April 24, 2026
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In the first panel conversation of this mini-series, guest host Jamie Bristow is joined by Shayontoni Ghosh, Chris Johnstone, Stephanie Kaza and Phoebe Tickell to explore the legacy and living relevance of Joanna Macy’s Work That Reconnects – a pioneering contemplative process that helps people face ecological and social crisis without shutting down. Together, they reflect on how this work moves from gratitude, grief and reconnection into courage, imagination and action. They examine Joanna’s enduring influence, the evolution of Active Hope, the workshop practices that have touched lives around the world, and the challenge of adapting this work across cultures, generations and institutions. The result is a rich, energising conversation about how inner transformation can strengthen our collective response to a world in trouble.
- Shayontoni Ghosh is a writer, theatre-maker and facilitator, who is on the staff team at the Work That Reconnects Network.
- Chris Johnstone is a resilience specialist involved with the Work that Reconnects for over 40 years, and co-author of the book Active Hope with Joanna Macy.
- Stephanie Kaza is Professor Emerita from the University of Vermont (UVM) and the author/editor of many books and articles on Buddhist environmental thought, including A Wild Love for the World: Joanna Macy and the Work of Our Time.
- Phoebe Tickell is a scientist and social entrepreneur whose mentorship by Joanna helped her to create Moral Imaginations, an organisation that is building a movement of change agents through the training of moral imagination.
Jamie Bristow is a writer linking inner and outer transformation, and a policy advisor on the application of inner development and contemplative practices in public life. His work includes influential reports such as Reconnection: Meeting the Climate Crisis Inside Out and The System Within: Addressing the inner dimension of sustainability and systems transformation. From 2015 to 2023, Jamie played an instrumental role in the UK’s All-Party Parliamentary Group on Mindfulness, acting as its clerk and serving as Director of the associated policy institute, The Mindfulness Initiative. During this time he worked with legislators around the world to make mindfulness and compassion training serious matters of public policy and catalysts for a healthier political process. Jamie’s earlier roles included being the Business Development Director at Headspace, and his background encompasses psychology, climate change campaigning, and advertising. He is a committed Insight Meditation practitioner and is training to teach.
