Archana Deshpande

Archana is a multilingual, creative rights advocate, strategist, facilitator and Integral Master Coach™ . Born in Lusaka, Zambia, with roots in Western India, she is the Co-CEO of Spring, where she leads the design and implementation of virtual and in-person financial resilience, facilitation and leadership development programs. In recent years, she has lead and successfully deliver capacity-strengthening programs for hundreds of social and climate justice leaders and organizations, networks and leaders in the Global South.  

Previously, Archana led the creation and expansion of OpenGlobalRights — a multilingual, global forum that explores human rights policies and strategies as well as managed and conducted research on human rights organizations and public perceptions of human rights in India, Mexico, and Morocco. She has co-authored various publications on the resource mobilization challenges and opportunities for human rights groups in the Global South and is passionate about finding innovative ways to sustain and expand social and climate justice initiatives.

Ellen Sprenger

Ellen Sprenger founded Spring in 2004 and is committed to making space for more complexity and humanity in collaborations for social and climate justice.  She is a believer — especially in human potential and our collective ability to address the problems of our time. Her areas of expertise include multi-actor conference facilitation, future-scenario development, financial innovation and resilience for justice organizations globally, and executive coaching. 

Previously she held several management positions at Oxfam-Novib and was the Executive Director of Mama Cash, a feminist foundation based in Amsterdam. Ellen holds a master's degree in Development Studies, an MBA from Erasmus University, and is an Integral Master Coach™ and Certified Integral Facilitator™. She is a member of the Board of 350.org, a movement working to end the age of fossil fuels and build a world of community-led renewable energy for all. 

Currently based in Toronto, Ellen is from the Netherlands and Canada and has lived in Tanzania, South Africa, and the United States. She is a curious and creative optimist, an espresso enthusiast, and an avid meditator.

Lucas Paulson

Lucas is a writer, facilitator, researcher, and lover of poetry—all of which he brings to the creative work of social change and his role at Spring as Collaborations Lead. Originally from northern Wisconsin (United States), Lucas lived for several years in Colombia, where he designed and led creative experiences for human rights practitioners as a part of the team at JustLabs. (For more on this work, see his publication, Narrative Spices: An invitational guide). 

He has also worked on the editorial team of OpenGlobalRights, as a fellow with the action-research center Dejusticia (Colombia), as a teacher with the Fulbright Program (Colombia), and as a volunteer at the Corrymeela peace-building community (Northern Ireland). Lucas is happiest petting dogs, sitting by trees, reading poetry, attempting to write it, canoeing, and enthusiastically but mediocrely dancing salsa. His favorite way to give is by washing other people’s dishes.