Angel Acosta

Dr. Angel Acosta works to bridge the fields of leadership, social justice, and mindfulness. He completed his Ed.D. in the Curriculum and Teaching Department at Teachers College, Columbia University. His research explored healing-centered education as a promising framework for educational leadership development and community care. He is the Chair of the Acosta Institute for Healing-Centered Education, focusing on leveraging technology for social change and advancing healing-centered education and contemplative social science.

As a member of the 400 Years of Inequality Project, Dr. Acosta designed the "Contemplating 400 Years of Inequality Experience" to support communities with understanding structural inequality through a mindfulness-based and contemplative approach. With an interest in better understanding collective trauma, he is currently collaborating with other scholars to develop group processes for collective healing. He also addresses youth development, emphasizing the importance of equipping young people with the skills to thrive in a rapidly changing world and integrates mindfulness techniques into daily work routines to improve employee well-being, mental health, and resilience.

For nearly a decade, Dr. Acosta served as a program director for the national nonprofit CFES Brilliant Pathways, supporting educational leaders and their students by facilitating leadership trainings and creating pathways to higher education. With a passion for helping young people to think globally and act locally, he directed and taught at a global leadership study abroad program in Rome through the award-winning organization Leadership exCHANGE. This opportunity to bring students from all over the world to study leadership, cross-cultural communication, and social entrepreneurship inspired Dr. Acosta to deepen his commitment to transformative action in the U.S.A.

After participating in the Mind and Life Institute’s Academy for Contemplative Leadership, Dr. Acosta began consulting and developing learning experiences that weave leadership development with conversations about inequality and healing to support educational leaders through contemplative and restorative practices. As a former trustee for the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society, he participated as a speaker and discussant at the Asia Pacific Forum on Holistic Education in Kyoto, Japan.

Dr. Acosta is a proud first-generation Dominican-American and graduate of SUNY Plattsburgh. He currently serves as the Director of the Garrison Institute's Fellowship Program and as the Creative Director at the NYC Healing Collective, a community initiative curating work and insights at the intersection of healing, wellness, and societal transformation. His speaking engagements blend wisdom, inspiration, and practical insight, focusing on inequality, healing, and community growth.