Tyler Norris
CHAIR OF THE NAROPA BOARD OF TRUSTEES Edited by Cassandra Smith Photo courtesy of Tyler Norris
In January of 2021, Naropa’s Board of Trustees selected Tyler Norris (Divinity, '11), as the new chair. Norris is an alumnx of Naropa and is the chief executive at Well Being Trust, an impact philanthropy with a mission to advance the mental, social, and spiritual health of the nation. Over the past three decades, Norris has served as a social entrepreneur and trusted advisor to philanthropies, health systems, government agencies, and collaborative partnerships working to equitably improve the health of people and places. He recently had a discussion with BA Contemplative Art Therapy student Luci Gaddie, who also serves as student representative on the Naropa Board of Trustees and as a Student Union of Naropa officer for visual arts programs and students who are BIPOC. In their role on the board of trustees, Gaddie acts as an advocate for the student voice and hopes to help build sustainable, artistic, BIPOC spaces. In this interview, they help us get to know Norris and what he hopes to bring to Naropa:
Thank you so much for being here. I think this is a great opportunity for students, faculty, and staff to get an idea of what Naropa leadership is like. The first thing that I want to start with, Tyler, is what is your relationship to Naropa? Thank you for inviting this conversation Luci! My first experience with Naropa was in the late 1980s, an immersion into BuddhistChristian dialogues. I had been studying contemplative Christianity for a long time, and the work of Father Thomas Keating and other contemplatives was drawing me into the deeper core of the tradition I was raised in. Also, as a longtime practitioner of kriya yoga, I had great interest in the Buddhist studies of the mind, and was fascinated about the intersections of those teachings. These Buddhist-Christian dialogues over thirty years ago now led to my periodically attending an arts or meditation event at Naropa; and that was my relationship with Naropa up until 2006, when I entered the Master of Divinity program.
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Do you feel like your relationship to Naropa has evolved and informed who you are today as now being on the board and being chairman? Very much so. I experience Naropa as rooted in loving-kindness, in dignity and respect for all human beings as they are; and welcoming courageous conversations on difficult subjects. I believe we seek to do this every day. I was not around in the beginning in 1974, but rather arrived a dozen years later on the journey. And it appears that the pilot light ignited by the founder, with a new flame in every moment, is still informing and sparking the courageous conversations we’re having today around justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion; and climate, and indigeneity and healing. So I love seeing the lineage continue to express itself, applied to the vital issues of this day, not just with nostalgia to an earlier period. Right? Yes, that lineage of loving-kindness and compassion was the very bedrock
