Chris Underhill

Social Entrepreneur and Professional Mentor

Chris Underhill MBE is a social entrepreneur and professional mentor. He has worked in the field of the Wellbeing, Resilience, and Mental Health since he started Thrive in 1978 (www.thrive.org.uk). The organisation provides to this day an opportunity for many people with different needs to benefit from gardening and horticulture whether as a hobby or a vocation. Chris is a serial social innovator and has established many organisations over the years in addition to Thrive. To give several examples: Action on Disability and Development (ADD), working in the developing world with disabled people creating systems of representation, advocacy, and policy creation. BasicNeeds in the field of community mental health worldwide, and citiesRISE in the field of mental health and the big city.

He has founded several other organisations as well, but coming up to date, he Chairs the Mental Health Collaboration of Catalyst 2030 and is cofounder of the Elders Council for Social Entrepreneurs. The Elders Council for Social Entrepreneurs gives practical support to founders as they make successions within and away from their organisations as well as the encouragement of younger social entrepreneurs as they field the complex challenges and transitions that inevitably confront them.

Chris is a well-known and sought after professional mentor and his practice, Mentor Services, has been carefully nurtured since 2000. Chris has been married to Giselle for 52 years, and they have three grown-up children and six grandchildren. He is an Elder of the Wellbeing Project and attended the Wellbeing Summit in Bilbao working on both Eldership and Mental Health within the wider context of Wellbeing. He is a recipient of the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship, an awardee in Social Entrepreneurship of the Schwab Foundation, and a Senior Fellow of Ashoka. In 2000 he was honoured with an MBE by HRH the Queen for his work in disability and development.

Click here to learn more about Mentor Services.

Connect with Chris Underhill on social media :

Amel Murphy

Embodied Beings

Wokingham, Berkshire,
United Kingdom.

Amel is a trauma-informed Wellbeing & leadership facilitator and coach with over 20 years of experience in accompanying groups and individuals on the journey to belonging and wellbeing. Amel believe that to restore wellbeing and reclaim our voices and sense of belonging to ourselves and the world, we need to reconnect to our Seselelame: “Feel Feel At Flesh Inside”. We live in a world that values the mind’s intelligence over other intelligence; therefore, Amel’s work is about reconnecting to our felt sense to metabolise our experiences and release stuck energies and patterns to invite a new way of beings and showing up in the world. Amel delights in working with groups as she believes in the healing power of being witnessed by others as we navigate and touch the dis-ease of the inner experience. The community helps us remember we aren’t alone, allowing us to drop in even more and touch what needs to heal. Amel’s works are informed by different modalities, including; movement therapy, art, systemic constellation, energy work, storytelling, and mindfulness. In addition, Amel loves to work with body intelligence in service of renewal. Amel believes The Wellbeing Project work is fundamental to shifting the narrative around self-care/ inner wellbeing within the sector and globally. Offering safe, structured containers for participants to slow down, explore, release, reframe and renew their life force and work purpose. Amel lives in South England with her husband, John and their cat Taz. Amel loves traveling and exploring new cultures and food traditions. She has worked and lived in 17 countries.

What does inner wellbeing mean to you?

Inner wellbeing is that sense of ease and flow I experience as I move through the day, experiencing different aspects of life. It’s this capacity to rest in not knowing, rest in doubt, rest in imperfection, rest in love and pain. It this experience of this also shall pass. It’s the moments of awe for life and being moved in the presence of someone.

How would you define wellbeing in one word?

In Flow.

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

One of my favourite wellbeing practice is dance, moving to my body’s rhythm while listening to music, allowing myself to be moved. Also, journaling allows me to check in with myself in the morning and direct my energy as I tend to what is in the way and what has life.

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

To thrive, to reconnect to our hearts, to stop the continues act of violence toward ourselves (self-hatered), towards the planet and everyone around. To experience belonging, to communion with others, and to dare to thrive.

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

Radical wholeness, rooted, the untethered soul, the myth of normal, Us.

How would you define wellbeing in one word?

Podcast: Brene Brown, Dare to Lead. Book: Wisdom of the Enneagram. Meditations: Tara Brach

Connect with Amel Murphy on social media :

Personal website
CoCo Labs's website

Bilal Ghalib

Bloom.pm

Beirut, Lille, Detroit –
Lebanon, France, Michigan/USA

Bilal Ghalib is the co-founder and Head of Research at Bloom. He has 18 years of experience working with social enterprises and organizations in the USA and MENA. He helped found Bloom in 2016 with the vision of creating positive change by facilitating personal and professional development for social entrepreneurs in the Middle East and Africa. Bilal holds a Master’s degree from the Universite de Paris in Interdisciplinary Approaches to Research and Education. He applies his expertise at Bloom by conducting research and development on applied positive psychological frameworks for creating a community-oriented, online learning environment for startups. Furthermore, he manages team development, builds organizational partnerships, and co-facilitates online accelerator programs.

What does inner wellbeing mean to you?

Inner wellbeing is a state of equanimity that arises from patience and acceptance of what is. It means to have the knowledge and skills to be able to take care of the challenges and stressors that life brings.

How would you define wellbeing in one word?

Balance.

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

Alongside meditation and journaling, I find that building rich and vulnerable friendships support my wellbeing.

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

The ripple-down effects impact every level of society. Firstly healthy minds and hearts are their own reward. Secondly, there are many impacts from the reduction of stress leading to less costs of healthcare, to a person’s okness changing(reducing) their consumption patterns, to more effective teams, to confidence in choosing vocations which support a healthy person and a healthy planet. It seems wellbeing, where ever it manifests, is both the reward and the way to a more positive future.

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

I loved the onbeing podcast. Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching, the Quran. A Hidden Wholeness by Parker Palmer. Atlas of the Heart by Brene Brown. An Everyone Culture by Robert Kegan and many others

Connect with Bilal Ghalib on social media :

Personal website
Bloom's website

Gerald Wirth

Professor and Choirmaster

Prof. Gerald Wirth received his first musical training as a member of the Vienna Boys Choir and at the Anton Bruckner University in Linz, Austria, where he studied voice, oboe and piano. In 2001, he became artistic director of the Vienna Boys Choir, in 2013, its president.

Wirth was a choirmaster of the Vienna Boys Choir and chorus master at the state theater Salzburg. After 1991, he took over the direction of the Calgary Boys’ Choir, became musical director of the Calgary Civic Symphony in Canada. Gerald Wirth has conducted choirs and orchestras all over the world. His first love is the human voice. He holds workshops all over the world, and he can get practically anyone and anything to sing.

Most of his compositions are vocal works. He has written three children’s operas, several large oratorios, motets, and songs. “Carmina austriaca”, his most recent large-scale work, is a cycle of medival songs for large orchestra, mixed chorus, and boys’ choir. Gerald Wirth is often inspired by myths and philosophical texts.

Over the years he developed his own method of music pedagogy. In 2003 he founded the wirth music academy in order to educate music teachers and choir directors according to the wirth method which combines classical music theory, consciousness for sound, training in listening, rhythm training and singing within a holistic approach.

Gerald Wirth trains teachers in schools with little or no access to music, and supports a number of organisations offering workshops for refugees – children and adults – in Jordan, Greece and others. To him, music is the language of emotions understood by everyone; through music, other subjects become accessible. “Music is a gateway to learning, and this is particularly important for children who have never been to a school.”

He is convinced music has a positive influence on every aspect of a person’s being.

Chris Underhill

Social Entrepreneur and Professional Mentor

Chris Underhill MBE is a social entrepreneur and professional mentor. He is a member of the World Economic Forum Global Futures Council on Mental Health and the Chair of the Catalyst 2030 Mental Health Collaborative. Chris is attending the Well Being Summit, Bilbao, with two interests in front of mind. Eldership and Community Mental Health Practice.

Regarding Eldership he is the cofounder of the Elders Council for Social Entrepreneurs. At the age of 73 he is a “young Elder” and is involved in the support of founders as they make transitions in their organisations and in the encouragement of younger social entrepreneurs as they field the complex challenges that inevitably confront them.

Regarding Community Mental Health Chris is the creator of the Model for Mental Health and Development which has been disseminated in some 15 developing countries. Over the years he has founded organisations in the field of wellbeing, resilience, and mental health. For example, Thrive, an organisation working in gardening, disability, resilience, and wellbeing. Also, Action on Disability and Development, working in the developing world with disabled people creating systems of representation, advocacy, and policy creation. In the field of global mental health, he has founded BasicNeeds working on community mental health, and co-founded citiesRISE in the field of mental health youth and the big city.

As a mentor and organisational development advisor he is working with a number of organisations including Spark Inside, CorStone, BecauseYou, Health Leads USA and VidaAfrolatina. Chris has been married to Giselle for 52 years, has three grown up children and six grandchildren. He is a recipient of the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship, an awardee in Social Entrepreneurship of the Schwab Foundation, and a Senior Fellow of Ashoka and has been honoured with an MBE by HRH the Queen for his work in disability and development.

Click here to learn more about Mentor Services.

Connect with Chris Underhill on social media :

Andrea Coleman

Co-Founder Riders for Health

Andrea Coleman Co-founded Riders for Health when she was 41. Until that time she had worked in football and motorcycle racing as a fundraiser and team manager . She is the mother of four children and now has two grandchildren .

Andrea grew up in London . She has no academic qualifications and found school hard and unrewarding spending as little time there as she could get away with.

Starting a social enterprise with no money and three small children was a crazy thing to do but having seen women dying in childbirth with no means to get to a hospital, in rural Africa, she felt there was no choice but find transport solutions. Planning for succession and transition was always something she considered of importance but somehow never found time or will to make it a priority. As a result the plan for her own future and the future of Riders were neglected and made the inevitable process a tough one. She wondered who she was with out Riders. ‘ It was part of me’ she says. Andrea wonders how she would have managed without the Wellbeing Project. ‘It saved me’. And Riders survived and flourished too under the brilliant new leadership of Kayode Ajayi from Nigeria. Andrea believes that what she learned along the way can be of use to others. Andrea, now 74, has recently founded Two Wheels for Life to continue support for Riders work and Co-founded The Elders Council for Social Entrepreneurship because elders are relevant and , if we are lucky, we all get there but the lessons of others to help to navigate it can only be of help.

She loves adventurous walks with her husband and Riders Co founder, Barry Coleman, riding motorcycles and spending time with her grandchildren.

Lesson number one from the Elders- begin planning succession from start up.

Aakash Odedra

Dancer and Choreographer

Aakash Odedra was born in Birmingham, UK and lives in Leicester. He is a globally recognised and award-winning dancer and choreographer. He trained in bharatanatyam and kathak, then moved to India as a student of the renowned Bollywood choreographer Shiamak Davar. Aakash Odedra’s work forms the heart of the company and as a soloist he has performed over 300 full length performances in 40 countries in the past decade. His choreography pushes boundaries, responding to and drawing inspiration from contemporary issues. As a British-Asian, Aakash Odedra uses his voice to translate ancient and contemporary movement languages to tell new stories

Awards include the Amnesty International Award for Freedom of Expression; Best Dance at the Eastern Eye ACTA Awards 2018; a nomination for Best Stage Production at the 2019 Asian Media Awards for #JeSuis; and in 2021, Aakash was a awarded a British Empire Medal in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours for his services to dance. Notable commissions include James Brown: Get on the Good Foot (Apollo Theater, NY). In 2017 Aakash choreographed the Royal Opera House production Sukanya composed by the late great Pt Ravi Shankar and was movement director for Curve Theatre’s Pink Sari Revolution.

As a solo performer his awards include: Danza&Danza award (Italy); Dora performance award (Canada); Audience Award Dance Week (Croatia); Infant Award (Serbia); Bessie Award New York (Best Male Performer); and a Sky Academy Arts Scholarship.

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Imam Sayed Razawi

British scholar and religious leader

Imam Sayed Razawi is a British scholar and religious leader with a research interest in Islamic philosophy, mysticism, and comparative religion. In particular, he focuses upon the concept of “love” theoretically and applies his insights as a practitioner of theology to expound upon the values and thought-system of Islam on one hand and to undertake interfaith dialogue and peacebuilding through civil society engagement on the other.

He is the Chief Imam and Director General of the Scottish Ahlul Bayt Society (SABS). He is also an associate and a director at Harvard University’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, as well as being a Visiting Scholar at the University of Strathclyde.

Nationally, he has served as an advisor on the United Kingdom’s Independent Sharia Review commissioned by Theresa May and participates as a member of the Oxfam GB Zakat Advisory Panel. He is also a trustee for Faith for the Climate.

Internationally, Imam Razawi is a trustee and member of multiple international organizations and non-governmental bodies including an international Trustee of Religions for Peace (RfP), a member of the European Council of Religious Leaders (ECRL), a member of the United Nation (UN) Multi-Faith Advisory Council, and an advisory board member of the Islamic Reporting Initiative (IRI).

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Alicia Framis

Multidisciplinary Artist

Alicia Framis (1967, Barcelona, Spain) is a multidisciplinary artist that comments, in her artistic practice, on outdated or uneven societal power structures and misgivings, formulating in her projects that range in scope from performance art, design, architecture and garments, new ways of reclaiming social spaces for the under privileged, overseen, undervalued, in contemporary cultures. As an artist she deals directly with her role as part of society, staging large scale interventions to shake up general economic systems and social structures. Her interventions are often seen as social sculptures, combining the designed aesthetic and idealist conviction, as an artwork with an active role for the viewer.

Framis was the director of the Master’s program at Sandberg Institute (Rietveld Academy), for Commoners Society which explored new ways of living and working together. She studied at the Barcelona University and the École de Beaux Arts in Paris. She completed two masters programs, one at the Institute d’Hautes Etudes, Paris and another at Rijksacademie Van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam.

Art can function as a strong reminder in the public debate that the shine of innovation and the common markers of prosperity, often actively shape an exclusive model of reality that far from covers the many layered complexities of societies in innovation growth mode.

As an artistic cross disciplinary approach, performance art can on a profound level challenge the broad reverberations of these contemporary societal shifts as an empathic, artistic communication tool for introspection. Performance as a practice can so effectively explore interpersonal relations and social dynamics, as public spectacle or one on one experiences.

The many forms performative artistic practice art can take are always in evolution. Exploring the materiality of performative practice and embracing the fluidity of the form, is of vital importance. Actions, poems, conferences, interventions, immaterial performances, collaborations.

At the same time Framis’ work is not only performance because performance is always something in movement, in her case she works with interactive sculptures, garments, videos and photography.

Click here to find out more about Alicia Framis.

WATCH HER VIDEOS ON VIMEO

Read on for an exclusive Q&A with Alicia ahead of the Summit:

What does wellbeing mean to you?

For me wellbeing is a state of mind and body in which we are at peace with ourselves and our surroundings. Wellbeing is achieved, it is not given to us. That is why we humans have to always strive to achieve wellbeing. Wellbeing is naturally in nature, it is a state of abundance for humans, but at a time when we break the ecosystem and mankind is more concerned about power than anything else, humans then suffer from shortages and injustices, and then wellbeing again becomes a goal.

Why are you looking forward to being part of The Wellbeing Summit?

It is a great opportunity to connect with other disciplines, I believe the subject is so interesting that I hope connect there with all kinds of visitors: financiers, gurus, artists, creatives, innovators, engineers, etc. I think we have to unite to make our society better, we must live better, it is our right; the state of deprivation, poverty, the cult of the body, are all things that have to disappear.

How does your work connect to wellbeing?

My work connects to wellbeing in two ways: one is by being a part of a group of artists, collaborating with them on this subject. Secondly, the subject of wellbeing is part of my personal research as an artist – the wellbeing of people, how to live better and create new possibilities. I believe that art is a tool to bring people together.

How does your work for the summit bring you and your audience closer to wellbeing?

I believe that my work is a way of reflecting on how we can live better. The paraglider that I am making has a phrase on it that can be seen from everywhere – it says: WE ALL BELONG TO THE SAME SUN.

Connect with Alicia Framis on social media :

Ana Janošev

Social Impact Award

Berlin,
Germany

Ana Janosev, in her role as the Managing Director, is leading Social Impact Award, one of the world’s largest communities of early-stage social entrepreneurs under 30, active in Europe, Africa and Asia. Ana is committed to build capacity among early-stage entrepreneurs and foster cross-sector dialogues on the topic of social entrepreneurship. Based in Vienna, Austria, she is leading a diverse team of 100+ SIA team members and is overseeing the community growth and strategic development. Moreover, Ana is an experienced workshop and event facilitator, trained in design thinking and organizational development. She enjoys designing events which bring people together and is curious about how people connect in different settings. Ana is a frequent speaker and moderator at events and conferences with a focus on social entrepreneurship, social innovation, and youth advocacy. Before she joined Social Impact Award in 2018, Ana was a Program and Partnerships Manager at Razlivalište (Serbia), coordinating Social Impact Award Serbia and other youth programs, with a strong focus on fundraising. Ana holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs. She received two scholarships from the U.S. Department of State for education in the U.S. In 2022, Ana was received a recognition as Top 100 Women in Social Enterprise by Euclid Network.

– What does inner wellbeing mean to you?

Being content from within with the life you have, finding spaces to engage and re-connect with yourself and your purpose.

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

Exercise, long walks, reading

Connect with Ana Janošev on social media :

Social Impact Award