Bayo Akomolafe

Public Intellectual | Author | Hubert H. Humphrey Distinguished Professor of American Studies | Visionary Founder

Dr. Bayo Akomolafe is a Nigerian-born philosopher, author, speaker, and self-described “trans-public intellectual” whose work invites us beyond rigid ideas of right and wrong into more entangled, relational ways of being. Of Yoruba descent and shaped by early experiences of migration, loss, and encounters with traditional healers, his life’s inquiry centers on trauma, decolonization, ecology, and the sacred “in-between” spaces of uncertainty. A former lecturer and Special Envoy for the International Alliance for Localization, he has taught at institutions including Middlebury College and Pacifica Graduate Institute, and is the author of These Wilds Beyond Our Fences and We Will Tell Our Own Story. As Visionary Founder of The Emergence Network and host of We Will Dance with Mountains, Bayo explores postactivism, ontofugitivity, and transraciality—offering poetic, provocative invitations to rethink justice, power, and hope. Living between India and the United States with his wife and children, he considers his most sacred work the daily practice of learning how to be with the world—confused, enchanted, and alive in the “meantime.”

9:00 AM - 6:00 PM

6 October, 7 October, 8 October Event days

DAY 2

Surveying the Field

On the second day we widen the lens.

Where is spiritual innovation already happening?
What movements, collaborations, and experiments give us hope?
Where do we see cooperation and mutual learning emerging?

This exploration will be guided by Bayo Akomolafe, whose work invites us to rethink the ways we approach change, complexity, and social transformation. His perspective challenges conventional narratives of progress and encourages us to notice the subtle, relational ways that transformation unfolds.

Participants will explore the landscape of change through conversations, artistic expression, and cultural experiences that reveal how people across fields and traditions are shaping new possibilities.

Day Two invites us to see that we are not alone. A wider field of creativity and transformation is already unfolding.

9:30am - 11:00am

7 Oct Wednesday Day 2

Main Session 2: Finding Hope

Surveying the Field: Where are we seeing hope and effective action? What is happening in the field of spiritual innovation and changemaking? Where do we see cooperation, collaboration, and mutual learning?