Wine and Cheese Reception in San Francisco
Naropa University invites you to join us at a gathering for the Naropa community at the Press Club in San Francisco, CA!
Connect with alumni, parents, and friends by sharing an afternoon with the Naropa community, Sunday, March 1 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Light hors d'oeuvres and beverages will be provided.
We will be meeting at Press Club in the Wine Library room, located on the first floor. The Press Club is a beautiful wine bar located downtown, between Market and Mission Streets, near the Marriott Marquis hotel, where the Wisdom 2.0 conference will be held.
Learn more about what is on the horizon for Naropa University and re-connect with classmates and friends as we bring a bit of our Naropa community to you with special guests: Susan Skjei, Director of Naropa's Authentic Leadership program; Tommy Woon, Director of Diversity and Inclusion; and Andrea Auguiste, Director of Development.
RSVP in advance, even if your plans are tentative! This helps us to provide enough space and refreshments for everyone.
Learn more about our special guests:
Dr. Susan Skjei is the director of Naropa University’s new Authentic Leadership Center. The Center combines the network of practitioners and teachers from the acclaimed Authentic Leadership in Action (ALIA) Institute, formerly based in Nova Scotia, Canada, with Naropa's successful Authentic Leadership Certificate program. The vision of the Center is to provide transformative learning programs that draw upon the disciplines of mindfulness, organizational learning, creative and expressive arts, neuroscience, and complexity science for increased leadership capacity at work and in life. Serving experienced and emerging leaders in business, education, health care, government, and non-profit sectors, the Center will offer conferences, workshops, and webinars, as well as certificate and graduate programs. Susan has been an educator, corporate executive, leadership coach and international consultant. Her research focuses on the role of contemplative practice in developing authentic leaders. She is also an Acharya (senior teacher) in the Shambhala tradition.
Tommy Lee Woon arrived on August 2014 to become Naropa University’s first Director of Diversity and Inclusion. Most recently, he served as the Associate Dean of the Diversity and First Gen Office at Stanford University. He has a wide range of experiences working as a university administrator in multicultural affairs at 5 elite schools in the United States, teaching for eight years affect oriented cultural competency classes at the Stanford and Dartmouth Medical Schools, and consulting at many schools on diversity – including two invited visits to Stellenbosch University in South Africa. He is certified as a Compassion Cultivation Teacher from the Stanford Medical School’s Center for Compassion, Altruism, Research, and Education (C-CARE) and is also on the board of directors of the Somatic Experiencing Trauma Institute, an international training organization devoted to preventing and healing trauma world wide.
Andrea Auguiste leads and oversees fund development strategies and initiatives for Naropa University in partnership with the President and key faculty/staff. Andrea is a seasoned fundraising professional with more than 25 years in major gift solicitations, annual and capital campaigns, planned giving, as well as corporate and foundation support. She has directed fund development and communications for such noted organizations as the National Civil Rights Museum, the site of Dr. Martin Luther King's assassination; The Church Health Center, a national model for the delivery of healthcare to the poor; and Hope House, the only agency in Tennessee providing social service and housing for mothers and children affected by HIV/AIDS. While Naropa University is the first higher education organization she has had the benefit of serving, it is without doubt a mirror to the social service path she has chosen in her career.
FAQs
How do I get to Press Club? 
By car:
As Press Club is located at 20 Yerba Buena Lane, a pedestrian walkway located between Market and Mission and 3rd and 4th Streets, the most convenient way to get to Press Club should you be driving is to input the following into your GPS (or Google Maps): 217 Stevenson Street, accessed from Third Street. This will bring you straight into the valet area for the Four Seasons. You can choose to valet your car with The Four Seasons, or take a sharp left prior to entrance into Jessie Square Garage.
If you are valet parking at the Four Seasons, walk through the lobby and out onto Market Street. Take a left past St. John and Hickey Freeman retail stores and then another left onto Yerba Buena Lane (unmarked). Press Club is down Yerba Buena lane on your left.
If you are parking at the Jessie Square Garage, the elevator will take you up to the plaza next to St. Patrick’s Church. Exit the elevator and take a left and then another left away from the square. Once you have reached Yerba Buena Lane (the entrance to the Marriot will be right in front of you) and a right at the Jewish Contemporary Art Museum. Press Club will be on your right.
By public transportation:
Take the Bart of Muni to the Powell Street Station. Exit via the Yerba Buena Gardens stairwell which feeds out onto Market Street. Walk past the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, take a right onto Yerba Buena Lane (unmarked). Press Club is down the lane on your left.
By cab/on foot:
Let your driver know that you are heading to the Four Seasons Hotel, located at 757 Market Street between 3rd and 4th Streets. He or she will let you off in front of the door to the Four Seasons Hotel. If you are facing the front door to the hotel, take a right past St. John and Hickey Freeman retail stores and then a left onto Yerba Buena Lane (unmarked). Press Club is down the lane on your left.
Where can I park? Valet?
Closest Garage: Jessie Square Garage
217 Stevenson Street
(between 3rd St & 4th St)
San Francisco, CA 94103
Garage elevator takes you up to plaza. Take a sharp left, another left and a right at the Jewish Contemporary Art Museum. Press Club will be on your right.
If you’re splurging:
Valet: Four Seasons Hotel (valet charges apply):
757 Market Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 633-3000
Note: The main entrance of the Hotel (and valet area) is located at 217 Stevenson Street, which is accessed from Third Street. GPS drivers should input 217 Stevenson Street as their destination
Other garages:
Fifth & Mission Parking Garage
833 Mission Street (between Fourth & Fifth streets, adjacent to Moscone West)
(415) 982-8522 x18
Paramount Valet Parking
680 Mission Street (separate entrance on Jessie Street, off Third, located 2 blocks from Moscone South & North
(415) 341-1410
Museum Parc Garage
300 Third Street (entrance on Third and on Folsom streets)
(415) 284-9553
Post Montgomery Center Garage
161 Sutter Street (Turn onto Sutter Street from Montgomery)
(415) 393-1500
Sutter/Stockton Garage
444 Stockton Street (second entrance on Bush between Stockton and Grant)
(415) 982-7275