Biography

Elizabeth (Betsy) Gordon is a humanitarian and philanthropist dedicated to the betterment of the human condition.  Her foundation's mission states that she "wishes to support innovative ideas on the frontiers of human possibility and is committed to being personally involved working with such organizations to implement programs and achieve goals".  Her work on the CIIS board represents an example of that mission.  Her foundation "seeks organizations engaged in research and service that bridge the inner work of mind and spirit to the outer work of action and service in the world."  She has supported programs that empower women around the world including being the principal supporter for the construction of the Shugshep Nunnery in Dharamsala, India for the Tibetan Nuns, to assisting the Tibetan Association of Northern California in identifying a community center and adopting the building to fit the Tibetan community's needs.

She has supported the Institute of Noetic Sciences, The Foundation for Shamanic Studies, Spirit Rock Meditation Center, Zen Hospice and GRIP Institute (Guiding Rage Into Power) with restorative justice programs in prisons and assisted in expanding their program to be used in women's prisons.  Betsy has also been a lifetime supporter of the development of psychoactive medicines to aid humankind.  At Purdue University she organized and funded the university archive program on Psychoactive Substances Collection, bringing together the largest collection of books, articles, and papers that detail the clinical and chemistry work done with psychoactive medicines for the last hundred years.  She has granted funds to numerous researchers in the psychoactive field at such schools as UCLA, Johns Hopkins, Louisiana State University, as well as many others.  And, in this vein, she has provided grants toward scholarships for students in the Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies and Research certificate program at CIIS.