Human.Kind

The Lean In

Conversations to get close to.

 

You’re invited to regular discussions and Q&A on big topics of today.

A woman with curly brown hair sits on a chair, facing side on and looking at the camera. She is in a relaxed and contemplative pose with one hand to her face, and wears a beige silky shirt with an orange blazer draped over a black top.

The Lean In is a quarterly series of conversations for making meaning in our changing world. Like a podcast, but in person. It’s a space to gather and turn towards big issues without easy answers. A space for sensemaking in fragmented times. 

Hosted by Tessa Leon, with a range of special guests and community leaders, we’ll explore topics at the intersection of culture, science, and spirituality. Dialogues will traverse contemplative traditions, ethics and morality, eco-dharma and neuroscience, social philosophy, politics and poetry.

Come listen or engage in vitalising discussions that spark the collective imagination, generate ideas to orient by, and offer a sense of refuge in our tender and tumultuous world.

Next Session: 

Coming Soon

Location

City Studio. L1, 60 Halifax St, Kaurna Land

Or online via livestream 

Access

-Wheelchair access via Surflen St. Please contact us for lift access.

-This event will include an Auslan Interpreter.

Session 3: Women On Top

Featuring special guests Senator Sarah Hanson-Young and Eloise Hall. Hosted by Tessa Leon.

What does it take to stand up for equality, integrity, and lead from the front in business and politics today? Let’s talk resilience, vulnerability, and courage with women who are shifting the balance of power to centre diversity and put people and the planet above profits.

In a time of hyper-partisanship, conflicting morality, and plural truths, integrity in leadership is more crucial than ever.  Are we seeing a shift where voters and consumers are getting behind powerful women with the courage to call out injustice and take bold steps to make change? 

Let’s talk about sustaining the strength and candour to stand up to marginalisation and bullying. And understand how we can all help scaffold systems of power to invite and include more diverse voices at the front. 

The face of leadership is changing. 

 

Special Guest: Senator Sarah Hanson-Young

Senator Sarah Hanson-Young is a passionate environmentalist, community campaigner, feminist, and human rights activist. With 16 years in the Parliament, Sarah has become one of the country’s leading voices on women in politics, environmental protection, climate change, media laws and diversity, and human rights policy.

Sarah is the Australian Greens Manager of Business in the Senate, and Party spokesperson for the Environment and Water, Media and Communications, and the Arts. She has a strong interest in media and communications policy, heading the push for a shake up of media laws in Australia and a Royal Commission for media reform and diversity. Most recently she introduced a bill to establish a Royal Commission into the Murdoch media empire and the control and influence they have over Australian democracy. 

Her short book “En Garde” was a personal exposé that helped break the silence on women’s treatment in modern Australian politics. In 2019, Sarah won a landmark defamation case against a former male Senator, calling out harassment and sending a strong message that women deserve to be safe and respected in all workplaces.

Sarah has been a Young Global Leader with the World Economic Forum since 2016 and was a Bloomberg Catalyst in 2021.


Special Guest: Eloise Hall

Eloise Hall is the Co-founder and Managing Director of TABOO Period Products, a social enterprise selling organic and ethically sourced period products with all company profits committed to ending period poverty.

She is personally committed to making long-lasting, structural changes to bridge the inequality that exists in our communities. Eloise has received several awards for her work including EY Impact Entrepreneur of the Year 2023, Westpac Social Change Fellowship 2023, The Advertiser’s 2021 Woman of Year Rising Star Award and InDaily’s 40 under 40. Eloise is also the Chair of the South Australian Social Enterprise Council.

 

Resources and connections:

A full resource list with links will be available after each session via our Human.Kind online community forum below.  Keep the conversation going at The Lean In page. Share your thoughts and ideas. Stay with each other.

Session 2: Fall of the Guru

This conversation took place on 6 June 2024. Hosted by Tessa Leon, with Adam Whiting, and special guest Tess Fuller from Teach Us Consent.

A recording is available to watch freely online. (Content note: this conversation discusses sexual abuse). 

Sex and power: two eternal forces that shape human behaviour.

 

The cultural ramifications of privilege and patriarchy have caused great harm in many institutions and religions. And the traditions of yoga have been no exception. In recent history, leader after leader of yogic lineages has fallen from grace. Often through accusations and convictions of abuse against women.

Today, in the contemporary ‘wellness’ industry we see the rise and adoration of celebrity experts, given guru-like status, only to witness their subsequent dethroning through scandals, lies, or unethical personal conduct.

 

As students and teachers of these beloved wisdom traditions, it is hard to watch. We witness how these practices can be used as medicines for social and cultural repair. And we also witness hierarchies of power in ‘spiritual communities’ becoming hotbeds for the silent proliferation of gendered violence.

 

How do we respond?

It’s easy to feel disillusioned. Or cling even tighter to blind faith. Of course we can blame the system, but then what? As we hold people accountable for their actions, can we still trust and cherish the teachings they transmitted?

Collectively moving forward requires entering into a dialogue with the past, understanding cultural contexts, and re-visioning ways to share power safely within communities. Let’s talk about it.

 

“Spiritual power, without service, is just power.”

-Jivana Heyman

Session 1: Joy & the Apocalypse

This conversation took place on 11 April 2024. Hosted by Tessa Leon, with Becca Gross and special guest Amber Cronin. 

A recording is available to watch freely online.

Wendell Berry once said, “Be joyful, even though you have considered all the facts”. This conversation is for those who understand the facts, and are struggling with them.


As we confront the real prospect of civilisational collapse and mass extinction in the not-too-distant future, how do we stay engaged? How do we continue to care and take compassionate action, when faced with immense suffering? 

Overwhelm, eco-grief, and even the daily news can leave us in despair, or even worse, apathy. Burnout in activism is real. We must find ways of living that keep us buoyant and connected to purpose. As the impacts of our changing world gain momentum, this art will be critical for community resilience, creativity, and our ability to take care of eachother.


“We must risk delight and enjoyment. We must have the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless furnace of this world. To make injustice the only measure of our attention is to praise the devil.” – Jack Gilbert