Our leadership team is based in California
Our network of mentors, Kumu project leaders, alumni, and innovators spans the world
Together we form a creative community actively engaged in new models, narratives and ideas promoting a quantum leap for a just, wise, life-sustaining, and ardent society
Leadership Team

Raquel Santiago
Inner Technologies
Raquel's Bio
Raquel Boluda has mastered a wide range of powerful inner technologies for personal growth, leadership and innovation. Raquel is trained in several types of Yoga and mindfulness meditation, in addition to multiple dance and somatic expression modalities, such as Contemporary, African, Sufi, Middle Eastern, and Butoh. A teacher, and a somatic therapist, Raquel is the founder of Alchemy Spinning™, a powerful and yet accessible whirling mindfulness practice providing participants with a state of expanded consciousness conducive to creative breakthroughs, innovation and personal transformation. Raquel has performed internationally for UNESCO, TEDx and other organizations, often helping audiences attain a deeper comprehension of complex envirosocial issues, such as ocean noise pollution.

Nadia Chaney
Social Artistry
Nadia's Bio
Nadia Chaney believes in the everyday poetry of life and leadership. Since 2002 she has facilitated well over two thousand events and workshops using the arts for personal and social transformation. She was co-founder of Metaphor, a hip hop-based youth empowerment project; a founding member of the Transformative Communities Project Society; a founding member of the East Van Celebration Society as well as a regular facilitator and consultant for many organizations, companies, educators and government programs. She holds a postgraduate diploma in Dialogue and Negotiation and a M.A in Imaginative Education from Simon Fraser University. She specializes in engagement, creative risk-taking, process design, and participatory decision-making. She has a long history of public performance, poetry and installation art.

Brian D. Edgar
Director of Media and Education
Brian's Bio
Brian D. Edgar is a transformative educator with a passion for education programming – learning that heeds the human need for creative expression, self-direction, collaboration and wellness. He earned his B.A. in English and Classics at Rutgers University, and his M.A. in English Education at Brooklyn College. As a NYC English teacher, Brian mentored young writers using a an individualized approach to teaching reading and writing. This experience inspired Brian to earn his PhD in Education at Stanford University, where he taught in the Science, Technology and Society program. Brian is a founding member of the Urban Assembly School for Law and Justice in Brooklyn, New York. His writing has appeared in The Brooklyn Rail, Scholarly and Research Communication and Harvard Educational Press. Brian’s most recent work, Blackboard Bodhisattvas, tells the stories of three exemplary educators and their journeys into teaching

Manuel Maqueda
Founder and Director
Manuel's Bio
Manuel is passionate about ushering a life-sustaining, just, and thriving way of life. Manuel has founded / is involved in a variety of value-driven organizations and projects. He is the author of the forthcoming book The Meaning Economy. Manuel holds a Master’s degree in Economics and Business, and a Law Degree. He teaches social entrepreneurship at UC Berkeley and gives workshops and lectures internationally. More info at http://www.manuelmaqueda.org/
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