Alliance for a Viable Future

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What will it take to generate a critical mass of climate leaders in the Northeast bioregion who will do everything in their power to protect life for the future generations? We believe that change flows through relationships, at the speed of trust. Therefore, our mission at Alliance for a Viable Future is to facilitate climate leadership circles that build trust and inspire courageous, wise and intelligent action. On this podcast, we interview change-makers who are blazing new trails with paradigm-shifting solutions that restore justice to our organizations and communities. Together, we are making the impossible possible.

Lev Natan


    • Jun 3, 2022 LATEST EPISODE
    • monthly NEW EPISODES
    • 44m AVG DURATION
    • 58 EPISODES


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    Latest episodes from Alliance for a Viable Future

    58. Wellbeing Economy Alliance: Partnerships for Systems Change w/Scotland Director Jimmy Paul

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 3, 2022 46:43


    The Wellbeing Economy Alliance believes that humanity should determine economics, not the other way around. In this episode, Jimmy Paul, Director at the Wellbeing Economy Alliance in Scotland - speaks of their work with partners to drive change by co-creating, testing & lobbying for alternative policies, practices & models, and will look to identify the cross-sectoral opportunities for fundamental systems change. Jimmy has worked in a range of leadership roles across health & social care for nearly ten years. He is particularly passionate about a ‘nothing about us without us' approach to participation and the creative, meaningful involvement of communities who would benefit most from change.”

    57. Climate Leadership: How We Can Create a Viable Future

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 14, 2022 68:33


    Do you feel an urgency to step up and face the climate crisis? At no other time in human history has our human species needed to wake up to the harrowing fact that our planet's natural systems may not be able to support human life— within the coming generation—by 2050. Climate Leadership is a pathway forward that integrates personal & professional development work, for emerging and established leaders who feel compelled to face the reality and take a stand for the future of all life on our planet.

    56. Be Prepared: Homesteading Skills, Storing Supplies, Homescale Gardening & More - Jon Lee Rucker

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 24, 2022 72:31


    “It's better to have it and not need it, then to need it and not have it,'' says Jon Lee Rucker, founder of Wild Beauty Farm (wildbeautyfarm.com), PermaJam (permajam.com), and a dear friend of mine. This empowering conversation will bring awareness to the uneasy feeling about the instability all around us - conflict in the Ukraine, market and supply chain issues, and the environmental turbulence. We discuss our personal experience of how taking action generates a sense of confidence and courage. By facing it, you can turn the anxiety into positive action, instead of ignoring it. It's better to face the harsh reality sooner than later. By being prepared, and taking action, step by step, the harsh reality becomes less harsh.

    55. Climate Resilience: The Secret of Healing Trauma in an Era of Crisis - Dr. Stephanie Mines

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 10, 2022 63:35


    It is clear that the climate crisis is not going to go away. How can individuals and families best prepare themselves to meet the health challenges that are inevitable? One of the keys is that “we need to harness the power of focus,” says Dr. Stephanie Mines, the author of five books that reflect over three decades of research as a neuroscientist. She has investigated shock and trauma as a survivor, a professional, a clinicalresearcher, and healthcare provider. Her nonprofit The TARA Approach is instrumental in thesystemic change she promotes as a Sustainable Health paradigm. Dr. Mines also developed Climate Change & Consciousness, which serves an international and intergenerational community of visionary activists, to facilitate inner transformation for grounded climate action.

    54. Honoring Our Native Relatives on Thanksgiving - Lev Natan

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 24, 2021 32:59


    What do you say at your Thanksgiving dinner table to honor our Native American relatives? In this episode, host and Executive Director of Alliance for a Viable Future, Lev Natan, shares stories of the Haudenasaunee Confederacy, The PeaceMaker, the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of the Mohicans, and The Seven Generations teaching. Lev's wish is that his words spark your ideas for what to say around the dinner table. Also, Lev gives an update about the Climate Leadership Initiative that AVF is launching in 2022. Happy Thanksgiving to each and every one of you!

    53. Listening Deeply: INDIGENOUS VOICES PANEL DISCUSSION

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 2, 2021 120:42


    What's the purpose of Indigenous People's Day? Where did it come from? Why does it matter?The purpose of this panel, “Listening Deeply: Indigenous Voices Panel Discussion,” was to educate our community in preparation for Indigenous Peoples' Day. It happened on Friday, October 1st from 6:00-8:00pm at the Unitarian Universalist Meeting of South Berkshire in Housatonic. Our panelists were Shawn Stevens, Jake Singer, Bonney Hartley, from the Mohican Cultural Affairs Office, and Carol Dana, a Penobscot Language MastWe also heard deep reflections from Lev Natan, founding director of Alliance for a Viable Future, and special honored guest, Gwendolyn VanSant, Chief Executive Officer and Founding Director of MultiCultural Bridge.

    52. Changing the World From the Inside Out - Rabbi David Jaffe

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 23, 2021 41:05


    How can you integrate spiritual wisdom, social justice, reconciliation and deep personal growth? Rabbi David Jaffe's teaching, organizing, writing and consulting explore the intersection of moral-spiritual development and ethical action in the world. In our interview, he draws from his book, Changing the World from the Inside Out, where he speaks to the needs of change makers and spiritual leaders throughout the country.

    51. From Native Roots, Sprout New Melodies - Janel Munoa

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 9, 2021 57:11


    “Indian girl use all your heart, or they'll eat it raw, while singing la la la la”” Janel Munoa is a Native American Musician, who grew up on her Luiseño tribe's reservation in Southern California. She moved to the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts, where she has cultivated her professional musical career, while becoming active in in community organizing efforts for social and environmental issues. In our interview, she speaks eloquently about striking the balance between “leading and following” in both group dynamics, creative expression, racial justice, solidarity and land reparations for native communities. You can learn more about her work at www.janelmunoa.com.

    50. Women's Leadership that Sustains Life - Catherine Ayotte

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 23, 2021 39:08


    Women are designed to sustain life. When supported to grow from healing into leadership, they naturally bring forth life-sustaining values such as love, compassion, joy and gratitude. In this interview, Catherine Ayotte shares her intimate experience of shifting from the ''victim'' to the ''leader'', using integrity, community and dignity as anchors in the process. She shares about her initiatory journey of stepping into women's facilitation work. To learn more about her work, visit: www.thesacredpathofthepriestess.com.

    49. Trees, Water & People: Climate Resilience in Rural Communities - Sebastian Africano

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 9, 2021 61:51


    “We had to ask ourselves, if people are cutting down trees to cook their meals, then how can we help them reduce the amount of wood needed every time they cook.” These words from the co-founders point to their mission: to address the underlying causes of deforestation. For over twenty years, Trees, Water & People has been a leader in not only reforestation, but also in the design and distribution of clean cookstoves and other clean energy products which greatly reduce the use of natural resources for energy creation. The team is guided by two core beliefs: that natural resources are best protected when local people play an active role in their care and management and that preserving local ecosystems is essential for the ongoing social, economic, and environmental health of communities everywhere. After over a decade of service with Trees, Water & People, Sebastian Africano is proud to have been selected to lead the organization as Executive Director. He has worked first-hand in almost every aspect of TWP's programs, and brings deep perspective and dedication to advancing the struggles and aspirations of the communities TWP serves. While Sebastian travels less these days than he did during his first ten years with the organization, he is excited to raise his two young kids among the extended TWP family, and to continue building bridges to connect our unique global community. Sebastian holds an MBA from Colorado State University. Learn more at www.treeswaterpeople.org.

    48 - Indigenous People’s Day: Taking a Stand in Solidarity

    Play Episode Listen Later May 26, 2021 58:39


    Indigenous People's Day is a new holiday that is being observed instead of Columbus Day around the United States and the World, as part of the movement to take down statues of confederate leaders and to tell a more accurate history. Here in the Berkshires, the non-profit organization, Alliance for a Viable Future is organizing an Indigenous People's Day Walk in Great Barrington, on October 11th, as well as organize a Climate Resilience Workshop Series with a coalition of organizations who are dedicated to the deep connection between indigenous rights and climate resilience. To learn more visit www.allianceforaviablefuture.org, look under the projects tab, sign up for their newsletter for updates, and mark you calendar for Monday, October 11th to observe Indigenous People's Day with your community in Berkshires.

    47. Mother’s Day Episode: The Rites of Passage Project - Pooja Prema

    Play Episode Listen Later May 8, 2021 64:53


    In our modern culture, there's virtually no acknowledgment of personal rites of passage for women or any human being. The Rites of Passage Project features a diverse collective of sixty-five women of color from around the country. The purpose is to reclaim and expand the concept of a “rite of passage” to recognize that every significant experience in a woman's life from birth to death - the beautiful and the ugly, the holy and profane - can be a liberatory initiation. Through live performance-installations, an online platform, and forthcoming large-format photo book of photos and essays, we hope to re-frame, educate, and inspire the way we see and live our lives as women. Link to donate: https://chuffed.org/project/ritesofpassage-2020vision

    46. Plant Medicine as a Rite of Passage into Ecological Leadership - Shayna Gladstone & Lev Natan

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 26, 2021 66:19


    Plant medicines have the power to be a rite of passage into a deeper commitment to social & ecological healing. This episode is a panel discussion, with Earth-rooted Leadership Coach, Shayna Gladstone and I, as part of the Mt. Tam Psychedelic Integration Online Conference. We explore the connection between the deeply personal experience of participating in a medicine ceremony and the practical work of stepping up as a climate leader in the movement for planetary healing for the sake of our children and the generations to come. Visit www.levnatan.com to learn more about finding support to walk your path of climate leadership at this time.

    45. Listen to Youth Speak Up for Climate Justice - JYCM

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 11, 2021 49:55


    Young voices should not only be heard but recognized as having the power to make change. Jewish Youth Climate Movement (JYCM) is dedicated to empowering teens to mobilize intelligent responses to climate change. In this episode, we are joined by Yonah Sadeh, Alex Tananbaum and Eli Anderson, members of JYCM’s Executive Board about their motivation to create a more equitable and sustainable world for all. Their greater purpose is to be a resource for people of all ages and religions, spreading a multi-generational message to take a stand in the name of climate justice. You can see more of their work at www.jewishyouthclimatemovement.org or follow them on Facebook and Instagram @jewishyouthclimatemovement

    44. Healing Trauma with Creativity & Resilience - Julia Mayer

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 27, 2021 45:23


    Author Julia Mayer’s new book, Painting Resilience is a very personal exploration of the role Fred Terna’s art played in surviving four concentration camps, and living a creative life as a successful artist. In our interview, we spoke about what Fred’s capacity to be creative and resilient has to teach us about facing the convergent crises of our times. Fred himself says that living through it was luck but living with it takes skill. Julia wanted to discover and share what those skills are and how Fred came to acquire them. You can order her book at www.juliamayer.com.

    43. Making Connections: Men’s Health, Racism & Creative Expression - Edson Sean

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 26, 2021 52:59


    Edson Sean is the kind of guy, you want to get to know. And, once you know him, you want to learn more. He is one of those unique artists who inspires us to be better human beings; he is a musician, emcee and producer, who gets real. In our conversation, we went deep and made significant connections: what it’s like to be a man in today’s world - a black man, and a white man - the importance of Love, and how art & music opens the healing journey. He has a heart of gold that welcomes you to remember what’s possible when you let go and imagine what’s possible. You can learn more about his work at www.edsonsean.com.

    42. Sing Truth to Power - Arin Maya

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 27, 2021 52:23


    Arin Maya opens new dimensions of possibility - a singer/songwriter on the rise, bringing political consciousness deeply rooted in soul lineage. She is, quite simply, a breath of fresh air. In our interview, we riff on her amazing new music video, Dancing a Red Line (watch here: https://youtu.be/-ALv3nBgKfQ), which inspires new vision for the more beautiful world that we all know is possible. She brings the Love, while catalyzing social awareness, racial justice and conscious activism.

    41. Remembering Our History with a Native American Veteran - Jake Singer

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 11, 2021 26:03


    The riot on the Capitol last week, led by far-right, white supremacists, has revealed the depths of this deeply vulnerable moment in our nation. Let’s focus on a unifying message from Jake Singer - a Sundance Chief, traditional Navajo Medicine Man, decorated Vietnam Veteran, and founder of the organization Walk with the Warriors, with the mission of honoring Native American Veterans for their service to the United States military. In our interview, he spoke to the federal government, saying “a promise is a promise,” which feels so relevant right now. For years, he has worked to establish a Native American Veterans Day as a federally-recognized national holiday. He shared his wisdom, stories and inspiring message of unity, faith and care for our water and environment, as we prepared for our WALK for a Viable Future in observance of Indigenous People’s Day, this past October 11th, 2020.

    40. Community Councils: Healing the Divide in 2021

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 28, 2020 47:17


    While the election is over, it has revealed a stark fracture in our communities. In 2021, how might we stay grounded in a vision that addresses the most poignant issues of our time - racial justice, climate change, and equity, while charting a sensible path that diffuses the brittle conflicts that have boiled over? As cultural healers, changemakers, and leaders committed to a viable future, how can we hold the spectrum of polarity in a way that fosters healing and understanding? Community Councils is a social technology that has gained traction throughout parts of Europe and the States - and looks to be a potent medicine for the social maladies of this moment.

    39. How Sound Will Connect You to an Inspiring Vision for 2021 - Lev Natan

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 15, 2020 14:51


    Sound healing is a mysterious portal into the sacred space of vision. Research shows that humming and toning boosts the immune system, enhances mental clarity, reduces stress, and increases "the trust hormone." In this powerful time of the winter solstice, we have an opportunity to utilize sound as a doorway into our deeper reservoirs of energy, vitality and vision.As we approach the winter solstice, it is a powerful time to slow down, rest, dream, gather your thoughts, prayers and intentions for the year to come, and plant them into the depths of this fertile darkness. What do you see just beyond the horizon of your vision? What is whispering to you to stand for, claim, and stretch into, in this coming year? What are you longing to create, for your family, community, work, and yourself? What dream is possible for our country and world? The fact that you see it, means it has a chance to manifest. Through the practice of toning and humming, your mind's vibrational field opens to new possibilities that feel more tangible when you experience them in this state of conscious awareness. In this dark time, let's keep the flame of faith, courage & wisdom alive. Recorded December 14th, 2020

    38. Lineage, Initiation and Commitment - Lev Natan

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 30, 2020 33:37


    What gives you the courage to keep going? What do you do to remember the source of your care? How do you renew your commitment when you feel run down? When I reconnect to my lineage, and remember the long-line of mentors and teachers who inspire me, I find my center, once again. When I remember the initiations that I’ve endured, I find my commitment, once again. In this episode, I present the three stories of lineage, initiation & commitment: “Mogli” in the disney film, a book called CommonFire, an “Gather,” a documentary featuring Native American community leaders, who are reviving their communities through food sovereignty. What about you? What do words like “lineage” and “initiation” mean to you?

    37. Post-Election Reflections: How to Stay Grounded and Focused - Lev Natan

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 11, 2020 35:19


    “What is a good man but a bad man’s teacher? What is a bad man but a good man’s job?” These provocative, yet clarifying questions from the courageous wisdom of Lao Tzu and his masterpiece, the Tao Te Ching, a classic work of leadership, has much to offer in the wake of the intensity of the election. Yes, this dark moment in American is shifting. And, yet, we must still address the very real fact that 70,000 million people chose to vote for a man who is openly racist, womanizing, etc.. There is work to be done. And, NOW is the time to dig deeper.

    36. Grandmother Wisdom: Indigenous Elder Speaks on Climate & Nature’s Intelligence - Carol Dana

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 20, 2020 30:01


    When I asked her how she wanted to be introduced, Carol Dana told me she is a mother and a grandmother - “that’s what really matters, not the credentials.” Carol is from the Penobscot tribe in Northern Maine. “The Wabanaki Confederacy (Wabenaki, translated to "People of the Dawn") are a First Nations confederation of four principal Eastern Algonquian tribes: the Miꞌkmaq, Maliseet, Passamaquoddy and Penobscot.” In our conversation, she shares what her grandfather told her when she was young, about the coming of climate change, and what she has come to see, in her own life. She also shares the limits to our knowledge and need to listen to the guidance from the natural world.

    35. WALK for a Viable Future | Northeast Virtual Gathering

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 9, 2020 78:35


    While indigenous people make up less than 5% of the world’s population, they steward 80% of the Earth’s biodiversity. The connection between indigenous rights and climate justice is clear. Yet, generations of colonialism, conquest and exploitation leave our collective psyche scarred by shame and guilt for the unthinkable abuses of our ancestors and current policies that still attack native communities. This week’s episode opens a pathway of solidarity, healing and positive action in the face of all odds. We hear from Jake Singer, of a Navajo medicine man and spiritual leader, Lilah Akin, a Penobscot woman active at Nibezun Wabanaki Cultural Center, and Lehman Mann, a community leader for the Ramapo Nation. It is a recording of our Northeast Virtual Gathering in preparation for WALK for a Viable Future in solidarity with Indigenous People’s Day on October 12th, 2020.

    34. How to Contend with Doubt: Realize that this is for real. It’s not a fire drill.

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 24, 2020 33:18


    It says in the I-Ching, “In a very real sense the progress of the world depends upon your thoughts as an individual now.” In moments when doubt enters your mind, and your body feels the lethargy of hopelessness, we need you to catch yourself. In these most turbulent of times, we need all hands on deck, which means that we need your unique contribution, your daily efforts and heartfelt strivings towards a viable future. Together, we are unity in motion. And yet, doubt about your capacity, impacts our capacity, collectively, to do what needs to be done for the children, and the generations to come. Therefore, it is essential to discipline your focus on the practical study of what is working, and follow those who are sharing intelligent solutions that actually work. You matter. You are making a difference. Thank you for who you are and what you do.

    33. What will you say when they ask you? How will you respond? - Lev Natan

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 17, 2020 34:01


    With the fires blazing on the West Coast of the United States and the political climate as polarized as ever, the world is looking more and more like biblical descriptions of apocalyptic times. And yet, life remains simple. The question always remains: how will you respond? Who will you be in the midst of the collapse and breakdown of our conventional human systems. As your children grow up and become more and more aware of the unthinkably insane world that they are inheriting, they will examine your life. What were you doing to make a way for them? What will you say when they ask you?

    32. Pursue Desire or Be Content...that is the question? - Lev Natan

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 9, 2020 34:01


    You are someone who is called to lead a life of commitment in a complex world. To make a difference takes courage, wisdom and an ever evolving state of conscious awareness. This state exists in the sweet spot between pursuing desire and being content. In this episode, you will reconnect with the power of gratitude as a fundamental, and ancient, leadership principle for excellence, precision and mastery. It is our human tendency to pursue our desires, on the one hand, while telling ourselves it's best to learn how to be content with what is, on the other hand. Gratitude is the answer, the nexus point, sweet spot and magic doorway that opens the alchemical place of being in flow: when you are able to allow your natural desires to burn bright, while being content with reality as it is, gratitude emerges. (Recorded September 2020)

    31. Remembering: Taking Time for Work Retreats - Lev Natan

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 3, 2020 37:33


    Once upon a time there were three brickmasons. When asked what they were doing, the first said, “I’m laying brick,” the second replied, “I’m building a wall,” and the third declared, “I’m building a cathedral.” Which one are you? What are you doing when you go to work? When you take time to remember the deeper purpose of the work that you do, you connect to your guiding principles, commitments and values. You remember why you give it your all - why you play all out. It is from this deeper connection that you find the unending wellspring of courage, wisdom and inspiration that allows you to keep going, and bring your imagination and strategic intelligence to the task at hand.

    30. Warm Data, Emergence and Living Systems - Lev Natan

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 26, 2020 25:01


    Our world’s problems are complex. They can’t be “solved” with simple 1+1 kind of equations. Warm data, developed by Nora Bateston, founder of the International Bateson Institute, is a way to gather contextual information that studies the interdependent relationships, interactions, and interconnections between diverse sectors of our society. In other words, it allows us to affirm our intuitive understanding that whole-systems awareness is deeply valuable in responding intelligently to the convergent crises that we are facing. This inspiring approach brings together inspirational energy and practical, strategic thinking, to tune your thinking, seeing and sensing to your highest potential.

    29. Touching the Roots of Our Collective Crisis & Choosing to Stand for the Dignity of Life - Lev Natan

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 20, 2020 25:58


    In this episode, we explore the connections between genocide, systemic racism and ecosystem destruction, and imagine a future where we each take more responsibility to uphold the protection, regeneration and the dignity of Life in our world. We reference the stories of three documentary films: (1) Watchers of the Sky, the story of Raphael Lemkin’s dedication to making genocide a crime in the international courts, (2) I Am Not Your Negro, about James Baldwin eloquent telling of Dr. MLK, Malcolm X, and Medgar Evers’ contributions to civil rights, and (3) Call of the Forest, featuring the author of The Global Forest, Diana Beresford-Kroeger.

    28. Initiation & Stages of Leadership - Lev Natan

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 13, 2020 33:30


    What is the connection between initiation and our capacity to step up as the leaders we need to be in these critical times? In this episode, Lev shares his personal experience participating in the Sundance ceremony as a means to his own growth as an organizational leader and his capacity to stand in his commitment to a viable future for the generations to come. He relates his journey to the five stages of leadership - ego, socialized, visionary, integral and unitive - as outlined in book Mastering Leadership. Finally, he asks, what is your leadership edge - and what initiatory journey is allowing you to stretch into it?

    27. How to Electrify Your Work Culture with Vital Energy - Lev Natan

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 5, 2020 31:29


    The research shows that when we bring prayer, meditation and conscious intention in our organizations and movements for change, we increase capacity, amplify impact and establish greater efficacy. Learn the why, what and how, in this episode.

    26. Getting Your Priorities Straight - Lev Natan

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 30, 2020 29:37


    What is most important to you? Do your actions reflect that? In this part-two episode focused on the Walk for a Viable Future, we explore this unique opportunity for you to "walk your talk" and align your thoughts, words and actions; your values with your choices, at home and in the office. The time is NOW for us to get our priorities straight, and gather the courage to make the necessary changes to follow through on what we know must be done. Recorded July 2020

    25. Why WALK for a Viable Future? - Lev Natan

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 22, 2020 27:16


    Ceremony is transformative. Courage is needed. Now is an opportune historical moment to galvanize the momentum for change. The Black Lives Matter movement is establishing connections with awareness of Indigenous rights, as colonial statues are being called into question and taken down. Movements are ripe to collaborate. The WALK is an opportunity for all people to take a stand and declare their wholehearted solidarity with all Black Indigenous People of Color. We are walking to build a multiracial movement for systems-level paradigm shift, which begins with establishing rights and reparations for all Black and Indigenous People.

    24. The Green Amendment: Securing Our Right to a Healthy Environment - Maya K. van Rossum

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 17, 2020 57:21


    “For decades, activists have relied on federal and state legislation to fight for a cleaner environment. And for decades, they’ve been fighting a losing battle. The sad truth is, our laws are designed to accommodate pollution rather than prevent it. It’s no wonder people feel powerless when it comes to preserving the quality of their water, air, public parks, and special natural spaces. But there is a solution, argues veteran environmentalist Maya K. van Rossum: bypass the laws and turn to the ultimate authority — our state and federal constitutions...The Green Amendment...will finally empower people, level the playing field, and provide real hope for communities everywhere.” - (www.mayavanrossum.green) Recorded July 2020

    23. How to Steady Your Focus Amidst Chaos: Climate Leadership & Whole Systems Paradigm Shift - Lev Natan

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 8, 2020 33:05


    What might we do to withstand the turbulence of social discord, climate change, and the breakdown of our degenerative systems? When hurricanes sweep through forests, trees stay standing because their roots are connected. They hold onto each other. We can do the same. And, when we do, our nervous systems shift from fight, flight or freeze to connect, bond and collaborate. In this episode, Lev reflects on the core practices of climate leadership: self mastery, team resonance and alliance cultivation. Following these proper principles, we find guidance towards harmony, unity and capacity to establish a viable future in the face of immense challenges.

    22. Rights of Nature (Part Two): Giving Ecosystems a Voice in Court - Mari Margil

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 3, 2020 48:25


    “Mari Margil serves as the Executive Director of Center for Democratic and Environmental Rights (www.centerforenvironmentalrights.org) and program manager for CDER’s International Center for the Rights of Nature. In 2008, she served as a consultant to Ecuador’s national Constituent Assembly, helping to draft the world’s first Rights of Nature constitutional provisions. Margil is widely viewed as one of the leading global voices for the recognition of legally enforceable rights of ecosystems and nature.” In this interview, she speaks to how the Rights of Nature movement is bringing together unlikely partners in business, government and civil society to collaboratively generate a new emerging standard for transforming our human systems.(Recorded July 2020)

    21. Principles of Living Systems Catalyze Paradigm Shift - Marshall Lefferts

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 24, 2020 62:31


    Marshall Lefferts brings a perspective that inspires hope and intelligent action, in dark times, this interview weaves connections between physics, mathematics and music that underlie key principles in how to cultivate the conditions for living systems to thrive. "Throughout nature we can see patterns, structures, processes and systems that reflect an underlying order of energy dynamics that literally in-forms the observable universe across all scales" www.cosmemetry.com (Recorded December 2019)

    20. Legal Rights for Nature: A Global Movement Whose Time Has Come - Thomas Linzey

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 17, 2020 60:58


    Thomas Linzey has worked with the first places in the world to establish legal rights of nature - from a small town in Pennsylvania to the national constitution of Ecuador. His organization, Center for Democratic and Environmental Rights (www.centerforenvironmentalrights.org) works with grassroots, tribal, and NGO partners and governments across the globe to develop, implement, and enforce Rights of Nature laws. Following in the footsteps of the civil rights and women’s rights movements, it is time for our international legal system to recognize the Rights of Nature. This is paradigm shifting work. Listen, learn and be moved to action.(Recorded June 2020)

    19. How Healing Happens in Groups: MatrixWorks for Circle Facilitation - Mukara Meredith

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 10, 2020 49:31


    "MatrixWorks is a revolutionary group process that utilizes principles of New Science, Whole Systems Thinking, Hakomi Psychotherapy, Spirituality, and Contemporary Psychology. It ​fosters leadership that supports the growth and development of healthy functioning teams and groups. ​It supports the transformative emergence of ‘Group Genius’ where relationships become collaborative, and mutuality and cooperation become new norms that promote wellbeing.” (From matrixworkslivingsystems.com | Interview recorded August 2019).

    18. Black Lives Matter: Truth, Solidarity & Reparations - Lev Natan

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 3, 2020 31:01


    In the wake of the unspeakable actions of the threatened who hunted down and murdered Breonna Taylor, Nina Pop, Sean Reed, Ahmaud Arbery, and George Floyd, Alliance for a Viable Future stands in solidarity with all Black Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC). We stand for racial justice and reparations for all people of color. Racial Justice and Climate Justice are deeply connected. In fact, they are one in the same. We will have a viable future only when we have both. In this podcast, we reference a number of published works, which can be found in our blog article - Black Lives Matter: Truth, Solidarity and Reparations. (Recorded June 2nd, 2020)

    17. How to Generate a Ripple Effect of Engagement and Participation - Lev Natan

    Play Episode Listen Later May 26, 2020 23:19


    How might we inspire our organizations to go beyond their bottom-line, and even beyond their social impact mission, and join a larger movement for change and ingenuity? How might we inspire a coordinated response to our collective dilemmas? In this episode, Lev reflects on his conversation with Dave Ford, CEO of Ocean Plastics Leadership Network (episode #16), and highlights the key principles that are essential for building impactful coalitions, networks and alliances that are able to transform our business-as-usual work culture en-route to the whole-systems paradigm shift that we need, in this post-COVID 19 era. (Recorded January 2020)

    16. Ocean Plastics Leadership Network - Dave Ford, CEO

    Play Episode Listen Later May 19, 2020 46:45


    (Recorded January 2020)How do you get companies like Pepsi and Dow Chemicals to sit with Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund? Ask Dave Ford, founder of the Ocean Plastics Leadership Network - a membership community that runs experiential summits in ocean plastics hotspots around the globe that drive accelerated, collaborative action. This network is an inspiring example of what the Collective Impact Framework (episode #11) looks like, when it’s put into practice. More than ever before, we need to learn to connect around shared commitments with people who think differently. We are still one human family living here on one planet earth.

    15. How Deep Listening & Silence Lead to Breakthrough - Al Bhatt

    Play Episode Listen Later May 12, 2020 46:00


    "There is a space between cause and effect, between stimulus and habitual response. It is in this space that a full human life is possible.” Al Bhatt, breakthrough organizational consultant and professor of Organizational Leadership, has committed his life to the idea that silence is like the pot that a plant needs to grow. In a world of busyness, we need mentors who hold an empowering space for deep listening. This principle has allowed him to guide corporate executives, social impact entrepreneurs, activists, and young people to learn the art & science of breakthrough in their leadership. His words will fan the flames of your inner fire. Enjoy!

    14. Kogi Elders on Qualities of Leadership

    Play Episode Listen Later May 4, 2020 33:27


    The Sierra Nevada mountains on the northern tip of the Andes in Colombia are home to four separate but related peoples: the Arhuaco (or Ika), Wiwa, Kogi, and Kankuamo. Together they number more than 30,000. In 1990, they emerged as a global indigenous voice with a BBC documentary in which they warned of the need to change course. In 2012, they made another film called Aluna, which you can find online. They refer to themselves as elder brothers and express concern that non-indigenous outsiders, the younger brothers, are plundering and dismembering the Earth. Last summer, 2019, they visited the Berkshires, where I live, to offer workshops, and I had the opportunity to interview them in the living room of their AirBNB. They shared invaluable teachings and guidance about how to grow our Alliance for a Viable Future.

    13. Wisdom in Leadership (Part Two): How Questions Clarify Where You Stand and Why That Matters - Mel Toomey

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 29, 2020 49:17


    The old scripts of “posturing and pretending” are becoming more and more played out in a world that is in dire need for real people to guide us forward into the unknown. Knowing where you stand orients you to how to be a genuine, natural, authentic leader. The root of the word question is quest: What have you known, that you have always known? What do you see, that you have always seen? What do you sense, that you have always sensed? Where do you stand and what do you stand for? These are a few of key questions that Mel Toomey, founder of the Graduate Institute’s Organizational Leadership master’s program and practicing consultant for over forty years, has been asking himself, while generating breakthroughs for non-profits, large organizations and political leaders, including Yitchak Rabin and Shimon Peres, throughout his career.

    12. Wisdom in Leadership (Part One): The Power to Language - Mel Toomey

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 29, 2020 52:13


    How we speak about our world makes a huge difference for how others respond to our leadership. Language is the key creative element in shaping our non-physical reality. Your capacity to bring consciousness to every word that you think and speak takes mindful communication to a realm of self-responsibility that is absolutely necessary in these critical moments of navigating the COVID-19 pandemic and global climate change. Mel Toomey began mentoring me when I joined the one-of-a-kind Master’s in Organizational Leadership program that he founded in 2001. An organizational consultant for over forty years, I relate to Mel like Luke Skywalker and Yoda, the wise elder of the Jedis.

    11. Collective Impact, Whole Systems Change & Paradigm Shift - Mark Kramer, John Kania, and Jennifer Juster

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 20, 2020 49:31


    In this special interview, I had the rare opportunity to speak with both of the founders of the Collective Impact Framework, Mark Kramer and John Kania, as well as the Executive Director of the Collective Impact Forum, Jennifer Juster. These pioneering thought leaders work closely together to foster cross-sector dialogue through an international network of social impact organizations who are addressing systemic issues that can only be effectively engaged through collaboration, coalition building and emergent strategies. While this podcast was recorded in August 2019, the principles of collective impact are perhaps even more relevant now, in the post-Coronavirus / COVID-19 reality.

    10. How to Be Resilient in These Uncertain Times - Lev Natan

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 15, 2020 21:25


    In this reflection on Suzanne Koepplinger’s interview on healing trauma (episode 7), Lev speaks about the deep connection between healing and leadership. When we allow for ourselves to be fully human, and therefore, to go on a healing journey of our own, we are actually inviting ourselves to step more powerfully into our leadership. How does this work? Leadership and healing are connected on a spectrum of developmental growth. The deeper you go, on your healing journey, the more aware, intelligent and effective you are able to be, in showing up as a leader. So, it’s important to give yourself the time to heal, in these times, especially. It will benefit you, and everyone around you.

    9. Coronavirus & Collective Initiation: Breakdown, Breakthrough and Leadership without Easy Answers - Dr. Kathleen Allen

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 8, 2020 55:31


    We are living in unprecedented times with tremendous uncertainty - all the more reason to focus on this question: how do I want to show up in response to this new reality? In this practical, honest and expansive conversation with Dr. Kathleen Allen, we explore the principle of breakdown/breakthrough in leadership. In other words, as the intensity builds, and disruption continues to multiply, we are learning to change, respond and adapt. There is a presence, deep within us, that guides this process. Just as the birds adjust their migration patterns in response to climate change, we have the choice to do the same.

    8. Coronavirus / COVID-19: Part Two - How Salmon Swim Upstream and Why that Matters Now

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 1, 2020 23:43


    How do salmon swim against the powerful currents of a river and even jump ten-foot high waterfalls? In the midst of this global Coronavirus pandemic, our resilience is being tested - big time - both individually and collectively. And yet, there are guiding principles that allow us to actually accelerate and evolve our capacity to respond while dealing with intense disruption. Redwood seed pods actually need the heat of a forest fire to explode open and take root. It’s possible that the leadership capacity “seeds” that you’ve been cultivating for years might actually pop open now, with these unlikely “nutrients of disruption." What if this is a time of accelerated growth for you to show up for others through a deeper connection with quantum consciousness. The old adage says, a crisis is a terrible thing to waste.

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