From Left: Marta Ceroni (Director of Programs)+ Frida, Jenna Musco (Treasurer), Sarah Buckmaster (Director of Operations), Ken Leinbach (Board Member), Ed Krishok (Board Vice Chair), Robert Hanig (Advisor), Darcy Winslow (President), Peter Senge (Board Member), Erik Esselstyn (Board Member), Hal Hamilton (Board Member), Anne Murray Allen (Advisor), Jay Bragdon (Assistant Treasurer), Wayne Barstad (Board Chair)
As of October 4 2016, the Donella Meadows Institute has legally merged with the Academy for Systemic Change. We continue to be the Sustainability Institute that Dana incorporated in Vermont in 1996, but instead of doing business as the Donella Meadows Institute, we now do business as the Academy for Systems Change. With the name change we acknowledge that the impact Dana wanted to create in the world transcends her persona and demands that we work across domains and ecosystems. Our mission as a combined organization is to “advance awareness-based systemic change in order to accelerate social, ecological, and economic wellbeing.” By “awareness,” we mean the compassion, understanding, and wisdom needed as leaders to transform systems, such as shifting mindsets, relationships and taken-for-granted ways of operating.
In pursuing this mission we continue to be the top resource for accessing and researching Dana’s work at donellemeadows.org where we currently host more than 1,000 of her writings. And we continue to actively embody her vision through our programs, now with more horsepower. In 2016 our staff doubled in size, and our Board increased from 5 to 8 to 13 in 2017. We have increased our network of active partners, advisors and volunteers by a factor of 10. All of this is allowing us to: A. re-launch our beloved Fellows Program, B. offer the first in a series of online learning hives on systems thinking for social change, and C. build an online body of knowledge on tools and practices for shifting systems.
Please visit us at the Academy for Systems Change website for more information on the organization and our work.
