I believe humanity is undergoing a profound transformation in consciousness. What the world needs most is for each of us to shine our light, love and genius into the realms we inhabit...and to share stories, examples, discovery and practices that will support humanity in taking its next evolutionary step. -- Stacey Lawson
Sitting in a corporate board meeting and planning quarterly targets nearly 20 years ago, Stacey Lawson recalls a strange vision: "We were talking about the next quarter of -- 300 million or 500 million or a billion, and all of a sudden I had this vision of this cascading series of quarter ends, that just never ended. And I thought -- that's the exact illusion, the sort of matrix that we're living in right now and this can't be the true reality."
She quit her job, "stopped everything" and planned a trip to India. On the eve of the trip, she serendipitously attended a talk by a visiting spiritual teacher from India. When meditating under his guidance, she had a sensation of "I've done this many times before." As she recounts, "All of a sudden, even though my eyes were closed, I could see all of the people in the room and I saw them not as bodies, but this absolutely gorgeous, luminous light. I could literally see each light in the room where everyone was sitting -- the bodies of pure essence, pure source, pure love. In an instant, my body and the bodies in that room, the fullness of that light collapsed into one. This little grain of sand that was Stacey kind of just melted into the distance."
She then visited the teacher's ashram while on her planned trip to India -- serendipitously on the date of a great gathering there -- and by the end, realized that she had studied with this teacher before, perhaps in a prior life.
A lifelong student of the world's wisdom and mystical traditions, Stacey is crafting deep bridges between her inner practice and her outer work. As an entrepreneur and agent of change, she is also building bridges between heart intelligence and the corporate business world.
Her belief that humanity is facing an unprecedented time of transformation (accelerating AI innovation, climate disruption, and social/political conflict) has led to her most recent passion project -- The Human Evolution Project (THE Project). Drawing from 20+ years as a speaker and teacher of meditation, inner transformation, and self-realization practices, THE Project aims to bridge ancient science with modern technology to foster a transformative community dedicated to the upliftment of humanity.
As part of this effort, Stacey recently co-created the Benevolent AI Future coalition with leading developers and voices in Artificial Intelligence (AI). The coalition focuses on Wisdom + AI, bringing together builders and funders of AI solutions that incorporate deeper levels of wisdom in service to the public good -- solutions that may not be naturally addressed by commercial markets but are crucial and necessary for a positive future.
Stacey grew up in a rural logging town in Washington state. Unsure what she wanted to do in life, she earned a B.S. in Chemical Engineering, and began working in Silicon Valley. A "big picture" thinker, Stacey quickly realized engineering was not her calling. Her father, a truck-driver-turned-entrepreneur, may be credited for her "entrepreneurial inklings." Stacey made her way to Harvard Business School where she earned an MBA and then spent 15 years as a senior executive in the high-tech industry.
To balance the dominant paradigms of efficiency and scale found in the corporate world, Stacey has taken several sabbaticals for meditation and spiritual exploration. From 2004 and 2011, she spent about six months of the year with her spiritual community in India -- a balance that allowed her to dedicate time to deep inner work while continuing her journey as a leading California businesswoman and conscious leader.
In 2012, Stacey ran for the U.S. Congress in California's 2nd congressional district where she advocated for critical economic, environmental, and social justice initiatives. Then, in 2018, shortly before her 48th birthday, Stacey learned she had breast cancer. While moving through the emotions of fear and dread, she also felt it was "a wake-up call from the universe." Stacey decided against conventional treatment, instead opting to work with her care team to design a personalized plan that ultimately healed her from cancer.
A deep interest in energy healing and biofield research has led to advisory positions with Agastiya Biotech and Siddha Bioscience. She has won multiple awards including being named "one of the most influential women in business" by San Francisco Business Times and recognized as a "California Visionary Leader" by the California Endowment and California Vision 2020.
Today, Stacey continues to work at the intersection of entrepreneurship, sustainability, and conscious leadership, most recently as co-founder, Vice Chairman and CEO of Ygrene Energy Fund, a clean energy finance company which has deployed over $1B in financing for 120,000+ renewable energy and climate resiliency projects. She also currently holds advisory roles with SDG Impact Fund, Second Time Founders, SRM University (India), and Pillai Center for Mind Science. She is an active board member of The Shift Network, Institute for Noetic Sciences (IONS), and Tripura Foundation.
"At heart, I'm a change agent and believe every one of us can make positive change. A change agent is someone who can see others as whole and perfect and powerful. I believe those who recognize and call forth the greatness in others will be the architects of our future," said Stacey.
Join us in conversation with this heart-centered pioneer of change on June 8, in conversation with Kimberly Daniel.
