[su_dropcap style=”flat” size=”4″]T[/su_dropcap]he Center for Mindful Learning has always been driven to make incredibly powerful meditation practices accessible, relevant, and personal to as many people as possible. We’ve had quite a few successes so far: bringing together a wonderful community in Vermont, creating effective software to bring mindfulness to the classroom, and founding a modern monastery. Now, we are called to another great opportunity, to the great challenge of answering these questions:

• Can we find a way to sustain and scale our organization?
• How can we be of maximum benefit to the world?
• Can deep mindfulness practice and teachings be profitable?

We are rising to this challenge with an experimental process, seeking a sustainable, scalable business model that can deepen our service to the world. We have been inspired by the best practices of the business world, and are making use of cutting-edge organizational methodologies like Holacracy and lean product development. Our plan is split into four phases:

1. Discovery / Observation Creating the context and surfacing the information necessary for business model development. Interviewing and learning about customers, analyzing related business models of past and present, looking at opportunities with new technologies, etc. [su_spacer size=”25″]
2. Idea Generation / Brainstorming Create as many ideas as possible! No idea is too off the wall. This is where we get to let our creative juices flow. [su_spacer size=”25″]
3. Selection based on criteria Select a business model that strikes a balance between profitability and alignment with our vow. [su_spacer size=”25″]
4. Experimentation and prototyping Validate the selected idea through experimentation, using interviews, prototypes, minimum viable products, etc. [su_spacer size=”25″]

[su_dropcap style=”flat” size=”3″]A[/su_dropcap]lthough no one can predict what business model we’ll find, we feel confident that if you have benefited from our previous efforts and offerings, you can expect a deeper, more fulfilling relationship with our organization, and a chance to contribute to meaningful projects that are aligned with the needs of our global community. If you feel excited, fascinated, and empowered by this opportunity, we welcome your participation. Here are some realms of expertise that we would love support and mentorship on:

– Multimedia, especially video

– Graphic design

– Real estate

– Marketing

– Business strategy

– Introduce us to foundations and donors

You might also be interested in becoming a resident, or in making a personal financial contribution.