Programs & Events

The enormity and complexity of the challenges before us - environmental, institutional, societal - require a response that is beyond our familiar frames of reference. We are being challenged to generate new thinking and new levels of collaboration, innovation, and collective will. We are standing at a critical crossroads, and it is not clear where such far-reaching, forward-looking leadership will come from, if not from ourselves. As leaders who care deeply about the future and the generations that will follow, what is the road we must walk on to develop this capacity and courage, at the same time that we are showing the way for others?

The Shambhala Institute aspires to be a beacon and resource for leaders travelling the road towards more compassionate, life-serving, and sustainable organizations and communities. This intention is expressed in the archetypal story of Shambhala, which has been told in Central Asia for over two thousand years. Shambhala is a society where human goodness and dignity are expressed in all the institutions of everyday life.

The Institute is best known for its annual Summer Institute, which has convened annually since 2001. The program's integrative design includes in-depth modules, mindfulness meditation, the arts, and plenary dialogues. Because of the Institute's reputation as a convener of transformative leadership programs, it attracts some of the foremost thought leaders, researchers, and presenters who are forging new paths of social and organizational innovation.

In addition to this flagship program, the Institute is becoming a year-round networked organization, connecting regional fields of practice, learning, and action to international resources. The Institute is committed to being a catalyst and connector for leaders of social and organizational innovation in its home region of Nova Scotia. It is a founding partner, with the United Way, of Envision Halifax, a community-wide leadership initiative. The Authentic Leadership in Action program in Peterborough, Ontario, is the first of its kind, as a regional adaptation of the Summer Institute model. The aim of this program is to connect and serve networks of forward-thinking leaders across sectors in Ontario.

The Shambhala Institute for Authentic Leadership is part of Nalanda Foundation, a secular educational organization under the broad umbrella of centres and organizations known as Shambhala International. The Nalanda Foundation is a charitable organization in Canada and the United States. The Shambhala Institute, based in Nova Scotia, Canada, is funded by a combination of program tuition, grants, and donations.

Guiding principles

The following principles are foundational to the Institute's culture and programs.
Authenticity. The Institute's activities flow out of an allegiance to an authentic way of being and a desire to serve the world. Its programs cultivate a depth and clarity of attention and intention, as a foundation for leadership.
Clear seeing. Effective leadership begins with seeing situations clearly and directly. As leaders we are challenged to question our assumptions, acknowledge interdependence and complexity, and attend to detail with precision.
Inherent capacity. Authentic leadership operates "from the inside out," tapping into the inherent goodness, intelligence, and richness of oneself and others. Leaders catalyze transformative learning and performance by drawing out and building upon capacities that already exist within individuals, communities, and organizations.
Transformative learning. The Institute's learning environments embrace creative paradox, where openness is discovered within structure, simplicity within complexity, stillness within action, and order within chaos. Leadership development is an ongoing journey of personal and collective transformation.
Transformative action. The Institute's programs and activities enable leaders to step boldly into action, and to catalyze and sustain systemic change.

Core Competence

The Shambhala Institute creates the conditions, and helps others create the conditions, for transformative learning and impact.

We define transformative learning as

• integrative, engaging the whole person and multiple ways of perceiving and knowing.
• creative, venturing outside the box of limiting assumptions and familiar ways of approaching problems and opportunities.
• relevant, focusing on what matters and a clear sense of personal and collective purpose.

We define transformative impact as

• systemic, addressing the root cause of a problem, rather than just symptoms, and engaging diverse stakeholders in creating their own future.
• organic, creating the conditions for change that develops out of the creative, healing, expressive, integrative, and entrepreneurial capacities already present, rather than forcing change.
• quantum, leading to results that are greater than the sum of the parts and more far-reaching than could be predicted with linear strategy.

Governing Council

Phil Cass (Chair)
Claudia Chender
Michael Chender
Chris Grant
Arawana Hayashi
Mark Hazell
John Roy
Susan Skjei
Sera Thompson

Staff

Susan Szpakowski (Exec. Dir.)
Karen Densmore
Cara Lynn Garvock
Glenna Jeffers
Basia Solarz
Ryan Watson
Barbara Zielinski