Our story
We live in an era dominated by crises. An era of growing poverty and widespread inequality, reinforced and fueled by the climate crisis and polarization.
Mindworks, created on behalf of the global Greenpeace network and hosted by Greenpeace Foundation in Taiwan, was set up to explore innovative new ways to tackle these problems and share this knowledge.
Mindsets have been identified as crucial leverage points that could tip the balance on issues like the climate crisis, yet the concept is hard to define and even harder to influence. Mindworks brought together a diverse global team to tackle this, starting with the simple question:
How might we educate and engage changemakers around the world on what mindsets are and give them tools to shift them?
Our solution was to research and create three fundamental frameworks.
Mindset Factors
Mindworks began by creating the ‘Six Mindset Factors’. They would be the foundational piece that makes it easier for changemakers to create an impact through mindset change campaigns by focusing on one or several factors.
Climate change and mindsets
Given its effects on our planet, society, and the environment we live in, Mindworks immediately started work on a framework uniting mindsets and climate change. ‘The Inconvenient Mind’ demonstrates that we need impactful new strategies focused on conversations, rather than broadcasting and acknowledging people’s beliefs about the climate crisis that are deeply rooted in emotions of fear and guilt.
Crises and mindsets
When the pandemic hit, it profoundly changed the world, inspiring us to explore how crises affect our minds. After a year of research, Mindworks published ‘The Disrupted Mind’, demonstrating the power of crises to shift mindsets — be it shifting values and identities, seeding new narratives, or creating new societal norms.
Since then, Mindworks has worked closely with changemakers, non-profit organizations, and institutions in and outside Greenpeace to provide content built on these larger frameworks, carry out empathetic audience research, develop innovative new engagement tools, and educate our partners on ways to build resilience.
As demand grew, in 2022, we decided to create Mindworks Lab as an independent NGO based in Hong Kong to support more and more organizations and changemakers, especially in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
Mission
- To shift mindsets that help prevent and prepare for the climate crisis, creating regenerative cultures and greater well-being
- To use the opportunities in crises and disruption in a responsive and agile way
- To create equal learning opportunities for partners, independent of their resources, and maximize our impact by sharing knowledge, co-design, and hands-on implementation
Vision
- To catalyze the growth of a community of new leaders that strive to shape a fair and regenerative future in the age of crises
Principles
We are responding to the world, our partners, and each other, acting with agility, resilience, and compassion. We are equitable and empathetic, offering equal opportunities to all who want to grow, share, and win with us. We innovate, empowered by our diversity, and driven by our thirst to take on big challenges in difficult times. We never forget to work with kindness, humor, and humility.
Our Team
Samatha Balachandran
Story Weaver — Communications and Growth
Story:
When we chat over cups of warm tea or on meandering wanders through the city of resilience and boldness — we speak of Sam. She’s the sort you can sit down to chat with on any topic in mind, the kind who can convince anyone with her ideas. Her confidence comes from a rich tapestry of life experiences: growing up in rural India with support from open-minded parents who encouraged her curiosity, rare in an environment where so many challenges still linger. She is self-made: a passionate communication strategist and a pillar in her community. As her life journey has been a great story, she lives what she believes — that when you truly understand someone’s story, it is almost impossible to hate them. This can empower fundamental changes in our world. She tries to live every day for something larger than herself, so she may continue to dream big dreams even in her sleep.
Identities:
Indian, storyteller, doer, influencer
Core values:
Fearless, empathetic, and creative
Nuri Choi
Curious and curiouser — Design Researcher
Story:
Nuri has always been a wanderer. Throughout her life, she sought and continues to seek answers. That’s what makes her excellent at what she does — she believes she can answer some fundamental questions that have the potential to change the world. She is constantly evolving and excited to learn, believing in the innate goodness of humans. Her biggest strength is her openness with which she looks at everything — people, problem statements, or her profession. After strategizing and imagining exponential growth plans for some big brands, she realized that the world needs less growth at the cost of crises and more fixing. She hopes that one day she can look at her career and feel that she’s grown, learning and creating a better world for all. Till then, she will continue to ask the right questions, learn languages, and boulder mountains.
Identities:
Korean, researcher, creator
Core values:
Openness, curiosity, and endless optimism
Diya Deb
Executive Director
Story:
A humble leader, excited to help people grow. Under her leadership, nobody is left behind. Growing up as an activist in India, she has witnessed first-hand, harsh political and social realities. She mastered many different roles in the not-for-profit world and still recalls each of them when making decisions. We call her the “black swan”, as crises seem to have followed her through her life like an intimate shadow. Being resilient has almost become part of her identity, but she is always accompanied by her goodwill and relentless self-deprecating humor. Excited to share resources globally, she feels strongly about decolonizing knowledge. Her experience anchors her in the possible, while her compassion drives her to take it above and beyond.
Identities:
Indian, feminist, strategist, activist
Core values:
Empathy and resilience