The Heartwood Project

The Heartwood Project is a cohort program inviting a group of volunteers to explore vibrant local communities, engage in conversation on social issues, and learn directly from the leaders and organizers who support these neighborhoods - all while working together to build connections and broaden their understanding of the unique needs of each area. Each facilitated experience will include volunteer service, contemplative reflection, and community-driven support. readings, learning from local community leaders about a variety of social issues, and meals at different immigrant-owned restaurants each session. 

The Heartwood Project will offer a variety of programs throughout the year. This may include a year long program for recent retirees who meet monthly or a program for families to volunteer together quarterly. There might be cohorts focused on a particular social issue (immigration, unhoused) or learning about different forms of social change (philanthropy, social entrepreneurship, advocacy etc). 

The May Heartwood Project is full. Watch this page or sign up for our newsletter for information on the next session.

Heartwood Pilot Facilitators

  • Andrea Davila is an independent consultant and facilitator specializing in supporting the creation of fellowship and cohort programs that center social change. She has worked on the program design of the Finnovation Institute Fellows, in Minneapolis, and the Initiators Fellowship, in Greater Minnesota. She is also an adjunct instructor at the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the UMN teaching Social Entrepreneurship. She holds a BA in Philosophy from Barnard College and an MBA from Columbia Business School.  

  • Megan has designed and led high-impact educational programs for over thirty years, including as the Director of the Public Service Center at the University of California, Berkeley and as Director of Experiential Education and Graduate Programs for the Institute on the Environment at the University of Minnesota. She currently is the Executive Director of the Upper Midwest Association for Campus Sustainability and teaches "Cultivating Purpose" for the University of Minnesota's Midlife Academy. Megan co-chairs the Leadership Committee for the Grove Initiative.