The Wise Business Alliance
Investing in the Human Potential That Helps Communities Flourish
Join a community of mission-driven businesses investing in one of the wisest long-term investments we can make: helping people develop the qualities that enable individuals, organizations, and communities to thrive.
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Become a Founding Partner
Every person possesses far greater potential than they often realize.
The qualities that enable us to lead lives of learning, contribution, and fulfillment are innate. And they can be intentionally developed throughout our lives.
In an increasingly complex world, the future will depend not only on what people know, but on the human qualities they develop.
For more than sixteen years, Creative Lives has helped educators, parents, and schools understand and strengthen these enduring capacities through A Framework for Wise Education®—a practical, holistic approach to human development based on the pioneering work of educator Ellen Tadd.
We believe that investing in these capacities is one of the wisest long-term investments we can make—not only for children, but for the future of our communities and our world.
Why Creative Lives?
What does this look like in practice?
One third grader described his insight after learning a simple Framework practice for shifting from emotional reaction to greater clarity and perspective:
"When I was focused in my feelings, I felt so angry at what people are doing to each other and to the planet. It was like a broiling cauldron of rage. But when I moved up to my Wise View, it was like I stepped onto an island of clarity. I felt very calm, and I looked around, and I saw that all I had to do was play my part—and that was enough."
—3rd Grade Student, Norwich VT
Proven Impact: What Happens When Adults Grow, Too
For more than sixteen years, Creative Lives has partnered with educators, families, and schools to help cultivate the human qualities that support learning, well-being, and wise decision-making.
93%
of adults trained reported significant gains in helping children learn, grow, and develop greater agency.
81%
reported being consistently joyful in their work, up from 30% before training.
82%
regularly inspired student engagement, compared with 39% before training.
100%
reported regularly supporting students' emotional steadiness following the program.
15+ Years
of implementation with educators, families, and schools.
WHY This Matters
We are inviting 100 mission-driven businesses to become partners in helping children, educators, families, and communities develop the human capacities that create healthier schools, stronger organizations, and a more hopeful future.
Members of The Wise Business Alliance believe that business can be a force for human flourishing.
Their annual investment helps Creative Lives:
Expand professional development for educators
Create new learning opportunities for parents and families
Develop online resources that can reach communities everywhere
Share practical tools that strengthen focus, compassion, resilience, and wise decision-making
Build the organizational capacity needed to bring this work to many more people
One of our earliest priorities is investing in the people and infrastructure that will allow Creative Lives to grow sustainably—including professional marketing, communications, and partnership development. We believe that exceptional work deserves exceptional storytelling, and that reaching more communities requires a dedicated team, not simply more effort from a small nonprofit staff.
Understanding the Hidden Infrastructure of Learning
Educator and author Ellen Tadd spent decades carefully observing children and adults. Influenced by developmental psychologists such as Jean Piaget, she believed that careful observation could reveal important insights into how human beings learn and grow.
Unlike most researchers, however, Ellen possessed an unusual ability: she could directly perceive the human energy field. Curious about what she was seeing, she began asking whether the chakra system—described in wisdom traditions around the world—might help explain the patterns she consistently observed in human development.
Over many years of observation and practical application, her answer became a resounding yes. She came to understand the chakra system as a kind of hidden infrastructure of learning—an underlying developmental framework that influences how we think, learn, relate, and grow.
Ellen's Discovery
Ellen found that each of the seven primary energy centers, or chakras, corresponded to distinct, core aspects of our essential human nature. These centers primary also correspond to locations in the physical body, from the top of the head to the base of the spine. Her premise was simple but profound: honing good function across the energy system supports optimal learning and development for all individuals.
Through particular attitudes, experiences, educational practices, relationships, and environments, these seven core areas can be intentionally strengthened, balanced, and integrated over time.
These discoveries became the foundation of A Framework for Wise Education®.
"Through my own examination of the chakra system and forty years of working with students and clients of all ages, I have observed a structure that can help us simplify our understanding of the course of human development —and aid us in creating an educational strategy that supports and endorses the maturation of the whole child.”
—Author and Educator Ellen TaddSeven Core Capacities for Learning and Life
The Framework identifies seven core areas of development that shape learning, behavior, relationships, and well-being. These core areas can be intentionally strengthened through everyday educational experiences.
As these areas become more well-expressed and integrated with each other, children and adults are increasingly able to:
Develop sustained focus and attention
Build confidence while remaining open to learning
Respond thoughtfully rather than react impulsively
Form healthy relationships
Make wise decisions
Contribute positively to their communities
Discover greater purpose and fulfillment
These essential skills help young people develop their unique potential and contribute their gifts.
From Observation to Practice
A Framework for Wise Education can be integrated into any educational setting or curriculum.
Creative Lives has spent more than a decade applying Tadd’s Framework with children, educators, and parents in classrooms, schools, community organizations, and families.
Today, we continue to refine practical strategies that help adults recognize these developmental areas and intentionally support them in academic, home, and out-of-school settings.
Why It Matters Today
We believe every child is innately good and possesses extraordinary potential.
When educators and parents understand core capacities that underlie learning and well-being, they gain practical tools for helping children flourish—not only academically, but socially, emotionally, creatively, and ethically.
Inspiration
Focus
Self-Esteem
Good Intentions
Emotional Well-Being
Persona in the World
Discipline
“If we can help children know who they deeply are, understand their interconnectedness with others and the natural world, and with that knowledge, build a creative, fulfilling life — well, that would be gob-smacking wonderful. In my mind, there is nothing more important than this.”
—Richmond Mayo-Smith, former Head of School, Roxbury Latin School