New Fund Supports More Than Meditation

To the Editor:

Cassie J. Moore’s article, (“Peace and Quiet,” May 29) described the work of the Seasons Fund for Social Transformation, but may unwittingly have given the impression that the fund is engaged in teaching people to meditate or focus only on personal growth. This misses the point of why our work is so important in promoting the impact and effectiveness of social-change organizations.

The Seasons Fund is providing support to some of the most innovative organizations in America today that are working on the frontlines of social and racial justice, immigrant rights, civic participation, and leadership development. They include Make the Road New York; Stone Circles, in North Carolina; Asian Communities for Reproductive Justice and the Rockwood Leadership Institute, in California, which has trained over 1,500 nonprofit leaders nationwide.

These groups do make an explicit link between personal and social transformation, and they use a wide variety of techniques to help people understand and activate this link.

As the business sector has recognized for many years, self-development is crucial for effective organizations, and the Seasons Fund stands at the forefront of bringing this proven work into the under-resourced nonprofit sector.

Michael Edwards
Tara Brown
Co-Chairs
Seasons Fund for Social Transformation
New York