Steven Dinan
Chief Executive Officer at The Shift Network
Steven Dinan
Chief Executive Officer at The Shift Network
Nevada City, California
Overview
Work Experience
Chief Executive Officer
2009 - Current
Fueled by my passion to make far-reaching and long lasting positive impact on the planet, I started The Shift Network in 2009. Right at the outset my mission for The Shift Network was to create an evolutionary shift in the consciousness of people and empowering them to achieve the very best in personal and societal transformation. We wanted to use the Shift Network as a vehicle to inspire millions of citizens to take inspired action and build societies based on the principles of sustainability, peace, health and prosperity Within the first 6 months of bootstrapping the organization, we had formed close partnerships with 40 top spiritual teachers from various backgrounds and our online events saw attendance in excess of 50,000 people. To date, we've worked with 1550 teachers across many different lineages and over 2 million people have participated in our online programs and events. Since founding, our business has evolved into five main streams including online courses, major virtual summits, transformative live conferences, conscious media and in-person transformative retreats. Currently over 75 new live virtual courses are offered each year that cover the full spectrum of personal and social transformation. Offered in partnership with top transformative teachers on the planet, nearly 60,000 people from around the planet have taken our courses till date. Keeping in alignment with our values of being stewards for positive action, we believe that for-profit companies like us can and must consider overall social and environmental impact. In that regard we give a sizable percentage of our annual profits to charitable organizations and nonprofits around the world. Specialties: Spiritual Teachings ◉ Social Change ◉ Visionary Leadership ◉ Sustainability ◉ Nonprofits ◉ Transformation ◉ Holistic Health ◉ Wellness ◉ Retreats ◉ Community Engagement ◉ Public Benefit ◉ Course Content ◉ Meditation ◉ Think Tank ◉ Social Justice ◉ Conscious Business ◉ Diversity
Director of Membership & Marketing
2004 - 2008
For four years starting in 2004 I had the great opportunity to head the membership operations and marketing at the Institute of Noetic Sciences. A key highlight of my role here was launching the Shift in Action membership program where I built a 10,000 member base at $10/month weekly subscription to teleseminars, audio and video on the web. As the Editor of their monthly iShift e-zine, I also doubled their circulation base and launched the One Minute Shift video series that reached 1 million in viewership. In my leadership role, I produced and marketed three international conferences, dozens of events and all membership programs. I was a key member in the design and orchestration for hosting a fund raiser that helped raise $1 million for the Institute. I'm especially proud of having been able to bootstrap a non-profit membership program and build a whole new platform from scratch. During this time, I co-founded PartnerShift Alliance of non-profits. Working at IONS gave me the opportunity to learn about online launches, enrollment campaigns, creating different content channels and prototyping different shows. The Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) is a nonprofit research organization located in Northern California that advances consciousness research to benefit health care, education, personal growth and social good. IONS research and education programs are funded by members and philanthropists who want to shape a world in which mind, consciousness, wisdom and spirit, joined with the physical, make up the full human experience. The mission of Founder and Apollo 14 Astronaut Dr. Edgar Mitchell is "to broaden the knowledge of the nature and potentials of mind and consciousness, and to apply that knowledge to the enhancement of human well-being and the quality of life on the planet." Specialties: Membership Marketing ◉ Nonprofit ◉ Program Launch ◉ Fundraising ◉ Conscious Business ◉ Social Impact ◉ Campaigns ◉
Chief Executive Officer
2000 - 2004
TCN, Inc. was the original prototype for the vision that later became The Shift Network, Inc. It was founded with a mission to create a platform for bringing thought leaders together and incubating evolutionary ideas for social change. The organization was designed to deliver workshops, seminars and classes to a network of learning communities and affiliates. We mobilized resources, planned beta products, created legal structure, recruited management and developed business alliances. Our team started and marketed a local pilot center and community in Oakland to prototype workshops, programs and events. We decided to dissolve the company as we couldn't raise sufficient capital to fund our next round of growth owing to tough economic conditions surrounding the dot-com crash. Specialties: Transformative Leadership ◉ Thought Leaders ◉ Social Impact ◉ Workshops ◉ Community Engagement ◉ Program Management ◉ Startup ◉ Events ◉ Learning Resources ◉ Affiliates ◉ Seminars ◉ Networks ◉ Idea Incubating
Marketing Manager
2003 - 2004
For a short period I headed the marketing operations at Enwisen, an online benefits company that provides human resource software solutions to organizations. Here I created a full marketing suite, including corporate and product brochures, press releases, trade show materials, success stories, bimonthly newsletter and online ads. In addition to revising the marketing collateral, I systematized the operations database and sales contact management systems for its clients spread across the mid to large corporate spectrum. Enwisen helps organizations transform HR by providing human resource management tools that enable employers to provide better HR service delivery with fewer resources and lower costs while significantly improving overall employee satisfaction levels. The Enwisen HR Service Delivery Suite powers the Shared Services Centers of organizations worldwide, while empowering employees with personalized, searchable online HR services. Specialties: Marketing Management ◉ Communication Strategy ◉ Online Benefits ◉ Human Resources ◉ Press Releases ◉ Leadership ◉ Software Solutions ◉ SaaS ◉ Operations ◉ Database Management ◉ Client Relationships
Director, Esalen Center for Theory & Research
1998 - 2000
In 1998 I was hired as Director for the Esalen Center for Theory & Research, the research arm of the Esalen Institute. My key accomplishments here includes creating and positioning the Institute’s research center as a top venue for leading scholars, researchers and teachers to explore human potential frontiers. I launched their clearing house web site (www.esalenctr.org) and envisioned this think tank as a means to explore issues outside of traditional academia and help catalyze larger societal transformational practices. I helped formalize the thought leadership functions, planned and executed invitational conferences and published extensive summary reports of conferences. I also laid the groundwork for Esalen's $25 million capital raising campaign during my term as an executive. The Esalen Institute is an alternative educational center devoted to the exploration of the human potential and personal and social transformation. Once home to a Native American tribe known as the Essalen, Esalen is situated on 27 acres of spectacular Big Sur coastline with the Santa Lucia Mountains rising sharply behind. Esalen offers nearly 600 weekend and 5-day workshops each year covering a wide variety of subjects, including the arts, bodywork, psychology and relationships, social and political issues, professional growth and training, ecology and sustainability, spirituality, health, and integral practices. Specialties: Executive Leadership ◉ Professional Development ◉ Conferences ◉ Seminars ◉ Reports ◉ Publishing ◉ Academia ◉ Think Tank ◉ Transformational Leadership ◉ Social Impact ◉ Spirituality ◉ Sustainability ◉ Integral Practices ◉ Operations ◉ Mentoring
Assistant to the Division Heads
1997 - 1998
While finishing up masters thesis at CIIS, I started working as assistant to the three division heads of the Marin Country Day School. Playing a critical role in the daily operations of the school, I helped design the relational database management and other interconnected systems that managed the school. Marin Country Day School (MCDS) is an independent K-8 coed day school enrolling 590 students at a 35-acre campus in Corte Madera, 10 miles north of San Francisco. The school's mission, underscored by its core values of respect, responsibility, and compassion, asks children to become skilled learners and ethical people, motivated to make their world a better and healthier place. The school enrolls children from both San Francisco and Marin County. In addition to an engaging curriculum balancing academics, arts and athletics, current strategic initiatives focus on technology, environmental sustainability and community and global connections. Specialties: Administration ◉ Assistantship ◉ Operations ◉ Education ◉ Teaching ◉ Organization ◉ Institution ◉ Database Management
Education
Master's degree
1994 - 1997
BA
1988 - 1992