Contemplative Changemaking Grants

From delivering mindfulness interventions to reduce suffering and strengthen resilience in wartime Ukraine to engaging cancer patients in Chile in forest bathing, Mind & Life’s Contemplative Changemaking grantees are employing diverse contemplative approaches to address urgent real-world needs.

Collectively these grantees are part of a growing global movement of conscious social change as grassroots visionaries embrace contemplative wisdom and practices to build leadership skills and strengthen self-healing and resilience within local communities.

To date, 26 Contemplative Changemaking Grants of up to $10,000 have been awarded to individuals and nonprofit organizations in 14 countries. The growth of this movement is reflected in the more than 365 grant applications we received from 72 countries in 2023.

Ultimately, we seek to build a vibrant community of contemplative changemakers who are able to deepen and scale their reach, while sharing their experiences, lessons learned, and resources for the benefit of others like them.

Note: We are not accepting applications for the Contemplative Changemaking Grants at this time. Please check back on May 1, 2025 for further information.

Grantee Voices

“I have so much gratitude for the Mind and Life Institute for this work of building contemplative communities. What is so unique about the Contemplative Changemaking grant is that it centers on the beneficiaries’ lived experience and their humanity first and foremost.”
— aproteem choudhury, United for Uvalde, United States

“The Contemplative Changemaking Grant is the biggest source of funding for our Climate Action Project at the moment… For the next two years, we have something we can work with to produce results and show what’s really possible in this context.”
— Mansi Kotak, Rahul Kotak Foundation, Kenya

“The Contemplative Changemaking Grant really helped us to expand our project inside the Dzaleka Refugee Camp. With the grant, we have trained 11 trainers and translated our training manuals into 4 languages. We can now reach more people because we have trained more people inside the camp.”
— DharmaJyoti, Yoga Pura Vida Foundation, Spain