PROJECT LEADER
2015-2024

Born and raised in a Camphill community in South Africa, Joan is currently Senior Project Leader of the World Social Initiative Forum (WSIF). This network focuses on research and practice in questions of social justice, human dignity and personal development by creating conversational forums and study programs, in spaces which invite safety and vulnerability. Joan has a background in Steiner-Waldorf Education as a pupil, qualified Class Teacher and then lecturer in Cape Town and abroad. She served as member of the Executive Council of the General Anthroposophical Society in Dornach, Switzerland, stewarding the English-speaking part of the global network. Back in Cape Town after a seven-year term of office, she remained Senior Project Leader of the World Social Initiative Forum (WSIF), focusing on social transformation towards justice and inclusion, human dignity, as well as authentic and collaborative leadership. Joan embarked on and graduated from the EMBA23 program at the University of Cape Town GSB, where she prototyped the leadership development model: the Being-in-Dialogue Model. Through the support of her associate advisor, Robert M Burnside, this model has now been further developed and launched. Joan is building up her practice as consultant in leadership and personal development. ​

FUNDRAISING & COMMUNICATIONS
2019-2024

Born and raised in Manila, Nicole earned a bachelor’s degree in music pedagogy and taught music in the Philippines for 10 years. During her tenure as a teacher, she volunteered in outreach programs such as the “Gawad Kalinga House Building Project” (2010-2013), Freunde’s Emergency Pedagogy for Typhoon Haiyan survivors (2013) and Xavier School’s “Teachers in the Frontiers” and “Faculty Outreach at the New Bilibid Prison” (2015-2017) . She moved to Switzerland in 2017 to study the anthroposophic foundation course at the Goetheanum and music therapy at a t k a Studiengang Orpheus Musiktherapie. As part of her training, she finished her practicum as a music therapist at Klinik Arlesheim in Switzerland (2022) and at Die Filderklinik in Germany (2021 & 2022). Currently, she is a music teacher at a state-run primary school in Switzerland, a substitute music therapist at Klinik Arlesheim, a volunteer at Freunde’s Notfallpädagogik and a freelance photographer. She has been a co-worker of the World Social Initiative Forum (WSIF) since 2019, focusing on sustainability, copywriting and evaluation of social impact as her main responsibilities.

SOUTH AMERICA NETWORK & WEBSITE
2022-2024

Guada was a Waldorf Kindergarten teacher in Argentina before moving to Switzerland in 2016 to study the anthroposophic foundation course at the Goetheanum. She has a vast experience in organizing meetings and conferences as a former co-worker at the Youth Section, both locally and internationally. She completed her Master’s Degree in Social Education in Spain and is currently taking a Mental Health Seminar at Emerson College. She has been a co-worker at the World Social Initiative Forum (WSIF) since 2022, building a strong network with social initiatives in Spanish-speaking countries as focus. She co-organized with Paula Edelstein Argentina Forum 2023: “Interculturality in Education” in collaboration with Perito Moreno Waldorf School and the Pedagogical Section at the Goetheanum. She continues to co-work with the different initiatives in South America after the Forum to continue the dialogue and research on Interculturality by co-shaping online and in-person Forums with partner initiatives in the region. Along her work with WSIF, she is a teacher-assistant in a Waldorf Kindergarten in Dornach, Switzelrland and co-carrier of the social theater program “Frage, Begegne, Spiele” for refugees and youth.

ASIA NETWORK & CIRCLES OF ABUNDANCE COORDINATOR
2022-2024

Massa finished his Waldorf Teaching Training in Scotland and studied Visual Arts at Emerson College. He worked as a volunteer for 3 years in Associação Comunitária Monte Azulin Brazil. His projects include a collaboration with Japan-based NGO CRI-Children’s Resources International, Monte Azul International Germany and outreach projects for refugees in Switzerland. Starting this year, he will coordinate with partner organizations from Asia for the WSIF Network. He organizes the local project “Circles of Abundance” and helps build the network in Japan through the Waldorf-UNESCO Network with Professor Daisuke Onuki. He is also a co-carrier of the social theater program “Frage, Begegne, Spiele” in Dornach.

LiT FORUMS & FELLOWSHIP COORDINATOR
2022-2024

Jordan earned a Master’s Degree in Education while teaching children with Autism at a public school in Brooklyn, New York. In 2005, he attended the Anthroposophical Foundation Year at Sunbridge College in Spring Valley, New York. He studied and worked in the Threefold Community for 5 years, organizing numerous conferences and education initiatives. In 2011, he received a research grant from the Goetheanum to study new forms of Adult Education. In 2019, he helped inaugurate Applied Anthroposophy – an online program now in its third year. He coordinated the 9-month WSIF program “Leadership in Transformation” and the in-person UKForum 2023 in Ruskin Mill Trust. In association with WSIF, he is currently hosting online workshops under his project “Wisdom Working” - making Anthroposophy-in-Dialogue accessible to anyone who seeks it.

RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR
2021-2024

Ricardo is a researcher at Ruskin Mill Trust in the UK. For his Ph.D at the Coventry University, he is focusing his dissertation on “Community-Supported Agriculture: The Demodification of Agriculture based on the Threefold Social Impulse“. He studied Social Pedagogy in Porto University, Portugal and MSc in Practical Skills Therapeutic Education at the University of the West of England, UK. He has over 15 years of experience co-creating and facilitating programs for people of all ages with complex needs and from underprivileged backgrounds. He is one of the Forum managers of the successfully concluded UKForum 2023. A WSIF Online Library will soon be launched under his guidance.