Mindful Society Global Institute

The Full Story…

Applying Human-Centered Design to Create Community

In 2014, we formed an Advisory Council comprising leaders in the field of mindfulness from different sectors. I joined with the explicit intent to bring human-centered design to the table. From the beginning, we saw our annual mindfulness conference in Toronto as more than a chance to build community. We saw it as an incredible opportunity to understand and support those on the front lines. Before our first event in 2015, we asked all registered attendees to tell us about their unanswered questions. At the conference, we invited experienced design thinkers to workshop those questions with attendees.

After analyzing each group individually, we analyzed the findings across groups in search for a generalized understanding across sectors. The most striking trend which emerged was how professionals in a wide range of sectors were all advocating for internal champions to take the lead on culture change in their communities.

An Inclusive Container for Dialogue

Our second event - A Mindful Society 2016 - was a great success, in no small part to how responsive we were to feedback and data. So we continued this process for 4 more years. We have gone far beyond a platform for speakers. We’ve created an inclusive container for dialogue, engaging countless professionals bringing mindfulness into education, business, healthcare, and government to share their unique perspectives. We used surveys and large-scale collaborative workshops to understand the experiences and intentions of those working on the front lines of this initiative. This has helped us define each year's theme, evaluate proposals based on audience needs, brief our speakers on audience expectations, and more. Ultimately, this has helped us consistently create world-class event experiences that speak to pressing needs.

A Global Event for Mindfulness Professionals

Our ongoing research has revealed a common journey from curiosity to compassion among leaders in the field: what starts as an initial interest in practicing mindfulness becomes a clear intention to advocate for a new way of being within our communities. The thread that draws our community together is an interest in championing mindfulness and compassion in our communities, families, and organizations. By 2019, A Mindful Society had become a global leader for professionals exploring how to integrate mindfulness and compassion into healthcare, education, business, government, and life. Our events attract hundreds of professionals and feature world-renowned speakers like Dan Siegel, Judson Brewer, Valerie Brown, Thupten Jinpa, James Doty, Shauna Shapiro, Chris Ruane, Norm Farb, Zindel Segal, and many more. 

Pivoting Online in Light of the Pandemic

Then 2020 happened. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, we executed a successful last minute pivot of our 2020 event to an online format. Attendees were thrilled we didn’t cancel, citing how restorative it was to have a space for community in a time of isolation. We decided to double down and started work on creating the Mindful Society Global Institute: an online membership platform for our community. I led initial strategic conversations and worked with our tech, operations, curation, and marketing teams to ensure we had all the details right. We started with a soft launch and piloted with 100 existing community members, collecting data and refining the approach, before launching to the public in Fall 2020.