Awakening Global Action Team

Watch out for little vacations -- they can sprout a world learning center!

Founder and President of the Bali Institute, Marcia Jaffe, took a short holiday to Bali in October 2003 to recuperate from producing a 2,000-person conference in California. She was certain that there were no more conferences in her future as she was tired and ready for something new. Bali felt like a "calling". While traveling in Ubud, she found herself in deep dialogue with numerous Balinese, and was drawn to their commitment to spirituality, balance and community life.

Marcia Jaffe
But it was the Balinese reaction to the terrorist attack on their beautiful island that was most astounding. The Balinese used their atrocity as an opportunity for deep inquiry into what their culture might have done to generate such bad karma, and what could they do to prevent this from happening again. Their answer has been to reclaim their culture, and to emphasize rituals and ceremonies in their community and with families and children.

Bali was also in desperate need to have people come back to the island, since their economic structure had been based on tourism, and the entire island was economically suffering everywhere.

Before Marcia left Bali, she began to envision a conference that would bring people together to learn from the Balinese -- their culture had much to teach the rest of the world, and people everywhere needed to support them in this time of challenge. Marcia teamed up with two other deeply committed and well-seasoned professionals, Wilford Welch and Carole Angermier, and the first Quest for Global Healing conference was held almost a year later with more than 425 people from 22 countries. The second Quest for Global Healing and the first Global Youth in Action pre-program was held in 2006 with more than 650 people from over 30 countries. Both programs focused on how people can make a difference in the world.

Desmond Tutu and Ubud Royal Family
Global leaders attending have included three Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Betty Williams and Jody Williams, Apollo 14 Astronaut Edgar Mitchell (the 6th man to walk on the moon), the former president of Indonesia Abdurrahman Wahid, Bhutan's Minister of Culture, Afghanistan's Red Crescent Society President, and numerous others.

This gathering will be the first program as we launch the new Bali Institute for Global Renewal . Marcia's new dream is to build a Balinese-designed world learning center based in Ubud. The facility will bring together world leaders and engage global citizens and activists from around the world on a regular basis for shared learning and training. Organizations, universities, think-tanks, learning institutes, consultants, trainers, and global citizens can become members of the Institute and offer or attend programs. For more information....

Marcia Jaffe, President and Founder, Bali Institute for Global Renewal.
Marcia was the Founder/Co-Director of the Quest for Global Healing conferences. She is a conference entrepreneur who has been creating and producing numerous conferences and events for more than 30 years. Marcia developed the initial concept of these gatherings in Bali in late 2003 as a way for the world to learn from the Balinese about leadership, community, balance, spirituality and the need for cultural self-reflection.

Ryan Feinstein, Global Projects Director
Ryan is the Bali Institute Global Projects Director and the founder/director of the Global Youth in Action programs of the Bali Institute. He has facilitated intergenerational workshops on the empowerment of youth at numerous international conferences, and created/facilitated the first Global Youth in Action Program at the QGHII in 2006. Ryan is currently finishing his degree in International Studies at University of California, San Diego.

Dr. Illana Berger, Global Program Director
Illana has trained with healers and medicine people from around the world. She has a MA/Ph.D from California Institute for Integral Studies. She is a Spiritual Counselor, leads Women's Healing Circles, rites of passage rituals for youth, and uses indigenous healing concepts and practices in her work. She was the Conference Coordinator for Quest for Global Healing 2006.

Rev. Dina Gardner, Global Development Director
Dina is an ordained Presbyterian Minister, spiritual director and yoga instructor. She also serves as adjunct faculty in Social and Administrative Ethics for the University of San Francisco. She has a private practice of pastoral care, spiritual direction and intuitive energy medicine, and has worked in nonprofit organizations, congregations, and academic institutions for over 13 years. She also leads retreats and leadership trainings.

Prince Cedza Dlamini, Global Youth Ambassador
Prince Cedza, grandson of Nelson Mandela, is a humanitarian, youth activist, spokesman for the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals, and the founder of the Ubuntu Institute for Young Social Entrepreneurs. His vision is to create a unified global order by establishing global networks of young leaders who can work collectively to address current world problems.

Linda Dunkel, Global Programs Advisor
Linda is president and CEO of Interaction Associates, Inc. She brings 25 years experience designing and developing change and learning strategies for organizations and improving the effectiveness of the human assets of corporations. She has served in senior level positions in two start-up companies and was vice president of a Fortune 100 company. She was recently named chairman of the Betty Williams Foundation.

Davis Hammon, Global Youth in Action Webmaster
Davis is working with Global Youth in Action in advising and implementing media design and communication and he is the creator of this site globalyouthinaction.org. Davis' passions lie in opening positive spaces for collaboration and connection of the healer within all of us. Through his company, Rising Tiger Media, Davis assists clients in marketing and design through the internet medium. Davis proudly was a particpant in GYIA of 2006.

Gary Malkin, Artistic Director
Gary is a composer, producer and performer dedicated to creating music and media that inspire the heart and catalyze social change. A seven-time Emmy award-winner, he is co-author of Graceful Passages, the first audio/cd release of the Wisdom Project, offering innovative ways to experience universal wisdom during life's transitions.

Robyn McCulloch, Global Program Design Advisor
Robyn founded The Confluence LLC to cultivate enlightened power in organizations around the world. Her 27 years of experience includes working with diverse populations worldwide, from Fortune 100 executives to tribal councils to well-known celebrities in film & entertainment. As a Master Somatic Coach, she blends embodied leadership practices with Appreciative Inquiry to create sustainable, meaningful change.

Gary Malkin Gary Muscznski , Artistic Catalyst
Gary founded One World Music in 1987 and serves as the organization’s Creative Catalyst and CEO (Chief Experience Officer). A recognized performing artist, educator, and facilitator, he is a pioneer in the field of experiential training and development using music to facilitate change in business and other organizations. His work includes Fortune 500 companies, Stanford Business School and other top universities, and numerous presentations in North America, Europe and Southeast Asia.

Aftab Omer, Global Strategy Advisor
Aftab is President and Founder of the Institute of Imaginal Studies, a graduate school and research center located in the San Francisco Bay Area. His work focuses on assisting organizations and learning communities in tapping the creative potentials of diversity, conflict, and complexity.

Agung Rai, Bali Advisor
Agung Rai is the founder, visionary and owner of the ARMA Museum and Resort. ARMA (Agung Rai Museum of Art) serves as a living cultural art museum that showcases historical and contemporary artists from Bali, Indonesia and other countries, as well as cultural arts including Balinese dance, music, painting, sculpture and more.

Ernesto Sanchez, Ceremonial Advisor
Ernesto is an award-winning ceremonial artist, performer, teacher, and intuitive healer. He has studied, taught and performed in Europe, Asia, Latin America and the US. For the past 20 years his work has explored the relationship between art, spirituality and community.

Michael Shaw, Global Production Manager
A traveller, teacher, seeker and businessman, Michael has studied and sat with many spiritual masters in different countries around the world. He has a Diploma of Education and is currently teaching theatre improvisation classes and studying transpersonal psychology.

Tjokorda Gde Putra Sukawati, Bali Advisor
Prince Putra is the eldest of the three Princes of the Ubud Palace family. He is active in preserving Balinese art and is the chairman of Museum Puri Lukisa, chairman of the Advisor of Bali Tourism Board, chairman of Ubud Community Board and president director of Pita Maha Institution.

Tjokorda Gde Oka Sukawati, Bali Advisor
Prince Oka is the second of the three Princes of the Ubud Palace family. He is involved in many activities focused on preserving Balinese culture, and is also a lecturer in architecture at Udayana University. He is vice president of Pita Maha Institution.

Prince Gde Raka Sukawati Tjorkorda Gde Raka Sukawati, Bali Advisor
The youngest Prince of the Ubud Palace family, Gde is directly involved with many local community activities in Ubud. Very talented in traditional Balinese architecture and community leadership, he currently serves as lecturer in marketing at Udayana University and is Managing Director of Pita Maha Institution.

I Made Sumadiyasa I Madé Sumadiyasa, Bali Artist-in-Residence
Madé is recognized as a leading artist in Southeast Asia and is renowned for paintings that encompass a universal spirit. He was commissioned to produce the official 2006 Quest for Global Healing I and II posters, and is the artist of the "Seed of Life" painting used in the Awakening Global Action logo.

Kate Sweetman, Global Program Design Advisor
Kate is a former editor at Harvard Business Review where she acquired and edited articles by top business executives, academics, and consultants in the U.S. and abroad. She currently works in leadership development for a variety of clients, often crafting customized cases. Kate has a BA in English from Yale University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Madé Janur Yasa, Global Program Advisor
Madé is Balinese and currently lives in New Mexico. He embodies Eastern philosophy blended with a western lifestyle. As a Somatic Coach, he is exceptional at seeing possibilities. He is a strategic partner in The Confluence LLC, an organization dedicated to developing bold leaders in the USA and Asia. His mission is to empower younger generations in Indonesia by launching the Leadership Dojo™

Isaac Zikri Ilham 'Issac' Zikri, Indonesian Operations Advisor
Issac is from the Minangkabau culture in Bukittinggi, Sumatra and has been traveling for the past three years studying first-hand the numerous indigenous cultures. He was named Cultural Ambassador of Sumatra, has worked on a French documentary, and researched ethnic conflict in Borneo. He spoke at the 2004 QGH on the Young Emerging Global Leaders panel.