Bert Bennett

Background

About Bert Bennett

Mr. Bennett is a management consultant in the health-care and other sectors, a leadership-development instructor and a life coach. He has 30 years of teaching and inspirational-speaking experience as the founder and director of the Aikido Peace Education Center, in western Washington. He supports individuals and organizations in developing the skills to innovate and transform themselves by embodying the adaptive flexibility and structural integrity needed to thrive in stressful environments. Bert Bennett is currently the managing director of the Aiki Foundation, dedicated to providing an opportunity for students to turn toward what is most alive in the present moment, and organize themselves to be able to take part in dynamic and transforming experiences. This approach is meant to lead them toward the healthiest possible outcome for themselves and for the people they deal with, even in the context of apparent conflict. He conceived, built and managed a technology company, Equinox Enterprises, for 10 years before selling it to focus on his passion for building healthy communities. A fifth-degree black belt in Aikido, Mr. Bennett started Aikido training as a teen and was awarded Menkyo Kaiden (license of total transmission, the highest level of license) after three years of intensive study. This included hours of training; a year as a residential student with his instructor; teaching throughout the West Coast, and traveling internationally to facilitate instruction, including in Russia and Japan. Aikido, distilled to its essence, asks us to become curious about what occurs when we participate in the physical experience of balance. Our experience of life transforms us when we are physically in accord with the sensations of whole-body coordinated balance. This experience is relevant not only to martial-arts students but to all individuals and organizations navigating change and other challenges in uncertain environments.