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Welcome to Official Pacifica Alumni Connections (OPAC).
We are honored to welcome you into this dynamic and evolving community—an expression of Pacifica Graduate Institute’s deep commitment to sustaining meaningful relationships with our alumni. OPAC represents both a continuation of Pacifica’s longstanding tradition of connection and a renewed investment in creating spaces for engagement, collaboration, and lifelong growth.

Pacifica alumni are visionaries, scholars, and changemakers who continue to shape the fields of depth psychology, the humanities, and therapeutic practice. Through Pacifica Alumni Connections, we are cultivating a living culture of reciprocity—one in which Pacifica actively supports and amplifies the work of our alumni, and in turn, our alumni carry forward and expand the vision and mission of Pacifica Graduate Institute in the world.

The Four Pillars of Pacifica Alumni Connections

connect

Connect

Connect with your fellow alums and Pacifica through networking events, mentorship, networking communities, and alumni-driven initiatives that strengthen our shared legacy.

cultivate

Cultivate

Cultivate personal and professional growth through ongoing learning opportunities, workshops, career development resources, and alumni-led programs that foster a thriving community of depth-oriented practitioners and scholars.

celebrate

Celebrate

Celebrate your achievements, milestones, and impact. Recognize your transformative work in the world and inspire the next generation through shared stories, honors, and alumni-driven philanthropy.

contribute

Contribute

Contribute to the future success of PGI students and the ongoing legacy of Pacifica as well as amplifying your work in the world by sharing your expertise, research, and professional insights through lectures, publications, student mentoring and philanthropic efforts that support Pacifica’s mission and future.

Visit the Virtual Bookstore established by OPAC, dedicated to scholarly and literary works penned by PGI graduates.

CONNECT

Get Connected!

Connect and reengage with the Pacifica community by joining our OPAC email updates. Share what you are doing in the world with us. Stay informed about upcoming events, read inspiring alumni stories, discover professional opportunities, and learn about new offerings from Pacifica Alumni Connections. Click here to subscribe today and get connected! Share this link with fellow alums and help us connect the incredible network of depth scholars, leaders, visionaries and creatives that are bringing the Pacifica legacy into the world.

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Introducing Pacifica Alumni Commons: A New Way to Connect

In the spirit of tradition and innovation that defines the Pacifica experience, we are delighted to announce the launch of Pacifica Alumni Commons—an initiative designed to foster connections among our diverse and accomplished alumni community.

The Commons Vision

Inspired by the historical tradition of shared community spaces, Pacifica Alumni Commons creates structured gathering places where alumni can exchange ideas, deepen professional practice, and cultivate relationships that enrich individual development and our collective wisdom. Like traditional commons throughout history, our Alumni Commons is collectively stewarded, serves diverse needs, and fosters structured and spontaneous interactions.

“The Commons represents our commitment to the ‘4Cs’ of our mission: Connection, Cultivation, Celebration, and Contribution,” notes Bradley McDevitt, (22’) OPAC Communications Coordinator. “We’re creating spaces for dialogue as well as for personal and professional growth that honors depth psychological principles and responds to the practical needs of our alumni in their many diverse contexts.”

The Wisdom Well

This circle is a gathering place centered around intergenerational exchange, where alumni across career stages connect for mutual learning and professional development. Like traditional wells that served as community gathering points, this circle creates space for vital exchanges across generations.

Focus: Career development and professional identity.

Format: Monthly 90-minute virtual gatherings

Ideal Participants: Alumni at all career stages interested in mentoring relationships and supporting or seeking professional evolution

Circles are designed as intimate, professional communities that meet monthly in facilitated virtual sessions. Alumni facilitators guide Circles, creating a container for meaningful exchange while ensuring conversation remains grounded in depth psychological principles.

CULTIVATE

Announcing the launch of a new alumni publication
LUMINA: Illuminating the Pacifica Alumni Experience

“Nothing can dim the light that shines from within.” 

— Maya Angelou

LUMINA is a publication dedicated to showcasing the diverse voices, creative expressions, scholarly work, and community updates of our extraordinary Pacifica Graduate alumni network. LUMINA embodies our mission to illuminate the myriad ways Pacifica graduates carry the torch of depth psychology into the world. More than simply an academic journal, LUMINA serves as a living mosaic of our community’s ongoing dialogue with soul, psyche, and society in service to the institution’s mission.

LUMINA invites yearly submissions of creative works, articles, essays, reviews, and other expressions that reflect the depth and diversity of the Pacifica experience. Read the current edition of LUMINA here and stay tuned for submission deadlines and editorial opportunities in the coming months.

Careers in Depth Webinar Series

Pacifica Graduate Institute alumni navigate diverse career paths, applying depth psychology in meaningful and impactful ways. In the Careers in Depth webinar series, alumni will share their professional journeys, highlighting their unique areas of focus, the role depth psychology has played in shaping their work, and the pivotal moments that led them to the contributions they make today.

Bridging scholarship with real-world application, this series offers attendees valuable insights into how a Pacifica education can support the development of practical tools for both personal and professional transformation. Alumni have built careers rooted in passion, purpose, and anima mundi. Join us to discover inspiring ideas and actionable guidance on how you, too, can integrate depth psychological principles to craft a meaningful career.

Register Now

CELEBRATE

Mix, Mingle and Celebrate

Congratulations 2026 Graduates

Welcome to our newest alumni! This year’s commencement ceremonies will be on May 23 at the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort. Pacifica Alumni Connections will have a special welcome pavilion in the courtyard immediately following the ceremony, where registered graduates can pick up a celebratory gift, meet the Pacifica Alumni Connections leadership team, and learn about opportunities available as members of the alumni community. If you are planning to attend graduation, please swing by and say hello!

For more detailed information about the graduation ceremony, visit PGI’s commencement page.

CONTRIBUTE

Goddess-Makers 2026

Oracles of the Creative in an Age of Collapse

There are moments in history when the ground trembles.

Old certainties loosen. Institutions strain. Stories that once organized collective life begin to fragment. In such times, many experience an almost existential fear — the sense that something foundational is giving way.

From a depth psychological perspective, collapse is not simply catastrophe. It is threshold. It is the dissolution of symbolic structures that no longer carry psychic life. Alchemy called this stage nigredo — the darkening that precedes transformation. What appears as breakdown may in fact be initiation.

In myth, it is precisely at such moments that the oracle appears.

She stands between worlds — between what is dying and what is struggling toward birth. She does not restore nostalgia or deny crisis. She listens within disintegration. She names what others feel but cannot yet articulate. Historically, many oracles were women — figures whose authority arose through descent. Inanna stripped at the gates of the underworld. Persephone returning as queen. These myths remind us: collapse is not the end. It is the passage through which persona gives way to authentic authority.

Mark your calendar for August 28-30 and make plans to join us for Goddess-Makers 2026 at Pacifica.

Learn more about the Call for Papers and registration at the Goddess-Makers website: https://extension.pacifica.edu/goddess-makers-oracles-of-the-creative-in-an-age-of-collapse/

Are you a published author?

Visit the Virtual Bookstore established by OPAC, dedicated to scholarly and literary works penned by PGI graduates.

Gathering a list of alumni publications in one place:

  • Enables us to track decades of Pacifica alumni contributions to culture, consciousness, and the collective psyche.
  • Provides a virtual research center for students and scholars worldwide who want to engage with the work of contemporaries in their field.
  • Help alumni authors reach a wider audience
  • Assist OPAC in planning future Author Spotlights at local bookstores.

To include your book in Lumina Press…

Please fill out the Submission Form.

Have questions, ideas, or the desire to work with OPAC on this initiative, please email us at alumniconnections@pacifica.edu, and include PUBLICATIONS in the subject field.

Careers in Depth Webinar Series

Pacifica Graduate Institute alumni navigate diverse career paths, applying depth psychology in meaningful and impactful ways. In the Careers in Depth webinar series offered through Pacifica Extension, alumni share their professional journeys, highlighting their unique areas of focus, the role depth psychology has played in shaping their work, and the pivotal moments that led them to the contributions they make today.

Bridging scholarship with real-world application, this series offers attendees valuable insights into how a Pacifica education can support the development of practical tools for both personal and professional transformation. Alumni have built careers rooted in passion, purpose, and anima mundi. Join us to discover inspiring ideas and actionable guidance on how you, too, can integrate depth psychological principles to craft a meaningful career.

In the new version of the series, selected alumni will be featured in two virtual sessions. The first session will showcase a presentation of their work, followed by a Q&A segment. In the second session, they will host a mentoring circle, where participants can ask in-depth questions, share experiences, and connect with others on the topic.

If you’d like your work to be featured in this series, please email: extension@pacifica.edu with a brief bio and description of your presentation.  Please be sure to identify the career competencies and learning objectives that will be offered in your 60 minute online presentation.

SCHOLARSHIPS

ABAKANOWICZ COMMUNITY PRAXIS FELLOWSHIP

The Abakanowicz Arts and Culture Charitable Foundation, in collaboration with the Official Pacifica Alumni Connections, is pleased to offer the annual Abakanowicz Community Praxis Fellowship. Eligible applicants are first- or second-year students in the Community, Liberation, Indigenous, and Eco-Psychologies (CLIE) specialization who are in good academic standing. Typical fellowship awards range from $1,000 to $3,000 to support the completion of CLIE’s community praxis requirement. This year’s application deadline is June 9th, 2025. Accepted fellows will be notified, and their award checks mailed, by June 23rd, 2025.

Requirements and Resources

Applicants must complete this online form and upload a proposal including:

  1. An executive summary.
  2. A detailed project narrative.
  3. A logistical and feasibility assessment.

In the proposal, applicants are challenged to undertake preliminary research about the artist Magdalena Abakanowicz, then thoughtfully draw potential connections to her life, art, or legacy. The full application instructions, including examples of thematic connections between Abakanowicz and the CLIE curriculum, are available here.

Select texts on Abakanowicz are available in the Ladera Library, and a collection of digital literature, including her autobiography Fate and Art, can be requested by contacting info@abakanowicz.foundation. Applicants must receive informal approval from their Praxis Advisor regarding the project’s purpose and feasibility prior to submission. All accepted fellows will publish a short essay on their community praxis in relation to Abakanowicz’s life and art in Visions, CLIE’s annual publication, as part of their final reporting process.

About the Foundation

The Abakanowicz Arts and Culture Charitable Foundation began in 2019 to carry on the creative legacy of the artist Magdalena Abakanowicz and her husband, Jan Kosmowski. Its mission is to support programs that investigate concepts of human creativity, the role of art as a visual language within cultures and as a dynamic force within contemporary society, and the intersection of art and other modes of inquiry for the purposes of extending the meaning and relevance of Magdalena Abakanowicz’s life, art, and vision for humanity.

MEET THE TEAM

Alumni Leadership Taskforce

McDevitt

Bradley McDevitt, MA, ACC, (2022) is a professional leadership development coach with the Center for Creative Leadership and a humanities adjunct faculty at Pacifica Graduate Institute. He founded Carolina Commons Creative, which provides creative consulting services integrating theatrical and somatic methodologies with Presence-Based® coaching techniques. Bradley holds ICF certification and brings over 30 years of professional theater experience to his work with leaders and organizations. He resides in Chapel Hill, NC.

Sayyad

Maryam Sayyad, Ph.D., (2023) is an independent scholar and noetic artist driven by a life-long quest for truth. With a PhD in mythological studies, a philosophical mindset, a visual and theater arts background, and an evergreen urge to distill meaning from myths in community with others, she founded The Garden of Noetic Arts where scholarship and art unite for the common goal of cultivating knowledge.

Warren

Lorraine “Dr. Rain” Warren, PhD (2017)is a peace-builder, dialogue facilitator, and depth psychology practitioner whose work spans more than 100 countries. A graduate of Pacifica Graduate Institute, where she earned her PhD in Depth Psychology with an emphasis in Community Psychology, Liberation Psychology, and Ecopsychology (CLIE), her work explores the relationship between deep listening, collective healing, and social transformation.

Her path was profoundly shaped by time spent in Rwanda, where she documented the stories of genocide survivors. This experience inspired her global initiative, Creating a World That Listens, which places red chairs in public spaces where individuals are invited to share their deepest concerns and be heard. Her work has impacted thousands of leaders worldwide and earned her the Legacy International Humanitarian Award and the Josephine “Scout” Wollman Fuller Award from Psychologists for Social Responsibility for advancing peace and social justice.

Dr. Warren also holds master’s degrees in Higher Education Administration from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Spiritual Psychology from the University of Santa Monica, and she recently completed studies at Harvard University as part of the Power Innovation and Leadership program, a cohort of global innovators and institution builders.

Zajchowski

Stephanie Zajchowski, Ph.D., (2019) is a mythologist and writer specializing in the intersection of myth, religion, and women’s studies with a background in corporate communications, operations, and instructional design. She serves as the Director of Operations for the Joseph Campbell Foundation, is a contributing author to Goddesses: A Skeleton Key Study Guide, and co-founded the Fates and Graces, where she hosted webinars and workshops for mythic readers and writers. Stephanie teaches online courses in mythology through Roundtable, the 92nd Street Y’s online learning platform, and at Pacifica Graduate Institute. Ever in search of the deeper narratives that shape the human experience, she shares her work at stephaniezajchowski.com.

Scott

Loralee M. Scott, MFA, as Vice President of Institutional Advancement and Lifelong Learning, Loralee will lead and guide the development and growth of OPAC. An entrepreneurial leader, she brings a proven track record of successful organizational leadership as well as post-graduate, depth psychologically informed curriculum design, development and delivery.

Loralee holds an MFA degree in inter-disciplinary studies focused on somatic depth psychology and cultural transformation. Her work as an award-winning choreographer is featured in Grief and the Expressive Arts published by Routledge and was responsible for the creation and passage of anti-trafficking legislation. A respected thought leader, she has contributed to Jungian academic journals and lectured internationally in several countries.

Loralee’s blend of strategic vision and hands-on experience equip her to effectively guide initiatives that bridge academic excellence with real-world impact. Her leadership exemplifies a commitment to lifelong learning and the transformative potential of depth psychology in today’s complex global landscape.

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Get Connected!

Stay informed about upcoming events, discover professional opportunities, and learn about new offerings from Pacifica Alumni Connections. Share this link with fellow alums and help us connect the incredible network of depth scholars, leaders, visionaries, and creatives that are bringing the Pacifica legacy into the world.

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In the Words of Our Community

“What excites me about the Commons concept is how it honors the relational foundation of depth psychology while leveraging online technology to make connecting and networking more accessible to our alums who are doing amazing work around the US and the world.” shares Loralee Scott, VP Institutional Advancement and Lifelong Learning. “These Circles create temenos—contained spaces where the psyche can be engaged collectively, and where professional isolation can give way to meaningful and creative collaboration.”

“I love listening to everyone. It feels wonderful. I’m just swimming in it all. I didn’t realize how much I miss this way of speaking — imaginal, symbolic, depth-oriented. In daily life I often find myself translating and recalibrating. Being here reminds me how nourishing it is to be in a space where this way of knowing is understood.”

— Wisdom Well participant