“There is something about what I went through that made me understand I needed to do something for good,” says Forrest Leichtberg. While struggling with health issues, he came to realize he needed to do something for the greater good and stop thinking so much about himself. And thus was born The Consciousness Network, a nonprofit organization that aims to uplift, support, and strengthen our sense of community, personally, professionally, and collectively. Forrest, who is only 24 years old, has been organizing powerful monthly gatherings where he brings together representatives from the environmental and health communities with social activists to discuss subjects ranging from care of the environment to care of your health. The events have the components of an expo and culminate with a symposium featuring impactful speakers. One of the network’s upcoming guests will be Byron Katie, whom Time magazine called “a spiritual innovator for the 21st century.”
“Our actions and choices have consequences,” says Forrest. “The Consciousness Network is a call to come together with compassion.” The first event took place in February 2016, with about 70 people in attendance at Unity of Santa Barbara. Through his passion and dedication, the monthly gatherings have grown to 150 attendees. “If [they] continue throughout the year, [they] nurture more communication within this community,” he tells me.
Born in Westlake Village, this impressive young man came to Santa Barbara to study at SBCC. “There’s a lot of interest here in Santa Barbara about living a conscious life,” Forrest explains. “Santa Barbara is an eco-friendly city — health conscious — there are all these different groups in this community, and I wanted them to come together once a month and see what happened.”