Our Beginning
The Story of 1440 Multiversity
Nearly a decade ago, 1440 Multiversity co-creator Joanie Kriens was inspired while tending to and harvesting vegetables in her home garden. In that mindful moment, she was overcome by feelings of happiness, contentment, and joy - for the colorful tomatoes and squash in her basket, the quiet beauty of the land, and the preciousness of life with her family and friends.
This heightened awareness and gratitude may have only lasted just a minute or two, yet it had a profound effect on Joanie. It made her wonder how many minutes there are in each day, and how we might all live more self-aware with gratitude for the simple blessings in life. After turning to Google for the answer, the 1440 name was born - little did she know she would find it in her own backyard.
Following several years of philanthropic grant-making, the 1440 Multiversity campus opened in May 2017 among the towering redwoods of the Santa Cruz Mountains, stemming from a desire to establish a beautiful and nurturing physical location where community could gather to explore, learn, reflect, connect, and re-energize. The invitation to participate is extended to all unbound by the range of human differences.
The Setting
The 1440 Multiversity campus rests on 75 private acres nestled within the redwood forest of the Santa Cruz Mountains - the former site of Bethany University. Century-old redwoods serve as the perfect backdrop for Kitchen Table, the dining area nestled into the tree line along the south edge of grounds above Carbonera Creek with large picture windows.
The intentional preservation of natural aesthetics is obvious as evidenced by numerous sun-drenched patios, foot paths, quaint seating areas and nature paths throughout the property. A beautiful wooden pier hovers over a gently flowing waterfall formed by boulders harvested from the Sierra Nevada Mountains creating a small river that runs beneath an exquisite stone-faced bridge positioned over a pond at the base of the grotto river. These intentional environmentally friendly focal points enjoyed by visitors to campus utilize rushing rainwater from the rooftops of nearby buildings along with recycled water brought to the site and stored in a 30,000-gallon tank buried alongside the river and undetectable to the casual observer. Thanks to the collaboration of a project geologist, geotechnical engineer and contractor, the storm runoff that used to flow off campus and into Carbonera Creek unfiltered and undetained is now captured, treated and infiltrated into underlying soils before being released to the creek at various locations, improving the quality of the runoff and reducing downstream flood impacts.
The Name
During the summer of 2011, Joanie and Scott Kriens were searching for the right name for their philanthropic work. Little did they know they would find it in their own backyard.
While gardening and harvesting vegetables, Joanie was overcome by a feeling of happiness, contentment and joy — for the colorful tomatoes and squash in her basket; for the quiet beauty of the land; and for the preciousness of her life, family and friends. This moment of heightened awareness and gratitude lasted just a minute or two, yet it had a profound effect. It made her wonder how many minutes there are in each day, and how we might live more often in this high-definition kind of way. She "Googled it" and found that there are 1,440 minutes in each day — 1440 opportunities for everyone, no matter who we are, to be more aware and supportive to one another while creating hope for living well being reminded of the precious minutes of each day. We hope our name and our purpose has the same effect on you.
The Inspiration
Our foundational belief is that creating hope for living well rests in the ability to cultivate strong authentic relationships - with ourselves, with each other and with the world.
There is great energy created in immersion learning - setting aside daily urgencies and dedicating uninterrupted time and curiosity to focus our inner fitness which leads to a greater good. We are founded on the idea that the best learning happens in community when we engage the multiple facets of our being - social, emotional, relational, intellectual and spiritual - exploring the many doors to our whole, multi-dimensional selves. We champion the idea that there are 1440 minutes in each day to be fully alive and connected to ourselves and with everyone and everything around us.