STILLHEART RETREAT CENTER

Stillheart Retreat Center

THE GOAL:
Create and run a new type of Spiritual Retreat Center and to manage the messaging, sales tactics and full property build out and budgeting. Also important was to be able to integrate the spiritual nature of the property and deliver a financially feasible business to the owner/investor.

THE RESULT:
I was brought in directly by Bill and Joan Porter (Bill, the Founder of E*Trade Financial and ISE) to develop, market and fully manage as Executive Director, this new concept retreat center where people could come and focus on spiritual peace, yet not be forced to sleep on a cot in the dirt. Our message was, “you do not have to be physically deprived in order to find meaning in your spiritual experience”.

TACTICS:
Developed objectives, timelines, and budgets, and delegated work plans for Stillheart Retreat Center and acted as the Executive Director for three years while building out the physical. financial and spiritual infrastructure for the Retreat Center. Created a specialized Event Page which all-but-guaranteed attendance for out Retreat Leaders.

FURTHER DETAIL:
Stillheart Institute’s mission is to provide a beautiful and relaxing educational center and sanctuary in harmony with nature where people can expand their self-awareness of body, mind, and spirit for personal growth, professional success, and positive transformation.

The 16-acre sanctuary deep in the redwood forest is the vision of founder and president, Joan Porter and her husband Bill Porter. She conceived this “sanctuary for humanity” as a place to “energetically support people who are working hard to meet the challenges of the day.” She invites guests to use it in the way that serves them best, and most importantly “to allow the natural beauty of Stillheart to support their natural beauty—the natural beauty that may have been pushed aside to make it in the world.”

Stillheart serves all humanity with educational programs that stimulate self-inquiry, transformation and self-directed change for individuals, groups and organizations. The surrounding private and natural environment creates balance, harmony and a positive spirit among participants, allowing them to learn from their inner selves and each other, away from their demanding day-to-day activities.

MIT – The Joan and William A. Porter
Center for Management Education

In 1999, well before architectural plans were finalized or MIT Sloan’s needs were fully identified, William A. Porter (1967) and his wife, Joan, announced their gift of $25 million in support of MIT Sloan’s new building. The spirit of their early and visionary commitment to this project is embodied in the Joan and William A. Porter 1967 Center for Management Education. Comprising the western wing of E62 and looking out over the Charles River, the Porter Center for Management Education houses many of the new building’s most important features and functions including public spaces, conference rooms, classrooms, study rooms, and faculty offices. The features within the Porter Center for Management Education emphasize opportunities for teamwork, discussion, and academic and social interaction.