Len Leroux

Synergos

Len le Roux is a Managing Director at Synergos based in Windhoek, Namibia. His focus is almost exclusively on strengthening and promoting Bridging Leadership as a leadership development approach on a global scale, while also providing support to colleagues in the organisation and the Synergos networks around the world.

Before joining the Synergos staff, Mr. le Roux was previously Director of the Rössing Foundation, a non-governmental organization established in 1978 as part of Rössing Uranium’s Corporate Social Investment Programme to empower Namibians to improve their quality of life. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Science and has attended numerous management training workshops.

Mr. le Roux is an expert in the area of financial sustainability of grantmaking foundations and has conducted training exercises and consultancies both in Namibia and internationally. He has been instrumental in the formation of a number of Namibian foundations, is a founding member of the Namibian NGO Forum, and sits on the Boards of a number of local foundations. He has a personal interest in leadership and transformation.

Thomas Blettery

Ashoka

Thomas is an enthusiastic intrapreneur in the fields of Social Entrepreneurship and Changemaker Education.

After launching a humanitarian non-profit serving Peruvian orphans at the age of 16, he realized 15 years ago the power of social entrepreneurship by contributing to the creation of a social bakery empowering Dalit people in Chennai, India. This transformative experience made him realize the power of learning how to fish compared to just giving a fish. Until he stumbled upon Ashoka – the world’s pioneer network of system-changing social entrepreneurs – and discovered how nearly 4,000+ women and men across the world are positively transforming entire fields to bring about lasting social change.

He joined Ashoka in 2010 and is, since then, investing his energy in making Ashoka’s vision a reality: creating a world where everyone is inclined and equipped to become a changemaker.

Randy Bass

Georgetown University

Jennifer Woodlard

Georgetown University

Connect with Jennifer Woodlard on social media :

A Professor of psychology and adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University, Jennifer Woolard began her career at the National Victims Resource Center. While obtaining her doctoral degree in developmental and community psychology at the University of Virginia she also served as a victim-witness volunteer in the county police department, a staff member to the Virginia Commission on Family Violence Prevention, and a consultant with Virginians Against Domestic Violence (now Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance) . She then joined the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Adolescent Development and Juvenile Justice and became an assistant professor at the University of Florida’s Center for Studies in Criminology and Law. In 2002 she joined the psychology faculty at Georgetown University. Her research and action laboratory, the Georgetown Community Research Group, studies individual and family experiences with systems of care and control in order to create fair, effective, and just legal processes. Projects examine how youth and parents understand the right to remain silent, the right to an attorney, and the right to a trial. Her lab is the evaluation partner for the Youth In Custody Practice Model initiative, which helps juvenile correctional institutions implement evidence-informed and developmentally-appropriate practices. Dr. Woolard has testified as an expert before federal and state legislatures as well as in juvenile and criminal cases. She has presented her research findings to a wide variety of academic, legal, and policy audiences, and won several awards for teaching excellence, including the Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence. She currently serves as chair of the Psychology Department.

Bill Kelly

Co-Creation Team Advisor

Trained as a lawyer, and a social entrepreneur by instinct, over a long career I worked in government, practiced law, and co-founded a nonprofit affordable housing consortium. I was an Ashoka board member for many years and now serve on the board of the Low Income Investment Fund, a lender to and supporter of community facilities around the United States.

My wife Cindy, sons Pat and Brian in Minneapolis and Nairobi, and four grandkids continue to enrich my life in so many ways, with their diverse interests, their high ambitions, their ideas and their love. Cindy and I live among the trees in Washington DC, love the wilderness, and celebrate the fact that we are a part of nature, often by biking, canoeing, or hiking. Avid readers of many genres, we learn from discussions in several book groups.

Claire Wathen

Skoll Foundation

Connect with Claire Wathen on social media :

As Director, Network & Partnerships, Claire cultivates the global Skoll network of social entrepreneurs and innovators, funders, private, and public sector leaders. Animated by the power of connection, Claire works with partners across systems to help unlock resources and bridge ecosystems. To intentionally bring new voices into the network, Claire leads network engagement for the Skoll World Forum and supports other Skoll convenings. She launched and now oversees the Skoll World Forum Fellowship and TEDx Skoll Conversations programs.

Prior to Skoll, Claire managed the San Diego Zoo’s internal innovation lab under the CFO. She worked with corporate R&D teams, led organizational experiments, hosted tech community events, and prototyped field conservation and learning tools. An alum of Seth Godin’s altMBA and John Paul the Great Catholic University, she advises impact organizations on network building and growth strategies.

Reflections on the Youth Mental Health and Wellbeing Carnival in Bangladesh, an event supported by The Wellbeing Project Reflections on the Youth Mental Health and Wellbeing Carnival in Bangladesh, an event supported by The Wellbeing Project

“I felt privileged to have witnessed a seminal moment in the journey of Bangladesh as a nation, toward an era where wellbeing and mental health are acknowledged and prioritized”

By: Samuel Smith , Senior Community Manager at The Wellbeing Project

Date: October 2022

In November 2022 I had the pleasure of representing The Wellbeing Project at the inaugural edition of the Youth Mental Health and Wellbeing Carnival at The University of Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Co-hosted by the Aachol Foundation and the Innovation for Wellbeing Foundation , the carnival brought together youth groups, media, education & health experts, as well as organizations working at the heart of campaigns relating to the development of youth wellbeing. Significantly, there were also government representatives present, as one of the objectives of the carnival was to influence the upcoming creation of a national mental health framework; the first policy of its kind in Bangladesh.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Dhaka, and I took a lot away from hearing the inspiring stories and experiences of those present. There is a fascinating vibrancy and energy that comes from a movement fronted by young people and students. Their enthusiasm, dynamism, and willingness to tackle difficult and sometimes daunting topics with a smile and laughter is truly infectious.

I felt privileged to have witnessed a seminal moment in the journey of Bangladesh as a nation, towards an era where wellbeing and mental health are recognized and prioritized. The impact of YMHWBC will be felt well beyond the borders of the university campus, and perhaps even beyond the borders of this beautiful south Asian country.

A personal thank you to Monira Rahmen for the invitation and for giving me the opportunity to contribute. I would also like to show my gratitude to Heal Bangladesh , Heroes For All , No Passport Voice , SAJIDA Foundation , Moner Bondhu and ADD International for taking the time to explain to me how their work is helping to foster a sense of wellbeing across a variety of sectors in Bangladesh and beyond.

Voices of Wellbeing | Rajni BakshiVoices of Wellbeing | Rajni Bakshi

“Nonviolence is love in action”

Rajni Bakshi is a Mumbai-based author, speaker and founder of ‘Ahimsa Conversations’, an online platform for exploring the possibilities of nonviolence.

As speaker at The Wellbeing Summit of Social Change, she joins us to share the importance of nonviolent action for social change.

In this interview, she shares her belief that by making space for open dialogue and taking time to understand movements, we can collectively sustain more conscious and humane models of development.

ORGANISATIONAL EXPLORATORY PROGRAM (OEP) GROUP MEMBERS ORGANISATIONAL EXPLORATORY PROGRAM (OEP) GROUP MEMBERS

The OEP (Organisational Exploratory Program) is an initiative of The Wellbeing Project. The OEP hosts global mission-driven organisations experimenting with, and integrating wellbeing on multiple organisational levels.
In its third year, these diverse organisations are demonstrating, through modeling and prioritising wellbeing, that social change can happen in a more sustainable and healthy way, and are contributing to a wider shift in their ecosystems.