Middle East Fellowship Program

Mara Gleason Olsen, Co-Founder and Director, has enjoyed working with all walks of life throughout her career, including MIT-trained physicists, UN directors, US Marines, NHL players, Microsoft managers, prisoners, the Chicago PD, and teens from Southside Chicago and Gaza. Prior to founding One Solution, she co-founded and directed One Thought, a NYC and London-based company that trained hundreds of organizational leaders from around the world. She’s also the bestselling author of One Thought Changes Everything. Mara graduated with a Master’s degree from Columbia University in 2006, and currently lives in Chicago with her husband and co-director, Eirik, and several plants that she works hard to keep alive, despite their frequent travels.

Eirik Olsen, Co-Founder and Director, Eirik Olsen became fascinated by the relationship between the mind and human capability after his experience in the military and deployment in the Middle East. He spent the next decade working with individuals, groups, organizations, executives, youth, health clinics, and programs for families and communities. After running a successful consultancy and training institute around the mind and resilience, he co-founded the One Solution Foundation to try to tackle the biggest challenges we face as humanity: conflict, war, climate change, poverty, etc by elevating the conversation around the mind as the missing key to sustainable change. He considers himself a student of humans, creativity, and the mysteries of life and loves the dance between a macro-level vision and on the ground grassroots work. He currently resides in South Side Chicago with his wife and co-founder Mara and his son Teo.

Prince Jimmar is a co-founder of Rebels for Peace and an Artist from Chicago, that's inspired about transforming his community from the inside-out. He leads and facilitates resilience training for youth from 4-8 grade in schools in south-side Chicago, and co-hosts yearly youth leadership programs, teaching aspiring leaders about resilience, wellbeing and creativity. He also has experience supporting youth currently incarcerated in juvenile prisons, teaching the same foundational training. He is a sought after speaker, hosting classes, workshops and inspiring talks to people from all walks of life.

Josh Downing, Videographer, Photographer, is a writer, director and editor originally from Tulsa, Oklahoma. After receiving his B.F.A in film production at Oklahoma City University in 2016, he spent the next two years working as a freelance editor in Los Angeles and New York. He has written and directed short films that have been accepted to national and international festivals and, most recently, he co-wrote and co-directed his first feature film, "All We Have is Now." After switching gears to documentaries and non-profits, Downing wishes to use his video production skills to work for his community and shed a new light on important issues that surround the world today.

Aisat (I-Esha) Oladokun, 23, is a recent graduate from Kalamazoo College. She completed her bachelors of Arts in English and Global Health. Her plans are to pursue a Master’s in Public health to impact more communities about the importance of health, especially gun violence that impacts her neighborhood. Aisat is very dedicated to every community that she enters and has a passion for mentorship and facilitating others through workshops. Through her time in college, she was a mentor to incoming freshmen and has successfully facilitated workshops through the Kalamazoo Juvenile Home. As a member of the Rebels for Peace, Aisat is dedicated to uplifting the lives of others and strengthening mentorships through the one tool we all have, our minds!

For over thirty years, Andrew has helped people uncover their true potential through the mind. He's coached Olympic athletes, entrepreneurs, social impact leaders and students. Andrew has seen firsthand how teaching people about the mind allows them to see for themselves the innate powers they already have and is at the heart of all sustainable human change.

With One Solution, Andrew will help grow the reach of our existing programs and develop new relationships with organizations, funders, and allies who can further our mission.

WEEK 1 - THE FOUNDATION OF ACCELERATING CHANGE

Live Zoom Call + Online Content

In week one we'll host a live kick-off event on Zoom with your facilitators and the cohort of peers you’ll be going through the course with.  In online content, you’ll explore why the mind is the most natural shortcut solution for accelerating change.

WEEK 2 - THE HUMAN MIND AND THE WORLD

Online Content + Reflection Activity

In this week's online content, we'll explore how the mind affects how we see and experience the world and why that's important when pursuing change. You'll complete a personal reflection on how this topic relates to your own life.

WEEK 3 - CHANGE IN INDIVIDUALS AND COMMUNITIES

Live Zoom Call + Online Content

This week will feature a live session with special guests working on change with individuals and within communities, plus online content where you’ll explore how accelerating change happens in these contexts.

WEEK 4 - CHANGE IN ORGANIZATIONS

Online Content + Reflection Activity

In this week's online content, you’ll explore how organizational change happens with videos from special guests actively working in this context. You'll complete a personal reflection activity to explore how this topic applies to your project.

WEEK 5 - CHANGE IN SYSTEMS

Live Zoom Call + Online Content

This week's session will feature special guests working on systems change, plus online content where you’ll explore how accelerating change happens in this context. You'll complete a personal reflection activity to explore how this topic applies to your project.

WEEK 6 - DEALING WITH OBSTACLES

Online Content + Personal Reflection Activity

This week will feature online content where you’ll explore how to deal with the obstacles to accelerating change. You'll complete a personal reflection activity to explore how this topic applies to your project.

WEEK 7 - BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER

Live Zoom Call + Online Content

This week's session will feature a live Zoom session and online content bringing together everything we've learned into an applicable and sustainable approach to accelerating change. You'll take all of this and put the final touches on your 90 second presentation for the Showcase Event next week!

WEEK 8 - SHOWCASE EVENT

Live Zoom Call 

The Showcase event will feature YOU and the entire cohort sharing individual 90-second presentations on the project you are working on and how you have grown over the past eight weeks. Friends and family will be welcome.