Wellbeing is taking root in classrooms around the world.
Meet the teachers living this work, region by region.
Bhutan
It started with a single school in Thimphu in 2019. Not a government mandate, not a national rollout, just one circle of educators willing to sit together and ask: what does it feel like to be well?
That question changed everything. ELC (Educating for Lifelong Citizenship) High School became a lighthouse school, a place where wellbeing isn’t delivered at certain hours but lived throughout the culture. From there the work grew, from one school to 50 across a valley, to annual retreats with school counselors nationwide.
Wellbeing is the non-negotiable subject every school should have. It’s been a gift that our children have the language to name what they feel. They will be a force of good, not just for themselves, but for the world.Deki ChodenHead of School, ELC High School, Bhutan
As a teacher you feel like you never have enough time. After this training, I’ve learned that accepting things as they are can be a beautiful thing, and I’ve started sharing it with everyone. The attitude you bring to your work matters a lot.Yeshi WangchukTeacher, Changangkha Middle Secondary School, Bhutan
East Africa
Many African educators carry extraordinary weight: overcrowded classrooms, student needs shaped by poverty and broken homes, and constant pressure at the front line of support.
Many were giving everything and running on empty, some close to leaving the profession. The Four Pillars of Wellbeing offered something different, an invitation to turn inward first and become, as one educator put it, a self-scientist. Across Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and the DRC, teachers who found calm in themselves brought that calm to their classrooms. What began in Kenya in 2023 has taken root across the region, not by replication, but through local ownership. It turns out wellbeing is contagious.
Having taught for more than 25 years, I have never felt as fulfilled as I have in the last 3 years of my teaching journey.Evelyn Bilha WanjiruTeacher, Thika Girls Karibaribi, Kenya
Before the Four Pillars, I was about to resign as Director. I was sliding into mental distress. Mindfulness gave me a new lease on life. I no longer feel stressed and tired, and I can give my students and staff my full attention.Sister Jane SoitaDirector, Starehe Girls Centre and School, Kenya
We now have 20 communities across Africa supporting young people through self-discovery, many from disadvantaged backgrounds: former child soldiers, refugees, orphans. The Four Pillars gave us a better starting point to address not just mental health, but the whole wellbeing of our scholars and trainers. It’s a preventative approach to wellness, which is rare on this side of the world.Micah NkaluboCommunity Building Strategist, SINA Global
Hawaiʻi
Hawaiʻi doesn’t need another wellness program. What educators across 10 schools on Oʻahu, Kauaʻi, Maui, and Hawaiʻi Island needed was a partner willing to slow down, listen, and earn the right to be present.
As Jennifer Gonsalves, the Foundation’s Hawaiʻi Program Lead, put it: trust is not given, it is earned, through consistency, humility, and respect for pilina (relationship). Here, change looks like a skeptical teacher becoming a champion, or a kumu (teacher) arriving on autopilot and leaving reconnected to her naʻau (center). This is what happens when wellbeing is offered as relationship, not program. He alo a he alo (face to face), until trust becomes the ground everything else grows from.
The Four Pillars of Wellbeing has saved my life, personally and professionally. I can navigate the emotions and ups and downs I face, and help my students do the same, meeting fear, grief, and other feelings with success and grace.Miguel K. PaʻekukuiDean of Personalized Learning, Saint Louis School, Honolulu, Hawaiʻi
Connecting with other educators has been amazing. When we build pilina (relationships) and show gratitude, the students see it. To serve our students fully, our cup needs to be full. Educator wellbeing is paramount in school settings.Jamie FongCounselor / Director of Student Success, Saint Louis School, Honolulu, Hawaiʻi
North America
In 2016, Corbett Preparatory School in Tampa became the first school in the world to say yes. Then Covid hit, and a digital platform carried the work to New York City schools through one of the hardest seasons educators had faced.
From there it traveled person to person, to Siskiyou County in California, to Lakeland in Florida, and beyond. A Corbett educator carried it with him to The Country School in California, as something he had lived, not a program in a binder. The Four Pillars of Wellbeing spread because educators who felt something real wanted others to feel it too.
The Four Pillars has reached every part of who I am, as a person, a mother, a teacher, a friend. It gave me something I didn’t realize I was missing: the pause, the grace, the ability to meet my life with presence instead of exhaustion. In my classroom, I see the transformation every day.Rachele LalondeWilliamstown Public School, Ontario, Canada
Staff say it’s one of the best trainings of their entire career. When someone says this has profoundly changed me as a human being, that’s huge. These are skills they’ll carry for the rest of their lives. It’s one of the best things you can do for your students and your staff.Ginger Lee CharlesSuperintendent / Principal, Grenada Elementary, Siskiyou County, California
The Four Pillars have allowed me to slow down in meaningful ways. It’s helped me trust myself more fully and truly listen to what others reflect back to me. My relationships have deepened, grounded in greater presence and authenticity.Matt MelnickAssistant Head of Academics & Wellness, The Country School, Los Angeles, California
Singapore New region
Our work in Singapore is just beginning to scale. Full story and educator voices coming soon.
See the work in real schools
Our Schools of Wellbeing series: educators and leaders sharing what changed.
Every story here began with a supported teacher
When you give monthly, you stand behind the educators carrying this work forward, in North America, Bhutan, Kenya, Hawaiʻi, and beyond.
Become a monthly giverOur Annual Reports & Impact
Read the full story of our reach, our impact, and the educators behind the work.
