Beyond Initiative Inc.
501 (c)(3) Corporation

Jorge Calero is a biologist, specialist in ethnobiology and ecology with a M.Sc. in Integrative Ecosocial Design. One of the founders of Atlantida Ecovillage 21 years ago, a community in Colombia where active experimentation in social and ecological regeneration takes place.   Also co-founder of the Colombian and Latin American Ecovillage Networks. Still active in these networks as elder and vision keeper as well as organizing education for sustainability.   He is part of the Board of Directors of the International Organization for the Dances of Universal Peace (DUP) where he serves as Senior Mentor and works with the Sufi Ruhaniat International where he serves as Sheikh. He has taken the DUP to different countries in Latin America, Middle East, North Africa and Asia, coordinating the DUP Beyond Initiative project. Since 1998 he has been part of a wide variety of platforms, grassroots movements, organizations and networks, all involved in the creation of a better future.

Born in Cuenca, Lakshmi has  lived most of her life in this beautiful city in the southern Andes of Ecuador. Married to Arif since 1991 and mother of Martina (27) and Olivia (24). 

Graduated from Lester B. Pearson United World College, Victoria, Canada. 
Worked for the Television of Spain, NYC Bureau, USA., promoting spanish documentaries and cinematographic productions in North America.
Studied Design at the University of Azuay.
Worked as part of various intercultural artistic projects with the Paul Rivet Foundation, promoting local and international artists in workshops, exploring creativity through ceramics and other media. Also engaged in international private projects in the jungle of Ecuador related to the support and development of better conditions of the work produced by the native women potters of Jatun Molino, Pastaza.
Art and English teacher at local high schools.
Self-taught in the art of pottery, member of Cerámica de la Tierra Studio in Cuenca, with many individual and collective shows, promoting her work.
Owner, Manager and Cook of Pomarosa, a catering laboratory, experimenting with preserves, dishes and desserts with flavours inspired in world cuisine, creating recipes of her own authorship.
Loves: Traveling, gardening, walking, listening.

Kundalini Yoga Instructor certified by the Kundalini Research Institute.
25 years holding the Sufi/DUP circle in Cuenca, while supporting other circles in Ecuador.
Mentor of the Dances of Universal Peace and Mentor member of the Beyond Initiative Project.
Member of the Guidance Council of the Dances of Universal Peace Network.
Member of the Living Wisdom Council, Sufi Ruhaniat International (SRI)
Serves as Siraj of the Service of Universal Peace and Murshida of the SRI.

Psychospiritual therapist, workshop facilitator, clergy, nonprofit director.  Holds a BA in Psychology, M.Div. in Theology, and Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Studies (psychology, theology, women's spirituality). 

Shaped by early life in the USA's "Deep South" (1950s and beyond) with its decades of human rights struggles: civil rights, ecological, feminist, gender/sexuality. Her continuing vision is for a more just and inclusive world through interspiritual peacemaking.

Mainstream clergy for 15 years (retired).  Founded the nonprofit Shalem Center (in 1988) for psychospiritual focused counseling, teaching and consulting. Working 25 years+ expanding the work of author Saadi Neil Douglas Klotz' Native Middle Eastern work through organizing, teaching, and training in USA and abroad. 

Munira serves as a Sufi sheikha, a cherag (clergy), Senior DUP Mentor, past member of the SRI Board of Trustees and currently on the Board of Directors of Dances of Universal International and the Ethics Council of both SRI and DUP. She has published numerous articles, two online meditation courses, and an educational manual. Her current writing project focuses on goddesses in the first-century Middle East.

Researcher, lecturer, facilitator of educational processes, consultant and designer; his work focuses on eco-social regeneration and the exploration of sustainable ways of living beyond the consumer society. With more than 35 years of experience, he has participated in multiple projects and initiatives in Germany, Spain, Mexico, Colombia, and other Latin American countries.
Holger is a facilitator of educational processes in eco-social regenerative design, permaculture, community development, bioregionalism and related topics. 
He supports as a consultant and independent advisor, often in collaboration with multidisciplinary teams, in eco-social regeneration processes at different scales, bringing his integrative vision based on the paradigm of Living Systems. Among these are ecotourism projects, ecovillages, eco-neighborhoods, local enterprises, family farms, regenerative development projects in rural areas and others.

Jessie is a part-time resident of Atlantida and of her own nature regeneration project in the UK. Her main focus is developing a long-term rewilding and land stewardship project South Devon, UK, where she is working to restore ecosystems and nurture biodiversity.

Alongside this, she supports the DUP Beyond Initiative with administration, website creation, and workshop support, helping to hold the practical structures that allow its vision to flourish.

I am Colombian by birth, initiated into the lineage of the Sufi Ruhaniat International. I have formal studies in Music, Literature, Transpersonal Psychology and Anthropology. Also I am certified in Kundalini Yoga, Dances of Universal Peace (DPU) mentor, flutist, performer and singer of sacred music of various mystical philosophies. I have been participated as a guest teacher in different Sufi and DPU retreats in the United States, different countries in Latin America, Asia and Europe.I am part of the team of Beyond Initiative project, https://www.beyondinitiative.org/ which takes the DPU to countries and people where they have never reached before, carrying with it a message of peace, respect and inclusion in a polarized and divided world. With the Beyond Initiative I have reached countries like Türkiye, Thailand and Vietnam. I lead meditation sessions with mantras and has explored a path of healing through my voice and transpersonal psychology. The dances and music I share bring a universal message for humanity, one of respect and interconnection between all spiritual beliefs. I have recorded several world music albums and singles.