Gaby Arenas de Meneses

TAAP Foundation

Bogota,
Colombia

Gaby is a refugee from Venezuela; she has lived in Colombia for eight years. She is passionate about promoting peaceful coexistence, well-being, and social entrepreneurship through the visual arts and innovation in education. Most of her works focus on the support of the integration of refugees around the world.

Gaby is a Social Communicator who graduated from the Universidad Católica Andrés Bello with a specialization in Journalism and a Master’s degree in Communication for Development, specializing in violence analysis, peacebuilding, and Human Rights in Latin America. Rotary Peace Fellow, with a degree in Peace Studies at Chulalongkorn University.

She leads the Art Team at RoundGlass, developing art programs for holistic well-being.

She is the Founder of the TAAP Foundation, an organization created to promote peaceful coexistence and sustainable development in communities that have impacted more than 4.5 million people in 14 countries.

She was the developer and first executive director of Aid Live Foundation, an organization created to support Venezuelan refugees in Colombia.

Gaby is a Rotary Peace Fellow, Opportunity Collaboration Fellow, CAFAM Atlántico Woman, Ashoka Fellow, Perennial Fellow, winner of the Ideas Contest in the Social Entrepreneurship category, and finalist in the Social Entrepreneur of the Year award from the Schwab Foundation and Venezuela Sin Limites Foundation. In addition, the She Is Foundation recognizes her as Social Woman of the Year 2022.

Social entrepreneur, researcher, and professor of communication. She has been part of diverse projects and has been a coordinator and speaker in forums and meetings worldwide on refugee integration, peacebuilding, and social and educational innovation issues.

Since 2008, she has conducted research in communities linked with the analysis of violence, peacebuilding, and the use of communication and art for social development.
Co-founder of the Weaving Lab, Catalyst 2030, and Colombia Cuida Colombia.

What does inner wellbeing mean to you?

For me, inner well-being is living in peace, recognizing our lights and shadows but being able to heal and improve every day.
It is living positively, connecting with those around you and the environment.
It is living creatively, smiling, and working for yourself and others.

How would you define wellbeing in one word?

For me, it is the same as personal well-being but for everyone. I do not believe the world’s well-being is possible if people suffer or feel harm. If we cultivate the emotional, cognitive, social, and planetary dimensions of well-being, we can be more aware and have a world of well-being.

Are there any rituals or practices you use to enhance your wellbeing?

I meditate, practice yoga, dance, and hug my family everyday.

Why is it important that we prioritize individual, organizational and societal wellbeing?

All of them.

Do you have any favourite books, podcasts, or articles that you believe support, promote, or educate on wellbeing and related themes? 

I have many resources including:

Connect with Gaby Arenas de Meneses on social media :

TAAP Fundation's website

Renald Morris

Networks Elder at The Wellbeing Project

Johannesburg; Gauteng Province,
South Africa

Renald is a South African living on the outskirts of the city of Johannesburg. He grew up during the time when the apartheid government was in power having to endure and overcome the injustices of the time. Upon completion of his secondary education he ventured into the mechanical engineering field where he gained experience in the areas of quality assurance, design and development, client liaison, and, production management. He left this sector for the Non-Governmental Sector after 15 years as result of his deep interest in social justice and community development.

The next phase of his career spans over a period of 25 years. In his newly-found path, he played a key role in dealing with the political violence which preceded and threatened the birth of the New South Africa. This included working with opposing political leaders towards stabalising communities so that the aspirations of the new democratic government could find fertile ground. This work later contributed to courses in peace education in schools and the University of South Africa.

His passion for the protection of women and children’s rights presented him with further opportunities to contribute to the national policy framework and to set up a national leadership development network directed at improving government services to women and children – especially those most vulnerable. Similar leadership development initiatives were also undertaken on a global scale working with multi-stakeholder social changemakers on in-country social and economic challenges.

Over the past eight years, Renald engaged with the work of The Wellbeing Project which inspired him to incorporate personal and organisational wellbeing into his leadership development work. After serving The Wellbeing Project as a co-creator under the banner of Synergos, he transitioned to the role of Network Elder where he continues to work with a fabulous team of people on growing and expanding the knowledge and practice-base on personal and organisational wellbeing globally.

Collectively his skills can be summarised as (among others) fundraising, program design and implementation, project management, fluency in English and Afrikaans, computer literacy, convening and facilitating gatherings, knowledge sharing, training, story collection, collaboration, partnership building, research, mentoring, M&E, reporting, advocacy, stakeholder liaison, grant-making and management.

He is an avid rugby and cricket supporter and loves classic and vintage cars. His philosophy is to look for opportunity in unusual places because, the dark reveals no horizons and therefore no limits.

What does inner wellbeing mean to you?

Understanding what is needed to sustain you from within.

How would you define wellbeing in one word?

Gratification.

Are there any rituals or practices you use to enhance your wellbeing?

Reflection time.

Why is it important that we prioritise individual and collective wellbeing?

So that we have a healthy and happy world.

Connect with Renald Morris on social media :

sandrine woitrin

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.

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.

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.

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.