ABOUT THE FUNDERS & WELLBEING LEARNING GROUP (FWLG)ABOUT THE FUNDERS & WELLBEING LEARNING GROUP (FWLG)

In 2022, The Wellbeing Project (TWP) launched the Funders + Wellbeing Learning Group—a global learning community for foundations and grantmakers to explore the link between inner wellbeing and sustainable social change, experiment with practical approaches, and contribute to a cultural shift within the philanthropic ecosystem. The Group was launched in partnership with the Robert HN Ho Family Foundation Global. Laura Bacon currently serves as the Group’s Strategy Lead and Facilitator, and Corey Oser from Global Fund for Children and Jennifer Wei from the Hewlett Foundation serve as the Group’s Co-Chairs.

THE NEED THE NEED

Changemakers at the forefront of solving the most complex social and environmental issues facing humanity often simultaneously experience deep personal struggles, which have far-reaching implications for their lives, relationships, organisations, and outcomes they drive for. Funding and resources are commonly cited as barriers to making inner wellbeing a sustainable and institutionalised practice for leaders and their organisations.

While there is growing interest and pressure to move away from business as usual in philanthropy, new approaches like trust-based philanthropy and grantee-centred practices don’t quite address inner wellbeing head on. There is a great need to raise awareness and build a community of practice of committed funders that can lead by example and help bring peer funders into this movement.

This is an opportune moment for this work. Through engaging a critical mass of social change organisations TWP is catalysing a large-scale culture shift. By bringing philanthropic actors into this growing movement we can unlock the necessary resources to accelerate systems change.

FWLG SHARED PURPOSE FWLG SHARED PURPOSE

Increase organisational:

❏ regard and communication of wellbeing as essential to sustained, effective social change

❏ comfort and confidence to acknowledge and address complex intersecting topics such as power, equity, justice, trauma, healing

❏ demonstration of practices that purposefully increase wellbeing for stakeholders

❏ actively take steps to influence and shift the field of philanthropy in similar ways

HOW TO JOINHOW TO JOIN

Interested in learning more?

To learn more about FWLG, contact Alejandra Mejia at alejandra.mejia@wellbeing-project.org

Bruno Vercken

Health, Safety and Working Conditions Director, Danone (France)

Bruno Vercken is the global head of Safety, Health, and Working Conditions of DANONE In a nutshell he is directly or indirectly in charge of “the man at Work” in the Company. Bruno was previously HR Operations Director of DANONE, in charge of the Industrial, Supply-chain, Purchasing, and Quality functions across the company. Bruno serves as an expert and advisor on organizational Wellbeing within several international initiatives aiming at fostering people’s WellBeing at work. He represents Danone in the Coalition for Healthier Life of the Consumer Goods Forum, is a member of the Learning Partner Group of the WellBeing project, and is a member of the Inner work for social change advisory group.

Connect with Bruno Vercken on social media:

Ditri Zandstra,

Chief People Officer and COO Cofra Group (Holland)

Ditri has subsequently worked in Banking, Fast Moving Consumer Goods and Healthcare before moving into the family office (Anthos) of the Brenninkmeijer Family where she spends the last two years as CEO. Since April 2020, Ditri is working for the broader Cofra Group.

Ditri’s passion for people and system change can be leveraged in her current role as a catalyst and Chief People Officer (and COO). Ditri is dedicated to contributed to Cofra’s mission to ensure business is a Force for Good, driving key systems change in Cities, Food, Energy, Capital Solutions and Consumption. Cofra is committed to the Flourishing of the Whole person for the Whole world.

Ditri is an MBA graduate at Nyenrode-Kellogg-Stellenbosch Business Universities and enjoyed the INSEAD Advanced Management Program.

If you had to summarise Ditri’s qualities, you would probably conclude that she is an authentic leader of transformations; she serves and leads through consistency and focus with a balanced focus on strategy, continuous learning and exploration, people development, and bottom-line results; She is passionate, engaged and committed and wants to contribute to society. As Ditri believes learning takes place through encounters, she is intrigued by philosophy, sociology, and psychology and enjoys traveling tremendously. This also included spending longer periods in some countries, like working for Mother Theresa in Calcutta. Sports
include yoga, hiking, kayaking, and horseback riding. Ditri tries to remain balanced through hard work and emotional and spiritual development.

Ditri is married to August and is the mother of Sabijn (15 years) and Annemoon (13 years). They live in Maarssen, a small town in the Netherlands, near Utrecht.

The Wellbeing Summit Photo Gallery The Wellbeing Summit Photo Gallery

Explore photos from The Wellbeing Summit for Social Change 2022 edition

Voices of Wellbeing | Grimanesa Amorós, Artist Voices of Wellbeing | Grimanesa Amorós, Artist

“Light itself is part of our wellbeing”

Take a look at this captivating episode of “Voices of Wellbeing” as visionary artist Grimanesa Amorós explores the profound connection between light, art, and well-being. Discover how light inspires creativity, sparks discussions about balance and happiness, and acts as a catalyst for social change. Experience the transformative power of art as Grimanesa invites you to express your own state of well-being through visual imagination. Don’t miss this illuminating conversation that celebrates the synergy of art and well-being.

Lisa D. Hobson, PhD

Special Assistant to the President: Partnerships and Initiatives
Professor of Education, University of North Texas at Dallas

We arrive at points in life where we have rewards, blessings, immense joy, and satisfaction. On the converse, there are times we feel blindsided, defeated, broken, crushed, and/or simply torn and worn.

Subsequently, we approach each day, sometimes to just make it through that day. Sometimes, we attempt to not only survive and get through a particular day, but seek healing, advancement, and evolution whether in a thriving or challenging phase of life i.e. figurative winter and summer seasons. I traveled to Bilbao with that latter purpose while, in some respects, being in both seasons simultaneously depending on the area.

I arrived in Bilbao wanting to flourish, develop, grow, and learn more! I received much more participating in The Wellbeing Summit and WISE Gathering.

I have expanded networks and forged new relationships with wellness seekers and experts from all over the world to really do something important, meaningful, and beneficial. I left wanting to do more and be more to impact my space in the world and connect with others doing the same.

At first glance, WISE is an acronym that means Wellbeing, Innovation, and Social Change in Education, however, it also equates to flourishing, development, growth, and learning. The WISE Gathering afforded me those four constructs. I arrived and received what I sought.

The activities and events were perfect for me, giving me what I needed to heal, advance, learn, and evolve in different areas. All experiences were actually perfect for me, providing me with what I was to encounter and live in that period of time and beyond! I am compelled to be more intentional, engaged, reflective, patient, sensing, and tolerant. I am inspired to return to my institution to work with my colleagues to enhance and better the goals we collectively pursue.

Wishing everyone “Wellness Always and Wellbeing for Life,”
Lisa

About Lisa

Lisa D. Hobson, Ph.D. is a member of The WISE Network, an educator (community and university), researcher, artisan, thinker, and mother! She has worked in K12 and higher education for 28 years. She believes in the communiversity model and wants to bridge communities (degree and non-degree seeking) with higher education resources and opportunities.