From left, Carol Spalding, Tetsushi Ogata, Michael K. Dorsey, Edward M. Feasel, Paula Seymour, Michael Bracken, Rosa Alegria, and Beth A. Binns during SUA’s visit to the Hazel Henderson Center in St. Augustine, Fla.
October 20, 2026
2 Min Read
Exploring a Collaboration With the Hazel Henderson Center
Soka University of America President Edward M. Feasel and Tetsushi Ogata, managing director of the Soka Institute for Global Solutions, spent two days in September at the Hazel Henderson Center in St. Augustine, Florida, exploring ways to work together.
Hazel Henderson, a futurist and author who died in 2022, and SUA founder Daisaku Ikeda both championed the Earth Charter. Their conversations on global citizenship, sustainability, and shared responsibility became the 2004 book Planetary Citizenship.
Henderson challenged conventional measures of economic progress, arguing that they should also account for human well-being and environmental health. She co-founded Citizens for Clean Air in New York City in the 1960s, founded Ethical Markets Media, and wrote nine books.
Planetary Citizenship ranges across economics, technology, environmental ethics, peace, and civic action. It keeps returning to one question: How can individuals and societies take greater responsibility for creating a peaceful and sustainable future?
The center carries Henderson’s work forward through research and education aimed at a more ethical economy. The Soka Institute for Global Solutions brings people and institutions together to take on global challenges.
“This visit was an opportunity to build on the connection between Hazel Henderson and our university founder, Daisaku Ikeda,” Feasel said. “Both believed deeply that peace, environmental sustainability, and social and economic justice are interconnected, and both saw the Earth Charter as an important framework for putting those values into action. I believe this partnership will create new opportunities to address these shared challenges together.”
Soka University of America President Edward Feasel and Professor Tetsushi Ogata meet with Flagler College students and representatives of the Hazel Henderson Center and Earth Charter International in St. Augustine, Fla.
In St. Augustine, Feasel and Ogata met with Beth A. Binns, the center’s managing director and board member; Paula Seymour, program director for innovative studies in sustainable business practices; board member Carol Spalding; center partner Michael K. Dorsey; and senior advisor Rosa Alegria. Michael Bracken, board chair of Earth Charter International, joined the discussions.
Feasel and Ogata also visited Flagler College, where they met with Charles White, dean of the School of Business; Rachel Cremona, dean of the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences; and several faculty members to explore exchanges between the two institutions. They spoke with students in Flagler’s Intercultural Communication in Business course about SUA’s mission to foster global citizens and the institute’s role in that work. They also met with St. Augustine Mayor Nancy Sikes-Kline.
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