Alana Chavez, Author at The Wellbeing Project

Intergenerational Trauma, Ancestry, and RaceIntergenerational Trauma, Ancestry, and Race

Stories from the Hearth

Hearth Summit São Paulo Session Featuring:

Raquel Barros

Coordinator of the Emotional Collaboration Laboratory (ENLACE) and the
Possible Worlds Community Extension Program, FACENS University
🌍 São Paulo, Brazil

Isabel Santos Mayer

Coordinator, Brazilian Institute of Studies and Community Support (IBEAC)
🌍 São Paulo, Brazil

In São Paulo at the second regional summit held at FACENS University, Raquel Barros, Coordinator of the Emotional Collaboration Laboratory (ENLACE) and the
Possible Worlds Community Extension Program, FACENS University, and Isabel Santos Mayer, Coordinator, Brazilian Institute of Studies and Community Support (IBEAC), joined in conversation on intergenerational trauma, ancestry, and race in Brazil.Watch the session below (in Portuguese) or click the cc button to generate auto-subtitles in a different language.

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Discover Cycles of Healing From Intergenerational TraumaDiscover Cycles of Healing From Intergenerational Trauma

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The World Will Not Change Unless We Change OurselvesThe World Will Not Change Unless We Change Ourselves

Stories from the Hearth

Reflections From:

Kotaro Aoki

Co-Founder and Chairmain, KOTOWARI
🌍 Tokyo, Japan

As a new endeavor, we will be holding Hearth Summit Kyoto at the end of this year. As we look for young people to join us on the journey to the summit, let me share my personal background and talk about my own journey so far. This journey began in the Himalayas in India.

Surrounded by mountains that are silent and devoid of any sign of life, where the wisdom of the East is stored, I spent my days training. After studying philosophy at a liberal arts university in the United States, I worked in global investment, and then I set off on a journey of wandering. Through my travels, I realized that the roots of the problems that are prevalent in the world lie in the framework of civilization and human consciousness that have existed for hundreds of years.

This realization turned into conviction through my journey to the wisdom of the world, past and present, and my days of training in the Himalayas. No matter how much the framework of society is reformed, if the consciousness of people who aspire to change does not change, the same problems will be repeated. Above all, the world will not change unless we change ourselves. I was struck by the true meaning of Mahatma Gandhi’s adage, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”

After returning to Japan a few years ago, I began to give back to society the fruits of my journey. Since last year, my work has expanded beyond generations and borders to connect with the world. Through the management of the retreat “Gandhi 3.0” in India and the “KUNI Initiative” co-run by Haruo Miyagi, leaders in philosophy, religion, politics and business have come together to create a global solidarity that aims to create a new society rooted in inner transformation.

While the world around us is facing a worsening crisis, at the same time, there are strong signs of the birth of a new worldview. We will build the future of society on a foundation of wisdom that will not change over the ages. There must be a way in which the pursuit of personal truth and happiness and the efforts to improve society as a whole can coexist without contradiction. Pioneers who embody this kind of future are beginning to appear around the world.

Global leaders who are at the forefront of this exploration will gather in Japan to create the future of society together with the younger generation. Driven by this vision, this project was born. I look forward to meeting young colleagues who will join me in exploring the future of Japan and the world.

Kotaro Aoki

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Cultivating the Next Generation of Leaders With Wisdom From JapanCultivating the Next Generation of Leaders With Wisdom From Japan

Stories from the Hearth

Reflections From:

Haruo Miyagi

Former President, ETIC (Entrepreneurial Training for
Innovative Communities)
🌍 Tokyo, Japan

For nearly 30 years, I have been involved in nurturing the next generation of leaders. A few years ago, when I retired as the representative of ETIC., which was the foundation of my work, I began to explore the world by broadening the time and space axes, and I had the opportunity to connect with Indigenous communities around the world, which have a history of several thousand years. There, I learned from their ancient worldview and have been working to support them.

As a result of this, I have been meeting more and more world leaders who are seeking new worldviews across America, Europe, and Asia. They seem to have the same deep expectations for Japan as I do for the wisdom of indigenous peoples. Their expectations go beyond mere respect for a different culture with a long history, and they are looking to Japan for the possibility of finding hints for the future.

Since last year, I have been inviting world leaders to Japan with Kotaro Aoki, and we have been talking about the future while making pilgrimages to various places. Overseas leaders who are successful in capitalism in Western society but feel its limitations are looking for a future of creative civilization that transcends East and West. By engaging in dialogue with participants from overseas in Japan, I feel that new possibilities are opening up.

Historically, leaders have taken the lead in solving urgent social needs. I have worked with leaders in my career, and many of them have started companies and brought about change in society through services and products. However, as the younger generation of leaders face today’s world challenges, they are faced with the barriers of thought and action that humanity has accumulated over the past few hundred years. Many people feel that it will be difficult to fundamentally solve the problems if we continue within the traditional framework.

Against this backdrop, the next generation of leaders is being asked to look at the world from an infinitely broader and deeper perspective and to have an integrated view of themselves and the world. This is a new attempt in the history of humanity, and world leaders are just beginning to explore it. Aaron Pereira, Co-Lead of The Wellbeing Project, one of such global exploration networks, contacted us, and we decided to organize Hearth Summit Kyoto.

The summit in Kyoto will be a rare opportunity for young people from around the world to come together and envision the future together without being bound by existing frameworks. Through this project to create this summit together, we hope to accompany young leaders on their quest and contribute to the creation of a new society. I sincerely look forward to meeting young people who share the same vision for this project and are willing to work together to build the future.

Haruo Miyagi

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Bilbao 2022

Ljubljana 2025

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Asia 2028

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Rohini Nilekani

Chairperson, Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies

Rohini Nilekani is an author and philanthropist and has been a strong influence in the Indian social sector over the past three decades. Her philanthropic work spans different sectors of Indian civil society. She founded Arghyam, a foundation for sustainable water and sanitation, and co-founded Pratham Books, a nonprofit enabling access to reading for millions of children. Currently, she is the Chairperson of Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies and a Co-founder and Director of EkStep, a nonprofit education platform.

Rohini 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. 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.

A former journalist, she has written for many leading publications such as Times of India, India Today, Mint, etc. Rohini’s first book, Stillborn, a medical thriller, and her second, Uncommon Ground, were published by Penguin Books India. Her latest, Samaaj, Sarkaar, Bazaar – A Citizen-first Approach, is a self-published, Creative Commons-licensed book. She is also the author of 17 books for young children.

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LEARN MORE FROM ROHINI NILEKANILEARN MORE FROM ROHINI NILEKANI

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Content Curation Advisory Board Member

Organizational Wellbeing Specialist

Gayle Karen Young

Senior Advisor, Hearthland Foundation, and Cultivator, Cultivating Leadership

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Connect with Cultivating Leadership on social media:

Connect with Hearthland Foundation on social media:

Gayle believes the world needs more leaders who are “able for” what lies ahead, who have developed the capacity to meet the complexity of global challenges. Working in the field of leadership for the past two decades, it has become abundantly clear to her that there are the visible, tangible, practical, and pragmatic aspects of leadership that need to be executed on a day-by-day basis, and then there is the work of caring for the spaces between people, of seeing complexity and interdependencies, of understanding relationships and power and all the ephemeral things that still excise tremendous influence on the day-to-day behaviors of people. Thus it is the invisible work of leadership, the work of showing up, setting culture, and creating spaces for others to thrive that is the focus of her work. She believes in meeting people and systems wherever they are, and then developing people to work with the full range of who they are to meet the full complexity of the organizational system and operating ecosystem, working with the intangible but critically necessary human substructures to move a strategy forward.

Gayle Karen Young is a cultural architect and a catalyst for human and organizational development. She comes from a rich organizational consulting background with both corporate and nonprofit clients. She was in process of becoming a Zen monk when she became an executive instead, taking on the role of Chief Culture and Talent Officer at the Wikimedia Foundation (CHRO for Wikipedia and its sister free-knowledge projects) until early 2015 when she joined Cultivating Leadership. From high-level strategic thinking to practical implementation, her skills include leadership development, change management, facilitation, training, strategic communications, speaking, team building, and personal and organizational transformation.

Gayle holds a Masters degree in Organizational Psychology. Gayle is passionate about global women’s issues and supporting women in leadership. She is also very much a geek that loves attending Comic-Con and reading science fiction, which inspires a passion for technology and its leverage for societal change. She is keenly interested in the intersection of technology and human rights and supports futurist humanitarian causes. She lives in both San Francisco, California, and Whidbey Island, Washington.

IN GAYLE'S WORDSIN GAYLE'S WORDS

How do you think individual, collective, and planetary wellbeing are connected?

I think of the deep interconnections from the perspective of coherence and integrity. We over-emphasize individual wellbeing as though that were sufficient, and while individual wellbeing is necessary (sleep, diet, and nervous system self-regulation), it is insufficient. One cannot be well if one’s family isn’t well, if your people aren’t well, if your planet isn’t well.

What do you hope the outcomes are from the global Hearth Summit?

“It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.” – J. Krishnamurti. Greater interconnectedness, greater resilience, greater awareness, and more coherence.

WHAT GAYLE IS READING, LISTENING TO, AND WATCHING

Jennifer Garvey Berger, Changing on the Job (2nd edition) (2024). “It ties deeply between developmental theory and the capacity for resilience and change.”

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Content Curation Advisory Board Member

Global Program Curation and Execution Specialist

Sarah Zak Borgman

Advisor, The Wellbeing Project

Sarah is currently working with a variety of organizations to help them achieve their goals around impact-focused convenings, strategic community building, fundraising and communication functions. Organizations include CorpsAfrica, GMMB, The Wellbeing Project, Play Verto, Philanthropy Together and Denver Seminary. Prior, Sarah oversaw the Skoll Foundation’s Community of Awardees and Skoll’s high-profile platforms including the Skoll World Forum, as the Vice President of Community and Convenings for 12 years. Earlier in her career, Sarah served in executive capacities at companies and organizations with a focus on community building, communications and convening experience in the public, private and government sectors. She honed her skillset and talents at the X PRIZE Foundation, Girl Scouts, Porter Novelli International, Peace Corps, and the Clinton Administration.

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Content Curation Specialist

Mar Cabra

Executive Director, The Self-Investigation

Mar Cabra is executive director and cofounder of The Self-Investigation, a global nonprofit catalysing a healthy work culture in the media ecosystem by placing well-being and mental health as a core business strategy and value. Recognized by Forbes as one of the most awarded Spaniards, she is a Pulitzer prize-winning journalist, digital wellness educator and fellow at Ashoka & Acumen, working on raising awareness on how technology is changing the way we interact with ourselves, each other and as a society. She’s committed to creating a healthier working culture to prevent others from burning out like she did after leading the technology and data work for the Panama Papers investigation. She’s a master of ceremonies, keynote speaker and has talked to companies such as Twitch, Santander Bank, Just Eat, The Guardian or PWC.

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IN MAR'S WORDSIN MAR'S WORDS

How do you think individual, collective, and planetary wellbeing are connected?

It’s urgent that we rethink the way we interact with ourselves, each other and the planet. We’ve been operating as if they were separate parts, but in reality, we’re all one and need to work on our interconectedness.

What do you hope the outcomes are from the global Hearth Summit?

Inspiration, community and positive action.

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Regional Specialist: Egypt & Middle East

Yasmin Helal

Senior Business and Operations Strategist, National Basketball Association (NBA); and Founder, Educate Me Foundation Egypt

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Connect with Educate Me Foundation on social media :

Yasmin is an Athlete, Entrepreneur and Activist. She is currently co-leading the National Basketball Association (NBA)’s newly established office in Egypt as a Senior Business and Operations Strategist. In the 12 years prior to that, Yasmin was dedicated to impacting her community through improving the quality of education. She established and led the award-winning Educational nonprofit Educate Me for 10 years before transitioning to its Board of Trustees (to date Educate Me has served over 100,000 beneficiaries across several Egyptian governorates). She also advised the Egyptian Minister of Education on Community education and managed to impact public spending and legislations around that.

In parallel, Yasmin has spent over two decades as a professional basketball player in the Egyptian first division league and National team and received 40+ medals along her journey.

Yasmin received her Masters degree in International Education Management at the University of Education in PH-Ludwigsburg, Germany, and her Bachelor’s Degree in Systems and Bio-Medical Engineering from Cairo University.

Throughout her entrepreneurial journey, Yasmin received several awards and fellowships, has been featured in national and international media including BBC UK and ESPNW, and her start-up story with Educate Me has been published in “Finding your element” by Sir Ken Robinson and “Arab Women Rising” by Wharton. Among Yasmin’s awards and fellowships are King Abdullah II Award for Youth Innovation and Achievement, Synergos Fellowship, 50 most impactful social innovators (World CSR Congress, India), Best Woman in Nonprofit in MENA region (Amcham). Yasmin was also named among the 40 most influential Arabs under 40 (Arabian Business).

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Regional Specialist: India

Smarinita Shetty

Cofounder and CEO, India Development Review (IDR)

Connect with Smarinita on social media :

Connect with India Development Review on social media :

Smarinita is the cofounder and CEO of India Development Review (IDR), Asia’s largest media platform focused on the development sector.

She has more than 25 years of experience leading functions across strategy, operations, sales and business development, largely in startup environments within corporates and social enterprises. Her core expertise and skills lie in building new markets and ecosystems; she has done this successfully with knowledge process outsourcing, low-income housing and adolescent girl empowerment.

Prior to IDR, Smarinita worked at Dasra, Monitor Inclusive Markets (now FSG), JP Morgan and The Economic Times. She also co-founded Netscribes – India’s first knowledge process outsourcing firm.

Smarinita’s work and opinion has been featured in The Economist, Times of India, Mint and The Economic Times, among others. She has a BE in Computer Engineering and an MBA in Finance from Mumbai University.