New York University
50 West Fourth Street
New York, NY 10003
New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care Inc.
119 West 23rd St., No. 401
New York, NY 10003
Brooklyn Zen Center
505 Carroll St., Ste 2A
Brooklyn, NY 11215
Auburn Theological Seminary
475 Riverside Dr., Suite 1800
New York, NY 10115

Grant Amount

$12,000

Description of Organization

This Collaboration Grant among New York University, New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care Inc., Brooklyn Zen Center and Auburn Theological Seminary, supported the “Mindfulness Fellowship Program at NYU,” a paid, semester-long, service-learning experience to foster/develop the next generation of mindfulness leaders through internships and bi-weekly discussion-based learning sessions coordinated by the Mindfulness Project at NYU.

The Mindfulness Fellowship at NYU’s goals are to:

  1. Offer NYU students the opportunity to explore mindfulness in both a professional and an educational setting, enabling them to develop critical leadership capabilities and a thorough understanding of the multiple ways in which they can use mindfulness to impact the world
  2. Serve the communities of each collaboration agency through the support of a funded Mindfulness Fellow.
  3. Serve as a scalable, national model in higher education for cultivating socially-engaged mindfulness leaders.

Four Fellows from diverse backgrounds were chosen through a highly selective process, which took into account applicants’ enthusiasm for mindfulness and social engagement, maturity, academic success, and leadership experience. The Fellows were placed at internships with partnering institutions and attended bi-weekly discussion-based learning sessions coordinated by the Mindfulness Project at NYU. Students emerged from the learning sessions with seven core competencies for effective leadership: Spiritual/Mindfulness Literacy, Working with a Diversity Lens, Personal Leadership Vision, Mindfulness for Social Transformation, Basics of Community Organizing, Non-Violent Communication Skills, and Finding and Creating Professional Opportunities as a Mindfulness Leader.