Marike Westra
COFRA Holding AG
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Sandrine Woitrin
Co-Lead at The Wellbeing Project
Madrid,
Spain
Connect with Sandrine Woitrin on social media :
Sandrine Woitrin worked for over ten years in the retail and restaurant business. She was part of the opening team of Starbucks in Spain and France, then helped create the CSR departments of Grupo Vips and Starbucks Spain and France. She studied Naturopathy and is passionate about alternatives therapies.
She is now Co-Lead for the Wellbeing Project, a global initiative co-created with Ashoka, Impact Hub, Georgetown University, Porticus, Skoll Foundation and Synergos, catalyzing a culture of inner wellbeing for all changemakers.
Aaron Pereira
Project Lead at The Wellbeing Project
Paris,
France
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Aaron recently came across an old and slightly dusty high school paper and was more than a bit surprised to see it explored the connection between inner lives and social change. It was lovely to (re)discover that his work in the Project touches on a life long interest alongside other wonderful things in life like travel, meeting people, reading, and hosting dinner parties or really gatherings of all kinds.
Aaron’s mom got him involved in social change work (some time before the high school paper) and it stuck. The key thread in much of his work is exploring the way we live together. Sometimes that’s taken the form of pop up experiments, boards, or running an organisation. A few other times he’s been a co-founder such as with CanadaHelps. CanadaHelps, one of Canada’s leading charities, engages over 3 million Canadians to raise over $400 million a year for social causes across Canada and around the world.
Taking time for a morning cup of tea helps his day start out gently and well. It started as a (gentle) daily ritual sometime during a 7 year walk-about which was all about taking time for and re-centering his inner life. Something the cup of tea helps with every day. He loves being based in Paris and continuing to spend a lot of time in India.
Werner Binnenstein-Bachstein
Porticus
Werner Binnenstein-Bachstein joined Porticus in 2013 as Regional Director for CEE/MENAT. In 2016, he assumed a new role as Director of the Community Arts Laboratory (CAL) within Porticus. CAL concentrates on arts initiatives with a social impact and on creating an international network in this field. He is the co-founder and chairman of the Community Arts Network (CAN).
Until 2013, Werner worked at Caritas Vienna, where he fulfilled multiple roles: Starting as a socio-political advisor and head of the Immigration Department, he ultimately became the CEO. Previously, he was director of the Competence Centre for NPOs at the Vienna Business University and Assistant Professor at the Department for Social Policy.
Werner has always had a close connection to the world of arts. He initiated “Tanz die Toleranz”, ((superar)) and the community art location “brunnen.passage”. Werner collaborates with many renowned artists and institutions such as Royston Maldoom, Marin Alsop, Martin Grubinger, Gustavo Dudamel, Maestro José Antonio Abreu, Wiener Konzerthaus, Vienna State Opera, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and Carnegie Hall.
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.
Randy Bass
Georgetown University
Jennifer Woodlard
Georgetown University
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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
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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.
Peter Mortifee
Co-Creation Team Advisor at The Wellbeing Project
Vancouver, BC,
Canada
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Peter is a co-founder of the Somerset Foundation and has been its Chair since its inception in 2001. He engages in various capacities with social purpose initiatives where his input and interest relates primarily to governance, structure, strategy, tactics, policy and financial sustainability. He has been involved with the The Wellbeing Project as an advisor to its Co-Creation Team since 2014. He is a member of the global Ashoka Support Network and has engaged with several Ashoka Fellows. He is a member of Outward Bound International’s Global Ambassador Network and is a co-founder & Chair of the Chute Creek Stewardship Society which seeks to regenerate salmon spawning habitat.
He spent twenty five years training, practicing and teaching as a medical doctor. Following a medical degree at the University of British Columbia and a multi-year Internship in New Zealand, he became a specialist in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. In 2008, he relinquished his Clinical Assistant Professorship with the Department of Medicine at U.B.C. and retired completely from his medical practice in order to explore new ways of engaging. He is a keen photographer and explores wellbeing photographically through his social media channels and his photographic website – ReflectionsOnWellbeing.photo He also loves music and travelling. He and his wife Nancy live in Vancouver, Canada and between them they have four wonderful adult children, two delightful grandkids and at least one walking adventure every year.
– What does inner wellbeing mean to you?
It’s a fundamental personal priority.
– How would you define wellbeing in one word?
Compassion.
– Are there any rituals or practices you use to enhance your wellbeing?
Finding quiet time daily for self care.
– Why is it important that we prioritise individual and collective wellbeing?
Our future depends on it and will be shaped by it.
– Do you have any favourite books, podcasts, or articles that you believe support, promote, or educate on wellbeing and related themes?
Anam Cara by John O’Donohue.
