Angel Acosta

Dr. Angel Acosta has worked to bridge the fields of leadership, social justice, and mindfulness for the last decade. He holds a doctorate degree in curriculum and teaching from Teachers College, Columbia University. Acosta has supported educational leaders and their students by facilitating leadership trainings, creating pathways to higher education, and designing dynamic learning experiences. His dissertation explored healing-centered education as a promising framework for educational leadership development. After participating in the Mind and Life Institute’s Academy for Contemplative Leadership, Acosta began consulting and developing learning experiences that weave leadership development with conversations about inequality and healing to support educational leaders through contemplative and restorative practices. As a former trustee for the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society, he participated as a speaker and discussant at the Asia Pacific Forum on Holistic Education in Kyoto, Japan. He continues to consult for organizations like the NYC Department of Education, UNICEF, Columbia University, and others. Over the last couple of years, he has designed the Contemplating 400 Years of Inequality Experience, a contemplative journey to understand structural inequality. He is currently the director of the Garrison Institute’s Fellowship program and a principal at the Acosta Institute.