Human well-being thrives on meaning and purpose. Integrating meaning and purpose together into a coherent livelihood and professional practice is a challenge. It is challenging to cultivate a practitioner habitat attuned to local worlds and practitioner frames such as coaching, psychotherapy, facilitating, managing, and entrepreneurship. To achieve meaning, purpose and livelihood, most professional practices require creating a generative entrepreneurial ecosystem. This course weaves together developing leadership competencies for professionals necessary for transforming the professions in ways that realign the professions to their deeper and sacred purpose. Finding one's true calling, one's sacred purpose, enables us to lead lives in which our passions and capabilities are forged into our livelihood.
*Course modules are illustrative. Faculty build dynamic course content and class structure aligned with and beyond the listed modules.
Meggan Hartman, Ph.D., is a psychologist, educator, and Purpose Guide with a focus on transformative education. As a core faculty member at Meridian University, she serves as the Director of Assessment and Student Development. In her developmental coaching work, she helps individuals discover and actualize their life's purpose. Prior to her career in higher education, Meggan was a teacher and leader in outdoor education, including her time with Outward Bound. Her research interests encompass psychology, ecology, sociology, spirituality, and the impact of culture on mothering identity. Meggan is dedicated to fostering supportive communities and integrating transformative experiences with nature, learning, and reflection in her work. Currently, she resides in Western North Carolina with her family, nurturing a close connection to the natural environment.
Meggan Hartman, Ph.D., is a psychologist, educator, and Purpose Guide with a focus on transformative education. As a core faculty member at Meridian University, she serves as the Director of Assessment and Student Development. In her developmental coaching work, she helps individuals discover and actualize their life's purpose. Prior to her career in higher education, Meggan was a teacher and leader in outdoor education, including her time with Outward Bound. Her research interests encompass psychology, ecology, sociology, spirituality, and the impact of culture on mothering identity. Meggan is dedicated to fostering supportive communities and integrating transformative experiences with nature, learning, and reflection in her work. Currently, she resides in Western North Carolina with her family, nurturing a close connection to the natural environment.
The Chancellor of Meridian University, Dr. Houston is a visionary researcher who has authored over 40 books and worked intensively in even more cultures, lectured in over 100 countries, and worked with major organizations such as UNICEF and NASA. She has been an advisor to numerous world leaders, and the past international consultant for the United Nations. Dr. Houston's book, A Passion for the Possible, was an expansive compliment to her inspiring PBS special of the same name. Dr. Houston has served on the faculties of Columbia University, Hunter College, Marymount College, The New School for Social Research, and the University of California. She holds doctoral degrees in both psychology and religion.
Jonathan Gustin, M.A, MFT, is the founder of Purpose Guides Institute. He guides people to find and embody their life’s purpose, as well as trains those who want to become Purpose Guides themselves. The guest faculty at PGI includes, David Whyte, Thomas Moore, Bill Plotkin, Sharon Blackie, Parker Palmer, Jean Houston, Michael Meade, Adyashanti, Stephen Cope and Joanna Macy.
Jonathan has been a psychotherapist, meditation teacher and Purpose Guide for over 25 years. He is also a retired adjunct professor at JFK University and co-author of Purpose Rising with Ken Wilber, Erwin Laszlo, and Bill Plotkin. He has had the pleasure of co-teaching programs with luminaries such as Human Potential pioneer George Leonard, eco-activist Joanna Macy, eco-psychologist Bill Plotkin, and Non-Duality pioneer Adyashanti. Once a year in September Jonathan starts a new cohort for Purpose Discovery and Purpose Guide Training. Join us! purposeguides.org
Susan Lucci (she/her) is a Soulful Facilitator, Certified Purpose Guide™ and dynamic facilitator of nearly 1,000 transformational conversations using a unique Circle model she developed. Enjoying holding space for the emergence of group wisdom that leads to inspired action, she is passionate about facilitating soulful conversations that deepen connections, empower engagement, and grow healthier communities. Susan is also an enthusiastic editor who has midwifed many others' books, and a writer who has been published in 365 Moments of Grace and Purpose Rising: A Global Movement of Transformation and Meaning. This former lawyer's mission is to be part of creating an equitable and just world where everyone feels like they belong and fully expresses their purpose!
Brody is the founder of SoulTrue, a Purpose Guide™, a facilitator, an imaginal catalyst, and a teacher. Brody is a senior teacher at Purpose Guides Institute and leads the Integration and Embodiment programs. In addition, he's currently guiding interdisciplinary groups, which include CEOs, leadership teams, architects, land planners, and community stakeholders, in uncovering and expressing the vision, soul, and purpose of place-based projects such as public spaces, venues, and campuses. His ultimate goal is to facilitate a new model of development that is regenerative, equitable, rooted in beauty, and enriches all of life.Brody's creative journeys include: developing curricula and teaching a graduate program at the Academy of Arts in San Francisco that studied the power of art and design as a lever of social change; co-creating a children's book about wisdom featuring folks like Tom Hanks and Jane Goodall; facilitating vision, values, and mission work for corporate leadership teams and not for profits; designing a sculpture installation in the Presidio of San Francisco; developing strategy and creative for clients such as Whole Foods, The International Museum of Women, and the Olympics; and cultivating a 2-acre pocket farm in the Blue Ridge Mountains with his wife, two teenagers, 17 chickens, and two dogs.
Holly Woods PhD is founder of Emergence Institute, a strategic coaching and consulting firm with a 35-year track record in helping founders create purpose-driven products and businesses that impact the world, create sustainable revenue and meaningful work. She has spent her life imagining a world where everyone can become who they're meant to be, awake and alive to express their innate and purposeful gifts. Holly is the creator behind the Purpose Flywheel™ and the Wild Beyonder™. She has served as faculty at the University of CO, University of Denver, Colorado Technical University, CO Mountain College and consulted with the University of California and companies large and small in many industries.
Holly guides awakening visionaries to uncover their nuanced purpose, gain capacities and mindset to attain their unreasonable goals, and align products and systems around what matters most. Using a validated methodology and toolkit, this work facilitates visionary leaders to gain Inner and Outer Mastery and Co-create in the quantum field, so their innovations are sourced from purpose. Holly is the author of The Golden Thread: Where to Find Purpose in the Stages of Your Life. Learn more at EmergenceInstitute.net.
$250
- Live video classes
- Access to recordings on course platform
- Course platform community and resources
- Participant launch of ongoing Community of Practice after the course
Meridian University is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) - a higher education accreditor recognized by the United States Department of Education. WASC is also the accreditor for Stanford University, UCLA, and the University of California at Berkeley.
Meridian’s online courses are conducted via the University's own learning platform.
Our online courses promote community learning, through strong interactive engagement with fellow students and faculty as well as live video sessions with faculty.
You will need an email account, a high-speed internet connection, and access to a computer, iOS or Android device.
If you are planning to attend the course video calls live, you will need a webcam and microphone for your device. (Course video calls are conducted with participants video-enabled.)
Live 75-min video sessions with faculty and fellow students will be conducted throughout the course. Each week's live video call will be recorded and posted on the course platform.
Video presentations, readings, discussions and learning activities will be accessible asynchronously and may be completed on participants' own schedule. Course resources and recordings will remain available up to 30 days after the close of the course.
Full refunds are available until two (2) days before the course begins, by request via email.
You do not need to apply to a Meridian graduate degree program to take this online course. This course is one of Meridian’s open-enrollment courses
The course support team will be available to assist from start to finish. Please send your questions/requests/issues to openenrollment@meridianuniversity.edu
Convening faculty generally lead each live session. Contributing faculty typically contribute in one of the live course sessions. Course resources address the work of both convening and contributing faculty.
Meridian has institutional and federal financial aid options for our graduate degree programs. This open enrollment course does not have financial aid or payment plans available.