Manish Jain and Felipe Viveros, Guests

Guest Manish Jain -- a radical unlearner and rethinker of education -- is deeply committed to regenerating our diverse local knowledge systems, cultural imaginations and inter-cultural dialogue. Inspired by MK Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore, Sri Aurobindo, Ivan Illich, his village grandmother, Indigenous communities and Jain spiritual philosophy, Manish is one of the leading planetary voices for de-schooling our lives. He has helped thousands of young people escape from factory schooling and recover their dignity, self-worth and alivelihoods. Manish, a Harvard alumnus and former investment banker with Morgan Stanley, has also worked for UNESCO and UNICEF among other, came to question the dominant economic model, and not least, the Western-style education model that is perpetuating destructive growth and development, and fomenting a West is Best mindset. He is the co-founder of Shikshantar: The Peoples Institute for Rethinking Education and Development, Swaraj University, India's first self-designed peoples university where each learner (ages 17-28) can join and work on their unique path, and the Ecoversities Alliance, a global network of alternative universities.

Guest Felipe Viveros is an independent researcher, strategist and consultant specializing in campaigning, program design and fundraising. He has worked with governments and organizations globally pioneering the prototyping and implementation of a new development paradigm, and has served as the European representative of the GNH Centre Bhutan, the board Chair of /TR and at the Sacred Head Waters Initiative. Felipe also is co-writer of In the Anthropocene (a favorite FVR song over the years) performed by Nick Mulvey.