WHO WE ARE
Circles for Conscious Change, LLC is a transformative education and social innovation firm working with social entrepreneurs, non-profits, students and corporations on the use of mindfulness as a design tool for social change.
Circles of Wisdom
This year, we are initiating our inaugural Circles of Wisdom, to include key organizations and change leaders that are currently utilizing personal transformation, inner work or inner wellbeing practices as a core component of their signature social impact work. Our purpose is to explore the question:
What wisdom do we have between us about how inner work contributes to systemic social change?
As outcomes, we hope to identify best practices and common values, and explore avenues for deeper collaboration.
Circle of Practitioners
CCC is building a community of independent conscious practitioners. We will soon be sharing their individual offerings for your engagement here. We can also assemble a custom team of experts to work collaboratively with you on a specific conscious change design challenge. We are eager to support your individual, organizational, and community goals with our unique, inner-driven approach.
Contact us if you are interested in joining our Circle as a practitioner or if you are interested in engaging one or more practitioners individually or collectively in a collaborative project.
Meet Gretchen Steidle
Gretchen Ki Steidle is the Founder of Circles for Conscious Change and President of Global Grassroots, which operates a mindfulness-based social venture incubator and women's leadership program in post-conflict East Africa.
Founder, Author, Facilitator, Mindful Change Agent
Gretchen believes that inner work is essential for us to advance the greatest level of positive social change individually and collectively.
She is author of the book Leading from Within: Conscious Social Change and Mindfulness for Social Innovation (2017 MIT Press). Gretchen is also a producer of the documentary film, The Devil Came on Horseback, which was nominated for three Emmy Awards in 2009 and co-author of the memoir, The Devil Came on Horseback: Bearing Witness to the Genocide in Darfur, (2007 PublicAffairs).
She holds an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College and a BA in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia, where she attended as a Jefferson Scholar. She is a certified Integrative Breathwork Practitioner and Coherent Breathwork (Breath-Body-Mind™) Practitioner, which she has utilized in her work in Haiti, Rwanda, the U.S. and Uganda to help women and children heal trauma from war, disaster, and gender-based violence.
In 2007, Gretchen was honored by World Business Magazine and Shell as one of the top International 35 Women Under 35. In 2010 she was chosen as a CNN Hero working in Haiti after the earthquake. In 2011 she was chosen one of seven Remarkable Women of the World by New Hampshire Magazine. In 2018 she was named to Inc.’s Top 100 Leadership Speakers.
She regularly lectures and offers workshops on mindfulness for social change at conferences, wellness institutions, universities, and organizations globally, including the Skoll World Forum, Omega Institute, Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College and AshokaU Exchange, among others.
Past Collaborators & Clients
Testimonials
“I again wanted to express my immense gratitude for all of the inspiration and ideas you shared with us last week. From re-framing the event, to ideas for immediate dissemination, to the larger question of what comes after the launch, you gave me SO much to work with and consider.”
“I was overawed by Gretchen's work around the world and couldn't help but wonder what the heck she was doing with us when she's used to helping people in much more serious situations than a bunch of MIT employees.”
“This journey gave me the tools and the skills to go inward, to know myself, to live from my full body-rather than a head walking around sending messages to body to do things like a robot.”
“I am grateful for Gretchen's wisdom and guidance and for the wonderful weekly practices that I believe are slowly beginning to create subtle, yet important changes in my life . . . this work has been extremely transformational for me and I am immensely grateful . . . I am now actively planning a life that involves being true to my essential self . . . I have such a sense of freedom and possibility.”
“When I walked in the door I felt like I was at a complete breaking point at work from my daily stress. Practicing breathing during the seminar was immensely helpful - I could feel my brain relaxing and felt so much less stressed when I left. If I can incorporate the practices (body, feelings, mind awareness) into my daily life this will have been life changing.”
“You have helped me find the courage to follow my path and provided a community in which I can share what I have learned.”