Contemplative Changemaking Grants - Mind & Life Institute

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 13 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.

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

Grantee Stories

Video

United for Uvalde

Supporting citizens following a tragic school shooting.

Blog

Yoga Pura Vida Foundation

Using yoga to nurture resilience among refugee children.

Blog

Rio Grande Mindfulness Institute

Indigenizing mindfulness practice for Native American youth.

Video

Rahul Kotak Foundation

Building climate resilience through contemplative gardening.

Our 2023 Contemplative Changemaking Grant Recipients

Contemplative Changemaking Grants

Peer Outdoor Education for Mental Health (POEM)

Contemplative Changemaking Grants

Weaving Wellness: Training Hairdressers as Mindful Mental Health Allies for women with psychological Challenges.

Contemplative Changemaking Grants

Contemplative practices in palliative care

Contemplative Changemaking Grants

HEALthy ME – Mental Wellbeing of Young People at Schools in Macedonia

Contemplative Changemaking Grants

Transformative Theatre: Empowering Women’s Social Reintegration in Chilean Prisons through Mindfulness and Self-Compassion

Contemplative Changemaking Grants

Connecting and Inspiring Charlottesville Youth through Nature Immersion, Authentic Community, and Love, No Ego: A Back-to-School Contemplative Arts Program

Contemplative Changemaking Grants

Nature and Spirituality: A Muslim Perspective

Contemplative Changemaking Grants

Mindfulness for high-demand, high-stress cohorts in wartime Ukraine

Contemplative Changemaking Grants

Project FORE – Fostering Resilience & Peace

Contemplative Changemaking Grants

Loving Kindness in Family Matters

Natalie Gruber

2023 Contemplative Changemaking Grants Review Committee

Agustina Acosta

Reviewer

<img decoding="async" width="200" height="200" src="https://www.mindandlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/santoyo2-200x200.jpg" class="community-img wp-post-image" alt="" srcset="https://www.mindandlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/santoyo2.jpg 200w, https://www.mindandlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/santoyo2-80x80.jpg 80w" sizes="(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" />

Juan Santoyo

Universidad de Antioquia; Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Grantee, Planning Committee Member, Reviewer

<img decoding="async" width="200" height="200" src="https://www.mindandlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/NirmalG_28Sept2021-200x200.gif" class="community-img wp-post-image" alt="" srcset="https://www.mindandlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/NirmalG_28Sept2021-200x200.gif 200w, https://www.mindandlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/NirmalG_28Sept2021-80x80.gif 80w" sizes="(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" />

Nirmal Govindaraju

Eikas Foundation

Grantee, Reviewer

Serene Singh

The Serenity Project

Reviewer

<img decoding="async" width="200" height="200" src="https://www.mindandlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Alejandro-Chaoul-rotated-e1685635394769-200x200.jpg" class="community-img wp-post-image" alt="" srcset="https://www.mindandlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Alejandro-Chaoul-rotated-e1685635394769-200x200.jpg 200w, https://www.mindandlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Alejandro-Chaoul-rotated-e1685635394769-80x80.jpg 80w" sizes="(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" />

Alejandro Chaoul, PhD

Founding Director of the Jung Center’s Mind Body Spirit Institute

Convening Faculty, Fellow, Reviewer

Rahma Mian

Institute of Business Administration, Karachi

Reviewer

Ann Friedman

Mind Body Spirit Institute of the Jung Center of Houston

Reviewer

<img decoding="async" width="200" height="200" src="https://www.mindandlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/SBrakarsh_Headshot-200x200.jpg" class="community-img wp-post-image" alt="" srcset="https://www.mindandlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/SBrakarsh_Headshot-200x200.jpg 200w, https://www.mindandlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/SBrakarsh_Headshot-80x80.jpg 80w" sizes="(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" />

Sam Brakarsh

Chikukwa Research Trust

Reviewer

Our 2022 Contemplative Changemaking Grant Recipients

Contemplative Changemaking Grants

A B O U T – I T: Accelerating Buffalo’s Opportunity to Upsurge Transformation-from the Inside OuT

S. Ama Wray

Contemplative Changemaking Grants

Conscious Climate Action through Contemplative Gardening

Contemplative Changemaking Grants

Contemplative Art Therapy for Children and Adolescents Coping with Self-Harm

Contemplative Changemaking Grants

Embracing the Heart: Yoga for Mental Health and Community Building in Dzaleka Children and Youth Refugees

Contemplative Changemaking Grants

Forest Therapy for People with Cancer in Three Public Hospitals in Chile

Contemplative Changemaking Grants

Freedom Inside: Contemplative Practice for Women in Prison

Contemplative Changemaking Grants

The Black Child Flourishing Project

Demond Hill Jr.

Contemplative Changemaking Grants

Healing Landscapes: Restoring the Human Land Reciprocal Relationship

Contemplative Changemaking Grants

United with Uvalde

Aproteem Choudhury

Contemplative Changemaking Grants

Intimate Landscapes

Alejandra Grisales

Contemplative Changemaking Grants

Mind the Conflict in Hura’s Bedouin Community

Contemplative Changemaking Grants

Mindfulness Practices for Indigenous Youth

Contemplative Changemaking Grants

Mindfulness Trainings for Mothers and Teachers of Escuela Don Luis Braille in Asunción, Paraguay

José Godoy

Contemplative Changemaking Grants

Meditation as a Path to Peaceful Living

Contemplative Changemaking Grants

Healing and Resilience after Trauma (HaRT)

Joyce Christine Nakiwala

Contemplative Changemaking Grants

Freedom is being Present

2022 Contemplative Changemaking Grants Review Committee

Wangũi wa Kamonji

Regeneration practitioner

Reviewer

<img decoding="async" width="200" height="200" src="https://www.mindandlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/NirmalG_28Sept2021-200x200.gif" class="community-img wp-post-image" alt="" srcset="https://www.mindandlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/NirmalG_28Sept2021-200x200.gif 200w, https://www.mindandlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/NirmalG_28Sept2021-80x80.gif 80w" sizes="(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" />

Nirmal Govindaraju

Eikas Foundation

Grantee, Reviewer

<img decoding="async" width="200" height="200" src="https://www.mindandlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/SBrakarsh_Headshot-200x200.jpg" class="community-img wp-post-image" alt="" srcset="https://www.mindandlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/SBrakarsh_Headshot-200x200.jpg 200w, https://www.mindandlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/SBrakarsh_Headshot-80x80.jpg 80w" sizes="(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" />

Sam Brakarsh

Chikukwa Research Trust

Reviewer

<img decoding="async" width="200" height="200" src="https://www.mindandlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/santoyo2-200x200.jpg" class="community-img wp-post-image" alt="" srcset="https://www.mindandlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/santoyo2.jpg 200w, https://www.mindandlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/santoyo2-80x80.jpg 80w" sizes="(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" />

Juan Santoyo

Universidad de Antioquia; Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Grantee, Planning Committee Member, Reviewer

<img decoding="async" width="200" height="200" src="https://www.mindandlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Alejandro-Chaoul-rotated-e1685635394769-200x200.jpg" class="community-img wp-post-image" alt="" srcset="https://www.mindandlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Alejandro-Chaoul-rotated-e1685635394769-200x200.jpg 200w, https://www.mindandlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Alejandro-Chaoul-rotated-e1685635394769-80x80.jpg 80w" sizes="(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" />

Alejandro Chaoul, PhD

Founding Director of the Jung Center’s Mind Body Spirit Institute

Convening Faculty, Fellow, Reviewer