Kirk Hinkleman is the Executive Director at Life Works and President of the Aloka Foundation. Kirk is also a founding member of Alliance of Change, a membership and consulting agency committed to helping individuals, organizations and systems shift from feeling stuck, to living into a place of vibrancy and possibility.
As a Mindfulness Meditation Teacher, Kirk’s initiative around wellbeing acts as a light of attention, shining on the epidemic of burnout so many people experience within our field and society in general. Wellbeing is foundational, in particular when coupled with the notion that Life Works and the Alliance of Change are committed to helping individuals, organizations and the greater service system embody our highest future potential.
Co-author (along with Beth Gallagher) of “Intentional Teaming: Shifting Organizational Culture”, Co-Creator of the Liberty Plan, a person-centered planning process, and as a founding member of the Alliance of Change, Kirk is committed to partnering with people to realize their highest future potential.
When asked about his mission, Kirk says:
“The first step is awareness. I come to stillness. I turn inward. I breathe. The inquiry is simple and important: What do I see? What do I sense? What do I feel? From this growing awareness comes my ability to see what is happening and make choices. It is with this foundation of awareness, a quiet mind and a steady heart, I engage with the people and initiatives in my life that foster alignment. Alignment first within myself, then outwardly toward others. Authentic teaching. Aligned vision. Compassionate, Awareness-Based Action. Whether I'm engaged in Life Works, the Alliance of Change or Mindfulness Meditation, the intention is here for all of us to engage with our higher Self. Our purpose. Discovering that which makes me alive, the source of my generativity, is my particular call to this path. As for how to transform larger groups, organizations and/or Systems, the choice is clear; What we see is a System designed to serve itself, unconsciously perpetuating isolation and segregation. We choose not to become the isolation or segregation which is pervasive in our system; aware of that which is all around us. We choose to not replicate services precluding people from living lives of distinction and purpose. We choose to lead from an emerging future of possibility, while embodying practices of deep listening, engaged in the inner work necessary to lead and guide with authenticity...following our hearts and co-creating that which we seek in the world.”
