We are delighted to invite you to participate in the 2015 International Holistic Centers’ Gathering in Beijing, China, October 17-22, followed by a conference to provide access to the Chinese market if you are interested in presenting and introducing your centre to the market in China.
The Haven Video Annual Report 2014
In April 2014, The Haven on Gabriola Island, B.C., Canada hosted the annual Holistic Centers Gathering. They have just created their first ever Video Annual Report and it’s an inspirational 11 minutes that’s well worth watching, both for an insight into their centre and for potential ideas of your own!
Here’s the play button to watch it on YouTube:
For more details please contact
Rachel Davey
Executive Director
rachel@haven.ca
Living intentionally with kindness and joy
There is a magnetized sign that sticks to surfaces in my kitchen, it says, “Kindness is My Religion”. It gives me joy to see it. I tell my daughters that joy is the most revolutionary act possible if the heart remains open to the suffering out there, without denial. I don’t know if my daughters entirely get it yet, but I observe they’re taking it in. It’s a practice, living intentionally with kindness and joy.
Breitenbush Hot Springs was envisioned as an intentional community at our beginnings in the late 1970s. Kindness and joy were assumed to be at the heart of the community co-op, even during the inevitable disagreements over personalities, principles or practices. You can find kindness and joy embedded in our Credo, written in 1978. 35 years later, these qualities have found expression in a covert sort of way in the Breitenbush Facilities Council Charter, adopted in 2013, wherein the final principle is “Celebrate Success”.
To celebrate success and live with kindness and joy — this is not a conventional approach to conducting business in a cynical world. But I’d say we’re doing alright so far. [Read more…]
Reflections on a ‘Peek Behind the Scenes’
For the second year in a row the ‘Peek’ team ran a workshop after the Holistic Centers Gathering in support of emerging centers and people in various stages of creating and developing their vision. Alison, a participant in the April 2014 Peek workshop, shares her experience reflecting on how she found the workshop both helpful and supportive.
Fear is a powerful emotion that can suffocate any business idea. I created everything in a vacuum, which led to a sense of isolation, yet the solution to form connections with people and build on the ideas required stepping out of my comfort zone. At my last networking event I hid in the washroom, but this time I was determined not to make friends with the toilet but with real people. In April 2014, I challenged myself to show up on Gabriola Island and live my mission at The Haven; I had to be visible and find my voice (literally raising the volume) in order to effectively help others do the same. [Read more…]
Interview with Ralph White, The Open Center
This interview is with Ralph White, Creative Director of the New York Open Center, which he co-founded in 1984. The Open Center is truly one of America’s leading institutions of holistic learning and world culture in America. In addition, Ralph is an international speaker on spirituality, consciousness and the history of the western tradition. He is also editor of the award-winning Lapis Magazine and taught the first fully accredited course in holistic learning at NYU. His story, “A Walk on the Wild Side of Tibet,” was published in the book, Tibet: True Stories.
Ralph himself has interviewed many of the major figures in the holistic world and numerous scholars in the fields of multicultural mysticism and ecology. He is a popular speaker on a wide variety of holistic themes including the Western tradition, the Celtic Soul, the Wisdom of Rudolf Steiner, and the overall direction of the consciousness movement. He is recognized and honored as a guiding force of the annual Gathering of Holistic Centers which draws leaders from many of the major holistic institutions throughout the world to discuss trends, developments, challenges and successes in the worldwide consciousness movement.
Pathways is a 30-minute radio interview program focused on personal and cultural transformation. The show has a large, loyal following covering the entire state of Oregon and southern Washington, airing on Sunday mornings at 8:30 AM pacific time on KBOO 90.7 FM in Portland, Oregon (also streaming at that time via kboo.fm). Downloadable podcasts of Paul O’Brien’s Pathways interviews are made available at Divination.com and the iTunes store for free.
Listen to the interview at http://www.divination.com/
Interview with Rachel Davey, The Haven
Paul O’Brien, producer and host of the Pathways program since 1984, taped a 1/2 hour interview with Rachel Davey, Executive Director of The Haven and host of the 2014 International Holistic Centers Gathering. The result is an excellent audio snapshot of The Haven and the Centers’ Gathering.Rachel worked internationally in education management and consultancy for more than 15 years, for organizations including the British Council and the United Nations. She first came to The Haven, a center for personal and professional growth and development on beautiful Gabriola Island in B.C., in 2001, traveled to Canada from Cyprus every summer to take Haven programs, and began working at The Haven in 2006.
Pathways is a 30-minute radio interview program focused on personal and cultural transformation. The show has a large, loyal following covering the entire state of Oregon and southern Washington, airing on Sunday mornings at 8:30 AM pacific time on KBOO 90.7 FM in Portland, Oregon (also streaming at that time via kboo.fm). Downloadable podcasts of Paul O’Brien’s Pathways interviews are made available at Divination.com and the iTunes store for free.
Listen to the interview at https://divination.com/
Rachel and Paul, I really enjoyed listening to the interview that you did together. So glad you sent it on, Paul. You are a fantastic interviewer. You shared your inquisitiveness in a delightfully contagious way with the audience and asked questions that we all wanted to hear the answers to.
Rachel, you are so articulate and your personal warmth is clearly expressed in your voice. Your voice has a song inside of it, like a lullaby.
Thank you both.
Felice Dunas, Ph.D.
Personal Health Innovations, Inc.
www.felicedunas.com
Come Alive at The Haven in B.C. Canada
Come Alive is the enticing name of a program that draws people from all over the country, and further afield, to a tiny island of the West Coast of Canada. I imagine each one of us sitting in the opening circle were curious to find out what this really means, some perhaps clearer than others as to the reasons that drew us here.
For 30 years The Haven has offered programs in personal and professional development on beautiful Gabriola Island, B.C. and I was part of the latest intake responding to the invitation to ‘grow, transform, connect.’ After a few days exploring Vancouver I arrived via seaplane and then ferry, the day becoming progressively brighter with stunning views across the water.
I actually came to Canada to attend the annual Holistic Centers Gathering. However, travelling all the way from Scotland and with an ever curious spirit, I was keen to experience The Haven on a deeper level by extending my stay and immersing myself in the learning environment of another center. [Read more…]
Centers attending the 2014 Gathering
We look forward to welcoming 27 participants from 18 centers in Canada, the US, Scotland and China to the 2014 International Holistic Centers Gathering, hosted this year by The Haven on Gabriola Island, beautiful British Columbia Canada.
Representatives are joining us from the following centers: [Read more…]
Hollyhock Opportunity: General Manager
Overview
Are you ready for a fulfilling professional role at the heart of an organization with a long-term vision of stewardship and a mission to support people making the world better? Do you have the skills and enthusiasm to manage a 24/7, 48-acre facility and a dedicated team? We seek an outstanding individual to lead our Cortes Island Campus operations in beautiful BC. Our General Manager will be responsible for the overall and diverse guest experience. This is a full-time, year round position.
About You
You are a seasoned professional with an inspired, “yes” outlook. Gifted at weaving vision and operations, you enjoy one foot in the big picture and the other in daily details. The intensity of seasonal rhythms suits you, and you’re an inspired leader of a strong, interdependent team. To you, growing roots in a rural, BC island community sounds like paradise.
Hollyhock
Hollyhock is a premier educational and cultural institution providing lifelong learning opportunities that promote engaged citizenship, leadership skills, creative expression, and social innovation on scale with the challenges of today. With more than 30 years’ experience in delivering transformational and educational programs, Hollyhock is a leading organization and venue for everyday change makers.
Responsibilities
- Lead the operations team to deliver high-quality guest services in support of 100+ Cortes Campus programs, conferences and events each year
- Foster Hollyhock’s stellar, international reputation for unique, high-calibre guest service
- Creatively manage resources organization-wide, maximizing gain and minimizing loss
- Manage a complex budget
- Lead and inspire a strong operational management team
- Implement and maintain effective operational policies that support and empower staff
- Maintain vibrant staff community culture – building trust, respect and communication
- Integrate Board-directed stewardship vision into the long-term planning and day-to-day maintenance of the facilities
- Innovate and implement an ongoing facilities sustainability plan
- Assess and address day-to-day facility needs
- Build and maintain excellent relationships in the community
Qualifications
- You are organized and meticulous
- You excel at inspiring and empowering those you manage to do their best work
- 5+ years management experience in the hospitality industry
- 5+ years managing and motivating teams to accomplish ambitious goals
- 5+ years in sales, finance, HR, facilities, registration and guest services leadership
- Applicants must be legally eligible to work in Canada
To Apply
- Send resume, letter of interest and two references via email to dana@hollyhock.ca
The Centers Gathering at The Haven is less than a month away!
The excitement is building for the International Holistic Centers Gathering which runs from April 6-11 at The Haven on beautiful Gabriola Island, British Columbia, Canada.
If you have not yet registered, please do so soon. You will be joining colleagues from centers of all different types, ages and locations. Together, we will once again be co-creating an intense and rich week of learning from our differences and similarities. There are already more than 20 participants from all over Canada and the US, as well as Europe and Asia.
The agenda offers the opportunity both to discuss the topics of most interest to those of us who are responsible for running our centers as well as enjoy the experience of the best that The Haven and Gabriola Island has to offer. The agenda covers topics such as:
- Successes and challenges
- Marketing
- Social media and online cooperation
- Education and programming
- Human Resources
- Trends/zeitgeist
- Green issues and environmental sustainability
- Governance and decision making
- Fundraising
As ever, the agenda will be negotiated throughout the Gathering to ensure that all participants get maximum value. Sessions will be facilitated by participants who have experience in the topic under discussion. There will be opportunities for breakout sessions on specific topics that may be of interest to a smaller number of participants. Our intention is to remain flexible and responsive to the needs of the group.
If you are registered and have a suggestion or contribution to the agenda, please contact Rachel Davey by email (rachel@haven.ca). I’d love to hear from you!
To register for the Gathering, please contact the Haven registration office by phone (1 800 222 9211 x 1) or email (register@haven.ca). Our registration staff are available seven days a week from 9am to 6pm Pacific time (PST).
And just as a reminder, if you are not a center representative and you want to know more about how holistic centres work, join us for A Peek Behind the Scenes: discussions on starting, running and growing a holistic centre. Don’t miss out on the opportunity of learning from six representatives (with over 100 years combined experience) from five centers which have been in existence for more than 200 years!
This workshop will run from April 11-14 and you can find out more by following this link to The Haven web site (http://www.haven.ca/programs/a-peek-behind-the-scenes.html)