Reconnecting for a Just and Regenerative Future
April 11–13, 2025
There is no ecological liberation without collective liberation!
Join us for a transformative three-day in-person or virtual conference at Naropa University, the birthplace of contemplative education, as we celebrate 50 years of visionary learning.
The conference will focus on social-ecological justice through a collective liberation framework, addressing our current polycrisis and envisioning pathways toward a just, resilient, and regenerative future for all. Engage in dynamic discussions and hands-on workshops that challenge the status quo and inspire courageous action to resist ‘Business as Usual.’
What You Will Experience
Join us at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado to experience:
- Authentic Community Connection: Engage deeply with like-minded individuals, fostering lasting relationships in a vibrant academic atmosphere.
- Interactive Learning: Participate in small group workshops and discussions that encourage collaboration and creativity. Engage in social events, art, poetry, and music that offer additional avenues for connection and relaxation outside formal sessions.
- Nourishing Meals: Enjoy delicious, healthy meals that fuel your body and mind throughout the event, while providing opportunities to connect over shared dining experiences that enhance networking.
- Participate in somatic practice experiences to build even more capacity for resiliency and wellness.
- Experience spring in the Rocky Mountains while creating friendships and stories to last a lifetime!
Conference Schedule
- Friday, April 11: 3:30–9:30 p.m. MT
- Saturday, April 12: 7:00 a.m.–9:30 p.m. MT
- Sunday, April 13: 8:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m. MT
Registration
At the Reconnecting for a Just and Regenerative Future Conference, we believe that access to knowledge and community should not be limited by financial constraints.
To honor the diverse experiences and systemic challenges faced by individuals in our community, we are proud to introduce our Pay It Forward / Pay What You Can pricing model with pricing at set intervals between $108–608. See The Gift Economy: Pay It Forward / Pay What You Can Pricing Option.
Conference Schedule
3:30–4:30 pm: Registration Opens
4:30–5:30 pm: Opening Ceremony—Danza Azteca Dance & Prayer (Nalanda Events Center)
Grupo Tlahuitzcalli
Grupo Tlahuitzcalli is a family centered Aztec Dance Group dancing in Boulder, Colorado and rooted in reviving and strengthening the philosophy, dance and ceremonies of various Indigenous traditions from the regions of what is today central and southern Mexico.
For several centuries, our ancestors were forced to keep this beautiful tradition hidden in the midst of extreme persecution against Indigenous peoples and our every way of life. Today, after much work on behalf of our ancestors and elders, we have the opportunity to dance and share our traditions publicly. We do so with great respect and responsibility to preserve and honor this invaluable and beautiful way of life for future generations.
5:30–6:30 pm: Welcoming Reception & Community Organization Tabling
6:30–8:00 pm: Conference Keynote Address: Mutima Imani
"The Promise of the Great Turning and the Expanded Spiral" with Mutima Imani
As humanity stands at the threshold of unprecedented global transformation, we are called to reconnect with the wisdom of the Earth and each other to co-create a just and regenerative future. In this keynote, Mutima will weave together insights from The Promise of the Great Turning, inviting participants to explore how Joanna Macy’s Work That Reconnects can evolve to meet the challenges of our time.
Grounded in the principles of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion, the expanded spiral framework integrates self-awareness, social location, and the legacies of systemic oppression into the WTR’s transformative journey. This approach not only deepens our capacity to honor pain for the world but also empowers us to use our moral imagination with ancient wisdom and take collective action toward liberation and healing.
Through the themes of resilience, regeneration, and liberation Dharma, this keynote will explore how shifts in consciousness, life-sustaining systems, and practices aligned with the Great Turning can transform our relationships with ourselves, our communities, and the planet. Join Queen Rev. Mutima imani in an experiential exploration of how to catalyze the systemic and spiritual change necessary to nurture life and build a thriving, interconnected world.
Queen Rev. Mutima Imani is an internationally recognized facilitator, speaker, and author specializing in transformative practices that awaken personal and collective potential for a thriving global society. As the convener of Awaken to Love and a dedicated steward of the Work That Reconnects (WTR), Mutima brings a decolonized, inclusive lens to themes of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) in social and environmental activism. Drawing on a wealth of experience as a spiritual leader and healer, Mutima intertwines ancestral wisdom, deep ecology, and community-based practices to address the root causes of oppression, disconnection, and ecological collapse.
Mutima is the author of The Promise of the Great Turning, a groundbreaking exploration of how Joanna Macy’s WTR spiral can evolve to address the polycrisis of our time. With a focus on healing intergenerational and racial trauma, nurturing resilience, and fostering liberation, She empowers individuals and communities to navigate the transition toward a just, regenerative future.
8:00–9:30 pm: Concert Spiral: Eileen and the In-betweens
Eileen and the In-betweens
8:00–8:30 am: Morning Meditation – Nalanda Events Center
8:00–9:00 am: Coffee and light refreshments – Nalanda 9184
Dimensions: Shifts in Consciousness
8:45–9:00 am: Lenz Foundation Joanna Macy Residential Fellow: Monica Mueller
Monica Mueller, PhD—Lenz Foundation Joanna Macy Center Residential Fellow
9:00–9:15 am: EcoClown: Lesley Joy Quilty
EcoClown: Lesley Joy Quilty
Lesley Joy Quilty is a creative consultant, leadership presenter and coach, facilitator of psychedelic-assisted ceremonies, and professional clown.
Lesley’s work as a clown began in the Findhorn Community in Scotland, where she has lived and been a student of Joanna’s since 1986. Trained at Dell’Arte School of Physical Theatre in northern California, initiated through many years of touring theatre and circus in North America and the UK, Lesley was employed for fifteen years as a Clown Doctor in children’s hospitals and hospices throughout Scotland, supporting and empowering children with life-limiting illnesses and their families. As Racy the ‘Eco-clown Consultant’ she creates and performs at environmental, educational and corporate conferences and events. She believes in the power of insightful humor to increase compassion, courage and connectedness and to fuel positive change.
9:15–10:15 am: Joel Glanzberg: Remembering Our Pattern Mind
Joel Glanzberg: Remembering Our Pattern Mind
We are out of touch with reality because we are lost in our heads, arguing over abstract concepts when experience surrounds us. This disconnection from ourselves and the rest of the living world is the source of our problems that hold us captive repeating the same degenerative cycles. Reconnecting with our oldest human art of traditional tracking/wayfinding we can remember to focus on the patterns of living processes behind the static tracks and structures they left in passing. Just as these letters are static, yet you are reading the movements of my mind that left them. We will explore the implications of regenerating our pattern minds for designing regenerative actions to regenerate the living world.
Joel Glanzberg is an applied naturalist with nearly four decades of experience, residing in the North Fork Valley of Western Colorado with his three children. As a founding member of Regenesis Group, Flowering Tree Permaculture Institute, and Pattern Mind, Glanzberg integrates Living Systems Thinking, Permaculture, and Tracking/Wayfinding to help people remember our original living pattern perspective. His approach aims to help people effectively play their human role as community regenerators by rediscovering the patterns of life revealed in the tracks around us.
Throughout his career, Glanzberg has collaborated with a range of clients, including academic institutions such as the California Academy of Sciences, Northern Arizona University, University of Arizona, UC Santa Cruz, and the University of New Mexico. He has also worked with organizations like the Traditional Native American Farmer’s Association, Kiss the Ground, Farmer’s Footprint, and Newland Communities, as well as numerous local communities.
Glanzberg’s expertise in permaculture and living systems design has been recognized in publications such as “Gaia’s Garden” and “Designing for Hope,” which document his early work at the Flowering Tree Permaculture Institute. His contributions to the field have earned him honors from the Center for Sustainable Environments at Northern Arizona University and the Museum of Northern Arizona for his work with traditional crops and agriculture in the American Southwest.
10:30–11:30 am: Adrián Villasenor-Galarza: Earth’s Dharma: A Fertile Pathway of Reconnection & Engaged Liberation
Adrián Villasenor-Galarza, PhD: Earth’s Dharma: A Fertile Pathway of Reconnection & Engaged Liberation
In many ways, the global arena has become a mirror that constantly reflects what’s taking place within. This is a unique opportunity, an ever-present reminder to engage with the deep dimensions of the mind, break through layers of self-enclosure and reactivity, and take refuge in the living, breathing presence that sustains us all, the Earth. Sourcing from over a decade and a half of sharing Joanna Macy’s Work That Reconnects (WTR) in Latin America alongside online, adult education in the U.S. and elsewhere, this presentation advances a “dharma of the Earth”, a means of reconnecting with the Earthly dimensions of wakefulness and compassion at the core of our humanity. The notion of Earth’s dharma is presented through its four main aspects—Earth as home, Earth as healer, Earth as teacher, Earth as (no)self—and associated teachings and examples from the fields of ecopsychology, eco-spirituality, and engaged Buddhism. This is further elaborated by way of personal experience in relation to our planetary moment and the vital role of the Work That Reconnects in tending the historically repressed, the emergence of eco-cultural identities, and the cultivation of a sense of community and personal (eco)resilience.
Adrián Villasenor-Galarza, PhD, is devoted to explore the sustainable and regenerative expression of humanity’s deep potentials. He is the author of of “Bioalchemy,” “Sanación ancestral,” “Corazón del cielo, corazón de la tierra,” “El llamado silvestre de la naturaleza,” “El Gran Giro” and the Spanish translator of Joanna Macy’s and Molly Brown’s seminal book “Coming Back to Life: The Updated Guide of the Work That Reconnects.” He works with groups and individuals internationally on personal transformation, elemental healing, eco-ritual, and earth education.
11:30 am–12:30 pm: Michelle Gabrieloff-Parish: Treatments for Despair: Nature, Action, and Ethnofuturism
Michelle Gabrieloff-Parish: Treatments for Despair: Nature, Action & Ethnofuturism
Injustice and disconnection seem to rule. But Nature teaches us that massive regeneration—and beauty—for all is possible. The times need us to take action- especially rooted, communal, dynamic, balanced action. Let’s explore the possibilities, grow our imaginative capacities, hold space for our grief, anxiety, and rage, and learn from current local projects for Eco-Social Justice & stewardship to (re)create a more just and beautiful world.
Michelle Gabrieloff-Parish brings over 28 years of experience uniting sustainability with social justice. As a former U.S. State Department BoldFood fellow (Uganda) and U.S. delegate for the Colorado River in Mexico, Michelle has represented her community on national and international stages. Amplifying voices at the intersection of equity and environmental stewardship, she has served on the Colorado Water Equity Partnership and the State of Colorado’s Biochar Working Advisory. She has seeded multiple social impact ventures including: Candelas Glows nuclear guardianship project, “Once and Future Green” consulting firm, and FLOWS (Foundations for Leaders Organizing for Water and Sustainability), a local Environmental Justice organization highlighting and building Frontline community leadership in sustainability, racial justice, and beyond.
Michelle coaches Frontline communities, governments, and institutions in community-led climate solutions with transformative anti-oppression and ecological design tools. Michelle is also a mother, permaculture educator, and a poet, currently featured at Meow Wolf Denver.
12:30–1:45 pm: Lunch
Dimension: Life Sustaining Systems & Practices
1:45–3:00 PM: Naropa Faculty Panel Discussion
Applying the Work that Reconnects in Today’s World with Travis Cox, Anna Dinallo, Stephanie Yuhas, Ramon Parish, and Peter Grossenbacher
A pioneer in contemplative psychological science, Dr. Peter Grossenbacher holds a PhD in experimental psychology from the University of Oregon, and has taught in psychology, counseling, and education programs at Naropa University since 2000. Practicing meditation since 1980, Peter teaches mindfulness, meditation, and related practices in a variety of Buddhist and secular contexts. Deeply inspired by Joanna Macy’s Work That Reconnects, Peter shares innovative connective practices circulating through participants’ interiority and a shared sense of thriving in our more-than-human world. He directs a program of research on consciousness, including people’s experience of connection that has been accessed with psychedelics.
Ramon Parish serves as an associate professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at Naropa University. His scholarly, contemplative, creative and community interests range from rites of passage and initiation, dance and embodiment, creative ceremony, food and environmental justice, restorative and transformative justice, counter-cultural histories, pre/post modern cosmologies, Afrofuturism and collective liberation.
A lifelong resident of Colorado, Ramon is a young-old married guy, father of three spirited youth, a lover of rain, weather, stars and all things that foster beauty, intelligence and wisdom. His pedagogy centers awakening and strengthening the innate genius in each student. He believes that each person has a “golden thread” to help through the labyrinth of life. Through and beyond disciplines, his work as an educator is to help others become familiar with and follow those threads.
3:15–4:30 pm: Jeanine Canty: Entering Liminal Spaces: Consciousness Unravelling and Repatterning through Ecological and Social Weaving
Jeanine Canty, PhD: Entering Liminal Spaces: Consciousness Unravelling and Repatterning through Ecological and Social Weaving
Spaces of liminality, third spaces, often emerge when two distinct phenomena begin to relate and birth something new. An important dimension within The Great Turning is a shift of paradigms, helping folks to understand and shift their values, perceptions, and hopefully actions – their worldviews. This process is dependent upon working with folks from where they are at, their current paradigms and going just past their comfort levels. Within this session, we will look at the phenomena of facilitating worldview transformation when engaging both ecological and social issues utilizing transformative learning theory, concepts from Joanna Macy and Molly Young Brown, Bennett’s model of cultural sensitivity, and ecopsychology. Participants should be prepared to encounter difficult emotions, engage in experiential practice, and to be in respectful, compassionate community.
Jeanine M. Canty, PhD, is a professor of transformative studies at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in San Francisco, telecommuting from Boulder, CO. Formerly the chair of environmental studies at Naropa University, she continues to teach at Naropa and at Pacifica Graduate Institute’s ecopsychology certificate program. A lover of nature, justice, and contemplative practice, her teaching intersects issues of social and ecological justice, ecopsychology, and the process of worldview expansion and change. She is author of Returning the Self to Nature: Undoing our Collective Narcissism and Healing our Planet (Shambhala Publications, 2022) and her most recent edited book is an expanded, second edition of Ecological and Social Healing: Multicultural Women’s Voices (Routledge, April 2025).
4:30–5:30 pm: Joanna Macy Earth Guardian Fellow: Ian Sanderson
Ian Sanderson, Joanna Macy Earth Guardian Fellow: Forces of Connection
Dimension: Nurturing Life
7:00–8:00 pm: "Narratives of Connection: A Tribute to Joanna Macy"—Sherry Ellms, Mutima Imani, Christopher Hormel, and more!
8:00–9:30 pm: Featured Artist-Scholar: Lydia Violet: Echoes of Humanity: Work that Reconnects from the Road
Lydia Violet Harutoonian: Echoes of Humanity: Work that Reconnects from the Road
How do the Spiral practices of the Work That Reconnects sound when sung in many tongues? What does Active Hope look like in Scottish mountain towns, Sudanese healing circles, or WTR retreats in Alabama? In this keynote, I’ll share stories from 16 years of bringing Joanna Macy’s work into diverse communities—where Gratitude becomes a revivified lifeline, Honoring Our Pain breaks inherited silences, and Seeing with New/Ancient Eyes opens unexpected doorways to solidarity and healing. Woven with live musical performance, these reflections trace the living, breathing Spiral as it moves through many lives and landscapes. Together, we’ll explore how the Great Turning pulses through the stories we tell, the songs we share, and the communities we tend.
Lydia Violet Harutoonian is a modern-day renaissance woman, combining her scholarship, leadership skills, spiritual passion, and musical talent to create spaces that grow personal inspiration and community development. Her passions for justice, education, and healing come through in the myriad of programs and performances she is a part of every year, whether collaborating with First Nations in Canada, herbalists in Costa Rica, prison activists in Scotland, or American feminist hip hop artists. She founded and runs the School for the Great Turning, an educational organization based on her 14-year-study with international activist and scholar Joanna Macy. Through the school Lydia facilitates spaces for education and healing for hundreds of students every year, both online and in-person.
Saturday, April 12: 10:00–10:45 am - ROOM 9195
Chair Yoga with Peter Michaelson
Saturday, April 12: 11:00–11:45 am - meet in ATRIUM (south side of the building)
Dr. Tina Fields: Reminding Wounded Land of its Original Goodness
The idea of a “nature-connection” session in Colorado likely brings up visions of wandering through a bucolic forest with the sun gently dappling the trees. As it currently stands, Nalanda Campus presents challenges. Drawing upon a fusion of JMC’s Seeing with New Eyes, Trebbe Johnson’s Radical Joy for Hard Times, and Chogyam Trungpa’s emphasis on Basic Goodness, this brief nature-connection workshop will help us see the ongoing life-force and gifts beneath the wounds in both places and ourselves. We will honor and help remind this wounded land of its original Beauty.
Saturday, April 12: 1:00–3:00 pm - ROOM 9235
Drop-in Tea Ceremony with Sarah and Drea
Please join Chadō practitioners Andrea Becker and Sarah Richards Graba of the Naropa Tea House for a drop-in tea ceremony. Come when you can and leave when you like. Enjoy a sweet and a bowl of matcha prepared in the Urasenke style (a lineage of Japanese tea ceremony). This is a contemplative space (rather than a social one), where we will practice “peacefulness through a bowl of tea” together. Take time to connect to nature and the seasons, and to integrate the learnings from the conference. This is a quiet opportunity to deepen into questions about collective liberation, social-ecological justice, and what we mean by “a regenerative future for all.”
Questions? Contact us at naropateahouse@naropa.edu
Sarah Richards Graba is a writer and teacher with an eclectic spiritual life that includes zen, yoga, witchcraft, shamanism, tea ceremony, and more. She is an adjunct professor at Naropa, primarily teaching writing in the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics. She has been studying chanoyu for over 10 years (after discovering it at the Naropa Tea House), and has been a lover of all tea for life. She is also an alumnx of JKS, graduating in 2014.
Andrea (Drea) Becker, Writer, Photographer, Chajin, graduated from JKS in 2018 and has been studying Chadō for seven years. www.dreadoes.com
Saturday, April 12: 1:00–2:00 pm - ROOM 9189
Nuclear Guardianship Nexus with Eileen O'Shaughnessy
Saturday, April 12: 1:00–2:00 pm - ROOM 9184
The Cradling Revisited with Jeanine Canty, PhD
Jeanine M. Canty, PhD, is a professor of transformative studies at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in San Francisco, telecommuting from Boulder, CO. Formerly the chair of environmental studies at Naropa University, she continues to teach at Naropa and at Pacifica Graduate Institute’s ecopsychology certificate program. A lover of nature, justice, and contemplative practice, her teaching intersects issues of social and ecological justice, ecopsychology, and the process of worldview expansion and change. She is author of Returning the Self to Nature: Undoing our Collective Narcissism and Healing our Planet (Shambhala Publications, 2022) and her most recent edited book is an expanded, second edition of Ecological and Social Healing: Multicultural Women’s Voices (Routledge, April 2025).
Saturday, April 12: 1:45–3:00 pm - ROOM 9176
Restoring Balance to Sacred Plant Medicines with Gabriela Galindo & Daniel Castro
An accelerating “Psychedelic Movement” is rapidly expanding into academic, pharmaceutical, corporate, therapeutic, private interest and legislation spaces all around. Even as the movement builds upon current inequities and injustices, it is often referred to as a renaissance and an unstoppable train that has long left the station.
Fortunately, the wisdom of the Condor and Eagle offers us insights for weaving healthy pathways of relating to Sacred Plant Medicines and the Indigenous peoples who steward them. The Condor and Eagle, our bird relatives who fly the highest and closest to Creator Sun, carry the wisdom of countless generations from their observations of humanity on Earth. Sacred Plant Medicines help us come back to our home, Mother Earth, and many are remembering and nourishing our ancestral roots, processing our cultural and ancestral grief. The people of the Condor and Eagle nations -Indigenous peoples from Turtle Island, Anahuac and Abya Yala- preserve and embody cosmovisions for walking in beauty, balance and integrity with our unique ancestral lineages, ecosystems, sacred plant medicines and spirit realms.”
Gabriela Galindo, also known as Tonalli Teopapalotl, is a weaving of various Indigenous lineages of Mexico, including Nahua and Wixárika as well as Spanish and African lineages. Gabriela enlisted in the U.S. military, graduated with B.S. in Nutrition and offered nutrition and breastfeeding education in public health. She has completed farm, seed saving and natural dyeing apprenticeships, the Mountain Herbalism Field Botany course, the 2022-2023 Colorado Water Fellowship, the 2023-2024 Leadership Fellows Boulder County and is part of a collaborative project with a mobile home community to resolve their 20+ years long clean water crisis. She is the Program Coordinator for FLOWS, a Women of Color founded and led nonprofit centering the leadership of Frontline communities in climate and social justice initiatives. Gabriela serves on the Human Services Advisory Committee and is a Community Connector-in-Residence with the City of Boulder. Gabriela advocates for the preservation and protection of Indigenous peoples, leadership, medicines, cultures and traditions for a return to a just and healthy future for all life on Mother Earth. She is an Aztec dancer and Sahumadora with Grupo Tlahuitzcalli.
Daniel Castro (they/them), 45, is an Mestizo Indigenous Kichwa Two Spirits born and raised in Quito, Ecuador. They began their path of curanderismo at the age of 12, following their ancestral heritage laid out in the Andes Cosmology along with medicine elders from Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, and Chile. In 2009, Daniel initiated a deeper acculturation and apprenticeship process under the guidance of the medicine elders of the Kuyaloma community of Napo, Ecuador. They were given the title of Yachak and received their final regalia in 2017. As a member of the Condor Nation, Daniel has been initiated in the Paq’o (Andean Priest) tradition of the Rainbow Condor Nation and Inca teachings. They are under apprenticeship with an Incan family lineage in Chinchero, Peru. They currently live in Boulder and are an ambassador of their cultural heritage in the US. They have been praying and collaborating with indigenous leaders and communities in Colorado for 6 years. They are a member of the Native Coalition of Colorado, and ceremonial dancer of the Mexica community of Boulder, Tlahuitzcalli. Daniel is one of the nine indigenous members in The Federally Recognized American Tribes and Indigenous Community Working Group, DORA, Natural Medicine Health Act, Colorado. In addition, Daniel is a licensed clinical mental health counselor and provides mental health support to the Colorado community through their private online practice, Decolonial Counseling, LLC.
Saturday, April 12: 2:00–3:00 pm - meet in ATRIUM (south side of the building)
Contemplative Nature Play with Giovannina Jobson
Saturday, April 12: 3:15–4:15 pm - ROOM 9189
Liberation through Movement with Lucy Wallace
Co-facilitators: Laura Andrus; Anna Dinallo; Jenna Noah;Shiela Roberts; Jennika Wildau; Maria Cooper
Saturday, April 12: 4:30–6:00 pm - ROOM 9184
The Ritual: A Spiraling into the Collective Fire of Trans-formation and Liberation
8:00–8:30 am: Morning Meditation: Exchanging Self and Other: The Practice of Tonglen with Charlotte Rotterdam
8:00–9:00 am: Coffee and refreshments—Nalanda 9184
Going Forth
9:00–10:00 am: Council of All Songs - with Earthly Beings
10:00–11:00 am: Kathleen Rude: What Makes You Come Alive? Nurture Resilience in Going Forth by Embracing Joy, Love and Community
Kathleen Rude: What Makes You Come Alive? Nurture Resilience in Going Forth by Embracing Joy, Love and Community
Going Forth invites us to keep making a difference in our lives and the world, one step at a time. It requires that we let go of the need to see the outcome of our actions and to believe that we have power to bring about change. With the many ways to participate in The Great Turning and with so many crises and cruelties breaking our hearts, how do we choose where to put our energies and efforts? Working with the Four Dimensions of The Great Turning, we will explore the power of connecting to joy, love and community to nurture our resilience and effectiveness as difference makers. “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”—Howard Thurman, civil rights leader, mystic and author.
Kathleen Rude is an environmental activist, shamanic practitioner, and author with a BS in Wildlife Ecology and an MS in Natural Resources from the University of Michigan. Her passion for environmental advocacy began at age 10, leading to a 15-year career as an environmental writer. Initiated into indigenous spiritual practices by Blackfoot, Northern Ute, and Lakota elders, Kathleen is also a senior facilitator of The Work That Reconnects, mentored by eco-philosopher Joanna Macy. She serves on the leadership team of the Work That Reconnects Network. She has authored the novel The Redemption of Red Fire Woman and is currently writing How To Be An Every Day Difference Maker. As a board member of Nuclear Energy Information Service, she promotes sustainable renewable energy and the abolition of nuclear power. She is passionate about blending her diverse experiences to inspire others in creative engagement for a just, regenerative, diverse and thriving world for all.
11:00–11:15 am: Eco Clown with Leslie Joy Quilty
Lesley Joy Quilty: Eco Clown
Lesley Joy Quilty is a creative consultant, leadership presenter and coach, facilitator of psychedelic-assisted ceremonies, and professional clown.
Lesley’s work as a clown began in the Findhorn Community in Scotland, where she has lived and been a student of Joanna’s since 1986. Trained at Dell’Arte School of Physical Theatre in northern California, initiated through many years of touring theatre and circus in North America and the UK, Lesley was employed for fifteen years as a Clown Doctor in children’s hospitals and hospices throughout Scotland, supporting and empowering children with life-limiting illnesses and their families. As Racy the ‘Eco-clown Consultant’ she creates and performs at environmental, educational and corporate conferences and events. She believes in the power of insightful humor to increase compassion, courage and connectedness and to fuel positive change.
11:15–11:30 am: Break
11:30 am–12:30 pm: Daniel Castro—Despacho Prayer Ceremony
Daniel Castro—Despacho Prayer Ceremony
Gather your intent and offer gratitude through a Despacho ceremony—a sacred cultural heritage of the Condor Nation led by our Ecuadorian medicine carrier.
Pachamama, our Mother Earth, is benevolent, respected, adored and loved by Andean people. Pachamama is the goddess of fertility and mother of all life on our planet. A Despacho offering is a sacred bundle offering to Pachamama that allows us to give thanks and offer gratitude for all we’ve received from her generosity. Together we will build a harmony and a prayer bundle with flowers, seeds, candies, leaves, cotton, and colorful elements which are then returned to the Earth through either fire, water or burial. We offer seeds for the new and unfolding blessings that await us.
We will dedicate this Despacho for the restoration of humans’ ancestral connection. We will pray for the healing of all those who have come before us, honoring ancestral ways, for the clarity and humbleness of those of us who are embodied here and the co-creation of a more nourishing, caring, and loving society for generations to come.
Despacho offerings are one of the most beautiful and respected Inca ceremonies.
Daniel Castro (they/them), 45, is an Mestizo Indigenous Kichwa Two Spirits born and raised in Quito, Ecuador. They began their path of curanderismo at the age of 12, following their ancestral heritage laid out in the Andes Cosmology along with medicine elders from Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, and Chile. In 2009, Daniel initiated a deeper acculturation and apprenticeship process under the guidance of the medicine elders of the Kuyaloma community of Napo, Ecuador. They were given the title of Yachak and received their final regalia in 2017. As a member of the Condor Nation, Daniel has been initiated in the Paq’o (Andean Priest) tradition of the Rainbow Condor Nation and Inca teachings. They are under apprenticeship with an Incan family lineage in Chinchero, Peru. They currently live in Boulder and are an ambassador of their cultural heritage in the US. They have been praying and collaborating with indigenous leaders and communities in Colorado for 6 years. They are a member of the Native Coalition of Colorado, and ceremonial dancer of the Mexica community of Boulder, Tlahuitzcalli. Daniel is one of the nine indigenous members in The Federally Recognized American Tribes and Indigenous Community Working Group, DORA, Natural Medicine Health Act, Colorado. In addition, Daniel is a licensed clinical mental health counselor and provides mental health support to the Colorado community through their private online practice, Decolonial Counseling, LLC.
12:30–12:45 pm: Closing Remarks
8:00–9:00 am: Yoga Nidra - ROOM 9184
Yoga Nidra: Deep Rest for Active Hope with Tamika Cox
9:00–10:30 am: Somatic Nature Therapy Institute - ROOM 9189
Somatic Nature Therapy Institute with Katie Asmus
In addition, Katie has taught graduate-level wilderness therapy, adventure therapy, ecotherapy, and somatic therapy students at Naropa University and Prescott College for over 20 years, and teaches and presents internationally in these areas of practice.
10:30–11:30 am: The Sanctuary Mindset - ROOM 9176
The Sanctuary Mindset: Compassion in Action for Farmed Animals with Lanette Cook
This interactive session, led by the Education and Experiences Manager at Luvin Arms Animal Sanctuary, explores the transformative work of farmed animal sanctuaries and how students can integrate compassionate action into their lives. Participants will gain insights into the lives of rescued farmed animals, engage in reflective exercises, and discuss ways to support ethical living and animal advocacy.
Lanette Cook, a Humane Educator and the Education and Experiences Manager at Luvin Arms Animal Sanctuary, began her journey advocating for animals in the 7th grade when she discovered what was actually happening to the rabbits in her school’s FFA program. It wasn’t until several years later that she fully realized the impact a single individual could have in improving the lives of animals. As a Dance Educator for over 20 years, Lanette has had the opportunity to be impactful in many young lives. After moving to Colorado from Texas, she went on a tour at Luvin Arms and knew she had found a place where she could fulfill her passion for animal advocacy. Now, as Education and Experiences Manager, she combines her love for teaching with her dedication to animal welfare, inspiring the next generation to live a compassionate and non-violent lifestyle.
The Gift Economy: Pay It Forward / Pay What You Can Pricing Option
We recognize that systemic oppression and economic disparity affect many individuals differently. Our goal is to create an inclusive environment where everyone can participate, learn, and grow, regardless of their financial situation. This initiative is designed to:
- Eliminate Financial Barriers: We want to ensure that cost is not a barrier to attending our conference. By offering flexible pricing, we aim to make our event accessible to all.
- Honor Diverse Experiences: We acknowledge the various forms of systemic oppression that impact economic stability. Our pricing model reflects our commitment to inclusivity and respect for the unique challenges faced by individuals in our community.
How It Works
- Pay What You Can: Attendees are invited to select a ticket price that aligns with their financial situation. Whether you can contribute the full amount or a reduced fee, your participation is valued. Tiered Pricing: $108, $158, $208, $258, $308 (cost of attendance), $358, $408, $458, $508, $558, $608. Anything more than the designated cost of attendance supports others in being able to attend, anything less is considered a discount. We are happy to offer these rates to you on the basis of gift economy.
- Pay It Forward Option: For those who are able, we encourage you to consider contributing above the standard ticket price of $308. Your generosity will help subsidize tickets for others in need, fostering a spirit of community support and shared growth.
- Confidentiality and Respect: We understand that discussing finances can be sensitive. This option is designed to be respectful and confidential, allowing you to choose what feels right for you without judgment.
Conference Producer, Director, and Emcee
Seann Goodman
Seann Goodman, the Deep Space Wrangler, is a transformative futurist and authentic leader who fuses his corrosive magic with community development, at Naropa since 2012. As Naropa’s Director of Mission, Culture, and Inclusive Community, he’s an amplifier bridging technology, the arts, practice, social-ecological justice and equity. An educator and designer who navigates brave spaces, fostering right relationship and belonging. Seann’s compass is calibrated to personal impact and serving from the ground of collective liberation. Armed with non-violent communication, authentic leadership, and permaculture design, he’s an activist-educator ready to terraform the future. Seann holds degrees in Education, History, and Educational Media Design & Technology.
More About the Conference
Naropa University serves as a leader in higher education known for embracing inner discovery and learning. This conference will explore Dr. Joanna Macy’s powerful experiential technology, “The Work That Reconnects,” awakening social-ecological interconnection through themes of the 4 Dimensions of the Great Turning: Holding Actions, Life-Sustaining Systems, Shifts in Consciousness, and Nurturing Life.
Participants will engage with facilitator-scholars in eco-dharma, climate resiliency, nuclear guardianship, regeneration, permaculture, social justice, and more while developing practical skills for personal and collective transformation.
Interested in volunteering, sponsoring, or general questions? Please contact reconnect@naropa.edu.
All conference details are subject to change.
Online Option
If you can’t attend in person, don’t worry, all plenary events will be livestreamed for online participation. And we have opportunities for online participants to connect and network too.
Bonus to All Conference Guests
As a bonus, all attendees will have on demand special access to video recordings from the conference and 6 unique live webinars with our Joanna Macy Fellows and scholar practitioners, following the conference to further our commitment in creating an ongoing community of just and regenerative change makers.
Together, we’ll explore how to reconnect with ourselves, each other, and the living Earth to create a more just, regenerative, and resilient world. Register now to secure your spot!
Hotel Discount
Base Camp Lodge Boulder—Use the code “Naropa” to access a special conference discounted rate of 15% off your stay. Celebrating Pesach/ Passover
Celebrating Pesach/ Passover while you are at the conference? Wondering where the Seder is at? Let us help you connect. Our friends at the JCC Boulder suggest this list of organizations hosting Seders in Boulder on the first night of Passover:
- Boulder Center for Judaism will host a Seder on the First Night of Passover, Saturday, April 12, 7:45 PM at our beautiful new center on 2810 Jay Road. The evening will be educational, inspirational, and sumptuous. RSVP @ www.boulderjudaism.com/seder Adults $45, Children $20, Family $136.
- Congregation Har Hashem will have a community seder on Sunday, April 13: https://www.harhashem.org/event/second-seder.html
- Congregation Nevei Kodesh is hosting a second night seder on Sunday April 13, 4–7 pm. Community Journey into Freedom led by Ba’alat Tefilah Michelle Wolf and Susan Berman https://www.neveikodesh.org/event/community-pesach-seder—time-and-location-tbd.html
Sponsors
Gratitude to our sponsors the BESS Family Foundation, the Lenz Foundation for American Buddhism, the Ladybug Foundation, and Naropa University.
