A non-hierarchical collective. We chose from the beginning to work together differently, and we still do.
The core team
Fourteen of us met in London in 2015. Those who carry the work today hold it as a collective, with no one at the top of the table.
Alison Manning
Three things have deeply informed my life: discovering social inequality aged 11, feminism through women’s consciousness raising at 18 and deep spiritual exploration beginning in India in my 20’s. These threads woven together continue today and fuel my current work - Group Coaching for Women. Through sharing my own experiences of heightened awareness of potential, and the challenges of taking some serious hard knocks in life I’m creating a space for women to come together to find support, share stories, dare to dream and create new possibilities. This work is my greatest joy; a way to thank life for giving me so much!
Caprice Jackson
Caprice joined Emergence Foundation in 2014, initially as a trustee and subsequently as an executive member. She was also part of the team who assessed applications for grants which until (2023) was the charity’s main mission. Currently, she also edits the EF newsletter. Caprice teaches English language at Morley College in London and is actively involved in promoting EDI matters within the college, particularly but not only from an LGBT+ perspective. She is also a keen writer, currently finishing a novel entitled Dharma Road and, since 2018, has run a thriving writing group called Queer Write.
Kirstie Simson
Kirstie Simson (UK) has been a continuous explosion in the contemporary dance scene, bringing audiences into contact with the vitality of pure creation in moment after moment of virtuoso improvisation. Called “a force of nature” by the New York Times, she is an award-winning dancer and teacher who has “immeasurably enriched and expanded the boundaries of New Dance” according to Time Out Magazine, London. Kirstie is renowned internationally as an excellent teacher, a captivating performer and a leading light in the field of Dance Improvisation. A former professor in the Department of Dance at the University of Illinois, USA, Kirstie has now returned to her home base in Wales UK from where she continues to deepen and share her work worldwide.
Mary Adams
All my life I have pursued the underlying contradictions and existential questions of life. After studying South Asian Philosophy and Language, I found a freedom in India, working under various teachers, doing solitary retreats. After training in psychotherapy, I spent 27 years in a global intentional community, facilitating groups in dialogue practices, meditation, and inquiry. Informed by a passion for inner and outer transformation, as co-director of Education, I created programs on consciousness development, including women’s development & leadership. I live in London. My time is divided between Emergence Foundation and 3rd-Space, an online forum exploring alternate ways of being, thinking, and creating, templates for a new paradigm.
Steve Brett
I’m co-founder of 3rd Space, an online publication that offers a refuge for depth, a space for thinking, relating, and creating beyond polarising ideologies. Travelling through Asia and living and working in India shaped lifelong values, and a passion for human and cultural transformation. I have an MA in South Asian Area Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies, was part of intentional community for 30 years, and have taught human and cultural development in the US, UK, Europe, and India. In my involvement with 3rd Space and EF, I am proud to feel part of the movement to transform global culture at this time of climate, ecological and existential crisis.
Sukhin Tye
I started on my spiritual search and practise more than 30 years ago. Since then, my main interests are in emergence of integral living, and cocreating ventures with people in arts, nature, and technology. With a multicultural background, born and grew up in southeast Asia with Chinese heritage, and lived and worked in U.S.A. and London, I enjoy working and volunteering on subjects that cross disciplines. My academic background is in Computer Science, M.B.A., MA in Innovation Management, with thesis on co-creation. I have worked in multinational companies in Asia-Pacific and U.SA. in marketing, and management consultancies, and worked with non-profits and social enterprises on food access in England.
Tim Evans
My spiritual search began in my early 20s while I was working in London. In my late 20s I left for the Himalayas, where I stayed for a couple of years before joining a spiritual community back in the US/UK. My day job for the past 25 years has been running Gartenart Swimming Ponds. I live in the Chilterns where I have a swimming pond and where we also hold Emergence Foundation quarterly meetings. I continue to be interested in spiritual development at an individual and cultural level, and in particular in where we are all heading.
Steve Murphy
Stephen Murphy has been fascinated by the timeless depth of meditation and how it relates to taking action in the world throughout his life. He proactively participated in several committed spiritual communities for over 20 years in Australia, the UK, and the USA, and travelled extensively pursuing his interest in personal development, spiritual and moral evolution. He is a founding member of the Emergence Foundation Executive Committee and served as a director and trustee for 9 years. Stephen is currently applying these dual interests to build solutions to the housing poly-crisis in England and Wales by helping groups of tenants take collective ownership of their homes.
A wonderful retreat. Very inspiring, rejuvenating and nourishing. Thank you so much for running and organising something so special, and sharing your invaluable knowledge.
2026 retreat participant
Work with us
We are looking for individuals and organisations inspired by a depth of purpose, engaging creatively with others to make the world a better place. If that is you, we would like to hear from you.
