ABOUT OUR LEGACY
Global Grassroots has concluded its operations as a US 501(c)(3) and we joyfully celebrate the initiatives of our staff who carry on our legacy in East Africa.
Global Grassroots has concluded its operations as a US 501(c)(3)
and we joyfully celebrate the initiatives of our staff
who carry on our legacy In East Africa.
In Kinyarwanda, UMURAGE means “legacy.”
Read this letter from Executive Director, Gyslaine Uwitonze, about how Umurage Growth will build on Global Grassroots’ history of supporting women to become Conscious Social Change agents within their own communities.
Theory of Change
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Making a unique contribution for the greater good can be deeply meaningful, even healing, especially from the trauma of war, genocide, and sexual violence. In turn, when an individual interested in creating social change works to deepen their self-awareness, they have a greater likelihood of making mindful decisions, unobstructed or distorted by personal agenda, ego, or abuse of power.
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Global Grassroots embraces the potential for every person to become an agent of change. We have learned that it is women who are most invested in serving their community's needs yet traditionally have had the least access to the support they need to do so. We believe these women, if guided by mindfulness practice, will drive optimal societal transformation.
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We realize there are certain systems, tools, and support structures that can help accelerate societal transformation. This includes exposure to mindfulness practices, training in social venture design and management, financial services, human resources, information networks, forums for ideas transfer, access to healing practitioners, access to technology, and other services. Global Grassroots is working to build the support structures necessary to drive Conscious Social Change.
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Endeavors that give a voice to the disempowered, allow her to identify her value to her community, and realize her capacity to change the aspects of community that failed her - provide a deeply powerful path for healing.
“I’ve always believed in inner-driven change — that decisions made with the greatest level of awareness will ensure the wisest response and most potent, effective results. I’ve now spent two decades training in the fields of social entrepreneurship, personal transformation, meditation, and alternative healing. Bringing my passions together, I founded Global Grassroots in 2004 to advance what I call Conscious Social Change.”
Gretchen Ki Steidle
OUR FOUNDER
Gretchen Steidle's inspiration for her work with women in developing countries first stirred in her as a child when her military family was transferred to the Philippines where she discovered the difficulties of poverty. In 2004, Gretchen founded Global Grassroots to support the ideas of local women after a journey to South Africa to study HIV/AIDS. She is also the Founder & President of Circles for Conscious Change, a transformative education firm working with social entrepreneurs, non-profits, and corporations on the use of mindfulness as a design tool for social innovation. She has an MBA from the Tuck School at Dartmouth and a BA in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia. She is author of the recently published: Leading from Within: Conscious Social Change and Mindfulness for Social Innovation (MIT Press, 2017), and lectures and teaches on mindfulness and social change worldwide. A certified Integrative Breathworker, Gretchen has been delivering breath-based therapeutic practices, resilience training and trauma healing since 2002 to a range of individuals globally, including Rwanda genocide survivors, Haiti earthquake survivors and first-responders, Hurricane Katrina survivors, university activists, mental health professional and health care professionals. Her workshops have been offered at institutions including the Skoll World Forum, Omega Institute, Kripalu Institute, and the Wellbeing Project, among others. Gretchen is a producer of the three-time Emmy-nominated documentary film, The Devil Came on Horseback, about her brother's tenure as a military observer in Darfur, Sudan, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2007. She is also co-author of her brother's memoir, titled The Devil Came on Horseback: Bearing Witness to the Genocide in Darfur, published by PublicAffairs in 2007. 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 honored as a CNN Hero volunteering in Haiti after the earthquake. In 2011 she was chosen one of seven Remarkable Women of the World by New Hampshire Magazine. In 2018 Gretchen was named one of Inc.’s Top 100 Leadership Speakers.
We would like to wholeheartedly appreciate the many individuals who have donated their time and talents immeasurably as Former Staff & Board Members to ensure the development of Global Grassroots since 2006.
Concluding Board Members
Tori McLeod, Co-Chair
Associate, Eagle Hill Consulting, US
Gretchen Ki Steidle
Founder, Global Grassroots and Circles for Conscious Change, US
Michael T. Sullivan, Treasurer
Founder, MTS Advisory LLC, US
Sara Taggart, Co-Chair
Founder, Inner Work Strategy & Learning LLC, US
Donors & Partners
We’d like to thank the many, many individuals and organizations who helped Global Grassroots deliver on its mission for 17 years. Your contributions, support and partnership - and the relationships that bloomed from those - matter greatly to us, and we hope will continue as other Conscious Social Change models continue to develop around the globe.
