Synergos Cultivate the Soul: Stories of Purpose-Driven Philanthropy – Details, episodes & analysis

Kristine Tompkins is the president and co-founder of Tompkins Conservation, an American conservationist, and former CEO of Patagonia, Inc. For three decades, she has committed to protecting and restoring wild beauty and biodiversity by creating national parks, restoring wildlife, inspiring activism, and fostering economic vitality as a result of conservation.

Kristine and her late husband Douglas Tompkins have protected over 15 million acres of parklands in Chile and Argentina through Tompkins Conservation and its partners, making them among the most successful national park-oriented philanthropists in history.

Through Tompkins Conservation and its offspring organizations, Rewilding Argentina and Rewilding Chile, she has helped to create or expand 15 national parks in Argentina and Chile, including two marine national parks, and works to bring back over two dozen species that have gone locally or nationally extinct, such as the jaguar, red-and-green macaw, and giant river otters in Northeast Argentina, and Darwin’s rheas and extremely endangered huemul deer in Chile.

Kristine served as Patron for Protected Areas for the UN Environmental Programme from 2018-2022. The recipient of numerous honors, she was the first conservationist to be awarded the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy. In 2024, she followed up her 2020 TED Talk, "Let's Make the World Wild Again," with over two million views, with “A Bold Plan to Rewild the Earth—at a Massive Scale,” available in 14 languages, on the TED mainstage in Vancouver.

About Tompkins Conservation

Founded by the late Douglas Tompkins and cofounded by Kristine Tompkins, Tompkins Conservation is protecting and restoring wild beauty and biodiversity by creating national parks, bringing back species through rewilding, and fostering regenerative economies. Over three decades, the nonprofit has protected approximately 15 million acres of parklands in Chile and Argentina through the creation or expansion of 15 national parks in Chile and Argentina, in addition to two marine protected areas of 30 million acres. Through active rewilding, the organization is bringing back over a dozen species that are in critical numbers, endangered or locally extinct. In 2015, a kayaking accident in Patagonia took Doug's life. Alongside his wife Kris, the couple are amongst the foremost conservation philanthropists in history.

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Camille Massey is President and CEO of Synergos, a global organization that has pioneered the use of bridging leadership, which builds trust and collaboration to solve complex problems. She joined the organization in this role in November 2023.

Camille combines decades of experience working on complex development challenges together with deep recognition of the values of inclusion, of listening, and of supporting people and institutions that are most proximate to those challenges.

Previously, she was Founding Executive Director of the Sorensen Center for International Peace and Justice. She also previously served as Vice President for Global Strategy and Programs at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, and has served in senior positions at Human Rights First and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, working in 23 countries with a concentration in Africa and Asia.

Camille founded Cue Global, a consulting business that designed and implemented strategic policy, legal, advocacy, communications, and resource mobilization plans for global organizations, was appointed a Human Rights Fellow at The Carter Center in Atlanta, and worked with musician Peter Gabriel to help establish WITNESS, an international human rights organization supporting local groups in the use of video.

As a long-time board member of Breakthrough, she works on projects worldwide to stop violence against women and girls. She also serves on the board of Outright International and the advisory boards of Global Witness, the Center for Business and Human Rights at New York University and House of SpeakEasy, a literary nonprofit organization.

Camille Massey earned her J.D. from CUNY School of Law, and a B.S. from Syracuse University's Newhouse School where she currently sits on the Advisory Board. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the American Bar Association, and the New York City Bar Association.

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Richard Schwartz began his career as a systemic family therapist and an academic. Grounded in systems thinking, Dr. Schwartz developed Internal Family Systems (IFS) in response to clients’ descriptions of various parts within themselves. He focused on the relationships among these parts and noticed that there were systemic patterns to the way they were organized across clients. He also found that when the clients’ parts felt safe and were allowed to relax, the clients would experience spontaneously the qualities of confidence, openness, and compassion that Dr. Schwartz came to call the Self. He found that when in that state of Self, clients would know how to heal their parts.

A featured speaker for national professional organizations, Dr. Schwartz has published many books and over fifty articles about IFS.

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Victor is a social service worker and impact investor. He co-founded Tianren Culture, a next-generation social platform that serves as a catalyst and enabler of social innovation with the mission to foster positive global values and lifestyles. Tianren Culture's core philosophy is “One with Nature” and its strategic focus is to promote "One Wisdom, One Health" by encouraging and enabling contemplative practices and healthy lifestyles, especially those with roots in cultures and philosophies which believe that the health and wellness of human beings are interconnected with the health of the broader environment and ecosystem. Based in Hong Kong, Tianren Culture works with foundations, NGOs and business partners to put in place social service initiatives to help improve physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health and wellness. On the physical side, the One Health initiative has focused on food system transformation, promoting flexitarian diets, natural, non-factory farmed foods and innovation based on plant-based, fermentation and cell-based technologies. On the mental/emotional side, One Wisdom encourages and enables contemplative practices such as breathwork and meditation through communication and support of research and education. He is also a board director of Good Food Fund and on the advisory board of Global Wellness Institute.

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Listen to hear Rodney speak about the role that he plays to support Love, with a capital “L” in today’s world. How, at Fetzer, they are creating space and communities to explore how one can demonstrate love in one’s philanthropy.

Meet Rodney

I come from a people where community is essential and life saving. Community has saved me from loneliness, from being afraid that I wasn’t loved by God and supported me in seeing the possibility of being at a special place like Fetzer.

Creating transformative communities has always been a pivotal part of my work. In earlier parts of my career, I co-founded the Expansion Church and acted as spiritual director, where I focused on building a deep sense of community with all who attended in their personal and collective journey of intersection of radical spirituality. As the ED of Resource Generation,an organization of 18-35 year olds with access to wealth, I worked to support young people who often felt disconnected from their peers and their families in building up a community of people they could trust and feel deep alignment with.

In my role as VP of Ally Development, I get deep joy from the ways we are creating and building community inside and outside of Fetzer. Within Fetzer, the Ally Development team is in deep community doing deep learning together, laughing a whole lot and being daring enough to take a bold stance that philanthropy at its best is centered in Love, Spirit, and the Sacred Mystery. Beyond Fetzer, we develop transformative relationships with leaders in the philanthropic community. In Ally Development, we know that transformative relationships and community are what leads to the openness, vulnerability, and genuine care that is required to have the real conversations about what we want for our future.

I hold a Master of Divinity from the Union Theological Seminary and I bring 20 years' experience as a leader in philanthropy and movement spaces and as a community organizer focused on political campaigns and issues of democracy and social justice. I am from Dallas, TX, and currently live in New York, NY.

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Scott Kriens, chairman and former CEO of Juniper Networks, has been in the
technology industry for more than 35 years. In 1996, he co-founded Juniper
Networks, growing the company to $4 billion in global sales and more than 10,000
employees in 100+ countries.

In 2010, Scott and his wife Joanie launched 1440 Foundation, a grant making
organization committed to the cultivation of truly real and connected
relationships, with self and others, as a basis for living well. The work of the
Foundation led Scott and Joanie to launch 1440 Multiversity, a 21st century
learning destination in the California redwoods of Santa Cruz County.
At his core, Scott is a learner and a builder, committed to finding new ways to tie
the world around us to that which is real and powerful within us – whether for
the purpose of building teams as a leader in the tech industry or simply as an
advocate for the path to living lives of true resonance. Moving beyond having
more or suffering less, 1440 helps people and groups interested in finding their
own unique connection to meaning.

“I think the growing call in the world today for connection, meaning, and making a
difference, all indicate that there is an unmet need in many of us. The true mark
of 1440’s success will be that we can offer a welcoming and inspiring place to
serve the loud need for quiet time, and invite each person to find their own
answers to the questions that matter most.”

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Sudnya is an Indian American artist who has made San Francisco Bay Area her home since 1996. She has pursued her passion for storytelling through visual art, public installations, a novel publication, and now FREMONT, her first feature film.

As a champion of the world’s displaced sisterhood, Sudnya has made it her life’s mission to tell stories - arrestingly beautiful and awe inspiring stories - that have the power to move and change our subconscious narratives of fear around those who don’t look and sound like us. Towards that end, she has built a community that trusts her and has joined forces in this endeavor of storytelling to effect a powerful and much needed social awakening.

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Listen to hear how David Less and the Abrahamic Reunion are shifting consciousness by bringing people together in the Holy Land so they can change the narrative and move from separation to unity.

David is a founding member of the Abrahamic Reunion, a bottom-up grassroots organization designed to overcome the problem of segregation and separation in Israel and Palestine by bringing together groups of people from the four major religions to spend time together, work together, study together, and create an atmosphere of trust and understanding.

David has been teaching meditation and inner practice for 55 years and is recognized globally as a teacher of harmonious living, health, meditation and personal transformation.  He is the Spiritual Director & Founder of Rising Tide International, a Universal Spiritual Center in Sarasota, Florida.

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Listen to hear Ajay’s reflections on love and service, about the importance of being instead of doing, about our inter-connectedness and the power of living the example.

Ajay was born into a working-class immigrant family from India. A deep spiritual calling led him to become a monk in his late teens, where he spent almost a decade in service, spiritual practice, and deep reflection on how to realize a healthy, conscious, and balanced society. He transitioned out of monastic life to apply his commitment to service and belief in the power of catalyzing change agents to lead a number of mission-driven organizations at the forefront of consciousness and social change. Along with serving as a guide and coach, Ajay is the founder of The Bhakti Society, a nonprofit he founded to support people in their spiritual journeys through sharing the teachings of Bhakti. His passion lies in supporting others in unlocking their full spiritual potential. Connect to learn about the Synergos Global Philanthropists Circle and Ajay’s Blog.

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Listen to hear how Sister Jayanti and the Brahma Kumaris are spreading love and peace in creative ways and with great global reach. She shares how inner transformation can be a tool of positive change, including on issues like climate change.

Sister Jayanti is the Additional Administrative Head of The Brahma Kumaris, the world’s largest spiritual organisation to be led by women. She is a spiritual teacher, much sought after international public speaker, author and a visionary leader guided by spiritual values and principles.

Sister Jayanti embodies a unique blend of Eastern wisdom and Western education and culture; imparting the deepest spiritual truths with the utmost clarity. Her prominent speaking themes include leadership, environment & climate change, women's empowerment; health & well-being, racial harmony, interreligious friendships & global peace. In these critical times in which humanity is facing up to the challenges of change, her message invites each of us to embody a positive vision of a brighter world. Her spiritual knowledge, inner peace and radiant love have inspired millions across the globe to empower themselves to make changes to their lives.

The Brahma Kumaris is an international non-governmental organisation (NGO) of the United Nations, accredited with General Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). Sister Jayanti has been the organisation's representative to the UN in Geneva since 1982. She has championed the co-operative role of spiritual organisations in creating a just and peaceful world; and has brought spiritual principles to the discussion tables of politicians, economists, business leaders, scientists and nearly every stakeholder of our times. She spends a proportion of her year at the International Headquarters of The Brahma Kumaris at Mt Abu, Rajasthan, India. She is otherwise based in London at the National Coordinating Office, Global Co-operation House, UK.

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