Who are we?
An international body of individuals touched at a core level by a call to come together in service to the work of consciousness evolution — in themselves, amongst each other and in nature and culture…. We are excited to be alive at this time in history, poised and called to take next steps in our human evolution. We seek to contribute whole-heartedly to a fully awake and sustainable human existence. As we deepen our understanding of the next stage in consciousness evolution, we place a primary focus on actually applying our discoveries to our lives. We are awed, fascinated and humbled by the potential breadth and depth of human life. We are aware of a real need for integral examples of life to find expression here and now on earth. In order to walk the talk, to live the vision a step at a time we commit to look into the core issues, both internal and external, that need to be addressed for personal and global transformation to come about.
Our directors:
John Gruber, M.S. holds an undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies and a graduate degree in Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy. As an undergraduate faculty scholar at Brown University he worked to integrate studies in biology, geology and environmental science, and received the C.F. Ma Research Fellowship for Natural Products research as a graduate student. In 2001, he was a Teacher Recognition Awardee in the United States Presidential Scholars Program. As a science teacher and long-time student of evolutionary biology and natural history he is particularly interested in ways to apply integral thinking to the secondary school classroom. Having taught a botany seminar for twelve years, John uses that particular class as a kind of experimental ground, a place to explore the application of integral approaches to teaching with a group of willing and interested students. He emphasizes field-work, experimental observation, and direct perception alongside conceptualization in his science courses, and continues to develop ways to build interior and exterior experiences into curriculum in his science teaching.
In addition to his work and research as an educator and administrator, he is involved in an active research program in insect ecology and systematic biology of moth species.
John currently serves as Chairman of the Upper School Science Department and the Director of the Summer Science Institute at Friends’ Central School, an independent Quaker day school where he has taught for sixteen years.
Miriam Mason Martineau, M.A. Miriam’s formal training lies in the areas of psychology, dance, choreography, and voice. She has a Masters Degree in Psychology from the University of Zurich, with specialization in Youth and Child Psychology, and is also a certified teacher of Laban Modern Dance, as well as a singer and vocal instructor.
Miriam works in private practice as an integral therapeutic counselor for adults, couples, youth and children. She is vice-president of Next Step Integral. For the last 15 years she has studied and researched how parenting can be pursued as a spiritual practice. This has led her to offering courses on the topic, working as a coach for parent, and writing a book (forthcoming) titled Integral Parenting. She also leads workshops on authentic voice and movement, and has performed both as a soloist and in a variety of choirs such as the Swiss National Television Choir and the Stiftschor Einsiedeln. From 1992-2002 Miriam lived in an integrally informed intentional community and there honed the skills of group facilitation, conflict resolution and generative dialogue. Miriam is married and has a 3 year-old daughter.
Abigail Lynam, M.S. is faculty for Lesley University’s Audubon Expedition Institute and the Living Routes’ Sustainability in Auroville, India semester through the University of Massachusetts.
Both programs follow an educational model that blends experiential, holistic, and student-centered learning through a transformative framework of intensive learning community work. In these programs sustainability is examined and lived, (to the extent possible), through the three lenses of culture, ecology and the inner self. Self-inquiry, new cosmology and awareness practices are recognized as complimentary to cultural and deep ecological studies and practices. The India program draws on an integral model, and the Audubon Expedition Institute is exploring Integral Ecology as a framework for its graduate and undergraduate programs. Abigail is presently researching the best ways to support the development, the application, and the practice of an integral framework in both programs.
Abigail is trained as a facilitator of Joanna Macy’s “The Work that Reconnects” and “Dynamic Facilitation”. She previously taught leadership development at Portland State University and facilitated dialogues for democracy in Portland.
As a director of Next Step Integral she is developing a semester-long curriculum on Integral Leadership for adult learners. She is currently enrolled in Pacific Integral’s 18-month Generating Transformative Change Leadership program.
Chris Nichol BA has lived in the West Kootenays, British-Columbia since graduating from Queen’s University in 1992. She is married and has two girls, aged 12 and 10 years of age. Her family spent six years living off the grid in a small cabin before buying raw land and beginning the long process of building a home and gardens in 2000. Chris is deeply interested in the process of parenting as a spiritual practice, one which calls on a parent to respond to their child as a present Being and becoming Person. For her this process began with alternative birthing practices, continued with extensive reading and research, and for a time involved instruction in heightened parenting awareness. She homeschools her children, which has led her to study a variety of educational approaches. Her interests include the visual arts of photography and painting as well as working with clay and dance. Gardening and growing beautiful food is a vocation. Chris is the program coordinator for the Slocan Valley Community Literacy Program and is inspired by the Integral framework in her work with people of all ages from all facets of this rural community.
Stephan Martineau is the founder of Next Step Integral and an integral consultant for not-for-profit organizations. He is also President of the Slocan Integral Forestry Cooperative.
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