Finding Culture, Connection and Inspiration

Last Updated on Monday, 14 January 2013 11:10 Written by Donna Karan Monday, 19 November 2012 06:06

I’ve just returned from a whirlwind trip in London, England and I am excited to share some of the highlights of my journey with you.

London is a very special place to me- it’s where I first opened my stores; both DKNY and Donna Karan. I travelled with my team from Donna Karan to meet with press, connect with friends and find inspiration.

I loved being able to share all parts of my story with the London community: my life as a designer, of course, but also my love story with Stephan, the Connecting the Dots book and also my mission and initiatives with Urban Zen. It was such a beautiful thing to see the gorgeous papier mâché hearts from Haiti on display at DKNY on Old Bond Street; to me this is what connecting the dots looks like in action and it’s a very fulfilling experience.

Some of the highlights from my trip include an adventure in the London Eye, an expedition through vibrant Shoreditch, an evening with Kate Moss and Marc Jacobs and exploring creative venues like the Grace Spa (an initiative that completely embodies the Urban Zen’s philosophy of well being). I invite you to flip through our FACEBOOK ALBUM to see some of my photos from the trip.

And, catch more of the story in this interview I did with CNN.

For a more detailed journal of my trip to London, visit my diary.

#loveDK

What’s Possible: An Interview With Our July Ambassador, Elizabeth Lesser

Last Updated on Thursday, 5 July 2012 12:01 Written by Urban Zen Thursday, 28 June 2012 04:45

We invite you to read this interview by our March Ambassador, Feminist.com‘s Marianne Schnall. Here, Marianne shares an inspired conversation with our July Ambassador, Elizabeth Lesser, co-founder of the Omega Institute.

Please note that this interview originally appeared on http://www.eomega.org/.

Marianne: What inspired the formation of the Omega Women’s Leadership Center?

Elizabeth: Since we began in 1977, Omega has offered big conferences and smaller workshops on a variety of subjects specifically for women. About 10 years ago, I began thinking about what happens when you put the words “women” and “power” together. From the beginning of recorded history, there’s been an unspoken law that it’s un-ladylike to put those words together. I wanted to turn that on its head and explore the whole issue. What is a powerful woman? As women assume more power, can we transform the way it is used? Can we help the world become more conscious about the uses and abuses of power?

We started offering Women & Power conferences and they took off in a way that surprised me—instead of just 50 or 100 people coming, hundreds of women came from around the world. By the third or fourth year, it had become one of the biggest and most influential women’s conferences in the country. We would hear how it changed the course of women’s lives. And we heard a lot about participants wanting follow up. They wanted to know how to take the inspiration from the conference and make changes in their workplace, family life, and the world. In response, we began to contemplate creating a more structured center at Omega where we could have longer trainings for women interested in becoming a different kind of leader.

Marianne: How would you describe the mission and vision behind the Omega Women’s Leadership Center?

Elizabeth: The overarching vision is that we believe women have the potential to change the way power is used in the world for everybody. We’re not interested in women taking over the old power paradigm. We think everyone will benefit when women not only join men at the table, but also help men turn the tables over and create something new. When the rules of power were made—way back in the early stages of human society-building—women weren’t part of the conversation. They weren’t consulted on questions like, “How do we share resources? How do we deal with conflict? What should we prioritize? What’s important for a society?” As women take on more and more powerful leadership positions—in the home, at work, in religion, and government—when enough of us get there, we might actually change what it means to be powerful and to lead. It might look more inclusive. It might look like a more care-based society. This has never been tested, because there have never been enough women in power and enough women empowered with their own voice to even test it. Our loftiest goal is to ask these questions of women leaders: “Can you show, in your leadership, a different way of dealing with conflict—a more constructive ways of sharing power? Do you have better reasons for wanting to lead then just to satisfy your own ego? Are you interested in leadership as a way of transforming our society?“

GLBL YOGA on the Great Lawn

Last Updated on Tuesday, 26 June 2012 01:42 Written by Urban Zen Tuesday, 26 June 2012 01:42

The Urban Zen Foundation is honored to be a part of GLBL YOGA‘s remarkable yoga event happening on August 16, 2012. On that day, GLBL YOGA will turn Central Park’s Great Lawn into the world’s largest yoga studio. Tens of thousands of New Yorkers will be united by the practice of yoga, led by world-renowned teachers Elena Brower, Seane Corn, and two yogis very close to our hearts UZIT teachers Colleen Saidman Yee and Rodney Yee.

We invite you to watch this video to learn more:

We are humbled and filled with gratitude to GLBL YOGA for including as one of their charity partners for this event. GLBL YOGA will donate $100,000 to these charity partners, distributed equally. In addition, GLBL YOGA will donate 50% of any funds raised over the goal, and 50% of any net proceeds from other sources (e.g., sponsorships, merchandise).