Otto Scharmer and Matt Stinchcomb in Conversation

Otto Scharmer understands the stages of consciousness that are necessary to achieve transformation – whether that be transformation of the self, transformation of a group initiative, transformation of a business, or systemic change. His Theory U training is a step by step exploration of these stages in different settings. An economist by training, his application of Theory U to our economic system provides one of the clearest blueprints of how to move “from an old paradigm of economic thought that revolves around ego-system awareness to a new paradigm that revolves around eco-system awareness, by which I mean focusing on a compassion-based well-being of all, the well-being of the whole”

His work at MIT’s Presencing Institute “activates a means of learning that connects people to their deeper sources of creativity—that is, to their capacity for intuiting and then actualizing emerging future possibilities.”

Matt Stinchcomb is the cofounder of The Boatbuilders, a new initiative that provides financial, strategic, and tactical support to organizations, projects, and communities working to build a more resilient future in the Hudson Valley. Prior to this, he was the Executive Director at the Good Work Institute, a nonprofit organization with a mission to cultivate, connect, support, and illuminate a network of people and initiatives working towards Just Transition in the Hudson Valley. Before heading up the Good Work Institute, Stinchcomb was the VP of Values and Impact at Etsy.com. In that role he oversaw the stewardship of the company’s mission, and worked to give all employees the means and the desire to maximize the benefit their work has on people and the planet.

Stinchcomb serves on the Board of Directors for the Schumacher Center for a New Economics, Hawthorne Valley Association, and The Good Work Institute. He is a graduate of Oberlin College and lives in Rhinebeck, NY with his wife and children.