About the Business Program
News
In 2008, the Center worked with Google to create an employee training program on mindfulness and emotional intelligence. We will be launching a business consulting service based on this program.
The History of the Program
The Center worked with Monsanto from 1996 to 2001 to develop the first program in the country of in-depth insight meditation within a large corporation, including off-site retreats as well as on-site courses in meditation, full-day retreats in silence, and a dedicated meditation room at each corporate location. The program included discussions of personal and professional responsibility and visionary leadership among scientists and managers faced with critical decisions in agricultural and pharmaceutical biotechnology.
We are a strategic partner of Spirit in Business, an organization that explores, promotes and celebrates the reconnection of ethics, values and spirit in business leadership.
In 2003, the Center hosted an insight retreat for executives from Hoffmann-La Roche, Inc. at Medway, a historic home near Charleston, South Carolina.
Also in 2003, the Center collaborated with Spirit Rock Retreat Center in a program at Stanford Business School for students and professors. Speakers were Bob Shapiro, former Chairperson of Pharmacia; Rachel Remen, Co-Founder and Medical Director of the Commonweal Cancer Help Program; Charlie Halpern, Chairperson of the Center and former President, Nathan Cummings Foundation; and Jack Kornfield of Spirit Rock, who facilitated the day and led meditation practice.
A Testimonial from the Hoffmann-La Roche retreat:
"Every participant raved about the caliber of [Mirabai Bush's] and Steven's [Smith's] instruction. We heard comments about how highly skilled you both are, how easy it was to be in the presence of two individuals who were so obviously well educated, experienced, traveled and exposed to a variety of settings with a variety of people…and yet possess such an extraordinary ability to create a context where it is so easy to learn, absent of judgment, so in touch, so touching. A wonderful and safe place to explore…
And did I mention the humor? To paraphrase one comment about Mirabai, [she was] described as possessing "unique intellectual levity". It was clear that no one had anticipated the benefits of such levity but that we found the light heartedness allowed us to see, amongst other things, how seriously we had been regarding so many relatively unimportant issues...which interestingly now allows us to take 'more' seriously the issues that warrant such attention. What a difference this distinction has begun to make for our lives, including how we relate to business situations.
...What you are doing, is helping us learn to mindfully keep ourselves grounded in our principles..."
M. Ferguson,
President, Alova, Inc.