The work of the Institute for Social Renewal is inspired by Rudolf Steiner and by current leading business, educational, and social reformers.

Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925) was a European sociologist, economist, and educator whose work has contributed to social and economic reform movements and inspired over 10,000 institutions in the United States and around the world in the areas of education, finance and banking, medicine, biodynamic agriculture, therapeutic work, and the arts.

In fall 1993, the Waldorf School of the Peninsula in Los Altos, California, started a tuition approach based on a commitment to make Waldorf education accessible to all families who value it. This approach contributed significantly to the spiritual and social growth and economic stability of the school for over twenty years and continues to be a deeply ingrained value. The Institute for Social Renewal works with Waldorf schools across the country interested in the accessible-to-all approach to ensure the acceptance of a child into the school is not dependent upon the financial resources of that child’s family.

We see the heart of the accessible-to-all approach is the art of conscious conversation. When this approach is fully implemented, we recognize essential value of the art of conscious conversation to the financial integrity, and the vitality and sustainability of the school as a whole.

Within other fields, the art of conscious conversation develops the well being of organizations and communities by creating new capacities and practices that align mission and purpose with intention and values.