Meet Academy for the Love of Learning
Founded by musician, educator, and internationally recognized consultant on learning, Aaron Stern, the Academy for the Love of Learning is an innovative nonprofit educational institution based in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
For over a decade, from the mid 1980’s onwards, Stern developed and tested a set of core practices and program elements. In 1998, he formally established the Academy as a nonprofit organization in order to deepen and expand his work. Stern’s organizational consulting practice evolved into the Academy’s advisory service and training program, called Ventana, and a two-year Consultant’s Training patterned after Stern’s own consulting practices. Since then the Consultant’s Training has evolved into the Academy for the Love of Learning’s core training program, Leading by Being™, designed by Stern, and a series of discrete workshops, called the Foundation Series.
Known as a ‘think and do tank’, the Academy for the Love of Learning’s commitment to practical and local applications of its work has led to the creation and implementation of highly regarded and relevant community-based programs including Teacher Renewal, El Otro Lado in the Schools, multi- generational programs such as Lifesongs, and a city-wide mentorship program called Inspire. These programs have now begun to spread nationally and beyond.
In 2011, with a staff and faculty of 23, the Academy for the Love of Learning moved to a newly built 86-acre LEED Gold Certified campus, from which it offers its programs and services. The campus and buildings were designed with Stern’s oversight and his deep intent to create a new place of learning that models and supports the Academy’s mission to awaken, enliven, nurture and sustain the natural love of learning in people of all ages.
Stern conceived the Academy for the Love of Learning with musician Leonard Bernstein, and continues to serve as its educational leader and president. Best known for his groundbreaking work on transformative learning methods, Stern’s work aims to reconnect learning to its deepest intent – ultimately, waking up! In recent years, Stern has worked closely with The Mind and Life Institute and His Holiness the Dalai Lama in their efforts to deepen our understanding of education and learning. The Academy for the Love of Learning’s work is also now the subject of a major study at the University of Wisconsin’s Center for Healthy Minds.