by Cathy Ellis

The Bali Institute for Global Renewal is an emerging Sausalito, CA based organization aimed at highlighting the indigenous culture of Bali and using it as a framework for addressing complex geopolitical problems. Founder Marcia Jaffe, a former conference promotions consultant, formed the Institute after organizing two “Quest for Global Healing” conferences in Bali in 2004 and 2006. The conferences, which addressed global issues of poverty, sustainability and human rights, featured speakers such as Nobel Peace Prize laureates Bishop Desmond Tutu, Jody Williams and Betty Williams, Apollo 14 Astronaut Edgar Mitchell, award-winning environmental author Barry Lopez, and the former president of Indonesia, Abdurrahman Wahid, and many others.

The idea for the institute is an outgrowth from the conferences. In addition to providing a forum for leaders from around the world to discuss global issues, Jaffe says the Institute is also being formed to aid the Balinese effort at cultural self-preservation.

”The goal of preserving indigenous cultures is particularly important in the present era of globalization,” says Jaffe. “The concern is that Western culture has a way of taking over a culture and moving it more toward Western values. How do they preserve their culture and at the same time be connected to the rest of the world?”

The Bali Institute, which is currently applying for nonprofit status, is split between Sausalito and Ubud, with a small core team working out of Jaffe’s home, and a group of Balinese located in Ubud, Bali. Jaffe’s current employees include her 22 year old son, Ryan Feinstein, who founded and leads the Global Youth in Action portion of the Institute which held its own pre-conference during the second Quest for Global Healing, gathering with more than 100 young people under the age of 30. Numerous emerging young global leaders were in attendance including Prince Cedza Dlamini, Nelson Mandela’s grandson and a notable activist with his own organization Ubuntu Institute for Young Social Entrepreneurs. Prince Cedza has recently been named Global Youth Ambassador for the Bali Institute.

Marcia Jaffe at Global Healing Conference

“Our programs are about people from around the world wanting to feel more empowered to make a difference,” Jaffe says. The Institute is now producing their third gathering called “Awakening Global Action: Leadership, Indigenous Wisdom and Dialogue for a Transforming World.” Over 500 people from over 20 countries are expected to attend the gathering which will be held in Ubud, Bali from July 31-August 7. This seven day program is open to the general public and people of all ages and nationalities.

Unlike many conferences which are based in a rigid structure of lecture environment counterbalanced with tourist activities, the Institute’s conferences are focused on greater interaction with the facilitators and the nurturing atmosphere of Bali . “It seems clear that a piece is missing around a lot of gatherings and conferences these days,” says Jaffe. “There's the people that know, the knowers, and then the knowees. And the knowees come and take their little notes and then they go home and get sucked back into their lives, and then that's the end of that. A little something happens, but nothing very profound. … We want to create an environment that is going to have a huge ripple effect in the world.”

World leaders attending the Awakening Global Action conference will include the former president of Indonesia, Prince Cedza, Afghan president of the Red Crescent Society, an Iraqi woman leader, a young Native American national poetry slam winner, a civil society Ashoka leader from Thailand, one of Bhutan’s foreign ministers and many others.

More than just a beautiful tourist attraction

Jaffe believes that Bali offers an environment unlike any other for discussing global issues. Not only is it one of the world’s most beautiful and romanticized places, it harbors a deeply spiritual population dedicated to self-renewal through a revitalization of Balinese culture. Unlike the trend in cultural homogenization and western development that often shadows tourism-based economies, Bali is now more of a cultural jewel than ever.

“In the wake of sharp dips in tourism after the devastating terrorist bombings of 2002 and 2005, the Balinese looked at those atrocities as an opportunity to contemplate what they might be doing wrong as a civilization to generate such bad karma,” says Jaffe. “And what they came up with was that they needed to reclaim their culture.” From cabbies to restaurant owners to vendors on the street, Jaffe says she heard many people say things like, “We need to come back to who we are as a people. We’re not just a tourist destination, a place where people can buy up our land and our furniture, and basically become just a tourist trap for the rest of the world. We need to reclaim our culture, our rituals, our ceremonies. We need to teach our children to stop thinking that the West is the answer.”

Stunned and impressed by their lived expression of spiritual traditions, Jaffe found herself contemplating Bali as a healing example for the rest of the world. Surely this nation which was focused on reclaiming its heritage and maintaining its ecology for generations to come had much to offer. “Imagine if the US had taken a more self-reflective look before starting a war after 9-1-1,” she points out.

This quality of spirit in the Balinese people is what lead Jaffe to want to center the institute there. “The foundation of this work has been based on the belief that Bali, unlike any other cultural environment in the world, will grow to be the hub for important dialogues, action-oriented multicultural and intergenerational experiences and transformative social change,” she says. 

The Institute is currently working on building its new headquarters in Ubud, where Jaffe is working with such people as Agung Rai, a Balinese entrepreneur known for his work preserving the Indonesian island’s culture through the creation of an ambitious museum and cultural center in Ubud. In addition to housing more than 300 paintings by island artists, Rai’s center trains young people in music, dance and native cultural traditions. Jaffe hopes the Institute will prove equally dynamic, providing a meeting place for groups, world gatherings and global dialogues as well as “access to indigenous knowledge as soul-food for our planet.”


For more information please go to baliinstitute.org [1] For info regarding Awakening Global Action: Leadership, Indigenous Wisdom and Dialogue for a Transforming World contact info@baliinstitute.org [2] or call toll free at 866-458-BALI (2254).