About Us

Our Vision

A world where young leaders embrace difference, cultivate authentic connections, and transform local communities into catalysts for global impact.

Our Mission

To empower young leaders through intentional co-living, personal growth, and community engagement.

Who We Serve

We work to serve emerging leaders. Leaders come from many backgrounds and communities. We recognize that leadership experience is cultivated and doesn’t always look the same in every context. We strive to select a diverse group of leaders who have had different opportunities and experiences in their leadership journey.

Our Objectives

Develop Self-Aware Leaders

Equip fellows with tools for self-discovery, healing, and unlearning limiting beliefs.
Provide opportunities for executive coaching and reflection to address life’s challenges.

Cultivate Meaningful Relationships

Create a safe and trusting living environment that encourages vulnerability and openness to diverse perspectives.
Foster deep connections by engaging with one another's realities and truths.

Build Leadership Skills Rooted in Authenticity

Focus on the "who" and "how" of leadership, encouraging personally-authentic and inclusive leadership practices.
Develop communication and conflict-management skills to navigate complex dynamics with empathy.

Empower Local and Global Impact

Leverage hyper-local communities as springboards for addressing global challenges through conscious and sustainable systemic impact.
Equip fellows to understand global citizenship while implementing meaningful, community-centered solutions.

Promote Courage and Advocacy

Encourage fellows to advocate for themselves and others with clarity and confidence.
Develop internal and communal resources, such as networks and shared spaces, to support this growth.

Our History

Orbis Institute, an independent 501(c)3, was founded in 1996 by David A. French. After decades working in business and supporting a number of nonprofits, David set out to build an organization that would effectively realize his vision for a new kind of leadership development. He understood that the systemic challenges of the 21st century were both local and global, and the next generation of leaders would need to build and engage communities at home and around the world.

The first programs began with the help of students from the University of Colorado at Boulder’s President’s Leadership Class (PLC). Together, they launched an innovative training program for young emerging leaders from 10 different countries.

Between 1996 - 2012, Orbis delivered eight World Camps in the US, China, Slovakia, Austria, and Poland, including participants from over 30 countries. Through this work, a second Orbis Institute was established in Bratislava, Slovakia in 2002.

After years of programming abroad, David made an important decision to shift how Orbis would impact the world. As an East High School graduate, he felt it important to bring the work back home. Orbis set out to create a Fellowship program for young professionals here in City Park West, a stone’s throw from his alma mater. Still with a global vision, Orbis shifted to the mentality of “think global, act local.”

Starting in 2016, Denver’s Orbis Institute Fellowship, located at the Orbis House, has housed 24 fellows and supported them in their personal and professional development as they work with local community organizations and develop their own community leadership initiatives.

All of our programs have been grounded in Orbis Institute’s community leadership model to foster awareness, critical thinking, and action. Our approach to group centered leadership not only allows individual leaders to cultivate their own individual paths, but also builds and organizes communities around them.

Our Team

Mark Gabriel - Executive Director

Facilitator. Mover. Giggler.

Mark is the Executive Director, leading the strategic development and program design. His experiences as a teacher, coach, consultant, director, and facilitator across 11 countries has greatly informed how he sees the world and how he seeks to transform it. Mark understands the importance of working in collaboration with his community, and brings that lens to all he does with Orbis. Mark draws his energy from movement, house plants, community, and sweets.

Ellie Adelman - Board Chair

Community-builder. Visionary. Amateur surfer.

Ellie has spent over 20 years working in international community development, gender equity movements, community-centered design, and trauma therapy. Most recently, Ellie founded The Village Institute - a holistic family development center designed with and for refugee and immigrant families in Aurora, Colorado - where she now serves as Executive Director. Ellie LOVES to connect with spirituality and joy through song, movement, beloved community, ancestral healing work, and nature - especially mother ocean.

Yazan Fattaleh - Treasurer

Climber. Dancer. Empath.

Yazan's career has explored the question "how do our connections make us more human?" His personal immigrant story and experiences working with refugees domestically and abroad informs his work as COO at The Village Institute. He has a BA in Economics from the University of Colorado-Boulder and certificates in Monitoring and Evaluation from Makerere University in Kampala and Joining Vision and Action in Denver, CO. In his free time Yazan likes to rock climb, salsa dance, and eat hummus--not all at the same time.

Max Churchfield - Secretary

Listener. Explorer. Goofball.

Max believes that design expressed with humility is one of the greatest forces of good in this world. He is a senior design manager at iDE, a non-profit, non-governmental organization that works to reduce poverty by supporting entrepreneurs in pro-poor market development initiatives across 10 countries. As a member of iDE’s Innovation Lab—an in-house design, research, and strategy consultancy—Max applies his academic training as an anthropologist and engineer to co-design services, processes, and products to fill gaps in market systems and help solve everyday problems. When he isn’t working, Max enjoys backpacking, skiing, cooking, traveling, trying new food, and spending time with his family and good friends.

Sriya Bhattacharyya - Governance Committee Chair

Creative. Earth-Lover. Psychologist.

Dr. Sriya Bhattacharyya is a psychologist, yogi, and professor working at the intersection of social transformation + creative healing. With a background in international community development and healing arts, she teaches, hosts retreats, designs programs, researches, and provides individual services to dismantle systems of oppression, uplift community voices, and support the liberation of all beings. Catch her spending time in her backyard farm with her partner and their "kids" - a cat & three chickens!

Jaser Alsharhan - Fundraising Committee Chair

Friend. Planner. Synthesizer.

Jaser works in philanthropy, making sure that money is easier to access amongst communities that typically haven’t had access to wealth building. While he works at an organization dedicated to change things nationally, he was born and raised locally in Colorado. He remains committed to building community and intentional spaces for marginalized folx to just be their whole selves in loving joy.