Cultural Design Program

Everything can begin with you. You are the foundation of any change that will happen in your society.

Thich Nhat Hanh

We create a culture that thrives when we practice thriving ourselves. The 8-month cultural design program is for adults who are willing to change, desire to live more fully, and want to create a culture where all life thrives.

Habit will sustain you
whether you’re inspired or not. Habit is persistence in practice.

Octavia Butler

When we practice something over and over, we get better at it. To strengthen a new way of life, we need long-term places to practice and people to practice with, including inspired and experienced mentorship. We also need principles to guide us in taking better care of our lives and support to create the conditions for others to do the same. 

With practice, thriving can become a habit for a person, a community, and a place.

Cultural Design Program

The Cultural Design program is an 8-month program for adults who want to build vital culture starting with themselves. This program has both an in-person and low-residency option and is informed by Sourced Design.

Primary program components:

Find more detailed descriptions for each component below. Out-of-town participants, please see our travel document for Springhouse Visitors.

The Sourced Design Lab is a prerequisite of this program

In-Person Intensives 

These intensives are held at Springhouse in the fall and spring of each year. The purpose of these intensives is to bring participants together in-person to begin and end the year in a meaningful way. The intensives will include opportunities to learn about oneself, the need for Sourced Design in this dominant global culture, and how to build a culture that thrives. Participants will be invited to ground themselves in the power of Life through practices like meditation, dance, and singing; have courageous conversations about themselves, our current cultural challenges, and their cultural work; and build a vital container for learning for the coming year. Participants will be able to participate in our homecoming activities in the fall and our Annual Gathering in the spring.

Mentoring

Mentoring is a core part of our cultural design and educational model. We cultivate personhood and learn about culture-building through the practice of monthly one-to-one mentoring with an experienced Springhouse staff member and through peer mentorship with a fellow participant in the program. Peer mentors are asked to meet at least twice a month and will have a curriculum to guide them in their learning.

Course Work

Courses will include various methods of learning including the creative arts, community dialogue, book discussions, delivery of new information, and more. Each trimester ends with a Reflection on Learning, during which each learner has space to creatively integrate their learnings from the course.

Individual Project

Participants will complete a comprehensive individual project to reflect how they have integrated their learning throughout the program. Through the project, they will apply what they have learned in their lives and communities. They will study the context of their communities and place and develop a plan to foster vitality through Sourced Design.

Final Presentation at Annual Gathering

Participants will present their projects and learning at the Springhouse Annual Gathering every spring. The timing of the gathering coincides with the spring intensive.

Who is this program for?

We are looking for individuals eager to build healthy culture, beginning with themselves.

Ideal participants are:

  • Willing to surrender to a new way of living
  • Seeking community and guidance to support this new way of living 
  • Have experience doing personal development work in therapy or other structured support
  • Able to meet their basic physical, emotional, and financial needs without excessive stress
  • Capable of clear and direct communication and are able to take responsibility for themselves 
  • Able to adapt to unexpected changes by adjusting to new circumstances
  • Interested in creating a culture where all life thrives

Application Process

To apply for this program, please send a letter of intent to Sarah Stabler (sarahs@springhouse.org). The letter should address the following:

  1. What calls you to this program at this time in your life?
  2. Describe a time when you surrendered to a power greater than yourself
  3. Share a story about the power of community
  4. Share about one element of our dominant culture that troubles you

Application Deadline: June 30th, 2023

(Final decisions made by July 20th, 2023)

Tuition: There are set tuition rates for our Cultural Design Program, and we remain committed to ensuring that no one is turned away for a lack of funds. We have three tuition rates for this program:

  1. Pay-It-Forward Rate: $9,000 Default payment schedule is $1,000/mo for 9 months (October – June)
  2. Sustaining Rate: $7,000 Default payment schedule is $778/mo for 9 months (October – June)
  3. Supported Rate: We remain committed to accessibility, and no one is turned away due to a lack of funds. If you cannot afford either of the rates above, please review our Supported Rate Packet and prepare for a tuition meeting with Chris.

Sourced Design Program Facilitators

Dr. Jenny Finn (she/her)

Executive Director

Jenny Finn has designed structures that foster vitality in people, communities, and organizations for nearly 30 years. She holds a Ph.D. in Sustainability Education and co-founded Springhouse, a school inspired by a vision to live in a world where all life thrives. Dr. Finn’s research, mentoring, and teaching invites people to deepen the relationship they have with themselves in order to serve the world with greater clarity and compassion. Her work has taken many forms including non-profit leadership, trauma and hospice care, chaplaincy, clinical private practice, community building through the expressive arts, and education. With a dedicated and inspiring community, Dr. Finn articulated Sourced Design– principles that take care of life in a person, community, and place. These principles are practiced at Springhouse and shared globally with those who share the vision of a thriving world.

Sarah Stabler (she/her)

Associate Director

Sarah is passionate about building healthy culture and believes that education is the greatest cultural leverage point we have towards this end. She has been working at Springhouse, a school committed to just that, for over six years teaching teens and adults, building community one day at a time. Sarah is deeply inspired by dance as a form of prayer and the power of committing to one place for the long haul. She holds a Master’s degree in Ecological Design Thinking from Schumacher College and an undergraduate degree in Religious Studies from Colorado College. Sarah studied permaculture design at Quail Springs Permaculture; completed an 18-month sustainable agriculture fellowship with the Allegheny Mountain Institute; and worked in the field of garden-based education prior to her work at Springhouse.