Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute

What Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute does

Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute (SIYLI) is a San Francisco-based nonprofit, founded in 2011 by former Google engineer Chade-Meng Tan, that delivers mindfulness-based emotional intelligence and leadership training grounded in neuroscience. Its core curriculum is built around the Search Inside Yourself program, with three principal delivery formats: a two-day in-person workshop, a six-week live online flagship program distributed globally through Humanitix registration, and a newer Adaptive Resilience Program focused on stress recovery and cognitive resilience. Supporting content assets include a free guided meditation library, an Insights @ Work blog, and case studies, all used to attract a community of nonprofit leaders, service providers, healthcare professionals, social workers, environmentalists, and corporate clients.

SIYLI operates a hybrid revenue model combining paid program fees with donations; the donor-supported structure underwrote a 2020 initiative with Feeding America that enrolled more than 200 employees across its 200 member food banks. The go-to-market motion is three-pronged: self-serve public enrollment for individuals and SMBs, an enterprise "Bring SIY to Your Organization" channel for larger team-training engagements, and a community-led layer of free monthly Pause and Practice virtual events plus annual Wisdom 2.0 conference participation. Customers span multiple mission-driven verticals (housing, hunger relief, women in the workplace, children's services) rather than any single sector.

The organization runs on a deliberately lean, distributed operating model of 11-50 employees, relying on a global network of certified teachers and program coordinators rather than a large W-2 headcount. Under the leadership of CEO Rich Fernandez, Founder Chade-Meng Tan, and Director of Global Expansion Steph Stern, SIYLI positions itself as the gold standard for evidence-based mindful leadership training rather than as a software or AI platform; there are no APIs, AI/ML capabilities, or proprietary technology products in the offering.

Name

Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute

Legal name

Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute

Website

https://siyli.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute is a San Francisco nonprofit, founded in 2011 by Google engineer Chade-Meng Tan, that delivers neuroscience-based mindfulness, emotional intelligence, and leadership training programs to nonprofit leaders, service providers, and mission-driven corporate teams globally.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Leadership and Emotional Intelligence Training

NAICS

Professional and Management Development Training (611430)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Mindfulness, Stress Management & Resilience Training (EDAMAIAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Mindfulness-Based Coaching & Training (MBSR/MBCT-style) (HSADAJAB)

Keywords

• Mindfulness training
• Emotional intelligence programs
• Leadership development
• Corporate wellness training
• Neuroscience-based mindfulness

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Program Fees: Revenue generated from training programs including 2-day in-person Search Inside Yourself programs, online flagship programs, and organizational/corporate training engagements
2. Donations: As a nonprofit organization, SIYLI receives donations to support its mission of providing resilience and emotional intelligence training to organizations and individuals dedicated to serving others

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

SIYLI designs and delivers live, interactive mindfulness and emotional intelligence training programs for professionals and leaders. Its core offerings include the Search Inside Yourself 2-day in-person program, a 6-week online flagship program, the Adaptive Resilience Program, and tailored organizational training engagements delivered by certified teachers worldwide.

Product overview

Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute (SIYLI) offers a portfolio of mindfulness-based emotional intelligence and leadership training programs. The core offerings include the Search Inside Yourself 2-Day In-Person Program, the Search Inside Yourself Online Flagship Program, and the Adaptive Resilience Program. These programs are complemented by free resources including a library of Guided Meditations and an educational Blog/Insights @ Work section. The organization positions itself as bridging neuroscience with ancient mindfulness practices to develop wise and compassionate leaders.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Search Inside Yourself: The flagship mindfulness and emotional intelligence program developed at Google and offered by SIYLI.
• Search Inside Yourself Online Flagship Program
• Adaptive Resilience Program
• Pause and Practice

Products and services

• Search Inside Yourself Online Flagship Program A live, interactive 6-week online training program that teaches emotional intelligence and mindfulness practices for professional and leadership development, delivered globally to individual registrants and cohort participants.
• Search Inside Yourself 2-Day In-Person Program An intensive two-day in-person training that covers mindfulness techniques, emotional intelligence skills, and leadership development through experiential learning, offered at regional locations for individuals and team registrations.
• Adaptive Resilience Program A multi-day neuroscience-informed mindfulness program designed to help participants strengthen resilience through evidence-based practices that explain how the brain adapts to stress and change.
• Bring SIY to Your Organization A custom organizational training engagement that brings SIYLI's mindfulness and emotional intelligence curriculum directly to corporate and nonprofit teams through tailored delivery, scaling to enterprise cohorts such as the 200+ employee Feeding America engagement.
• Pause and Practice Monthly Community Event A free monthly virtual community event held on Zoom where members practice mindfulness together, serving as a community engagement and top-of-funnel touchpoint for SIYLI's paid programs.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 200 employees trained for a single partner organization (Feeding America) demonstrating scalability to enterprise-level engagements
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and secondary.

• Feeding AmericacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMajor nonprofit partner in 2020 donor-supported initiative where over 200 Feeding America employees attended Search Inside Yourself Online program. Partner organization works to connect people with food and end hunger through national network of 200 member food banks. The training aimed to build collective resilience and well-being for teams serving communities affected by coronavirus pandemic.
• Spirited Women NetworksecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerOrganization dedicated to engaging, retaining, and developing talented female employees partnered with SIYLI for mindfulness in leadership sessions aligned with their strategic objectives of Connection, Empowerment, and Leadership. Sessions equipped participants with tools for emotional intelligence and compassionate leadership.
• Wisdom 2.0secondaryGTM or Marketing PartnerAnnual conference that brings thousands of people together to explore living connected lives beneficial to well-being, work effectiveness, and world usefulness. SIYLI team attends annually and organizes Birds of a Feather dinner discussions on wisdom topics.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Mindful Schools: Nonprofit organization that trains educators and adults in mindfulness practices, primarily for K-12 settings. Direct parallel to SIYLI in mission-driven nonprofit structure, evidence-based mindfulness training, and a service model centered on instructor-led cohort programs.
• Wisdom 2.0: Conference and community platform exploring mindfulness, wisdom, and technology at work. Directly aligned mission and overlapping audience; an existing SIYLI marketing partner with shared community-building focus.
• Center for Mindful Self-Compassion: Organization founded by Christopher Germer and Kristin Neff offering structured mindfulness and self-compassion training programs. Direct peer in offering evidence-based, secular mindfulness training curricula for professionals and personal development.
• UMass Memorial Center for Mindfulness: Academic origin of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) founded by Jon Kabat-Zinn. Direct peer in offering evidence-based, secular mindfulness training programs with established curricula, teacher certification, and decades of research backing.

Broad incumbents

• Headspace: Major mindfulness and meditation brand with a consumer app and Headspace for Work enterprise offering. Larger, well-capitalized competitor serving overlapping enterprise mindfulness and emotional intelligence categories.
• Calm: Leading meditation and mindfulness app with a growing Calm Business enterprise offering. Broader incumbent competing for corporate wellness and emotional wellbeing budgets across overlapping enterprise audiences.
• BetterUp: Enterprise coaching and wellbeing platform serving Fortune 500 clients. Broader incumbent with overlapping categories in leadership development, emotional intelligence, and resilience training delivered through digital infrastructure.
• Dale Carnegie Training: Established leadership and professional development training organization with a global franchise network. Broader incumbent offering overlapping leadership, interpersonal skills, and team effectiveness training for corporate audiences.

Emerging players

• Spring Health: Workplace mental health and wellbeing platform serving enterprises with comprehensive care navigation. Emerging player with partial overlap in enterprise mindfulness, resilience, and emotional intelligence content delivered through digital channels.
• Modern Health: Global workplace mental health platform combining coaching, therapy, and self-guided content. Emerging player competing for corporate wellbeing budgets with overlapping emotional intelligence and mindfulness content for distributed workforces.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/2540355
• Xx.com/searchinsideyou
• Facebookfacebook.com/273510349364327

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute