The ECNV DISABILITY JUSTICE MINDFUL DESIGN LAB, hosted by Circles for Conscious Change, is an 8-month incubator for social change solutions designed and initiated by and for people with disabilities in the Northern Virginia region, with a special commitment to BIPOC, immigrant, and LGBTQIA2S+ people. The Mindful Design Lab utilizes the Conscious Social Change methodology, a design philosophy of creative, compassionate problem-solving and solutions-building grounded in mindfulness and self-awareness.
NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR THE 2025 COHORT
The third annual Disability Justice Mindful Design Lab will involve 3-5 Agents of Change venture teams. Selected by the ENDependence Center of Northern Virginia (ECNV), teams will move through a three-phase program to develop a venture plan to address a systemic issue affecting people with disabilities, and may be eligible for seed funding for implementation. ECNV is looking for teams of social entrepreneurs who are:
disability-led,
at the earliest-stage of their idea development,
focusing their work in Northern Virginia, and
ready to implement upon completion of their design.
Participants will have a curiosity about using mindfulness and contemplative practices as a leader. Applicants do not have to have led a social change initiative in the past or have started work on their solution yet. ECNV will prioritize social entrepreneurs who are multiply marginalized.
PROGRAM CONTENT
The Mindful Design Lab core curriculum is an experiential program involving a blend of personal reflection, mindfulness-based leadership skills, and social entrepreneurship skills. This program is for individuals who are seeking to make a difference in the world, but who are also committed to their own personal growth and wellbeing.
The course incorporates three components:
Contemplative and Personal Growth Practices: Research is demonstrating that mindfulness practices can change the structure and functioning of our brain over time, which in turn impacts the way we understand others and solve problems. This course incorporates daily contemplative practices to harness wisdom and dissolve barriers, including: meditation, breathwork, qigong, yoga and other forms of reflective practice and movement.
Mindfulness Based Leadership Skills: Mindfulness practices are particularly relevant to the ways that leaders engage with others and solve problems in their organizations and broader society. This program applies mindfulness with the purpose of developing leadership capacity.
Conscious Social Change Design Tools: When leaders invest in self-awareness and integrate the tools of mindfulness into their relationships, they crack open deeper potential for innovation and longer-term sustainability. The core of the experience involves learning a series of frameworks that use mindfulness as a design tool to begin to craft social issue solutions. At the completion of the course, participants will have a draft of the major components forming a social venture plan and will have the tools to launch their non-profit, campaign or project.
PROGRAM PHASES
The program will involve three in-person gatherings and weekly coaching sessions with a social entrepreneur and mindful venture design expert. Each week, participants will be expected to engage in various personal growth or self-awareness practices and share insights from their experiences with their cohort. Teams will schedule private coaching sessions based on their pace of idea development, enabling certain teams to move through the venture planning exercises as quickly as they wish, while allowing others to have additional time as needed for venture development.
Phase 1 (March – June) will involve the skills needed for understanding the human dimensions of systemic transformation from one’s personal experience and for using mindfulness as a design tool in developing a comprehensive solution in concept. The outcome will include a holistic venture solution including mission, vision, theory of change, program model, goals, impact measures, stakeholder engagement strategy, and an in-depth diagnostic of the root and systemic level of the chosen social issue. There will be one mandatory 2-day retreat at the beginning of Phase 1 the week of March 18.
Phase 2 (July) will include a process of intentional community listening sessions and the integration of stakeholder insight into the solutions design. It will also include a deep dive into wellbeing and self-care, conscious communications, and participatory engagement strategies. There will be a mandatory 2-day retreat prior to the start of Phase 2, in late June.
At the completion of Phase 1 and 2 in late July, venture teams will participate in a competitive community Pitch Day, sharing their venture plan concepts with the broader ECNV community, which may include disability justice experts, previous Agents of Change, policy makers, and members of the funding community. Teams who are invited to continue on to Phase 3 will be eligible for a small seed funding grant from ECNV towards their venture implementation upon completion of the program.
Phase 3 (August – December) will involve the operational planning process including the design of12-month implementation plans, start up and operational budgets, creative resourcing strategies, conscious organizational design, and integration of inner leadership strategies. At the completion of Phase 3, participants will have developed a comprehensive venture plan for their first 12 months of operations. Plans submitted to ECNV by the December deadline meeting the selection criteria will be eligible for a start-up, seed-funding grant.
The total commitment to the program involves 3-4 hours weekly for a total estimated 100 hours. Teams may drive the pace of their work throughout each phase.
TIMELINE
Introductory Workshop: February TBD
Applications Due: February TBD
ECNV Selection Interviews: TBD
Selections Announced: March TBD
Deadline to Commit to Program: March TBD
Phase 1: SOLUTIONS DESIGN: 12 Coaching Sessions, Begin mid-March – end of June
Retreat 1: March TBD, 2.5 days, In-person Intensive at ECNV
Retreat 2: End of June, 2-days, In-person Intensive at ECNV
Phase 2: COMMUNITY LISTENING: July
Retreat 3: PITCH DAY: End of July/early August - 1-day, In-person Venture Presentation for Selection to Phase 3
Phase 3: OPERATIONS & IMPLEMENTATION DESIGN: 8 coaching sessions, August – December
Venture Plan Submission for Seed Funding Due: December, TBD
ENDependence Center of Northern Virginia: ECNV’s mission is to empower people with disabilities to live independently. ECNV’s goals are to enable individuals with disabilities to improve the quality of their lives, determine their own lifestyles, participate in all aspects of society, secure their human and civil rights, exercise self-advocacy, and ensure a system for consumer control and policy direction.
