A Closing Message 🧡

"Every day I pray that I am able to carry, nourish and sustain well what has been entrusted to me." ~Saki F. Santorelli (excerpt from "Leadership Lessons Forged in the Crucible of Organizational Death..." August, 2011. Routledge.)

Dear Friends of Copper Beech,

With full hearts, we write to share that Copper Beech Institute will soon complete its life as an organization. After more than a decade of offering mindfulness-based programming rooted in compassion, connection, and justice, we are entering a thoughtful and loving sunset. Our final programming concludes in early July 2025, and we would be honored to gather with you one last time in community. You are invited to our closing circle on July 9th. It will be a space to reflect, celebrate, and share in all that we’ve built together. 

We’ll be hosting this gathering virtually from 6:30–8:00 PM ET. 

As Executive Director, I will remain with the organization through July 11th, and my steadfast colleague, Anne Marie Pfeiffer Colón—who has been a true anchor—will continue to steward our transition with great care until CBI fully closes in September. 

We know this news may feel sudden, especially after such a creative and impactful year. But this transition has been quietly unfolding behind the scenes. Since I joined CBI, we’ve been discerning how best to honor our mission in a rapidly changing world. Once the decision to sunset was made, we chose to wait until our final programs were complete—so that each participant could experience their journey fully, held with care, before receiving this news.

We had great hope that, after weathering the pandemic and leadership transitions, we could sustainably rebuild. And, in many ways, we did. This past year, we offered transformative retreats, relaunched our Mindfulness Facilitator Certification and Self-Care Toolkit, deepened youth and educator partnerships, and expanded workplace training and affinity-based spaces. We engaged thousands through heartfelt offerings. Each program has been meaningful, rooted in our deepest values. Yet, the institution itself can no longer be sustained.

And so, with care, integrity, and immense gratitude, we are choosing to let go.

Why Now?

Organizations, like all living things, have natural life cycles. CBI has arrived at a moment of completion—not from failure, but from fulfillment. As Assata Shakur reminds us, “Part of being a revolutionary is creating a vision that is more humane, that is more fun, too. That is more loving.” We hope this closure can be a revolutionary act of trust: in community, in practice, in what comes next.

As our friends at the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society (CMind) said during their own sunset:

“A sundown does not equate to the end of the sun shining. Rather, the sun simply shares its energy with a different geographic location in a different way to those who need a reprieve from the darkness.”

Our hope is that the spirit of Copper Beech lives on in the way you pause, listen, and care—for yourself, and for others. CBI may be closing, but the work lives on in each of us. You are the continuation of this work.

What Comes Next?

🧡Our final BIPOC Meditation will be held virtually from 9:30-10:30 AM ET on July 5th.

🧡Our final Daily Practice meditations will be held ongoing until 1 PM ET on July 9th.

🧡Our Closing Circle will be held virtually from 6:30-8 PM ET on July 9th. Open to all.

🧡Our remote office will officially close on September 26th.

A Word of Thanks

This organization could not have been what it was without so many of you.

To our volunteers, facilitators, donors, board members, staff, partners, retreatants, and daily meditators: thank you. You made the impossible possible, again and again.

To our retreat participants, BIPOC affinity groups, workplace trainees, and MFC graduates: your brilliance is the legacy.

With deep gratitude to Dr. Brandon Nappi for founding Copper Beech Institute, and to Fr. David Cinquegrani for his support in laying its early foundations. Additional thanks to the land stewarded by the Tunxis people for generations — our practices have benefitted from calling this unique place home– and to the care of the hospitality staff at Holy Family for carrying us through.

To our beloved Connecticut community: thank you for welcoming me with warmth and generosity. As a Massachusetts resident, this state will forever hold a special place in my heart. And to the many people who joined us from across the country and around the world—whether you tuned in from across time zones, participated in our programs remotely, or found a home in our mission from afar—your presence reminded us that this work is both deeply rooted and far-reaching. You helped make Copper Beech a global sangha of care and courageous practice.

And to our recent star team members: Anne Marie, Val Carterud, James Rhodes, Jennifer Frontiero, Brian Thompson, and Morgan Nyerick: your heart and dedication have carried CBI through this final chapter with tenacity and grace.

It is rare to close something with this much love.

Letting Go as Part of the Practice

As a racial justice scholar rooted in mindfulness and liberation, I have poured my whole heart into this work. Every programmatic, strategic, and human-centered decision since Fall 2023 has been guided by that lens—one that continued to be shaped, sharpened, and polished through practice. Thank you for trusting me to lead in this way. You have strengthened my belief that this work is not only possible—it is essential.

As Copper Beech completes this chapter, we are also intending a thoughtful transition of our remaining assets to mission-aligned organizations who can continue this work in new ways. Letting go, after all, is part of the practice. It is not the end of the story.

Rather than passing the torch to a single successor, our hope is to release the energy of Copper Beech lovingly back into the community. We invite you to carry forward what this place has meant to you—into your families, your workplaces, your relationships, and your daily life.

We Release the Energy of Copper Beech Institute

We bring this chapter to a close with a deep and trusting exhale. Copper Beech has always been more than a place or a program—it has been a living, breathing expression of in-depth study, strength, and connection.

The energy cultivated here does not disappear. It moves outward now, carried by each of us—in our homes, our classrooms, our circles of care, our quiet moments of presence.

Together, we release the energy of Copper Beech into the world...

For love.

For joy.

For justice.

For healing.

For collective liberation.

For all beings to be well, and free.