Green maple leaves floating on dark water in a pond

Spiritual Civilization Gathering

Tarrytown, NY • May 9, 2024


This meeting will convene members of the Global Philanthropists Circle and the Spiritual Civilization collaborative community to explore the intersection of philanthropy, contemplative practices, self-reflection and spirituality. In brave spaces, leaders in philanthropy discuss how they are bringing inner work to outer action and the impact this creates for social change.  


Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture , Tarrytown, New York 

May 9, 2024 10:00 am - 3:00 pm   

 

PROGRAM

8:00 am Bus departs NY, Synergos office, 1 East 53rd Street to Stone Barns
9:30 am Arrivals and Networking
10:00 am Welcome and Introductions
Melissa Durda, Senior Director, Bridging Leadership, Synergos
10:45 am The Path to One Wisdom: Encouraging and Enabling Contemplative Practice for Inner Transformation
Chen Ling, Executive Director, Tianren Culture
11:15 am Return to Wholeness: Breathwork Talk and Journey
Vivian Rosenthal, Co-founder, Frequency Breathwork
12:00 pm Lunch
1:00 pm  Reflective Walk in Nature
2:00 pm Climate Change - Inside and Out
Nidhi Pandya, Ayurvedic Healer
Pierre Giraud, Founder, Indigo
3:00 pm Meeting Closes
3:30 pm Bus Departs Stone Barns to New York City

 

 

SPEAKERS

 


Chen Ling

Chen Ling is the Executive Director at TianrenCulture, a next-generation social innovation platform based in Hong Kong. She has been with the platform since the beginning of Tianren’s social innovation journey, and contributes to various activities from strategic scoping, to program management, and to ecosystem building. Coming initially from a background in business and investment, she is grateful to have the opportunity to apply her knowledge and skills in social innovation, for creation of greater good in the area of food system transition and inner transformation through contemplative practices. She also enjoys meeting people from all walks of life, hearing their stories, and supporting them or co-creating with them for a shared vision of social good. To her, this is also a journey of personal transformation. Besides the role at TianrenCulture, she also manages the portfolio and impact investments at HeyiHoldings, part of the proceeds from which are used to fund the social innovation programs at TianrenCulture. Chen received her undergraduate degree in Economics from Tsinghua University and MBA degree from Harvard Business School. She was born and raised in mainland China, and currently lives in Hong Kong with her family and an 8-year-old daughter.


Melissa Durda
Melissa Durda is Senior Director, Bridging Leadership at Synergos, a global nonprofit organization that brings people together to help solve complex issues around the world by advancing bridging leadership, which builds trust and collective action. Melissa also oversees the Synergos Spiritual Civilization and Funders of Mindfulness & Spirituality programs for members of the Global Philanthropists Circle, where we seek to increase awareness of the ideals that drive people to work towards the greater good in order to accelerate positive change. She is a certified holistic life coach and the founder of Global Artisan Life. Prior to this, Melissa created and managed a Philanthropy Program at Vaclav Havel’s Forum 2000 Foundation. In this role she worked with private philanthropists promoting human rights, civil society, and democracy. Melissa’s nonprofit project management experience is in a variety of fields (education, children, nutrition, advocacy, emergency response, water, media) on projects in the Czech Republic, Africa, Asia, and the United States. Melissa has a MSc. in European Political Economy: Transition from the London School of Economics and a BA in International Relations from the University of Virginia.


Nidhi Pandya
Nidhi is an Ayurvedic Healer based in NYC, and the creator of the Cosmic Alignment Method (TM). This groundbreaking approach, which merges timeless wisdom with modern science, represents the essence of her 15 years of dedicated practice and deep understanding of Ayurvedic principles. Raised in India, Nidhi was immersed in Vedic wisdom from birth, drawing inspiration from her grandfather, a respected Ayurvedic healer. Her journey led her to formal education in holistic health, culminating in her becoming an Ayurvedic Doctor. However, Nidhi soon realized the limitations of a strictly prescriptive approach to health. This insight spurred her to reinterpret Ayurveda through a transformative lens, making ancient knowledge accessible and relevant in today's world. Nidhi's passion lies in empowering women to become self-aware and live intuitively, achieving Mind-Body Balance. She excels in distilling complex ancient scriptures into practical wisdom, applicable to modern lifestyles. Her method, taught globally, focuses on realigning the mind and body, fostering radical transformation in the lives of her students. An international teacher, coach, and speaker, Nidhi contributes to various publications and serves as a faculty member at the Shakti School. Her strength lies in her unique ability to bridge the gap between traditional Ayurvedic teachings and the needs of contemporary women, guiding them towards a balanced, empowered life.


Pierre Giraud
With a lifelong commitment to understanding the profound questions of life, Pierre started his professional career 20 years ago in Sustainability, driven by a desire to foster positive change in the world. At the age of 28, a pivotal personal event led him on a journey towards inner-transformation, exploring Personal Therapy, Mindfulness, Philosophy, and Spirituality. Pierre has served as a strategic consultant at Ernst & Young and has co-founded Greenflex, a $100M Greentech company, as well as Standard Dose, a leading ecommerce platform for plant-based medicine. In 2021, Pierre founded Indigo, a Venture Studio dedicated to funding and supporting mission-driven companies that contribute to raising global consciousness, driven by the pursuit of sparking inner change in individuals to foster societal change. One of his notable ventures is The Conscious School, a production company that amplifies the voices of conscious Thought and Practice Leaders. Additionally, Pierre is involved in award-winning art projects, such as "In Limen," a series of artistic rituals and happenings designed to foster conversations between strangers on existential questions like death, memory, and consciousness.


Vivian Rosenthal
Vivian is the co-founder of Frequency Breathwork and Diamond Rose Sanctuary. She is certified both as a Breathwork guide and a Kundalini Yoga teacher. Over the last decade, Vivian's dedication to alleviating mental health has led to her guiding over 10,000 people through therapeutic breathwork sessions. She maintains a private practice in NYC, CT and the Hamptons and has taught at Menla, Omega, Kripalu and Blue Spirit. She has been featured on the Today Show with Hoda, addressing how breathwork can be used to reduce anxiety and stress. Vivian is currently enrolled in the MDMA Therapy Training Program run by MAPS, which is a "clinical training program that facilitates learning in the theory, skills, and practice of MDMA-assisted therapy. The theoretical approach is based on a philosophy that every person has within them an intrinsic wisdom and ability to heal." Additionally, she is working alongside a group of scientists and researchers on a pilot study to show the efficacy of breathwork to treat PTSD, depression and anxiety in Veterans. Vivian is also working closely with the Biofield Research Group to help bring more awareness to the therapeutic benefits of breathwork as a healing energy modality that positively impacts the biofield. Vivian received her BA from Brown University and her Masters in Architecture from Columbia University. Her graduate thesis focused on how immersive spaces shape and affect our psychology, which later informed the creation of the Frequency Dome, an immersive set and setting which used animated sacred geometry inside of a womb-like space to create a safe and sacred container for collective healing.

 

 

Participation in this event is limited to members of the Spiritual Civilization collaborative community, the Synergos Global Philanthropists Circle, and invited guests.