Letter from the President

Dear Mount Madonna Institute students and extended community,

It is an honor to participate with and share our collective dreams, as together we shape the second decade of an exceptional experience we call Mount Madonna Institute (MMI)! In 2018, The Mount Madonna organization marked its 40^th birthday on this beautiful mountain top that we call our spiritual home. And MMI welcomes it 13^th class of Ayurvedic Health Counselors this year! I want to extend our sincere gratitude to all our constituencies for the generous and thoughtful dedication to our development, and applaud the creativity, wisdom and skillfulness reflected in each contribution made, large and small, to making MMI the best we can be. In that sense, our work to learn and to improve will never be complete!

MMI is a “one of a kind” learning environment, attracting a multifaceted community of faculty and students drawn to a deep and authentic level of inquiry. Through experiential and scholarly activities, you, our students, will be able to further develop and apply your understanding of these authentic source texts in the fields of Ayurveda, Yoga, and Community Studies to expand and integrate this knowledge, not only for yourselves but for your own extended communities.

Our faculty and graduates are uniquely positioned to translate and apply these authentic teachings to increase physical, psychological and spiritual wellness in a contemporary lifestyle – through scholarship and clinical application. Our intent as an educational institution is not only to preserve and promote ancient knowledge, but to prepare students to advance legitimate ways in which these traditional sciences can integrate with and impact the emerging field of Integrative Medicine for a healthier future across the world.

In 2018 we have developed and approved a new 5 year Strategic Plan. This now becomes our compass. It is aspirational, and it surely will challenge and require our entire community to re-dedicate, full heartedly, to our mission. It also demonstrates our commitment, by articulating and prioritizing the ways in which MMI will grow and develop over the next several years. The framework serves to reinforce the mission of the organization and lay the foundation for long-term success. It is Mount Madonna Institute’s vision for the future, born out of the ideas, input, and interests of Board members, administration, students and alumni. I am proud to be engaged in this creative and practical work. It will take disciplined energy, creativity, compromise, and financial stability to achieve our goals. And yes! I believe our community has what it takes to succeed.

In addition to the initiation of the Strategic Plan, MMI continues our work towards WASC Senior College and University Accreditation. We have our second “Seeking Accreditation Site Visit” in November 2019. This process, though tremendously rigorous for such a tiny Institute as ours, has already made us stronger and better in every way! We firmly believe this achievement will positively impact the acceptance and legitimacy of Ayurveda and Yoga across the country and help paved the way for future licensing.

I am asking for your support; through your engagement, study, and in your volunteerism, and with financial contributions, to ensure that the fields of Ayurveda, Yoga and Community Studies are welcome at the table of higher education and thus live in the present, for the future.

I look forward to working together, in pursuit of our collective goals and aims. And I welcome an ongoing dialogue with you about how we are doing!

Sincerely,

Savita Kay Brownfield

President and CEO of MMI, Savita@MountMadonna.org | 408.846.4060