CPS's Mission & History
The mission of the Center for Partnership Systems is to catalyze movement towards Partnership Systems on all levels of society through research, education, grassroots empowerment, and policy initiatives. CPS’s programs focus on promoting human rights and nonviolence, gender and racial equity, child development, and new metrics that demonstrate the financial contribution of the work of care.
We draw from the latest social and biological science including neuroscience, connecting the dots between the personal and political to address root causes rather than merely symptoms of dysfunction and injustice.
The Center for Partnership Studies was founded in 1987 in response to the demand of readers of Riane Eisler's The Chalice and The Blade: Our History, Our Future, hailed by Princeton anthropologist Ashley Montagu as "the most important book since Darwin's Origin of Species." A U.S. bestseller, The Chalice and The Blade is now in 26 foreign editions (including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Hebrew, Arabic, Urdu, and most European languages), and used in universities worldwide.
CPS’s Achievements: A Timeline
1989
The first international Partnership conference, attended by 400 people from 50 countries, hosted by the former first lady of Greece.
1995
The work of the Chinese Partnership Research Group at the Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, resulted in publication of The Chalice & The Blade in Chinese Culture (China Social Sciences Publishing House), using the Partnership and Domination models to understand China's past and help shape its future.
The 1995 CPS study of statistical data from 89 nations, Women, Men, & the Global Quality of Life, demonstrating the relationship between women's status and quality of life for all, published in time for the Beijing UN Women's Conference.
2000
Pilot projects with schools on Partnership education following the 2000 publication of Eisler's Tomorrow's Children: A Blueprint for Partnership Education in the 21st Century.
2001
Partnership Education in Action, a practical manual for teachers, co-published with the Foundation for Educational Renewal.
2003
Launch of the Spiritual Alliance to Stop Intimate Violence (SAIV), an initiative to make ending violence against women and children a top social, religious, and political priority, co-founded by Eisler with Nobel Peace Laureate Betty Williams.
2004
Educating for a Culture of Peace, a collection of essays by leading educators and co-edited by Riane Eisler and Ron Miller, published by Heineman.
2005
Launch of the Montessori Foundation's Center for Partnership Education and its inaugural conference at the Asilomar Conference Center in Pacific Grove, California.
2007
California Institute for Integral Studies (CIIS) - Graduate Degree Program in Transformative Leadership with a concentration in Partnership Studies - courses taught by Riane Eisler and Susan Carter.
2008
The Real Wealth of Nations: Creating a Caring Economics by Riane Eisler is published by Berrett-Koehler Publishers on November 3, 2008.
2009
A Real Wealth of Nations train-the-trainer program was launched in a three-day conference in Seattle, WA. In subsequent years, this conference gave rise to the online Caring Economy Advocates Program which trained hundreds of leaders and reached thousands of community members around the world.
2010
Release of Urban Institute report commissioned by CPS, The State of Society: Measuring Economic Success and Human Well-Being with coverage in over 68 news wires.
2011
Dr. Eisler addresses the United Nations General Assembly on 'Promoting a Holistic Approach to Sustainable Development in Harmony with Nature."
2012
A two-day workshop of 20 national experts held at the Urban Institute in Washington DC on indicators of Social Wealth.
CPS and Urban Institute report: National Indicators and Social Wealth released and featured by media and CPS partner organizations.
2013
Caring Economy Campaign Congressional briefing on "The Economic Return from Investing in Care Work and Early Childhood Education,' attended by Hill staffers, journalists, and advocates. Presentations by Congressman Jim Moran (D-VA) and Dr. Riane Eisler, followed by a panel moderated by Ren' Redwood featuring Dr. W. Steven Barnett of the National Institute of Early Education Research (NIEER), Dr. Sara Mel'ndez and Shireen Mitchell.
2014
Launch of CPS's Social Wealth Economic Indicators by a panel moderated by Carol Evans, CEO of Working Mother Media; panelists include Ai-jen Poo, Director of National Domestic Workers Alliance, Eric Norman, Senior Vice President of Human Resources at Cardinal Health, W. Steven Barnett, Director of National Institute for Early Education Research, Gail Christopher, Vice President of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
See the full report: CPS Social Wealth Economic Indicators
Publication of the CPS report Social Wealth Economic Indicators: A New System for Evaluating Economic Prosperity written by Indradeep Ghosh with Riane Eisler and the CPS Team.
The Interdisciplinary Journal of Partnership Studies, a peer-reviewed, online, free-access journal co-sponsored by CPS, is launched at the University of Minnesota.
2015
CEC develops unique Caring Economy Fast Facts sheets featuring data from its Social Wealth Economic Indicators being used by national organizations such as 9 to 5, National Partnership for Women & Families, MomsRising, the Domestic Workers Alliance, Mom-mentum, and others.
CPS launches new webinars and live online certification courses including the Caring Economy Leadership Program and Changing Our Story, Changing Our Lives: Riane Eisler's Cultural Transformation Course, and the Young Women Leaders Program for high school and college students. Educational webinars included Counting Care In, the Caring Economy Starter Course, Partnership in Healthcare, the Leadership Series, and Conversations with Riane Eisler: Leadership for a Life-Sustaining World.
2016
Over 7,500 articles are downloaded from all over the world from the CPS co-sponsored Interdisciplinary Journal of Partnership Studies.
CPS President Riane Eisler speaks to 4,000 people (including thousands of educators and students) in Monterrey, Mexico, at the annual World Meeting on Values, with podcasts to 20,000 more.
CPS introduces new cohort-based online courses including The Power of Partnership, Practicing Partnership with the Earth, and collaborative webinars including Power to the Parents and Strong Kindness.
2017
Using a curriculum based on CPS research and education, Riane Eisler taught the course Cultural Transformation at the University of Alabama, Birmingham, introducing the Partnership/Domination social scale to both graduate and undergraduate students in the Anthropology of Peace & Human Rights Department.
Focusing on the CPS Caring Economy project, Eisler met with US Senators and heads of national organizations in Washington DC., spoke at the Feminist Press Gala in New York as the recipient of their Visionary Award; keynoted the Womanomics Conference in Vermont; and headlined 'Cornerstones of Democracy' at New York City's Cooper Union historic Great Hall.
The Chalice and The Blade turns 30. Readers from around the world celebrated the 30th anniversary and 57th U.S. printing of the international phenomenon that is The Chalice and the Blade in a CPS online event.
2018
Eisler gave the closing speech 'Contracting or Expanding Consciousness: Foundations for Partnership and Peace' at the Congreso Futuro (Futures Congress), sponsored by the President of Chile, in Santiago de Chile and Valpara'so, spoke at the Femme Summit (Women's Summit) in Parque Majadas de Pirque, Chile, and gave a keynote at the Safe World Summit in Dublin, Ireland, where she also received an award at the Dublin City Hall.
CPS webinars such as Uncovering the Roots of Violence: New Perspectives on Domestic Violence, Social Justice, and Faith, Raising Caring Men: How Can #MeToo Bring a Revolution in Masculinities' and Behind Our Gender Masks: Empowering Young Women and Men to Express their Full Humanity were co-sponsored by 29 organizations and reached, inspired, and activated thousands worldwide.
2019
Nurturing Our Humanity: How Domination and Partnership Shape Our Brains, Lives, and Future by Riane Eisler and Douglas Fry is published by Oxford University Press on August 1.
CPS launches new webinars, a new website, and new courses, including a course in partnership with the Omega Institute.
2020
Webinars hosted by CPS include Trauma-Sensitive Schools: Shifting to Partnership in Education and Society, and Trauma-Sensitive Schools: Responding to COVID-19.
CPS launches the Partnerism Campaign with Make Partnerism Mainstream online events, and initiates the Social Wealth Index Project. The CPS team grows and expands social media channels to reach younger and intersectional audiences. The CPS worldwide community grows to over 10,000.
