Dear friends,
As we come to the close of 2025, I find myself reflecting with deep gratitude on this last year journeying with Alliance for a Viable Future.
This has been a year of slowing down in a world that keeps speeding up. A year of choosing depth over noise, relationship over urgency, and long-term care over short-term fixes. A year of remembering that real change doesn’t begin with answers — it begins with listening and building trust.
What follows is both a celebration of the work we’ve done together and an invitation to be involved in carrying this work forward.
Deep Roots: leadership that begins with care
At the heart of this year was our Deep Roots Leadership Cohort — a living experiment in what leadership can look like when it begins with self-care, vulnerability, and trust.
Leaders from different sectors and walks of life came together not to produce projects or perform productivity, but to pause, breathe, and ask deeper questions:
What is trying to emerge in my work? What do I need in order to lead with integrity in these times? What happens when we practice uncertainty together?
Again and again, participants named how rare it felt to be in a space where slowing down wasn’t framed as indulgent, but as strategic. Where discomfort, not knowing, and honest self-inquiry were welcomed as necessary conditions for transformative and creative breakthroughs…Here’s what a few of our participants shared:
“For me, the most transformative work has been dropping beneath the busyness — the team I manage, the projects in motion — and really asking what the next phase of my work wants to be. This cohort gave me permission to stop, breathe, and re-orient from a deeper place. It’s a community where strangers quickly become companions in uncertainty, practicing discomfort together so something more embodied and honest can emerge.”
— Daniel Roth, General Partner & Co-Founder, JumpScale Consultancy
“There’s a resistance I feel when I arrive — the voice that says I should just keep working. And every time, that resistance softens once I’m here. This space reminds me why slowing down has real value — not as self-indulgence, but as something I carry back into my life and leadership. It’s not performative authenticity. It’s a practice of just being real.”
— Gregg Osofsky, Co-Founder, The Watershed Center
“I came in thinking I needed to produce something to justify being here. Instead, I realized we’re creating a way of thinking and being — one grounded in self-care, collaboration, and humility. Leadership here isn’t about directing others, but about listening deeply and responding together. This program gave me both permission and structure to build a solid foundation for the work ahead…”
“What I think is beautiful about this experience here is that I feel like something greater is happening. I feel that tangibly — that people have gotten into a rhythm with each other and are practicing being open. And in that openness, magic can happen.
— Melanie Winters, Donor Relations Manager, Berkshire Natural Resources Council
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Another participant shared that the cohort offered “a collective way forward” — not through a fixed agenda, but through presence, trust, and a willingness to be changed by one another. And another reflected that the value of this work “transcends just showing up” — that it reshaped how they returned to their lives, their organizations, and their leadership.
This year, Deep Roots reminded us that leadership isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about cultivating the inner and relational capacity to meet what’s unfolding — together.
Just today, local friend texted me about an inspirational building company. She and her husband built an inspiring eco-friendly, energy-efficient home, is homeschooling as well as sending her children to Flying Deer Nature Center, and generally living a conscious homesteading kind of life. I’d been meaning to invite her and her husband to join the 2026 cohort, and thought, hey this is a great moment…I sent her the intro video, and she texted me back: “the video made me tear up! How beautiful and inspiring Lev!”
Building Bioregional Partnerships: relationship at the speed of trust
Just a few weeks ago, we hosted the Building Bioregional Partnerships webinar series — a three-part conversation with regional partners who are quietly, patiently stewarding land, relationships, and long-term vision across the Northeast bioregion.
One especially meaningful moment came during Session Two with Berkshire Natural Resources Council (BNRC). In that conversation, we spoke openly about trust, conservation, and the long arc of relationship-building — what some elders call “grandmother time.”
I want to name how deeply meaningful it was to have Ginger Stevens join that session and offer her voice. Ginger is our former co-director, Shawn Stevens’ older sister. I invited her gently, to share her reflections, particularly around the Land Back initiative at Fen Farm on the other side of Monument Mountain — landed with real depth.
For the Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican people, that land return carries profound meaning. And Ginger’s words helped illuminate something essential: that Land Back is not just about acreage or transactions, but about acknowledgment, validation, and finding a way forward together with warmth, care, and healing - as well as honesty and respect.
This moment felt especially important in a year of transition for AVF. As we shifted out of a co-director structure, there were — as there often are in real relationships — bumps in the road, learning edges, and moments that required accountability and care. I want to name that openly, and also say how grateful and meaningful it was for Ginger to show up and share how meaningful our relationship and work together has been over the years.
Ginger’s presence in the series affirmed why this work matters: because even when the work is imperfect, choosing to stay in relationship creates the conditions for healing and continuity.
If you haven’t yet registered for Building Bioregional Partnerships, you can still do so and receive all three recordings. The conversations remain deeply relevant, and many people are continuing to share them within their organizations and networks.
Indigenous Peoples’ Day & tending the fire
This year marked our final Indigenous Peoples’ Day event organized directly by AVF. Over six years, this work has been some of the most meaningful — and humbling — community work I’ve been part of.
In addition to IPD, this year we sponsored, got the word out, and celebrated the emergence of the Homelands Powwow, which successfully got off the ground this year. That, in itself, feels like a quiet milestone: continuity, community leadership, and Indigenous-led presence rooted here on ancestral homelands.
As AVF evolves, our focus is shifting more fully toward deep learning journeys, leadership development, and long-term accompaniment, rather than organizing large public events. And yet — we remain committed to tending this fire.
One possibility we’re holding is that a future Deep Roots participant may feel called to carry Indigenous Peoples’ Day forward as their own breakthrough project — supported by the cohort, the community, and these relationships. If that spark is alive in you, we’d love to hear from you.
Rights of Nature: educating for long-term protection
This year, we also hosted a Rights of Nature 101 webinar series, introducing participants to the growing global movement to recognize the legal rights of ecosystems — rivers, forests, watersheds, and the living systems that sustain us.
This work is not separate from our leadership programming; it is foundational to it. Moving forward, Rights of Nature education will be integrated into Deep Roots and other AVF offerings as one of several core strategies for protecting and regenerating our lands, rivers, and waterways — alongside ancestral wisdom, systems thinking, and relationship-based partnerships.
As communities across the Northeast explore new tools for ecological stewardship and legal protection, we see this work as an essential bridge between inner leadership transformation and outer systems change.
Remembering our teachers & practicing Active Hope
This year also invited us into remembrance.
We lost Joanna Macy, whose teachings on Active Hope continue to guide so much of this work. Joanna reminded us that hope is not passive optimism, but a practice — one that asks us to feel deeply, act courageously, and stay connected to life even in times of grief and uncertainty.
We also lost Hawksbrother, my first Native elder teacher. I want to share a brief story in his honor.
This past holiday season, while visiting Boston just a few days ago, I took my wife to the Emerald Necklace near Jamaica Pond, where I grew up. She reminded me of a story I hadn’t told in years — about an apple tree I planted there long ago.
During a visionary meditation with Hawksbrother, I saw a young, newly planted tree. After hearing it, he told me simply: “You need to plant a tree near your home.” And so I did.
This time of year, we are not planting trees in the ground. But we are planting seeds — in our intentions, our relationships, and our visions for what wants to grow next. My invitation to you is simple: What are you planting for the year to come?
Looking ahead to 2026
As we move forward, here’s a glimpse of what’s on the horizon for AVF:
HorizonPoint, a self-guided home study course focused on deep self-care and visioning, launching in just a couple of weeks…stay tuned!
The next Deep Roots Leadership Cohort, beginning around the spring equinox, registratio is open now. Reach out to schedule a conversation with me, if you are interested, or fill our the application.
HarvestTime - a newly emerging intro AVF learning journey
DeepRest During Holiday Season - A late fall / early winter course focused on deep rest and burnout prevention
A possible Earth Day peace meditation, and continued support for the Homelands Powwow and Indigenous-led continuity
This work unfolds slowly, relationally, and with care. And it is only possible because of the generosity of people who believe that leadership rooted in wisdom, healing, and partnership truly matters.
A Blessing for Abundance for Us All — and an Invitation to Give
One more story from this holiday season — one of those moments that feels lifted straight out of a storybook, except it truly happened.
On Christmas Eve, we joined a longtime tradition of having dinner at a dear friend’s home with my parents. This year, my wife, our son, and I were able to be there too. In the shuffle of the evening, my wife accidentally left her purse behind — and we didn’t realize it until we were already an hour away.
We arranged for our friends to drop off the purse a few days later, in Ashland, Massachusetts, where they were visiting another friend - just west of Boston, right off the Mass Pike. As we were driving home, we arranged to pick up the purse. I had never been to that neighborhood before. And just a few blocks from the house, we passed a sign on the road that caught my eye: SRI LAKSHMI TEMPLE
I said out loud, almost without thinking, “I want to go to a Lakshmi Temple.” Lakshmi is the Hindu goddess of abundance, prosperity, health, beauty, and grace. My wife smiled and agreed.
We picked up the purse, then turned back toward the temple. Walking inside felt like stepping back into my journey in India from twenty years ago — a place of devotion, color, reverence, and deep presence. We were invited to participate in a puja, to make an offering, and to receive a blessing from the Hindu priest. We prayed for our family, our health, the people and communities we love, and yes — our work in the world, including Alliance for a Viable Future and the healing, partnership, and leadership we are trying to nurture.
It was deeply touching. I felt the quiet, unmistakable presence of mystery — that sense of being met, affirmed, and held by something larger. A moment of synchronicity and grace that reminded me why I do this work, and why I trust it.
I want AVF to thrive — not only because it supports my family, but because this work is needed. And because again and again, people tell me it matters — that it supports them in doing their own meaningful work in the world.
Standing there, receiving that blessing, I felt an enormous sense of affirmation and gratitude as we step into this new year.
When we walked back to the car, we looked at each other and laughed.
“Did that really just happen?”
It did.
I share this story because it felt like a quiet wink from the universe — and because I want to pass that blessing along to you. I was thinking of this whole community as we stood there.
May abundance, health, clarity, and support meet each of us in the year ahead — for our families, our work, and the futures we are helping to shape together.
If you feel moved to support this work as we enter the new year, your gift truly makes a difference.
Most immediately, we are building a Deep Roots Scholarship Fund for non-profit and community leaders, with special preference for BIPOC leaders. Your support will ensure that spaces for deep listening, leadership, healing, and partnership continue to be available — and accessible — to those who need them.
👉 Donate to Alliance for a Viable Future
With gratitude, wonder, and blessings for the year ahead,
Lev