Regeneration & Impact
Access creates responsibility.
Abroad's Luminaries support the communities who carry living wisdom traditions, and help that wisdom continue on their own terms.
A Regenerative Mindset
On Abroad experiences, leaders learn from wisdom keepers and spend time in the landscapes their traditions grew from. That access is a gift, and it carries a responsibility.
Our mission is to help ancient wisdom traditions continue. That means supporting the keepers who hold that wisdom, the places where it lives, and the rituals and practices through which it's passed from one generation to the next. It's why we formed the Abroad Wisdom Council, and why Abroad is becoming a not-for-profit educational organization.
When wisdom traditions are supported, so are the cultures, landscapes and ways of life they're woven into.
$500,000+
donated by Abroad and its community across four projects in Bhutan, and growing with every experience we run.
Inspired in Bhutan
Our vision was born in Bhutan, where we've had the honor of bringing hundreds of leaders over more than a decade. When we asked local wisdom keepers how we could best support them, they asked us to help build and restore centers where traditional Bhutanese practices can be cultivated and passed down for generations.
That request became the starting point for everything that follows.
Hear from Abroad's founder on the duty we carry when we're welcomed into these communities: to be a net positive impact on the people and places that receive us.
Bhutan
Our Projects in Bhutan
Rukha Village: A Temple for the Community
Our first pilot project took place in Rukha, a remote rural village. Abroad helped fund the construction of a community temple, and when it was complete, villagers celebrated with a multi-day festival.
Dodedhra Monastery: A Decade of Relationship
For roughly ten years, we have worked closely with the Abbots and Rinpoches of Dodedhra Monastery. With the generous support of our leadership community, Abroad has contributed more than $200,000 to preserve sacred relics, install plumbing, and build a new prayer and dining hall for the monks.
Ngajur Pemachopheling Dharma Center, Zhemgang
In partnership with Her Eminence Dorje Phagmo Rinpoche, Abroad is helping build centers where monks, nuns and future generations of Bhutanese children can cultivate traditional wisdom. At the nunnery we helped build in Zhemgang, elderly and disabled people also receive care and a home.
Gelephu: Varahi Mandala
Building on the work in Zhemgang, Abroad is collaborating with Dorje Phagmo on the Varahi Mandala within Gelephu Mindfulness City. A $125,000 down payment from Abroad's community allows construction to begin on a 50-room wisdom center and educational facility, and contributions grow with every experience we run.
Beyond Bhutan
Having learned what this kind of partnership can look like in Bhutan, Abroad is building local, partner-led projects with wisdom communities around the world.
Peru
Abroad's community helped restore sacred land where despacho ceremonies have been offered for generations, and funded eye care that restored sight for 40 people in Andean communities.
Hopi
Through a developing relationship with the Hopi community and their ambassadors, Abroad supporters have provided seed funding toward an initiative to preserve traditional Hopi corn.
Aotearoa New Zealand, Sedona and beyond
New partnerships are taking shape with wisdom keepers and communities, including members of our Wisdom Council, to support the continuation of their traditions.
How we work
We work in true partnership. Decisions about every impact project are directed by the people on the ground, from within the wisdom cultures themselves. Our role is to support, and to stay in relationship.
Because wisdom is shared, not simply taught, we believe one of the most meaningful ways to help it continue is by supporting places where communities can gather, practice and pass their traditions on.
Get Involved
Help living wisdom remain living.
Join the Abroad Luminaries, a community of people helping resource the continuation of living wisdom traditions. You can contribute your time, expertise, connections or financial support.