Executive Director of DreamChange Reflects on MIU Experience

Samantha Thomas is the Executive Director for DreamChange, a nonprofit organization whose mission is “to educate people on how to go about creating a future that is environmentally sustainable, spiritually fulfilling and socially just.” She just recently helped to put on DreamChange’s first annual Love Summit, a conference of Samantha’s own design “that brings together the business community and public to explore the missing link in business and sustainability education: love—the most likely candidate for stabilizing the economy, decelerating climate change, protecting the environment and creating positive social change for future generations.”

However, before Samantha embarked on her successful career, she was a student at Maharishi International University studying Sustainable Living and Business. I had the opportunity to speak with her to hear more about her MIU experience:

What brought you to MIU?
My mom introduced me to MIU after she heard about the school through an old friend. She’d raised me in a way that was aligned with MIU’s values and thought I would find happiness there. She was right!

Why did you decide to study Sustainable Living and Business?
I decided to major in sustainable living and minor in business because I saw that sustainability and green business practices were the way of the future. I wanted to create the highest likelihood of getting a job right after college, and knew that this type of degree was in demand. I’ve also always had a passion for creating a more environmentally sound and socially just world, and felt that I could play a part in doing that through various sustainable living practices, whether it was with permaculture or sustainable business strategies.

That’s great. Did you have a favorite Sustainable Living course?
My favorite SL courses were permaculture and my senior thesis project, where I created a business plan for an upscale farm-to-table restaurant, inspired by Alice Waters and the Slow Food Movement.

What did you end up doing after graduating from MIU?
Upon graduation I spent three months traveling in Europe. After returning to the states, I moved to New York City for an event planning internship with The GreenShows – a leading event, education and consulting company dedicated to promoting and growing the luxury sustainable fashion movement. My love for modeling and fashion as art forms are what led me to pursue this path, but not too long after getting on my way, I had a change of heart.

Somewhere in-between running from showroom to showroom hours before Mercedes Benz Fashion Week, I realized that all the chaos and craze over luxury fashion wasn’t doing the world much good. Don’t get me wrong, it is absolutely important that we use fair trading practices and eco-friendly fabrics and dyes to produce material goods, but events like Mercedes Benz Fashion Week are merely a mirage for the rich and famous and a few in-betweeners. This realization propelled me to take a hiatus from the fashion industry.

How did that experience lead you to DreamChange?
While taking a break from the world of modeling and fashion, I discovered the work of John Perkins, a New York Times best selling author who writes about economics, business and creating a more sustainable, just and peaceful world via these avenues. His nonprofit, DreamChange, was the platform for bringing his vision to fruition with consciousness-raising workshops. Inspired by John and his organization, I applied to be project manager of DreamChange in August 2012. At age twenty-three I was promoted to executive director and remain in this role today.

Samantha Thomas was interviewed by The Oregonian on June, 11, 2015 about The Love Summit conference.

What is DreamChange’s mission?
DreamChange’s mission is to help raise humanity’s consciousness and inspire new ways of living.

Very nice, what better mission could there be? So which roles do you play as their executive director?
As the executive director of DreamChange I am continuously working on developing and executing cutting-edge events that bring this mission to life.

Sounds like a lot of work! Can you tell me about any upcoming events that you’re planning?
We recently had the debut of our inaugural Love Summit – a conference I created to demonstrate why revolutionizing the way we do business could be the fastest way for solving worldwide crises such as climate change, a suffering global economy and social inequality. As the name suggests, love is the tool the conference advocates using for this transformation.

The 1st Annual Love Summit launched on June 13, 2015 in Portland, Oregon at Wieden+Kennedy headquarters—the largest independently owned advertising agency in the world best known as the creator of Nike’s “Just Do It” campaign. With seats filled and a lineup of world-renowned speakers including Dan Wieden, John Perkins, Dan Price, Portland Mayor Charlie Hales, and Ecuador’s Government Minister Freddy Ehlers, the summit was a remarkable success. Due to a great response and various requests for continuation of the event, I am now in the initial planning phase for the Love Summit 2016.

Prior to The 2nd Annual Love Summit we have some smaller workshops, such as Use Your Powers for Good: Shapeshifting Passion into Action, which will be taking place in April 2016 at Playa Viva Eco-Resort in Guerrero, Mexico. This workshop is a bit more spiritually based and focuses on transforming consciousness at the individual level with yoga, shamanic ritual, indigenous wisdom and meditation.

Do you have any advice for students that are interested in pursuing a career in sustainability?
Those working to make life better – more sustainable – for people and the planet have one of the toughest yet rewarding jobs. There is a lot happening in the world that is upside down – a lot of sadness, destruction and suffering. Those working to make the planet a safer place for future generations are the ones most likely to see the sadness of the world because they are paying attention.

The 1st Annual Love Summit, held at Wieden+Kennedy in Portland, OR

Like one of DreamChange’s board members says, “the key to not getting distressed or burnt out is to help others while having fun.” If you can do that, then there is nothing more enjoyable or exciting than changing the world.

My advice to students interested in pursuing a career in sustainability is to do what you are passionate about and give it your all (and make sure you have fun while doing it)!