A trail winding through old-growth redwoods

California · 1440 Multiversity

Abroad, without crossing an ocean.

The Evening in the Cathedral

The road leaves the highway and climbs into the Santa Cruz Mountains, then turns into 75 acres of old-growth redwood. By the time the group gathers in the Redwood Cathedral on the first evening, the pace you arrived with has already started to fall away. Someone opens the weekend by talking about attention: what it shapes, and what it would mean to arrive fully in a place. Then a long table, and a meal from the gardens outside.

What would you notice if you were fully here?

The amphitheatre among the redwoods at 1440 Multiversity

Sunlight streaming through tall redwoods

Why the Redwoods

1440 Multiversity is a philanthropic learning destination. It has provided more than 750 scholarships to people in need and granted hundreds of thousands of dollars to mission-driven organizations. For Abroad, it’s our campus hub in the United States: the closest place to home where you can step inside the conversations that happen on our journeys to Bhutan, Peru and Mongolia, without crossing an ocean.

Some people come here as a first step. Some come back between journeys. Some come to go deeper into their practice. The redwoods hold all of it.

The Door

Each weekend brings together faculty whose work has shaped how leaders think about wisdom and purpose, and wisdom keepers who carry living traditions.

Our faculty

Dr. Kristin Neff

Associate Professor, Educational Psychology, University of Texas at Austin

One of the world’s leading researchers on self-compassion. At Lead With Wisdom, she works with leaders on how they treat themselves, the people they love and the people they lead.

Dr. Jeffrey Hull

Harvard Medical School faculty; former Executive Director, Institute of Coaching

A leading voice in coaching and leadership development. He guides participants through the science of leadership and helps them apply what they’ve explored to their work.

Dr. Shauna Shapiro

Professor, Santa Clara University

A researcher, bestselling author and one of the most widely viewed TEDx speakers on mindfulness. She leads participants into the practice of mindfulness itself.

Tony Skrelunas

Diné leader, entrepreneur and trustee

Works at the intersection of Navajo tradition and sustainable development. He has written for Abroad on Hózhó and on relational approaches to land, identity and governance.

Dr. Anetta Alexandridi

Psychotherapist and meditation teacher; lead faculty, The Four Winds Society

A licensed therapist specializing in meditation, mindful movement and wisdom-based leadership, and a member of Abroad’s faculty and curriculum team.

Antonella Velásquez Villacorta

Coach and somatic therapist; Abroad’s lead wisdom faculty in Peru

Trained in Andean practice, she has written for Abroad on Ayni, the Andean principle of reciprocity, and its place in Q’ero relationships with Pachamama.

Justin Milano

Founder & CEO, Abroad

An executive coach, Edmund Hillary Fellow and University of Chicago ExecEd faculty member, focused on wisdom-based leadership. He founded Abroad after a gathering in Bhutan more than a decade ago.

Two Ways to Experience the Redwoods

A group gathered around a long table at 1440 Multiversity

Lead With Wisdom

A 3-day residential workshop for leaders · 25–30 participants

Executives, founders, board members and family office leaders gather to explore Abroad’s research into the #1 challenge facing more than 5,000 leaders worldwide, and to stay with it. Over three days, the conversation moves through the questions most leaders rarely make time for: how they treat themselves, what they’re afraid of losing, and what their leadership is ultimately for.

What might be possible if you loosened your grip, even slightly?

A group walking together among the redwoods

Wisdom Worldview

A 3-day residential gathering, open to all · 50–75 participants

For leaders, helping professionals and Abroad alumni who sense that something essential is missing from modern life and work. Faculty who carry living traditions lead the weekend through themes that recur across many of the cultures we learn from: our relationship with nature, the place of community, a horizon longer than a single lifetime, and the web that connects it all. For practitioners, it’s also a first step into the Abroad Wisdom Academy.

What would it mean to belong to the world, rather than just visit it?

A premium guest room at 1440 Multiversity

The Details

Two nights and three days on 1440’s campus in Scotts Valley, California. Premium on-site rooms, meals prepared from the organic gardens, and full access to the campus and its trails. An online orientation before you arrive, and continued connection with the cohort and the Abroad community afterward.

A meal prepared from the organic gardens

Giving Back

Every program at 1440 includes donations to the wisdom keepers and traditions it draws from. The weekend is part of the same relationship that runs through all of Abroad’s work.

See our impact →

The Invitation

Upcoming in California

June 11–13, 2027

Lead With Wisdom

For leaders: the #1 challenge facing leaders today, and what your leadership is ultimately for.

View & Apply →

September 10–12, 2027

Wisdom Worldview

Open to all: what living wisdom traditions teach about nature, community and belonging.

Join the Waitlist →

More dates in the redwoods are coming.

See All Upcoming Abroad Experiences Partner With Abroad Join the Waitlist →