Kevin M. Gallagher is an author, attorney, and facilitator dedicated to repairing the human relationship to nature. He is the founder of Emergent Resilience, a non-profit organization that helps organizations, communities and individuals build resilience for a climate changing world. He is a national convener for the Council on the Uncertain Human Future and has trained with the Sati Center for Buddhist Studies, the Center for Council, and the School of Lost Borders. Kevin spent a decade in Washington, D.C. working on climate change policy and international peace building.
John Foran, co-founder of the Eco Vista Transition Initiative: active since early 2019 with a mission of transforming Isla Vista into a nearly-carbon neutral, socially just, and vibrant eco-village by 2030. We work on 1) responding to food insecurity, enhancing gardening and permaculture, and reducing food waste, 2) learning how to design and build a circular economy of low-carbon services that show care for the community and might provide employment and opportunities, and 3) creating art, music, social media, news/zines, and activist scholarship. I hope we might deepen practices of guided retreats, yoga and meditation, talks and workshops, and cultural-spiritual events that celebrate and cultivate a regenerative and imaginative activism.
I am Michael Kearney, a Celt and a lover of birds and trees. I have worked for over 40 years as a doctor with people who are very seriously ill and at the end of their lives and have seen how, when someone feels “held” (meaning having a sense of deep inner security) by someone or something they trust; they are able to face uncertainty without fear. If my spiritual path were a tapestry, the two greenest threads are Buddhism and Living Earth connection practices, summarized by the Buddha and Mother Bodhi tree sitting together. What I wish to do with the rest of my life is to find ways to help young people to experience this in ways that will work for them, whatever unfolds.
I am Radhule Weininger, a psychologist, meditation teacher and co-founder of Mindful Heart Programs. I have a Buddhist meditation practice for 40 years and strive to bring this into my work as a psychologist and as environmental and social activist. Social, environmental, and racial justice are interconnected for me, and so is my response. I love to work with young people and to enable them to experience the interconnectedness of all life through contemplative practice. I have seen how this opens the heart and leads to a sustainable compassionate response.
Once a Neuroscientist studying brain systems, I now work to transform social systems like school cultures. I co-created the Kind Mind school program: weekly mindfulness, compassion and nature-connection practices, weaved into social-emotional lessons. We mentor teachers to guide Kind Mind lessons on their own when they are ready. I also create mindful experiences with art for SB Museum of Art. I envision incorporating nature immersion experiences in Kind Mind that lead organically to education and motivation toward wise climate actions and a sense of belonging.
