One of my 2020 intentions is to shine a spotlight on inspiring change agents I’ve met along my journey. I have a long list of them, most of whom I’ve seen speak at mindfulness conferences. But a man I met recently in an unexpected place jumped to the top of my list.
Luis Schwarz’s day job title is Senior Finance Officer in the World Bank’s Finance Operations department. Sounds like a big enough position to fill your work hours, right? I was lucky enough to meet Luis in a different capacity: Founder and Head of the World Bank’s Healthy Staff Working Group. Under Luis’s leadership, this staff group has grown to roughly 5,500 members. (It doesn’t stop there — check out Luis’s full bio here!)
As I’ve been following corporate mindfulness program development for the past few of years, common threads emerge. Many employees see the need for and benefit of mindfulness and emotional intelligence training, but think the organization “isn’t ready for it.” Big bureaucracies move slowly, are reluctant to commit financial resources to staff development programs, and need some convincing that mindfulness and EI training contributes not only to the organization’s mission, but also its bottom line.
Sometimes, though, an individual steps forward with just the right mix of passion, courage, and creativity to spark change. Luis lit that spark at the World Bank when he said “YES” to an opportunity to bring Search Inside Yourself to his colleagues. My fellow SIY Certified Teacher and friend Barbara Geluda Boselli had reached out to Luis, who proved himself to be the ultimate “man of action” (aka Change Agent). By the time their first phone call had finished, Luis had sent an email to his staff group about Barbara’s January 24-25 SIY program offering. It filled up within 15 minutes.
Recognizing the pent up demand (as any sound economist would), Luis put another training on the calendar in late February. To spread the word, he asked Barbara to provide an overview for a lunchtime audience the day before her January program began. Since Barbara had invited me to teach the second program with her, she and I facilitated the keynote together on January 23rd.
The photos from our presentation illustrate how well the content landed. The deep interest, engagement, and receptivity of the 120 people squeezed into the standing-room only conference space attests to how thirsty these hard-working, mission-driven folks are for more connection, clarity, calm, focus, resilience, and sense of purpose that SIY helps to cultivate.
Several hundred more had registered to watch the livestream from country offices around the world. Instead of feeling nervous about the numbers, I truly felt like I was coming home to the international family I left behind in my previous career chapter at the International Monetary Fund.
Luis Schwarz made all of this happen! Just as important for a leader, he took part in the training along with his colleagues. In my volunteer capacity at the first 2-Day SIY program at the World Bank, I had a front row seat to witness the transformational impact this curriculum consistently provides. Boatloads of gratitude to Luis for his Change Agent impact at the World Bank!