Christine Wamsler is Professor of Sustainability Science and director of the Contemplative Sustainable Futures Program. 

The aim of the Contemplative Sustainable Futures Program is to create space and opportunities for learning, networking and knowledge development on the role of inner dimensions and transformation for sustainability. It consists of three building blocks: education, networking and research activities. The latter also includes research on the interface between the mind, mindfulness and the climate crisis, such as the ActivateChange, Mind4Change and TransVision projects.

Fields of expertise: Christine is an internationally-renowned expert in sustainable development and associated (inner and outer) transformation processes, with more than 25 years of experience. Her work has shaped international debates and increased knowledge on personal, organisational and policy transformations in a context of climate change. She has led many international projects and published more than 200 academic papers, book chapters, and books on these issues. Her publications are regularly cited and used for practice, theory and policy development, including by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Her recent publications on inner-outer transformation for sustainability can be found here (under the heading ‘publications’).

Professional experience: Christine is currently Professor at Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies (LUCSUS) in Sweden. Previously, she worked as co-director of the Societal Resilience Centre and at the Global Development Institute of the University of Manchester, UK. In parallel to her academic research, Christine works on an ongoing basis as a consultant for different governmental and non-governmental organisations. Places where she has worked include Brazil, Chile, Colombia, El Salvador, Germany, Guatemala, India, Kosovo, Mexico, Peru, the Philippines, Sweden, Tanzania, Togo and the UK.

Educational background: Christine holds a postdoctoral lecturer qualification (Habilitation) in Sustainability Science (Lund University, Sweden) and a PhD on Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation. Her Master’s degree is in International Humanitarian Assistance (University of Bochum, Germany), and postgraduate training includes Project Evaluation (University of the Saarland, Germany), Emergency Management (Charles Sturt University, Australia), and Community Disaster Risk Management (International Disaster Risk Management Centre IDRM, the Philippines). Christine is trained as an Architect and Urban Planner, with a specialisation in International Urban Development Planning (University of Stuttgart, Germany & Ecole d’Architecture Paris-Belleville, France).

Carolyn Finney, PhD is a storyteller, author and a cultural geographer. The aim of her work is to develop greater cultural competency within environmental organizations and institutions, challenge media outlets on their representation of difference, and increase awareness of how privilege shapes who gets to speak to environmental issues and determine policy and action. Carolyn is grounded in both artistic and intellectual ways of knowing – she pursed an acting career for eleven years, but five years of backpacking trips through Africa and Asia, and living in Nepal changed the course of her life. Motivated by these experiences, Carolyn returned to school after a 15-year absence to complete a B.A., M.A. (both of these degrees focused on gender and environmental issues in Kenya and Nepal, respectively) and Ph.D. (which focused on African Americans and environmental issues in the U.S.) She has been a Fulbright Scholar, a Canon National Parks Science Scholar and received a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship in Environmental Studies.  Carolyn has worked with the media in various capacities including the Tavis Smiley Show, MSNBC, & Vice News Tonight; wrote Op-Eds for Outside Magazine & Newsweek; was a guest editor & contributor for a special section on Race & the National Parks in Orion Magazine; participated in a roundtable conversation with REI and The Atlantic; interviewed with various media outlets including NPR, Sierra Club, Boston Globe & National Geographic; and even filmed a commercial for Toyota that highlighted the importance of African Americans getting out into Nature. Along with public speaking, writing, consulting and teaching (she has held positions at Wellesley College, the University of California, Berkeley & the University of Kentucky), she served on the U.S. National Parks Advisory Board for eight years which assists the National Park Service in engaging in relations of reciprocity with diverse communities. 

Her first book, Black Faces, White Spaces: Reimagining the Relationship of African Americans to the Great Outdoors was released in 2014 (UNC Press). Recent publications include “The Space Between the Words” (Harvard Design Journal Spring 2018), “A Thousand Oceans” (Geographical Research, Wiley Pub., Fall 2019) “This Moment” (River Rail: Occupy Colby Fall 2019), Self-Evident: Reflections on the Invisibility of Black Bodies in Environmental Histories (BESIDE Magazine, Montreal Spring 2020), and The Perils of Being Black in Public: We are all Christian Cooper and George Floyd (The Guardian, June 3rd 2020).

Cellist Barbara Bogatin has been a member of the San Francisco Symphony since 1994. She has appeared on numerous SFS video productions, including the Sound Box and Chamber Music Series and Currents Episodes on Hip Hop and Indian music.  Prior to this she was principal cellist and soloist with the New Jersey and Milwaukee Symphonies and played frequently with the New York Philharmonic, New York Chamber Soloists, Chamber Music Northwest, The Amati Trio, and Aston Magna Music Festival. She has given numerous talks about music practice and meditation, including a TEDX talk titled “The Art of Failure.”  In collaboration with her husband, neuroscientist Clifford Saron, she has presented workshops at Esalen, Spirit Rock Meditation Center, Stanford Symposium on Music and the Brain, Telluride Compassion Festival, the First African Conference on Mindfulness in South Africa, Cortona Symposium in Italy, Conservatory of Music in Mallorca, and Nirakara Institute in Madrid.  She received Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School in New York.

Promotions: San Francisco Symphony Musician’s Profile, Music and Meditation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8q7ytYZ-Ke8 

San Francisco Symphony Currents:From Scratch Hip Hop Collaboration: https://www.sfsymphony.org/CURRENTS/FromScratch SF Symphony Sound Box performance in “Entr’acte” by Caroline Shaw: https://www.sfsymphonyplus.org/packages/soundbox-1/videos/nostalgia-esa-pekka-salonen

Jamie Bristow is Co-director of The Mindfulness Initiative, a policy institute about mindfulness and compassion training that grew out of a program of mindfulness teaching for politicians in the British Parliament. After supporting UK politicians to establish the UK Mindfulness All-Party Parliamentary Group and conduct a policy inquiry throughout 2014, Jamie took over as Director in 2015 to launch the seminal Mindful Nation UK report. He has since grown the Mindfulness Initiative into an influential policy institute, authoring and producing a series of publications and working with decision-makers around the world to integrate inner capacities and contemplative practice into politics and the public policy landscape. Jamie was formerly Business Development Director for Headspace and has a background in psychology, climate change campaign communications and advertising. He is also a teacher of Insight Meditation, a Buddhist tradition that’s associated with Gaia House, IMS and Spirit Rock retreat centers. Jaime has been featured on the Mind & Life podcast.

Konda Mason is a social entrepreneur, eco-spiritual thought leader, mindfulness teacher and justice advocate working at the intersection of social and financial justice and planetary healing. Konda was introduced to Tibetan Buddhism in 1982. Her love for Vipassana began in 1996, working with Jack Kornfield at the Vallecitos Retreat Center. She has taught at Spirit Rock since 1997, starting as a yoga teacher.  Konda’s dharma training includes the East Bay Meditation Center Commit to Dharma program, Spirit Rock Community Dharma Leader and she is a recent graduate of the 2020 Spirit Rock Teacher Training program. Konda teaches daylongs, retreats and workshops. 

In addition to her spiritual pursuits, Konda is a social entrepreneur, the Founder/President of two nonprofits working at the intersection of social, financial and climate justice. Her work centers conversations at the Intersection of Land, Race, Money and Spirit. She is passionate about reversing the harm the extractive financial system has had on all living systems, and the harm of racism in America. Her  work with RUNWAY and the founding of Jubilee Justice, Inc. and Potlikker Capital encapsulates the restorative work she does with Black urban entrepreneurs and Black rural farmers, respectively.  She is driven by her desire to witness a world that is environmentally regenerative, spiritually fulfilling, socially just and economically equitable. You can subscribe to her podcast “The Brown Rice Hour” on the Be Here Now Network.

In 2019 Konda was nominated as one of the Top 35 World-Changing Women in Conscious Business, a list of courageous female-identifying game-changers paving the way for positive global impact. In the same year, Konda was selected to give the commencement address for Presidio Business School in San Francisco and was awarded an Honorary MBA. 

Konda sits on the Boards of Directors of On Being with Krista Tippett, Lion’s Roar Publications, Paul Hawken’s One Generation, the Historic Clayborn Temple in Memphis, TN and is a Trustee at Mills College in Oakland, CA.