“I would not give a fig for the simplicity this side of complexity. But I would give my life for the simplicity on the other side of complexity.”Oliver Wendell Holmes
Justice, US Supreme Court
Complexity is the very essence of the world we seek to navigate in Transformative Learning Labs.
These labs are geared to help participants harmonize the interplay between internal and external complexity, aimed at aligning our skills with the world's demands and discovering "the simplicity on the far side of complexity."The challenges facing humanity are so intricate that our era is sometimes termed a crisis of complexity. This underpins our current ecological, economic, and social upheavals. In every scenario, what humanity needs to bring to the table is more intricate than our prevailing perspectives can grasp. Even our own creations—technologies, cultural memes, and organizations—are growing in complexity, amplifying the demands of daily life.
Professionals across all sectors like business, healthcare, governance, psychology, and education are urgently seeking methods and practices that respond to the crisis of unprecedented and accelerating complexity. The old rules are obsolete, and the new ones are still in the making. What has been called the meta-crisis or poly-crisis calls for professionals to be developmental practitioners who can facilitate the development of whole-persons and whole-systems at all system-levels, including individuals, families, teams, organizations, communities, social ecosystems, and societies.We often find ourselves engulfed, weighed down by the requirements of our daily and professional existence. The labs teach us how to manage and transform complexity, both within ourselves and in our external environment, in a way that can enrich our lives and amplify our professional impact.Thriving in complexity entails more than merely coping: it calls for abilities to perceive, comprehend, work with, and transform complexity.
The Transformative Learning Labs offer a holistic, transdisciplinary, and practitioner-centered approach to thriving on complexity.See Upcoming Labs
An AI-First World: Who is the Transformative Learning Lab For?
The Transformative Learning Lab is designed for aspiring, early, and mid-career practitioners to be guided by senior and distinguished practitioners towards connecting purpose with emerging possibilities for professional practice. Participants are guided through experiential explorations that open windows into purpose-driven possibilities for professional practice.As “Developmental Practitioners” we include: coaches, consultants, educators, therapists, generative entrepreneurs, managers, intrapreneurs, and facilitators. In an AI-first world, these practitioner roles are becoming even more complex.
What do Developmental Practitioners do?
Developmental practitioners foster the development and transformation of individuals, families, teams, organizations, social ecosystems, and societies by empowering the whole person and the whole system. In domains such as education, business, healing, coaching, and the arts, developmental practitioners bring imagination to complex challenges in the service of transforming mindsets, cultures and living systems.
Melissa Schwartz, PhD
Educating Developmental Practitioners
Recorded at the University's Los Angeles Campus, Meridian Chief Academic Officer Melissa Schwartz, PhD, describes how the University's programs use transformative learning to educate developmental practitioners: professionals who facilitate the development of whole persons and whole systems, from individuals and teams to organizations and communities."My work is loving the world."Mary Oliver
Developmental Practitioners catalyze development in multiple domains of professional practice through facilitating transformative learning at different levels: individuals, families, teams, organizations, social ecosystems, and societies.
Why and Who
We are living in a period marked by cultural and climate crises, as well as
accelerating change. Everyone faces profound complexity and challenges. This
situation particularly affects aspiring and actively practicing coaches,
entrepreneurs, therapists, managers, and facilitators who are searching for
ways to align their life purpose with their professional practice. These
practitioners are not only under pressure to develop their own capabilities
for handling complexity, but they must also assist their clients in
navigating the complexity challenges they encounter.
What and How
The Transformative Learning Lab introduces an ecology of practices designed
to cultivate an ecology of complexity capabilities. These practices enable
practitioners to effectively link what is most deeply meaningful to them
with their professional work. Each module in the lab introduces a core
learning activity aimed at serving this purpose.
What will Transformative Learning Lab participants do?
Experience a diverse community of inquiry and practice.
Connect with other aspiring, emerging, and mid-career practitioners.
Explore the core consciousness capacities vital for Developmental
Practitioners.
Engage with established Developmental Practitioners from around the world
via live video regarding their professional work and learning journeys.
Collaborate with others in prototyping your professional practice ideas and
initiatives.
Discover the distinct web of competencies required for realizing your unique
vision of developmental practice.
Do you aspire to be a practitioner who coaches, leads, manages, innovates, and facilitates?
The Transformative Learning Lab is about how to succeed professionally in coaching, leading, facilitating, managing, innovating, and entrepreneuring in the midst of local and global complexity upheaval.
“The ultimate, most sacred form of theory is practice.”
“There is nothing so practical as a good theory.”
Faculty
Convening Faculty
Aftab OmerAftab Omer, PhD is the president of Meridian University which offers degree and professional programs globally, emphasizing the power of transformative learning.
He is a sociologist, psychologist, developmentalist, and futurist. Raised in Pakistan, India, Hawaii, and Turkey, he was educated at the universities of M.I.T, Harvard and Brandeis. His publications have addressed the topics of transformative learning, dialogic capability, developmental power, cultural leadership, civil society, generative entrepreneurship, and the power of imagination.
Aftab’s advising work focuses on team development and on leveraging the creative potentials of conflict, diversity, and complexity. Formerly the president of the Council for Humanistic and Transpersonal Psychologies, he is a Fellow of the International Futures Forum and the World Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Melissa SchwartzMelissa Schwartz, PhD is the Chief Academic Officer at Meridian University
where she guides integrally-oriented programs in Education, Business, and
Psychology. The Director of Meridian’s Center for Transformative Learning,
Melissa is dually licensed as both a psychologist and as a Marriage and Family
Therapist (MFT). She serves as a reviewer for the American Psychological
Association’s Journal, Psychology of Women Quarterly, and the California
Psychological Association’s Office of Professional Development. As well, she
serves as a Subject Matter Expert for California’s Board of Behavioral Sciences
in the continual development of the state’s MFT licensure examination. Melissa’s
research interests are in the areas of adult development, the psychology of
women, integral transformative assessment, and the role of culture in
transformative learning.
Faculty
Contributing Faculty Have Included
Raymond FismerRaymond Fismer is a long-standing board member of Integrales Forum, the hub for integrally-minded people in the German-speaking countries. Creating and facilitating spaces for learning and development is his passion. He organises conferences and events where integral practitioners can meet, exchange, learn, and experience integral consciousness at work.
His special focus is on masculinity and gender relations. For 16 years his research into an integral understanding of gender development has resulted in several workshops, articles, lectures and a book on the development and future of masculinity (in German).
For the last five years he has been working in the field of gender policy at the Bundesforum Männer in Berlin (German umbrella organisation for equality-oriented men’s policy).
Originally a physicist, his professional trajectory has gained him experiences in adult education, ecological engineering, NGO administration, personal coaching and couples counselling.
Khaled ElSherbiniDr. Khaled ElSherbini, a faculty member at Meridian University, is a
transpersonal psychologist and former aerospace scientist. As the visionary
founder of "The Consciousness Academy", he dedicates his expertise to the realms
of awakening, personal development, and transformation, while leading the
Academy as its chairman.
With an eclectic academic background, Dr. ElSherbini holds advanced degrees in
Psychology, Business and Innovation Management, Sustainability and environmental
sciences, and Engineering. Beyond this, he is a credentialed ICF PCC coach, a
Spiral Dynamics Integral practitioner, and an internationally recognized
Enneagram Professional.
His global contributions include the creation of widely-respected programs such
as "Awaken through Enneagram", "Integral Enneagram", and "Conscious Coaching".
In these offerings, he masterfully blends various modalities, drawing from the
Enneagram, Spiral Dynamics integral, the Integral Consciousness framework,
contemporary psychological insights, and the profound teachings of Sufi
spiritual philosophy and psychology, to shed light on the evolution and
development of human consciousness.
Rica ViljoenDr Rica Viljoen’s research on inclusivity, which was a significant aspect of her doctoral thesis, gained widespread recognition for its potential impact in the field of Management, Spirituality and Religion. In 2008, the Academy of Management acknowledged her model as one of the ten most promising contributions to the field. Since then, this approach, which emphasises listening to the voices of the entire social system, has been successfully implemented in 42 countries, engaging more than 100000 participants.
Due to her contributions, Rica received the prestigious CEO award from the Institute of People Management (IPM), both nationally and internationally. She was further recognised by the South African Board of People Practices for her contribution to the field of study. She is an associate with the Da Vinci chool for Business Leadership and Regenesys University. She supervised more than 100 PhDs and Masters Studies.
Apart from her academic endeavours, Rica was the founder member of Mandala Consulting a respected organisation dedicated to organisational development and research. She worked closely with the late Dr Don Beck and Dr Loraine Laubscher on geo-political trends and their impact on individuals and the organisations they belong too. She established the Centre of Human Emergence: Africa and has become an international recognised thought leader in spiral dynamics and integral research.
She serves on the board of the SABPP as vice chair for the last two terms and was recently selected to the international board of the International Society for the Psycho-analytical studies in Organisations. She also joined the board of the Don Beck Spiral Dynamics Integral with the purpose to further the field of study and is a senior research member in a project to revisit the Graves archives.
Rica published 9 books of which the book Spiral Dynamics In Action is translated in 9 languages. She consults to organisations in relation to Inclusivity, Culture and strategic HR issues. Rica is a sought after Jungian and Integral Executive Coach.
Her purpose in life is to listen to untold stories and facilitate healing.
Martin UcikMartin is a NARM Trauma Informed Integral Relationship Author, Trainer, and Consultant who supports singles and couples in co-creating healthy integral love relationships that make the world a better place.
He moved from Germany to California in the 90s where he trained with Eckhart Tolle as a group facilitator and later became an avid student of Ken Wilber's Integral Philosophy. This allowed him to integrate his relationship experiences into his three books “Integral Relationships: A Manual for Men”, “Sex, Purpose, Love: Couples in Integral Relationships Creating a Better World”, and "Integral Relationship Practice: A Manual for Singles, Couples, Helping Professionals and Group Facilitators" which Wilber calls terrific and groundbreaking. Martin currently lives in Istanbul, Turkey, and California, and consults and teaches online and facilitates experiential workshops and trainings locally and worldwide.
Nico RoenpagelNico Roenpagel, PhD, is a faculty member in the Graduate School of Education at Meridian University. Based in Berlin, he explores novel intersections of art, education, and meditation. Originally trained as an art and drama teacher in Germany, Nico completed his doctoral research at the University of New South Wales, Sydney. He is an associate of the Berlin-based non-profit Forum for Meditation & Neuroscience.
Jean HoustonThe Chancellor of Meridian University, Dr. Houston is a visionary researcher who
has authored over 40 books and worked intensively in even more cultures,
lectured in over 100 countries, and worked with major organizations such as
UNICEF and NASA. She has been an advisor to numerous world leaders, and the past
international consultant for the United Nations. Dr. Houston's book, A Passion
for the Possible, was an expansive compliment to her inspiring PBS special of
the same name. Dr. Houston has served on the faculties of Columbia University,
Hunter College, Marymount College, The New School for Social Research, and the
University of California. She holds doctoral degrees in both psychology and
religion.
Maria BakariMaria is an Organisational Psychologist, passionate about activating the magic
and catalysing power of synergy in teams and organisations as well as within, as
a place of perception, interdependence and action. She is deeply connected to
her Hellenic roots while working in multicultural contexts for many years. She
designs and artfully applies participatory processes that create conditions for
collective creativity, collaboration and transformative learning in
organisations and community. Maria is the initiator of Synergy – Rhodes and
co-founder of the Next Stage World initiative as well as a constant learner and
practitioner of systemic change and radical, profound hospitality.
Markos PerrakisMarkos Perrakis, PhD, is a development and process facilitator, psychologist, speaker, and founder of Fractality -EU training and counseling provider. For the last 20 years, he has been working with eclectic systemic appreciative approaches, participatory design methods, and Spiritual Intelligence worldwide.
Markos Perrakis provides training, supervision, and facilitation for professionals, HR experts, local communities, politicians, and NGOs, helping citizens express and transform themselves into a co-creative transition. He works with individuals who are mindful of environmental and social issues and helps them align their values with actions that create a positive impact on the world.
Pier Luigi LattuadaPier Luigi Lattuada, MD, PhD, PsyD, a faculty member at Meridian University, is
the President of the Integral Transpersonal Institute and the Director of the
Transpersonal Psychotherapy School in Milan, Italy. He is a medical doctor with
a PhD in Behavioral Studies and a PsyD in Clinical Psychology. Additionally, he
is a psychotherapist and the founder of Biotransenergetics. The Transpersonal
Psychotherapy School in Milan has been recognized by the Ministry of Education
University and Research since 2002.
Paddy PampallisDr. Paddy Pampallis, a faculty member at Meridian University, is an
educationalist, integral psychologist and IntegralU coach who has immersed
herself in human consciousness and development. The founder/CEO of Integral
Africa (Institute); The Coaching Centre (TCC, 2003); Integral African Conference
(2019 IAC) and Ubuntu Coaching Foundation. She partners Susanne Cook-Greuter
co-teaching on Leadership Maturity globally. Her unique application of Wilber’s
AQAL theory, into the IntegralU Practice of Leadership & Coaching™, from an
Africa perspective, has met with Wilber’s acclaim. Hundreds of students have
graduated through the ICF accredited programme (IPCP), and many leaders have
benefitted from integrative transformational work with individuals, teams and
organisations towards consciousness, mastery and impact.
Marco RobledoMarco Antonio Robledo PhD is a faculty member at Meridian University, where he
teaches courses on entrepreneurship and the transformation economy. Marco is a
Professor at the Department of Business and Economics at the University of the
Balearics where he serves as the Director of the MBA Program, Director of the
School of Tourism EUTFM, and Vice-director of the Laboratory of Entrepreneurship
and Social Innovation.
Transformation is the common thread in everything he does. In fact, he defines
himself as a change agent that helps organizations and individuals in their
transformation towards higher levels of development and consciousness.
His research focuses on Strategic Management, Quality Management, and
Organizational Theory with a special interest in the study of New Organizational
Paradigms and the Future of Work. His expertise includes perspectives and models
such as teal organizations, holacracy, sociocracy 3.0, conscious capitalism, the
economy of the common good, and B corps.
In 2020 he published a book on 3D Management which pioneers the application of
Integral Theory to business. His theory of 3D-Management is the first integrally
evolved management metatheory. This disruptive theory denies the imperialism of
the bottom line and replaces it with a harmonic triumvirate that takes equally
into account profit, people, planet, and purpose.
Finally, he is a pioneer in the study of the Transformation Economy, which
empowers the consumer’s need for self-actualization through authentic and
meaningful experiences that makes them stretch, learn, and grow into new ways of
being and engaging with the world.
Dumisani MagadlelaDr Dumi Magadlela is an internationally accredited executive coach, team coach, coach trainer, leadership development facilitator, and organizational ‘people whisperer’. He currently works for the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) designing and delivering leadership, coaching and other people development skills courses across the African continent. Dumi is a regularly featured speaker and panellist on coaching, leadership, and people development. In 2021 he featured as one of the speakers in a TEDxUniversityOfSouthAfrica TEDx event.
Dumi serves on the Global Board of the International Coaching Federation (ICF) as Vice Chair. He co-founded the Ubuntu Coaching Foundation (UCF) at The Coaching Centre (TCC) with one of the leading coaches in Africa, Dr Paddy Pampallis. He has been part of Senior Faculty at The Coaching Centre: Integral Africa, for over fourteen (14) years, where he regularly delivers a module on “Coaching in the African Context”. An Integral approach which is inclusive of our African wisdom is the work of Integral Africa.
Dumi is part-time faculty at the University of Stellenbosch Business School’s MPhil in Management Coaching, where he teaches “Ubuntu Team Coaching”.
He is part of the international faculty at the WBECS’ Global Team Coaching Institute (GTCI), where he co-designs and co-facilitates Team Coaching training as part of an international faculty. He is accredited by the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC) as a Senior Practitioner in Team Coaching. Dumi is currently working towards his ICF PCC credential.
Dumi currently lives in Johannesburg, South Africa, and works globally.
Maud RaberMaud Raber is an Integral Master Coach, seasoned embodied leadership and Teal
organising facilitator, and a trainer of embodiment coaches. Maud supports
individuals, teams, organisations and systems grow to the next stage of their
inner development, such that they are more able to navigate and integrate
complexity and collaborate to solve the wicked questions facing societies and
the planet. She has been training, certifying and mentoring embodiment coaches
globally (Europe, United States, Russia) for the last 7 years.
A former co-anchor of the Integral European Conference (IEC), track host at the
Embodiment Conference, former core team member of Next-Stage World, she also
co-founded Working @ the Next Stage, a boutique consultancy bringing Teal
self-leadership and wholeness practices at the workplace to enable the Future of
Work.
She currently brings Integral inner development to executives through 1-1
coaching, developmental executive assessments, leadership development workshops,
team development journeys and culture transformation programmes.
Gabriel PowellGabriel Powell is an Integral Master Coach and conscious practitioner with 20
years of experience as a senior consultant, facilitator, and coach—serving
diverse cultures across multiple continents. He empowers leaders and teams to
tap into their deeper purpose through coaching and transformational workshops.
Known for his vibrant energy, heartfelt dedication, and rigorous approach,
Gabriel's clients appreciate his clear guidance and outstanding ability to help
them develop the capacities and capabilities that allow for more effective
leadership, emotional intelligence, interpersonal skills, and the ability to
navigate complexity and adaptive leadership challenges more skillfully.
Gabriel's extensive career has spanned three countries, reaching over 100
organizations throughout Europe, North America, the Middle East, and India. He
has made significant contributions across several sectors, including UN
organizations, technology, publishing, printing, software, and education.
https://gabrielpowellcoaching.com/
Claudia GrossDr. Claudia Gross is a soulful Business Humanist, Consultant and Trainer.
Since 1998, she facilitates transformations in organizations, teams and
individuals mainly in Germany, the Maghreb, the Middle East and Sub-Saharan
Africa and now online around the world.
She offers coaching, consultation and online courses regarding a wide variety of
topics within the areas of HUMAN futures of work*ing and collaborating. She
supports teams in transforming, healing, evolving and ultimately liberating
their organizations. She facilitates purpose-driven planning workshops, team
building retreats, multi-stakeholder processes and events.
Claudia is both the founder of human-centered Organizational Governance
(www.hcOrG.com) for which she is curating the Life at Work // Weekly newsletter,
and the initiator of speakGreen which is offering an intentional, life-affirming
language for the future (www.speak-Green.com).
She is the author of the first speakGreen book “Words Create Worlds: Cultivating
a Conscious, Life-Affirming Language”.
Transformative Learning Labs are onsite events. Contributing faculty
participation varies by event. Contributing Faculty join either in-person or
via video conference.
The Transformative Learning Lab
Structure and Experience
Meridian’s Transformative Learning Labs are immersive, multi-day events
designed to catalyze intellectual growth and personal transformation.
Conducted in select cities globally, these labs serve as microcosms of
innovation and profound change, based on the University’s over 30 years of
transformative graduate education. The structure of each lab is emergently
crafted to enable both Meridian students and community participants to
deeply engage with the curriculum in a non-traditional, highly interactive
setting. Participants dive into an intense, yet enriching agenda that blends
rigorous academic discussions, hands-on activities, and reflective
exercises.
What sets these labs apart is the context—the unique settings in which
they're conducted add an extra layer of learning, be it the historical
richness of Cairo, the modern dynamism of Johannesburg, or the philosophical
backdrop of Athens. The fusion of locale and curriculum cultivates an
unparalleled transformative experience. Moreover, the lab format allows for
both structured and spontaneous interactions among participants, nurturing a
community of learners who are collectively pushing the boundaries of
conventional thought and practice. The end result? A transformative
experience that doesn't only impart information but activates your
complexity capabilities.
Fees
€10
The €10 Lab event fee provides participants with access to an immersive in-person learning experience, designed to create meaningful opportunities for growth and engagement through a distinct Transformative Learning approach.The event fee does not include the costs of travel, food, or lodging.
“You could say paradigms are harder to change than anything else about a system…. But there’s nothing physical or expensive or even slow in the process of paradigm change. In a single individual it can happen in a millisecond. All it takes is a click in the mind, a falling of scales from eyes, a new way of seeing.”
Register to participate in an upcoming Transformative Learning Lab
Led by a diverse collective of experts and change-makers as Contributing Faculty, Transformative Learning Labs are unique onsite events. Pre-registration is mandatory due to limited seating and to maintain a coherent learning environment. Registrations are reviewed for admission in the order they're received, and late sign-ups might miss out on assured participation.
The Transformative Learning Lab is free for Meridian alumni.
Alumni can email ctl@meridianuniversity.edu to register at no cost.Current Meridian students can participate in certain Transformative Learning Labs without paying fees. Students should contact the Student Services Team for registration information.
Events
Previous Labs
September 26-27, 2026
Students onlyLos Angeles Campus, California
Discover the Transformative Learning intent at the heart of Meridian’s
mission to educate developmental practitioners. This Students-Only
Transformative Learning Lab in Los Angeles will be held September 26-27,
meeting all day Saturday & Sunday (10am–5pm).
May 23, 2026
Athens, Greece
A Transformative Learning Lab in Athens, Greece — a rare opportunity to
engage with the Transformative Learning Lab curriculum as part of a unique
Mediterranean experience.
September 19-21, 2025
Students onlyLos Angeles Campus, California
Discover the Transformative Learning intent at the heart of Meridian’s
mission to educate developmental practitioners. This Students-Only
Transformative Learning Lab in Los Angeles will be held September 19–21,
meeting Friday evening (6:30–9pm) and all day Saturday & Sunday (10am–5pm).
May 5 - 9, 2025
Students onlyAthens, Greece
Join the upcoming Transformative Learning Lab in Athens, Greece. This is a
rare opportunity to engage with the Transformative Learning Lab curriculum
as part of a unique Mediterranean experience.
March 22, 2025
Los Angeles Campus, California
Discover the Transformative Learning intent at the heart of Meridian's
mission to educate developmental practitioners during this one-day
Transformative Learning Lab in Los Angeles from 10 am to 5 pm.
November 16 - 17, 2024
Berlin, Germany
Join the upcoming Transformative Learning Lab at Meridian's Berlin Center in
the Prenzlauer Berg neighborhood. Over two days in one of Europe's cultural
capitals, Meridian faculty will guide participants an exploration of both
the theory and practice of transformative learning in the context of groups
and systems.
July 13 - 14, 2024
Students onlyLos Angeles, California
Discover the Transformative Learning intent at the heart of Meridian's
mission to educate developmental practitioners during this two-day
Transformative Learning Lab in Los Angeles.
February 2-4, 2024
Students onlyPetaluma, California
Discover the Transformative Learning intent at the heart of Meridian's
mission to educate developmental practitioners during this three-day
Transformative Learning Lab in Petaluma.
October 20 - 22, 2023
Athens, Greece
Join the upcoming Transformative Learning Lab in Athens, Greece. This is a
rare opportunity to engage with the Transformative Learning Lab curriculum
as part of a unique Mediterranean experience.
October 28 - 29, 2023
Istanbul, Turkey
Join the upcoming Transformative Learning Lab in Istanbul, Turkey. Use this
unique setting at the crossroads of Europe and Asia to explore the
Transformative Learning Lab experience. The city's blend of old and new
offers a diverse backdrop for in-depth curriculum and collaboration.
November 8 - 10, 2023
Cairo, Egypt
Join the upcoming Transformative Learning Lab in Cairo, Egypt, starting with
an evening session followed by two days. Take advantage of this distinct
environment to delve into the Transformative Learning Lab curriculum set
against the backdrop of the ancient and evocative North African setting.
November 25 - 26, 2023
Johannesburg, South Africa
Attend the upcoming Transformative Learning Lab in Johannesburg, South
Africa on November 25 - 26 from 10 am to 5 pm each day. Dive into the Lab
experience against the backdrop of this vibrant economic hub, which offers a
unique intersection of modernity and rich cultural history. The Lab is
taking place at Meridian's Johanessburg Center, located at the Atrium on
5th, 9th Floor, 5th Street in Sandton.