Thank you to those who came to “Meet the Psychedelic-Climate Leaders” at Secret Social. Seventeen speakers presented to a captive audience of 300 guests. Given the strong interest at this time, we are enthusiastic to plan more events to continue to catalyze connections among people working at this intersection and to advance these collective efforts. We welcome your participation, so please read on for ways to get involved in programming.
Soundbyte-sized clips will soon be available—in the meantime, you can watch the full video and read excerpts from the evening. From environmental founders and regenerative researchers to plant medicine filmmakers and psychedelic storytellers, learn about each of these pioneers, hear how they work at this intersection, and support their climate action:
“I came out of the closet at 35, and I came out of the psychedelic medicine cabinet at 65,” said Cameron Dubes, Co-Creator, All1.eco. “After 40 years of fundraising, most recently for the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), a recent ibogaine journey inspired me to start All1.eco, a cooperative funding portal to fund ‘micro-to-macro’ regenerative reforestation, agriculture, water, and indigenous projects around the world. It will encourage funding through traditional philanthropy, other emerging social impact investing models, and new economic programs. We are planning a think tank to design this funding portal and open to donations and volunteers, so please email me to get involved.”
“The prevailing attunement of our culture—characterized by disconnection from others and nature—has given rise to the extractive behaviors whose systemic consequences we now face,” said Bennet Zelner, a University of Maryland professor working at the intersection of regenerative economics, leadership, and psychedelics. “Tackling climate change requires a shift in attunement—to one that recognizes the intrinsic interconnectedness of all things and beings, and the mutuality of the relationships supporting life. This is the motivation for the Connected Leadership Study, which examines the effects of psychedelic experiences on decision-making by organizational leaders. Applications just opened for a four-month experiential leadership program centered around a six-day psilocybin-assisted retreat in the Netherlands, with an opportunity to participate in this pioneering research.”
“While perceived as passive, mindfulness meditation is a superpower that makes our fight for climate change that much stronger,” said Nitin P Ron, MD, FAAP, baby doctor, TED speaker, author, neuroscience researcher, and Mt. Everest expedition physician. “We have the superpower of staying calm under pressure and being kind, loving, and compassionate. I recently led a study where, in just 8 minutes of meditation once a week, brainwaves and pulse rates started to calm in six weeks; it was recently picked for presentation at the National Conference of American Academy of Pediatrics. I co-authored a book with Pranayam techniques, including its practice and the medical basis behind it. Contact me to be part of extending the meditation project with the wider community.”
Isadora Tang, co-founder of Climate Hang, shared more about why she was interested in hosting a leadership retreat for climate consciousness, “The point was to see what happens when a collective group of people have a shared intention and have an ineffable experience together. How does that change how we go about in the world? Contact me if you’re interested in future events because whether you consider yourself to be a leader or not, we are all force multipliers—expanding consciousness at an individual level reverberates into the collective in a real and powerful way.”
“Isadora, Bennet, and I are piloting Climate Consciousness—a ‘meditation to climate action’ concept,” said Marissa Feinberg, Host and Convener of the evening. “Meditation can empower people to stay calm amidst eco-anxiety (like the day the sky turned orange last year) and to return to a place of love and creativity (vs. fear and contraction). In that state, we want to support citizens to generate new ideas, foster climate action initiatives, or lead new ones. Please reach out if you would like to host one or learn more. My journey, expanding from environmental and social impact to psychedelic therapy, was sparked by my work with Nushama, and I’m grateful to continue to cultivate community at this intersection.”
“20 years ago, I met Sasha Shulgin in his lab east of Berkeley and was initiated into a small, underground community of psychonauts," said Explorer, Educator, and Storyteller Josh Bernstein. “That part of my life was, understandably, kept very separate from my public work in archaeology on TV for History, Discovery, or National Geographic, or my more recent work in STEM education for Smithsonian and NASA. On October 7th, things shifted for me. I realized that climate change isn’t the most urgent issue—it’s our need to create a global community that cares about each other and the Earth. We’re in a race, of sorts, between climate change and our collective consciousness, and I believe psychedelics, with proper context and use, offer a powerful accelerant to profound change. I’m sharing this with this community because I’m about to create a new TV series that travels the world exploring plant medicines and indigenous wisdom in such a way that the sacred knowledge is honored, and I would love to have this community’s awareness of the project and support for those interested in helping."
“In contrast to the plant medicines from the Amazon, ketamine clinic Cardea does nonprofit work through The Furthur Fund, to serve change makers for social and climate justice who experience burnout, stress, and trauma and may not be able to afford such treatments,” said Paige Rothaus, Community & Partnerships. “Our fully sponsored ketamine treatments in NYC provide a space for relief from deep climate grief, and our psilocybin retreats in Jamaica and Costa Rica will also act as more of an incubator space to help drive ideas forward, build this better world we're trying to live in, and use medicines even to reconnect to the purpose of why they're doing this. If this resonates, you can apply for our program today.”
“As we take these medicines out of their contextual and historical origins, how do we ensure we're doing this respectfully, honoring and protecting the people and places of origin?” asked Angie King, VP & Brazilianist of Amazon Conservation Team (ACT). “Intrinsic to the power of these plant medicines are the living value systems and ancestral wisdom of indigenous communities and the standing forests from which these medicines come. We work in solidarity with indigenous communities to protect their sacred plants, ancestral wisdom, and standing forests. We have established over 2 million acres of indigenous territory across Amazonian nations. Specifically, in the sacred Sibundoy Valley where the Andess and Amazon meet in Colombia, we have established five indigenous territories and expanded one, totaling 240,000 acres benefitting 23,000 indigenous individuals. Donations to ACT’s ‘Land Fund’ go directly to these kinds of territorial justice efforts. Additionally, ACT is fostering an innovative indigenous-led indigenous medicine revitalization program in Brazil. This year, we’re completing the construction of the Ancestral Knowledge Center, a hub for the program in the northern Brazilian Amazon where young apprentices will learn from traditional healers and wisdom keepers. To support on-the-ground protections, contact me or Liliana Madrigal.”
“Ayahuasca Diaries shows what's mind-bogglingly possible in terms of personal transformation to how Ayahuasca is helping to save the Amazon,” said Maxi Cohen, Filmmaker and Artist. “While it was important for me to interview people who recovered from addiction or suicidal ideation with Ayahuasca, it was also key to talk to people who had different careers, but by drinking ayahuasca, it changed their lives and moved them into helping to save these territories. Lynne Twist, for example, who wrote an extraordinary book called The Soul of Money, was inspired to start the Pachamama Alliance in Ecuador, which contributed to it being the first country to have constitutional rights for nature to have the same rights as humans. Please donate, help us finish the film, and inspire more change.”
“In the middle of the Venn diagram of climate and psychedelics, sits creativity,” said Anna Konstantinova, Brand Strategist and Storyteller for impact and sustainability brands. “It’s hard to deny that we're at a place in climate and social-political dynamics that is hitting a brick wall, unable to find a way out of the place we find ourselves in. Many try to deny but it's real and getting closer and closer, when things happen like last June when the sky turned orange. On the other side, in psychedelics, we access more creative inspiration than we ever thought possible. Bringing these together is the key to moving innovation forward. Everybody wants to see change; they just need to be told about it in a way that resonates for them. We need to turn that lens and ask, ‘What do they need to hear to get them ready? And American culture and branding have created the best template for telling stories that stay in the hearts and minds of audiences—we can bring that learning along with us into impact to help pave the way for the companies that are saving our planet.”
“For the past decade, I've worked alongside founders to advance organizations and initiatives in soil health, regeneration, indigenous farmers' rights, and conscious leadership, and I'm excited to share a framework I’ve developed called ‘Psychedelic Systems Change,’” said Julia Mande, Co-founder, Common Field. “It's based on three modalities: regenerative design, awareness-based practices, and cultivating capacities for collective intelligence. Soft announcing that alongside my co-founder Sutton King, we are creating Common Field—our mission is to empower companies in the psychedelic field through tailored education and facilitated training while promoting cultural humility and upholding ethical business protocols. To support this work, donate through the Urban Indigenous Collective and email me to learn more.”
“Today’s polycrisis demands comprehensive and collaborative solutions, as each challenge exacerbates the others, creating a complex web of interrelated problems—a promising tool, there are four ways psychedelics affect cognitive thinking,” said Ross Sullivan, Co-Founder & Interim Executive Director, Sustainable Futures Institute. “‘Psychedelic thinking’ can be characterized by enhanced feelings of interconnectedness, nature relatedness, enhanced cognitive flexibility, and the ability to navigate intensity while preserving agency. In a world of uncertainty, embracing tools that foster adaptive thinking and deepened connections is imperative.”
“How can we have compassion for others if we don't have it for ourselves, and if we're not identifying as being creative, how can we be in touch with our source creator and Mother Earth?” asked Timothy Westbrook, Designer; Co-founder, Brooklyn Sewing Academy. “The beauty industry can lack compassion and say that you are not beautiful, but, plot twist, you are. You can start operating on a higher vibration when we recognize at a baseline that you're f*cking sexy already, right? We have this language around people, not just items—swipe left. But when you dress from an authentic place, you're operating at a higher frequency, so a creative exchange is happening, and it's healing. Let's start operating from that place.”
“I don't hear people here talking about capitalism and neoliberalism as the underlying issue. I believe we need to move toward post-capitalism. The psychedelic experience makes you aware of your interconnectivity and hence responsibility for the web of life as a whole,” said Daniel Pinchbeck, who writes a regular newsletter and directs Liminal Institute. He is the author of Breaking Open the Head, 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl, and How Soon Is Now. “We need to explore new directions like degrowth, mutualism, and participatory democracy. We can’t meaningfully reduce our impact on the planet while we keep building skyscrapers and super yachts for the super wealthy, who exploit psychedelics as a new neoliberal profit center. We must engineer a deeper level of systems change to survive as a species. Collapse is probably not avoidable at this point, but we can still start to envision and build a post-capitalist reality rooted in mutualism, for a more fragile planet.”
“We recognize that planting a tree is more than just placing a sapling into the soil. It's a holistic process that involves nurturing both the tree and the community around it.” said Tali Orad, Founder and CEO; 1treellion.org. “Our approach focuses on building connections, empowering through education, and catalyzing further action. We're not just planting trees; we're cultivating a symbiotic relationship between nature and communities, similar to the mycelial bonds that strengthen and sustain a forest's ecosystem. We must change course collectively; to do this, we must come together to contribute funds and awareness. When we intertwine our branches with mycelium and community, we grow unimaginably. Let’s think of how we can be that mushroom in a human forest and try to be a little bit more of a mushroom to a tree.”
“Creativity is human nature's psychedelic, man,” said “Shaman Sam,” a satirical character portraying a spiritually transformed Uncle Sam played by Joe Leone, co-founder of dig differently. “This isn’t about climate change, it's people change. dig differently is the intrinsic side of the climate fight. Remember, the greatest renewable energy is the will to act.” Performing a book discussion of Shaman Sam’s newest best-selling memoir, We Need You, Joe and fellow co-founder, Sean, emphasize the need for play in this current revolution, or what they call the “Industrial Involution.” Throughout the comedy piece, the founders described how dig differently uses the creative arts to help reconnect people back to nature. “Nature is beyond the trees and leaves, man. We are nature. We must listen and embark on the true path that the universe is calling us upon,” preaches Shaman Sam. “If you want to get deep in life, you must dig deep. The shroom found the light, and so will you. Just keep digging. Dig truthfully. Dig consciously. Dig intentionally. It’s time to...dig differently.”
You can now watch the full-length video to learn more about these leaders, their work and perspectives, and how you can contribute. We will release the Q&A that followed separately. You can also read the media coverage of our event in E&E News by Politico, Climate Microdose, and the substacks of Ross Sullivan and Daniel Pinchbeck.
The strong support of this community made this effort possible. A BIG thank you to people who circulated this invite, attracting more friends, colleagues, and loved ones, and made introductions to those who supported us with everything from audio and marketing to food and production. We appreciate the generosity of our host venue, Secret Social, a membership club on a mission to bring together the most interesting people who do incredible things in beautiful spaces, and Gotcha Focaccia, NYC’s best focaccia and the perfect bread to elevate gatherings and events, and our speakers, some of whom traveled to be with us.
We welcome you to join us on this journey to explore whether a consciousness shift can contribute to climate action. To get involved with our Psychedelics for Climate Action community, join our WhatsApp group, Member Directory, and follow our new Instagram account. Opportunities to get involved will grow as we continue to evolve, so if you are interested in contributing your time or financial support, please reply, and we can set up a time to connect!
Gratefully,
Marissa
Marissa Feinberg
Founder, Chief Storyteller
Triple Bottom Why
LI / X / IG