The 12,500-acre Mamoni Valley Preserve supports large-scale land conservation and habitat restoration within the upper watershed of the Mamoní River. It is located within the largest remaining stretch of contiguous rainforest in one of the top 25 Biodiversity Hotspots in the world and only 2 hours from Panama.
This biological corridor is the bridge for culture and wildlife between the American continents buffering the autonomous territory of the Indigenous Guna people and the watershed of Panama’s inter oceanic canal. The Valley has a mixture of tropical primary rainforest, advanced secondary forest, natural regeneration, native and exotic timber trees, and a patchwork of large pastures with areas of slash and burn agriculture.
An intimate, immersive, healing, and inspiring retreat in the Panamanian Mamoni Valley Preserve rainforest to help CMOs and other IRG Community members build personal and business regeneration plans.
Program Highlights
- Daily Yoga and Meditation
- Individual and group sessions
- Contemplative Rainforest walks
- Indigenous People interchange
- Mamoni River immersion
- Day of Silence
- Panama Marketing Leaders Regeneration connect
Program Approach and Frameworks
- Theory U Change Management
- Ikigai Framework
- Seven Levels of Consciousness
- Deep Observation Strategies
- Biomimicry Organization
- Regenerative Marketing
The retreat is being offered by the IRG at cost. The fee includes transport to and from the airport, food and lodging in the Mamoni Valley, nature guides, music, yoga teacher, musicians, as well as external facilitator fee and travel costs.
Participants are responsible for all other expenses including air travel to Panama, Panama City hotels on the nights of Sunday the 20th and Friday the 25th.
The rainforest Mamoni campus is an off-grid facility, one hour off the Pan American Highway, where leaders, researchers, and adventure-seekers share the goal of 100% self sufficiency. Sustainably powered 24/7 by micro hydro and solar electric systems and cabanas and hand-crafted furnishings built from locally salvaged hardwoods.
Nestled amidst the forest are open-air raised cabanas equipped with plush beds, showers, western flush toilets, and electricity - and connected to high-speed internet service.
Enjoy fresh meals containing organic locally grown ingredients in our open-air dining area and at our poolside bamboo pavilion. Lounge peacefully in a hammock while hummingbirds fly overhead, swim laps in our 25m length stream-fed natural pool, get creative in our amphitheater, or get hands-on in the workshop or organic gardens.
Nathan has over 40 years of experience in the fields of international development and education. He is one of the staff founders of Oxfam America supporting emerging community development leadership in low-income countries and has been a pioneer in socially positive investment. Nathan started the youth leadership organization Earth Train Foundation in 1991 and, in 2001, led the establishment of its international base in Panama where he co-founded the Mamoní Valley Preserve with Colin Wiel & family, and founded Fundación Earth Train, now Fundación Geoversity. Together with Verne Harnish, he directed the launch of the Geoversity ecosystem with its annual The Nature of Business executive events, as well as Geoversity’s “Designing with Nature” and “Life Changer” initiatives. He was a contributing author of Disaster and Development (Fred Cuny) published in 1989 by Oxford University Press and a contributing author of Change Not Charity – Essays on Oxfam America’s First 40 Years, published in 2010.
Educational background: BA in International Relations from the University of California, San Francisco and completed special studies in literature at the Universidad de Guanajuato, Mexico; Universidad de Zarago-za, Spain; and Université de Toulouse en Pau, France.
Find out more: https://geoversity.org/
Petita Ayarza was born in Rio Sidra in 1965. She was named after former first lady Petita Saa de Robles, the wife of President Marco Aurelio Robles.
She holds a licentiate in human resources and an ecological tourism technician degree, the latter from the University of Panama. She has worked as a businesswoman in the tourism sector in the Guna Yala region and is the leader of a tourism association for 28 islands.
Ayarza has been a member of the PRD party for more than 20 years, during which she assumed leadership positions as party delegate, president of the organization area via election, and president of the party's regional collective.
She was the first woman to hold these positions within her party in the Guna Yala region.
In her political speech she advocates for the rights of indigenous peoples, and especially for the empowerment of women of the Guna ethnic group.
Our mission is to build companies in which we align capital, governance, culture and structure to enable the Purpose of these companies. We do this with an evergreen horizon to inspire a system change in capitalism. We build purpose driven companies that will operate at scale in basic need sectors like housing, healthcare, education, food, energy in North Western Europe.
Prior to Breathe, I was the founder and Managing Partner of Aberkyn, a global change leadership firm, that we founded together with McKinsey & Company. I was also a Partner at McKinsey. Before McKinsey, I used to be a serial entrepreneur, CEO and founder of several technology companies. I started my career at Shell, in sales and marketing roles.
I embarked on a conscious spiritual journey 20 years ago and have made my personal development my number 1 priority in life ever since. I am married to Olga and have 4 children. I have just learnt kitesurfing with my two eldest daughters in Brazil and I love to walk in the woods.
Find out more: https://www.breathe.org/
Dr. Tamsin Woolley-Barker is an evolutionary biologist, anthropologist, innovation and culture consultant. She is the CEO of TEEM Innovation Group, Dean of the Geoversity School for Biocultural Leadership in Panama, and the author of TEEMING—a #1 Amazon bestseller in environmental economics, animal behavior, ecology, and organizational learning, now considered the seminal work on biomimicry in business.
Her work with organizations like Biomimicry 3.8 and the Biomimicry Institute has helped the world’s most innovative companies push the envelope on design for nearly a decade. Today, she helps those organizations evolve greater agility, innovation, collaboration, and resilience the same way living systems always have.
Find out more: https://www.teemlab.com/
Mark first arrived to Mamoní in 2013 and volunteered to the cause of leadership training and conservation. Since then, he has been leading local and international student groups of all ages throughout the Mamoní Valley and parts of Panama, and has developed a deep knowledge of the local biodiversity and culture.
He is the co-founder and CEO of Experience Mamoní. He is trained in emergency response and jungle survival, and while living in Canada, he specialized in landscape construction and heavy machinery operation. He is a true waterman, having been raised in Aruba, and also speaks four languages: English, Dutch, Spanish and Papiamento, which has helped Mark with supporting Geoversity in program development and management. When Mark has the time for it, he keeps exploring the Americas and Asia.
Educational background: Extended Accounting Degree from Fanshawe College and BA in Business Administration from Laurentian University Canada, where he graduated Cum Laude. Certified Wilderness Guide from PAWGI.
Find out more: http://experiencemamoni.com/
Frank van den Driest is passionate, pragmatic, and highly results-oriented. He is a well-known thought leader and a former consultant in global brand marketing strategy development and implementation.
In 2019, Frank co-founded the Institute for Real Growth. This not-for-profit organization aims to help CMOs and other growth leaders drive more humanized growth by connecting them to peers and experts through live-action programs inspired by thought leadership.
Frank has led countless purpose-led growth journeys for global brands like Shell, Unilever, Sony, ING, AkzoNobel, Pepsi, GSK, and many others. He now spends his time coaching global marketing and business leaders on Humanizing Business Growth and effective leadership and acting as a non-executive Board member for Fresh Forces.
Find out more: https://instituteforrealgrowth.com/
Marc is an acknowledged practitioner, consultant and thought leader in the area of global marketing leadership, currently spearheading the Institute for Real Growth (IRG).
Having learned from and collaborated with many of the world’s most prominent Chief Marketing Officers, he is a frequent keynote speaker at business schools, companies, and industry conferences. He has been quoted and appeared in The Financial Times, Fortune, Forbes, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Chicago Tribune, The Atlantic, Advertising Age, Campaign Asia, Marketing Week, HBR, and Brandweek.
Marc serves as a volunteer on the Boards of the Kilimanjaro Initiative and the Avenues for Justice organizations. He has lived with his wife and family in New York City for over 25 years.
Find out more: https://instituteforrealgrowth.com/
Private chef and custom menus available upon request. Most of our meals are vegetarian but we also prepare meals with animal protein. Typical breakfast has a mix of cereals and grains, yogurts, breads, tropical fruits, and eggs. Lunch can be burritos, quesadillas, grilled cheeses, fresh salads, and tropical fruits. Dinners vary between rice, yucca and other tuber options with chicken, plantains, legumes, local veggies or salads. Meals are accompanied by fresh drinks made from local fruits and plants.
This retreat is only open to IRG participants, alumni, contributors, and partners. Capacity is very limited this year, so we expect significant over-subscription. Upon registration you will be asked to give a short motivation. We will choose the participants by lottery among all eligible registrants. Your registration will be confirmed by no later than February 1st.
Geoversity is a growing ecosystem of individuals and organizations working together to promote Biocultural Leadership. Out of years of ecological restoration, fighting to protect biodiversity, and supporting numerous scientific research projects, we have nurtured several conservation communities.
We have created our GeoSchool with campus locations at various stages of development. Join in on the festivities. Come one, come all, bring a guest, and hang loose. This is going to be epic!
We help CMOs and other growth leaders drive more humanized growth by connecting them to peers, experts and best practices
The Institute for Real Growth (IRG) is not-for-profit and independent and is supported by WPP, Facebook, Google, Salesforce, Optimizely, Morning Consult, the NYU School of Professional Studies (NYUSPS), the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford, CKGSB, the CMO Council, the Exetor Group and Spencer Stuart.
