The Frederick P. Lenz Foundation for American Buddhism released its 2015 Report to Stakeholders today, including descriptions of more than 20 grants made in the last year to 40 nonprofit organizations working in the fields of mindfulness, youth empowerment, violence prevention, education, criminal justice reform, health care, and business. The Foundation also announced Awakened Leadership: Mindfulness in Business 2016, a conference exploring pathways for collaboration between leaders in the business and mindfulness communities, scheduled for June 1-3, 2016, in Los Angeles, CA.
The Frederick P. Lenz Foundation for American Buddhism was founded in 1998 to foster the growth and development of an authentic American Buddhism that takes its inspiration from the wisdom traditions of the East but adopts new forms, new approaches, and new applications that are uniquely suited to contemporary American society and culture. Since its launch, the Foundation has made more than $5.3 million worth of grants to over 80 American Buddhist organizations and their partners in social change, and has conducted capacity-building training programs for its grantees in the fields of fundraising and cross-sector collaboration. In 2014 and early 2015, the Foundation made or committed more than $614,000 worth of grants and program-related distributions to its network of grantee organizations.
Norman S. Oberstein, Lenz Foundation chair, said: “In all of our work, we seek to advance Dr. Frederick P. Lenz’s far-reaching vision for how American society could be transformed by Buddhist practices and ethics. As we move toward the second half of this decade, we will be exploring the role that mindfulness can play in many areas of social justice and in a business context, where we believe a great opportunity for social transformation exists.”
The Foundation announced Awakened Leadership: Mindfulness in Business 2016 in collaboration with the New York University Department of Global Spiritual Life and Stern School of Business. In the 2-1/2 day conference, which will take place in Los Angeles on the Loyola Marymount campus, participants will explore how skillful leadership starts with the self and then naturally expands outward into organizations, businesses, employees, consumers, and shareholders. Through shared learning in mindfulness and its application to organizational development, the conference intends to open a pathway of ongoing work and cooperation between the Foundation’s network of grantees, their local business and community leaders, and others from the corporate community.
For further information on this conference, contact the Lenz Foundation at info@fredericklenzfoundation.org.
Obtain a PDF copy of the Foundation’s Report to Stakeholders 2015.