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ACTIVATE is an intimate gathering of women and non-binary leaders, disruptors and changemakers – where embodied and indigenous wisdom meets business and innovation strategy at a secluded, high-vibration all-inclusive Costa Rican rainforest resort.
The 2025 ACTIVATE Summit offers an immersive experience designed to empower, connect and inspire leaders from diverse industries to build the new paradigm of together. We believe that by leveraging the wisdom of nature, the feminine, and our own human bodies, we can collaborate to solve the stickiest problems of our times.
Does this resonate? I invite you to ACTIVATE.
It’s clear. The way we’ve been working, isn’t working. Now, as we watch the societal structures we’ve painstakingly built begin to topple, we are becoming aware of how truly fragile our human bodies and inventions are.
As leaders in business, we are being called upon to get ahead of this wave: to proactively disrupt old paradigms, out-of-date systems, and even ourselves. Through collaborative visioning, we have the opportunity to shape a new world – one that treats us and our non-human stakeholders as sacred. Through courageous action, we have the opportunity to bring this world to life.
But it isn’t easy. It requires devotion to cultivate the presence, skill and trust necessary to redesign our systems. And the energy it takes to create lasting, sustainable change is tremendous. Indeed, it takes a different and fierce kind of leadership to fully align with the future we wish to build.
The good news? It’s not the first time we’ve done this as humans. To access new paradigm solutions, we need to go back to our roots.
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The ACTIVATE experience is designed to take you out of your status-quo and into a deeper reflection on your leadership that taps into your body, instincts, and truest nature. A rested mind inevitably sparks new ideas. A fully-restored body gives you the energy to face big change. A slower pace can open us to spirit.
That’s why we’ve chosen Verdesana, in the rainforest Blue Zone of Costa Rica, as the venue for our 2025 summit. This intimate and sustainable venue exudes the perfect combination of grounded spirituality, natural beauty and tasteful luxury, serving as the perfect (and private) backdrop for our time together. You can even come early for a deep day of rest before we begin. More on our venue & history here.
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ACTIVATE brings together women and non-binary leaders who envision a brighter future and who are making positive waves in their organizations, industries and communities. Our program caters to director-to-executive level leaders who are responsible for teams and have decision making power inside of their organizations. We also welcome strategic initiative leaders, startup founders and entrepreneurs who are interested in building a more just and sustainable world.
Past Summit attendees included: the CMO of a government sector tech company, a product and diversity initiative leader at Apple, a marketing exec opening a new territory for a beverage company, the former COO of a hospital staffing company, a documentarist on AI and humanity, a sustainability expert at Google, the president of a Women in Clean Tech organization, a biotech company CFO, an upcycling innovator, and a retired IBM executive pursuing spiritual growth.
This year, we are targeting sectors like finance, technology and AI, sustainability, diversity and inclusion, and healthcare because we believe these are arenas in which radical change is needed for humanity to thrive.
Our 5-day experience revolves around a three-step change process that engages embodied and indigenous wisdom.
Dismantle internal and external structures that replicate out-dated paradigms at work, in society, and in ourselves.
Open to new (and more ancient), wiser solutions that align with our values and take more stakeholders into account.
Bring new-paradigm approaches forward at work through bold actions and creative daily practice.
Participants will also be taken through a unique future-visioning design process and will be invited to select one of three tracks for peer discussions:
– Social & Environmental Sustainability
– The Evolution of Finance
– Ethical & Beneficial Technology
– The Future of Diversity & Inclusion
– Pivots in Healthcare & Aid
Asking for company sponsorship? Or just want to have all the program details in hand?
You can download the ACTIVATE Summit Program.
Learn transformative somatic and leadership practices that will ignite your next-level.
Meet future collaborators, surprising soul sisters, unexpected advisors, and new friends.
All meals are locally sourced, cooked onsite and served together in a beautiful setting.
Book a spa treatment, enjoy a solo meditation, join a daily morning movement class.
Get lost in nature and get inspired. Wander secluded trails just steps from your lodging.
Access to hands-on bodywork for healing plus executive coaches on staff.
Standard: Solo
$3,500 – give yourself a break from stimulation between sessions by opting for solo lodging.
Standard: Shared
$2,900 – let us pair you with a new friend to enjoy your conference experience with.
Pay-it-Forward: Solo
$5,500 – sponsor a fellow attendee’s scholarship-rate ticket by investing at this level.
Scholarship: Shared
(by application, with code)
$1,500 – our BIPOC attendees with financial need can apply for a discounted ticket with all the same access here.
We are committed to ensuring that all of our event participants receive the same VIP treatment regardless of their ability to invest financially (learn more).
That’s why all registration options include:
· Three-day event experience
· Two nights luxury lodging on site
· Six five-star meals plus all snacks and beverages
· Curated wellness activities
· Property access including spa, hiking, grounds etc.
· Optional 1:1 support, including bodywork (additional cost)
· Post-event networking access
· Conference video archive
· Discounted airport-to-venue transit
· Discount on future events and training
Have questions? Contact events@gutsandgrace.com
Check out Summit Package Options, All-Inclusive Pricing… PLUS Virtual Course + Integration Cohorts.
We would LOVE to see you there!
MAGGIE CHAO
CHIEF OF STAFF, SOFTWARE TECH
KAVITA DANTLURI
CFO, FINCIAL SERVICES
DONNA GANDT
REGIONAL VP, TECH INDUSTRY
ADRIENNE UNDERWOOD
HEAD of COMMUNICATIONS, CLIMATE RESEARCH FIRM
YASMIN EICHMANN DATTA
CLIMATE CONSULTANT
MEGAN PATEL
HEAD OF ENTREPRENEUR-IN-RESIDENCE PROGRAM
Book a 15-minute call with our team to discover your WHY.
Find out if attending the ACTIVATE Summit (or a future event) is right for you.
What is embodied and indigenous wisdom?
The awareness that comes through mindfulness and healing technologies that connect us with non-linear, non-rational ways of knowing. These technologies are open-source and have been used intuitively by humans for thousands of years, including: body and sensory awareness, intuition, music, sound-based healing, hands-on bodywork, non-performative dance, storytelling, working with native plant medicines, deep listening, ritual, emotional expression, physical contact, qi gong, yoga, shaking, grounding, breath work and more.
Why focus on embodied and indigenous wisdom for leadership?
The rational mind has brought us so far, but it is also susceptible to the influence of our egoic patterns, trauma-based thought loops, and hedonistic drivers – forces that derail us from making centered, generative decisions that benefit all stakeholders and inspire followership. Engaging these ancient and unique approaches can bring us back to wholeness and significantly enhance our clarity, creativity, resilience and authentic, trustworthy use of power.
Why all-inclusive tickets?
We are committed to ensuring that all of our event participants receive the same VIP treatment regardless of their ability to invest financially. That’s why our event includes on-site lodging and all-inclusive dining, which helps to avoid the scenario where some participants who can spend less are getting a lesser experience – or scrambling to afford the chicken soup while others are dining like queens. While that makes our ticket prices higher on the front end, it helps everyone limit additional expenses upon arrive. Thanks in advance for noticing, and not comparing our rates to events where food and lodging aren’t counted in the visible attendance cost.
Why the luxury venue? Why Verdesana Eco Resort?
We believe that in the new paradigm, ‘spiritual’ and ‘indigenous’ can and should go hand in hand with abundance. We also believe in hosting our gatherings on high-vibration, sacred land that holds the energy of mindfulness regularly practiced, without asking our guests to camp or bunk-up. Our aim in hosting at Verdesana is to create an energetic match for the work we will be doing together, and the new-paradigm reality we want to co-create.
It’s a small event… will I meet the right people?
Authentic, inspiring people who are willing to take a risk attract authentic, inspiring people who are willing to take a risk. At each event we’ve hosted in years past, we’ve found that the right people are always in the room. AND, we invite you to help ensure that the kind of women YOU want to collaborate with are in the room by helping us to spread the word. Who else do you think should be here? Let her know.
Who can apply for a scholarship?
Anyone with financial need can apply for a scholarship. However, we are committed to prioritizing BIPOC participants who are doing important work that impacts underserved communities and might otherwise not have access to the financial means to attend. In your application you will be asked to identify your ethnicity, and also tell us a bit more about your workin the world, who it impacts and why it matters.
Have questions? Contact events@gutsandgrace.com
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