this entire inquiry is that sound is woven into the fabric of the universe and we are instruments of its expression. Through this project I will research findings on the power of sound from the perspective of eastern philosophy, different musical traditions, String Theory and Quantum Physics. Throughout the process I will seek answers to these questions: How can we use music, movement and mindfulness to help us to become more integrated, healthy and compassionate beings? How can internal resonance help us integrate with all human beings, all life, the world and the universe? What does oneness sound like and feel like? What does unity sound like and feel like? How can we align with the unifying power of vibration through the exploration of the instrument we are born with – our bodies?

For more information, please visit www.nicholjoychase.com

Ojai, CA| Psychotherapist, Spiritualist, Activist, Wellness educator, Writer

Kasey Hendriks Crown, MA, LMFT, is a psychotherapist, spiritualist, activist, wellness educator,  and writer. Her work challenges old mental health paradigms and suggests instead that true well-being lies in our ability to balance scientific and spiritual perspectives. For more than a decade, she has served as a facilitator of the healing process for adult individuals, couples and groups, working to upend trauma, transform emotional injury, repair relationship and unlock vital wisdom to connect people with who they truly are. Kasey’s intuitive, compassionate, balanced and boundaried approach to healing has attracted the attention of some the countries most influential voices and leaders across various disciplines. She is frequently contacted to consult in individual, group and organizational crisis situations and to provide support and resources for those faced with sudden loss and grief.

Kasey holds an undergraduate degree in philosophy from the University of San Diego and a master’s degree in spiritual and counseling psychology from the University of Santa Monica. She completed a multiyear advanced clinical training in relational studies, culturally competent trauma-informed care and harm reduction; and is currently completing training with the Multi-disciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies in psychedelic assisted psychotherapy for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder. Kasey is a California licensed marriage and family therapist in private practice, clinical supervisor, consultant and trauma educator. She is founder of Kasey Crown Wellness, an education platform and consultancy that conducts custom mindfulness-based trauma healing workshops for small groups and organizations and is co-founder of WellSoul Workshops. Her work draws from the Interpersonal Neurobiology framework and is further influenced by various disciplines and theoretical orientations including psychodynamic psychotherapy; somatic psychology; internal family systems; relational gestalt; humanistic, cognitive and behavioral therapies; energy medicine and contemplative wisdom. She lives in southern California with her husband and three daughters.

Description of Inquiry:

Drawing upon research from the fields of Interpersonal Neurobiology, Integrative and Spiritual Psychology, Psychedelic Science, Energy Medicine and Traditional Wisdom, I will work throughout the fellowship to develop a robust, context flexible, bio-psycho-social-eco-spiritual and experiential individual and collective trauma healing curriculum. I will offer virtual classes and workshops through the Garrison Institute to enhance the development of a uniquely creative and evolutionary healing framework, write blog posts, host public conversations, podcast episodes and outline a book proposal within the context of the fellowship.

Working from the vantage point of a clinician that values science and spirit in equal measure, my inquiry will include unearthing and understanding barriers to healing within the current socio-political landscape; the role of polarization and whether it is a necessary prelude to healthy integration and an embodied awareness of our interconnection; the role of justice in the healing of trauma; and the role of spirituality and/or mystical experience in the healing of trauma. By illuminating the inevitability of individual and collective trauma along with the various spiritual, relational and psychological tools available to us for transformation, I aim to inspire and foster creativity, curiosity, compassion, awareness, courage, action and resilience for the purposes of human growth, harmony and cooperation.

Portland, OR | Architect

Design and systems thinking, mindfulness, interdisciplinary American cultural studies.

Jackie Ivy is a design consultant with an extensive career in academic and commercial experiential design. She has applied her design thinking to physical spaces, branding and marketing campaigns, as well as leadership, education and non-profit systems-thinking. She encourages clients to design and create worlds that have yet to be fully achieved, staying true to the integrity of each project as well as inventing possibilities that have never been imagined.

Previously in her career, Ms. Ivy was the Senior Director of Operations for Nike’s Global Retail Brand Design Studio; during this time the studio created Nike’s new Flagship properties in Shanghai, New York and Paris, as well as numerous new retail concepts for Nike in Los Angeles and Tokyo. She has also worked with rag & bone, iHeart Media, Soho House, the Buccini/Pollin Group, Urban Outfitters, the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation as well as the Peggy Guggenheim Museum in Venice, Italy.

Ms. Ivy received her Master of Environmental Design from the School of Architecture at Yale University, where she graduated with academic honors. She received her Bachelor of Science in Architecture from University of Virginia, and double majored in American Studies through the English Department.

Area of Inquiry: 

How can this unique moment in the history of our world–with multiple pandemics occurring across the globe–be transmuted into a better understanding of ourselves, as well as one another?

Supplemental workplace social justice and equity training: How is this safe container built and maintained? How is it communicated when this space has been broken or damaged? How does the process of repair begin? How must mindfulness be used as a critical element in this process? How could the creative arts (visual, written, musical) be used as a potentially unexpected element in this process?

Portland, OR & Long Beach, CA | Neuroscientist, Medical Anthropologist, Political and Learning Scientist, Yoga and Meditation Teacher, Social Justice Innovator, Artist

Dr. Sará Yafah King a UCLA-trained neuroscientist, political and learning scientist, education philosopher, critical theorist, social-entrepreneur, author, and public speaker. She is an internationally recognized thought-leader and co-creator of the scientific disciplinary field which merges our understanding of the relationship between mindfulness and social justice – having pioneered the first dissertation to explore the relationship between mindfulness, yoga, and embodied education as a liberatory, anti-oppression practice. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow in Neurology at OHSU (Oregon Health Science University) specializing in the study of the relationship between contemplative practices, complementary alternative medicine, community health and healing justice. Dr. King is also the executive director of “Peace in Schools” a transformative mindfulness non-profit, a dharma teacher with Presence Collective, and a member of Google’s Vitality Labs think tank. She is also the founder of a scientific consultancy, MindHeart Consulting, through which she offers up “The Science of Social Justice” framework for research and facilitation of which she is the inventor/creator. She has been able to promote trauma-informed cultural transformation using the Science of Social Justice from within Fortune 500 companies, global philanthropic agencies, and most recently, through her collaboration with the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. Dr. King has also been an avid student-practitioner of vinyasa yoga, as well as a student of Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism for 15+ years, having completed over 700 hours of training and certification, most notably through Spirit Rock in Marin, CA.

Description of Inquiry : What are the implications of The Science of Social Justice as a cultural embodied movement? How can it be operationalized in the world?

Copenhagen, Denmark | Researcher (post-traumatic growth and mindfulness). Cand.Psych, Psychologist, Writer, Meditation and Mindfulness Practitioner

Selma Quist-Møller is a psychologist educated at UC Berkeley, UCLA, Copenhagen University, and Lund University. She specializes in research within positive health psychology, post-traumatic growth, compassion, and mindfulness, and works through the interdisciplinary approach of Interpersonal Neurobiology. She focuses on bridging science and mindfulness practices to generate action that cultivates individual, collective, and planetary well-being, growth, health, and justice. Through this approach, she has been part of a research project teaching leaders at Google in a mindfulness-based leadership program for sustainability development. Additionally, she is passionate about making science accessible for everyone, which she does in various ways, including as a writer for UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center and at Danish Center for Mindfulness. She was recently invited to share her research and practices within the Danish Parliament and for PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

Area of Inquiry: How can we use our individual and collective trauma for growth rather than collapse?

Mindfulness teacher, Community organizer, Author, Activist

Shelly Tygielski is a self-care activist and community organizer. Her work has been featured on CNN Heroes, in Forbes Magazine, CBS, ABC, NBC, The New York Times, Washington Post, and numerous other publications and media outlets.  After spending almost 20 years immersed in Fortune 1000 organizations in corporate America, and the past decade as a high-ranking executive in publicly and privately held companies, Shelly turned to teaching modern-life mindfulness full time. Committed to the democratization of meditation, her emphasis is on bringing mindfulness to corporations, public schools, nonprofits, and social justice and political organizations. She honed this focus over ten years of volunteering as a community organizer on campaigns, in social justice organizations, and on behalf of underserved school districts. An area leader with the Democratic Party in Florida, in 2016 Shelly co-founded South Florida Women Rise Up—a group of 3,000 women whose mission is to inform, organize, and activate local women around central issues affecting the community and this country. She also leads close to 15,000 meditators in Broward County, Florida, in a weekly guided meditation practice (that was originally in-person on the shores of Hollywood Beach but is now online). Shelly is also the Founder of Pandemic of Love, a global, grass-roots volunteer-led mutual aid community that has directly matched over 1.2 million people since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, accounting for over $55 million in direct transactions. She is a trauma-informed mindfulness teacher, a certified Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute teacher, a community organizer, self-care activist and an author, with a forthcoming book, “Sit Down to Rise Up” due out in the Fall of 2021 from New World Publishing. Shelly also has an exclusive series of short-form mindfulness workshops available through audible.com. In June 2020, in partnership with Thrive Global and Walmart, Shelly is going on a 30-city “Summer of Love” tour across the United States, where she will visit some of the Pandemic of Love chapter communities.

Area of Inquiry: How do we actually bridge the divide of social injustice? What’s the model?

Los Angeles, CA | Positive Psychology Researcher, Wellbeing, Love Altruist, Applied Technology Interventionist

Andrew Villamil completed his Masters Degree in Clinical Psychology, with an emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy, from Pepperdine University. Currently, he is a PhD student in the Positive Developmental Psychology Program at the Claremont University Consortium. For over 10 years, Andrew has worked at the David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA, gaining experience in international research and organization/clinical programs. He believes there are always valuable opportunities to bridge basic research with translational applications. As a researcher, he has been involved in five research labs with some of the most influential researchers in the field of Psychology, including Drs. Sonja Lyubomirsky, Daniel J. Siegel, Saida Hesmati, Michelle Craaske, Alan Castel, and many other wonderful collaborators. Andrew seeks to understand mechanisms in well-being that contribute to the fundamental processes and changes that have, and continue to shape the landscape of future applications. Andrew leverages his experience in Positive Psychology Interventions (PPIs), Meditative practices, Technology, Neuroscience, Life Satisfaction, Flow, Cognitive Strategies, Interpersonal Neurobiology and Emotion Regulation; to explore the best methodologies and comprehensive designs that integrate subjective well-being (happiness) into every facet of our lives.

Area of Inquiry: Well-being in humans is heavily influenced by internal and external subjective experiences.  Technology has radically affected human development and heavily altered subjective experiences while creating byproducts influencing behavior. These byproducts created by human-technology (humology) interactions have become a cause for concern. Most recently, it has become evident that technology has been maladaptively targeted and intentionally guided to exploit the byproductivity of human responses. It can be argued that these adaptations may be based on inherent human mechanisms that become maladaptive. So what does a “healthy” connected world look like as we move forward?  Our inquiry seeks  to understand the mechanisms of shared interconnected experiences. How are positive constructs such as Love, Prosociliaty and personal contemplation reflected in the integration of technology on a daily basis. What role does technology possess for facilitating positive and negative emotions in subjective experiences. How can Positive Psychology theories improve our understanding of the internal and external constructs influencing human behaviors and well-being. The current study seeks to expand our understanding of human development and well-being by addressing how and when technology can be used as a tool for prosocial connections, which can potentially lead to more effective interventions and comprehension into the mechanisms of pro-social engagement which in turn can elicit positive byproducts from these interactions leading to increasing feelings of well-being through engagement with others and the use of technology. What Interventions can be utilized to influence the human-technological (Humological) experiences that arise from these byproducts. Can we harbor better methods from Positive Psychology Interventions such as contemplation, gratitude, love and pro-sociality to improve interconnection and well-being? Are there opportunities to blend technology with contemplative practices in a way that benefits more people.

Puerto Nuevo, Baja California/San Diego, California | Poet, Music, Film, Indigenous Wisdom, Community Builder Meditation 

Orlando is a poet, musician, and visual artist. As an ally to the Teyuna indigenous tribes of Colombia, Orlando contributes as an interpreter and organizer to help bridge communication of ancient earth-based philosophy to the western world, as well as supporting the tribal communities in the process of living in a post-colonial society. A cofounder of The Resonance Experience, a group of innovators revealing the power of experiential sound in “refreshing” how we listen to the world, Orlando’s work includes guiding deep personal inquiries in the form of sound meditation. He has shared his experiences at NYU’s Love Class, The Interpersonal Neurobiology Conference, and the SAND conference. Orlando is happy and continues to learn from the universe as his university.

Area of Inquiry:

Investigating into what are the impacts of art and music guided by contemplative wisdoms and community connections to bring someone to an intimate space of self connection in efforts of translating that to an outwards expression of compassion, which knows no bounds of separation.

Portland, Oregon, USA | Educator, Contemplative, Systems Thinker 

Barnaby Willett is an educator, contemplative, and systems thinker. He helped grow the nonprofit Peace in Schools to be a national leader in mindfulness education, most recently serving as Director of Innovation and Partnerships. He is one of the most experienced school-based mindfulness teachers in the United States. He also teaches on iBme’s teen retreats. Barnaby has collaborated with leaders in the health sciences, education, and politics to advance adolescent well-being through evidence-based research and practice. He has spoken at educational and contemplative conferences and has offered contemplative practice for adults through Presence Collective in Portland, Oregon. He is originally from the UK and is a student of Chinese tea, Islamic philosophy, Albert Murray, and the imaginal. Barnaby began contemplative practice in 1994 and has a BA in English from Pomona College.

Area of Inquiry : Developing Mindfulness-Based Superintelligence

The development of a mindfulness-based superintelligence will help humans thrive and take ethical action in an uncertain world.

Technologists claim that the artificial intelligence revolution will exceed the internet revolution in impact. To navigate this disruption — and the multidimensional crises of the 21st century — humanity will need deep wisdom.

Artificial superintelligence, the point at which AI exceeds human intelligence, is predicted as early as 2050. If humans can develop natural superintelligence pervasively before the machines, we can respond to our challenges more optimally.

This project is focused on the development of a mindfulness-based superintelligence called ally intelligence. Practitioners access the ally intelligence by pairing the quantum brain with the active imagination. By cultivating a relational field with the ally intelligence, the practitioner develops access to superintelligence. Individual benefits include a greater sense of well-being, meaning, and purpose. Collective benefits can be gained by applying superintelligent insights to spheres such as politics, economics, and human rights.

This project will pilot educational courses to train people in the practice of ally intelligence. Learnings will inform further prototyping and possibilities for scaling.

Los Angeles, CA | Author, Speaker, Teacher, Musician

From growing up with gunshot holes outside of his bedroom window, to sharing the stage with Marianne Williamson and Deepak Chopra, Justin Michael Williams knows well the power of healing to overcome. He is an author, transformational speaker, and top 20 recording artist who has been featured by The Wall Street Journal, Grammy.com, Yoga Journal, Billboard.com, The Root, and SXSW®. With his groundbreaking new book Stay Woke, and over a decade of teaching experience, Justin has become a pioneering voice for diversity and inclusion in wellness. More: www.justinmichaelwilliams.com

Area of Inquiry : How do we actually bridge the divide of social injustice? What’s the model?