Synergos Cultivate the Soul: Stories of Purpose-Driven Philanthropy

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Synergos Cultivate the Soul: Stories of Purpose-Driven Philanthropy

Cultivate The Soul explores the intersection of philanthropy, contemplative practices, self-reflection and spirituality. Hosts Gretchen Ki Steidle and Melissa Durda are joined by leaders in philanthropy who discuss how they are bringing inner work to outer action and the impact this creates for charities, foundations, and other nonprofits. Presented by Synergos, a global organization helping solve complex issues around the world by advancing bridging leadership, which builds trust and collective action.

  1. Transforming Family Business with Frederick Tsao, Chairman, TPC and Founder, Octave

    OCT 8

    Transforming Family Business with Frederick Tsao, Chairman, TPC and Founder, Octave

    Chavalit Frederick Tsao is the fourth-generation steward of TPC (Tsao Pao Chee), a family business with more than 120 years of history. Chavalit believes business reform is needed, and quantum leadership is the way. He is committed to this journey and is reforming his family business, TPC, with a renewed mission “To Serve Well-being of Life and Create Wealth at the Same Time.” He founded OCTAVE, a business model with an ecosystem for an integrated life journey towards well-being. He is Chairman of the Council of Wisdom for the Family Business Network (FBN) International to champion the impact community of the network. Chavalit has authored 'Dawn of An Era Of Well-being', 'Quantum Leadership' and 'One Choice, One World'. In his latest book, 'One Choice, One World', he shares the role of Quantum Leaders in shifting the consciousness in business and their impact in stewarding the new humanity. These books are part of his anthology of 40 books published under Octave.eaaAAA https://chavalittsao.com/   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    27 min
  2. Service, Volunteerism, and Generosity for Collective Action with Nipun Mehta

    AUG 22

    Service, Volunteerism, and Generosity for Collective Action with Nipun Mehta

    Nipun Mehta is the founder of ServiceSpace, a global community working at the intersection of technology, volunteerism and a gift culture. As a designer of large-scale social movements that are rooted in small acts of service and powered by micro moments of inner transformation, his work has uniquely catalyzed "many to many" networks of community builders grounded in their localities and rooted in practices of cultivating deeper connection -- with oneself, each other and our systems. Today, ServiceSpace reaches millions every month, is powered by thousands of volunteers, and blossoms into ever-expanding local and virtual service projects that aim to ignite a "whole great than the sum of its parts". Nipun was honored as an "unsung hero of compassion" by the Dalai Lama, not long before former U.S. President Obama appointed him to a council for addressing poverty and inequality in the US. Yet the core of what strikes anyone who meets him is the way his life is an attempt to bring smiles in the world and silence in his heart: "I want to live simply, love purely, and give fearlessly. That's me." See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    33 min
  3. Empowering People and Society with Rohini Nilekani, Chairperson, Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies

    AUG 12

    Empowering People and Society with Rohini Nilekani, Chairperson, Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies

    Rohini Nilekani is the Chairperson of Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies and Co-founder and Director of EkStep, a non-profit education platform. She is also the Founder and Former Chairperson of Arghyam, a foundation she set up in 2001 for sustainable water and sanitation, which funds initiatives across India. From 2004 to 2014, she was Founder-Chairperson and chief funder of Pratham Books, a non-profit children’s publisher that reached millions of children during her tenure. She sits on the Board of Trustees of ATREE, an environmental think tank. In the past, she has served on the Audit Advisory Board of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India and the Eminent Persons Advisory Group of the Competition Commission of India. A former journalist, she has written for many leading publications such as Times of India, India Today, Mint, etc. Penguin Books India published her first book, a medical thriller called Stillborn, and her second non-fiction book, “Uncommon Ground”, based on her eponymous TV show. She has written several books for young children, published by Pratham Books, including the famous “Annual Haircut Day”. In 2022, she published an anthology of her writing titled “Samaaj, Sarkaar, Bazaar”, outlining her philosophy of restoring the balance between the state and markets by positioning society as the foundational sector. In 2017, she was inducted as a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She has been a member of the Board of Science Gallery Bengaluru, the Advisory Board of the Well Being Project since 2019, and the Dakshin Foundation since 2021. Rohini was voted the Best Grassroots Philanthropist by the Forbes India Leadership Award in 2022.  Rohini Nilekani is a committed philanthropist and has been named ‘the most generous woman in India’ for the third consecutive time in 2022 by the Hurun India Philanthropy Report. In 2017, she signed the Giving Pledge with her husband Nandan Nilekani, which commits half their wealth to philanthropic causes. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    26 min
  4. Partnering with Donors and Doers with the END Fund

    JUL 23

    Partnering with Donors and Doers with the END Fund

    Building trust and taking collective action are essential when tackling complex issues—and it is in this spirit that we bring you this episode from our partner System Catalysts, co-hosted by GPC member Jeffrey Walker and English Sall.   System Catalysts shares stories of change makers who put their egos aside to improve the systems that run the world. In this episode, Ellen Agler, former CEO of the END Fund and Tsitsi Masiyiwa, Co-Founder & Chair of Higherlife Foundation & Delta Philanthropies tell us how involving and supporting donors, board members and community-based organizations can have an exponential impact.  Listen to more of their episodes here.  System Catalysts is produced by Hueman Group Media. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    36 min
  5. Ecosystem Philanthropy with Cristiane Sultani, Founder, BEJA Institute.

    JUN 10

    Ecosystem Philanthropy with Cristiane Sultani, Founder, BEJA Institute.

    Listen to learn how Cristiane is working at a systems level to strengthen the philanthropic sector in Brazil as she builds strong partnerships with grantees based on trust and deep listening. Cristiane has a Law Degree from Mackenzie University, a Masters in Banking Law from IBMEC-SP, with specializations in Private Bank from IBMEC-SP and Corporate Law from Getúlio Vargas Foundation, she also completed the Impact Investing Program at the CSP - University of Zurich. She has practiced Law for the São Paulo Stock Exchange, at BBA Creditanstalt Bank and at the Consenso Family Office, and has worked as Wealth Planning and Legal Superintendent at the Private Bank, Capital Markets and Corporate departments of Itaú Unibanco Bank. Furthermore, she was a partner at the banking department of Law Firm Veirano Advogados, has been the COO of Pedro Alberto Fischer Single Family Office, and founded BEJA Institute in 2021. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    22 min
  6. Accessing the Self with Dr. Richard Schwartz.

    MAY 21

    Accessing the Self with Dr. Richard Schwartz.

    Richard Schwartz began his career as a systemic family therapist and an academic. Grounded in systems thinking, Dr. Schwartz developed Internal Family Systems (IFS) in response to clients’ descriptions of various parts within themselves. He focused on the relationships among these parts and noticed that there were systemic patterns to the way they were organized across clients. He also found that when the clients’ parts felt safe and were allowed to relax, the clients would experience spontaneously the qualities of confidence, openness, and compassion that Dr. Schwartz came to call the Self. He found that when in that state of Self, clients would know how to heal their parts. A featured speaker for national professional organizations, Dr. Schwartz has published many books and over fifty articles about IFS. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    22 min
  7. Shifting Health, Wellness and Consciousness with Victor Koo, Chair, Tianren Culture

    APR 29

    Shifting Health, Wellness and Consciousness with Victor Koo, Chair, Tianren Culture

    Victor is a social service worker and impact investor. He co-founded Tianren Culture, a next-generation social platform that serves as a catalyst and enabler of social innovation with the mission to foster positive global values and lifestyles. Tianren Culture's core philosophy is “One with Nature” and its strategic focus is to promote "One Wisdom, One Health" by encouraging and enabling contemplative practices and healthy lifestyles, especially those with roots in cultures and philosophies which believe that the health and wellness of human beings are interconnected with the health of the broader environment and ecosystem. Based in Hong Kong, Tianren Culture works with foundations, NGOs and business partners to put in place social service initiatives to help improve physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health and wellness. On the physical side, the One Health initiative has focused on food system transformation, promoting flexitarian diets, natural, non-factory farmed foods and innovation based on plant-based, fermentation and cell-based technologies. On the mental/emotional side, One Wisdom encourages and enables contemplative practices such as breathwork and meditation through communication and support of research and education. He is also a board director of Good Food Fund and on the advisory board of Global Wellness Institute. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    27 min
  8. Creating Transformative Communities with Rodney McKenzie, Jr., Vice President of Ally Development, Fetzer Institute

    APR 4

    Creating Transformative Communities with Rodney McKenzie, Jr., Vice President of Ally Development, Fetzer Institute

    Listen to hear Rodney speak about the role that he plays to support Love, with a capital “L” in today’s world. How, at Fetzer, they are creating space and communities to explore how one can demonstrate love in one’s philanthropy. Meet Rodney I come from a people where community is essential and life saving. Community has saved me from loneliness, from being afraid that I wasn’t loved by God and supported me in seeing the possibility of being at a special place like Fetzer. Creating transformative communities has always been a pivotal part of my work. In earlier parts of my career, I co-founded the Expansion Church and acted as spiritual director, where I focused on building a deep sense of community with all who attended in their personal and collective journey of intersection of radical spirituality. As the ED of Resource Generation,an organization of 18-35 year olds with access to wealth, I worked to support young people who often felt disconnected from their peers and their families in building up a community of people they could trust and feel deep alignment with. In my role as VP of Ally Development, I get deep joy from the ways we are creating and building community inside and outside of Fetzer. Within Fetzer, the Ally Development team is in deep community doing deep learning together, laughing a whole lot and being daring enough to take a bold stance that philanthropy at its best is centered in Love, Spirit, and the Sacred Mystery. Beyond Fetzer, we develop transformative relationships with leaders in the philanthropic community. In Ally Development, we know that transformative relationships and community are what leads to the openness, vulnerability, and genuine care that is required to have the real conversations about what we want for our future. I hold a Master of Divinity from the Union Theological Seminary and I bring 20 years' experience as a leader in philanthropy and movement spaces and as a community organizer focused on political campaigns and issues of democracy and social justice. I am from Dallas, TX, and currently live in New York, NY. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    26 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
6 Ratings

About

Cultivate The Soul explores the intersection of philanthropy, contemplative practices, self-reflection and spirituality. Hosts Gretchen Ki Steidle and Melissa Durda are joined by leaders in philanthropy who discuss how they are bringing inner work to outer action and the impact this creates for charities, foundations, and other nonprofits. Presented by Synergos, a global organization helping solve complex issues around the world by advancing bridging leadership, which builds trust and collective action.

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