Intitutional Advising & Philanthropic Consulting
Expanded states research is no longer fringe.
It has entered major universities, medical centers, philanthropic portfolios — and increasingly, public-sector funding conversations.
With growth comes complexity: governance risk, donor scrutiny, reputational exposure, capital campaign challenges, and public narrative tension.
Most institutions are unprepared for the philanthropic and structural implications of this work.
Stephenie Purnell bridges that gap.
Before founding Spiritus8®, she served in senior advancement leadership roles at The University of Texas at Austin, Southern Methodist University, The University of Colorado Boulder, and St. John’s College Santa Fe. She also consulted with The University of Texas System, training advancement teams across campuses in how to structure and fund collegiate recovery initiatives — long before addiction and recovery work became broadly visible within higher education.
When she began in that space, fewer than 25 institutions nationally had collegiate recovery programs. Today there are more than 300. She understands how to responsibly elevate initiatives that were once culturally sensitive or misunderstood — and position them for durable philanthropic investment.
She has:
• Built and executed capital campaign strategy
• Staffed presidents in major and principal gift solicitations
• Designed naming and governance policy
• Managed boards and trustees
• Written six- and seven-figure proposals
• Structured advancement strategy across annual, major, principal, and planned giving
Over the past sixteen years, she has also devoted herself to the disciplined study and facilitation of expanded-state work. With more than 800 hours of formal training, she is one of only five certified Holotropic Breathwork® facilitators in the State of Texas and one of only two certified Trance Movement™ practitioners in the United States. Her work is grounded in lived experience, psychological containment, and ethical rigor.
This dual fluency — institutional advancement at the highest levels and professional expanded states facilitation — uniquely positions her to advise centers exploring psychedelic research, contemplative science, and consciousness studies.
Stephenie serves as the bridge between philanthropy and consciousness research.
She does not simply raise funds. She designs sustainable philanthropic ecosystems.
She understands how institutions move.
She understands how donors decide.
She understands how trustees deliberate.
She understands how transformative ideas must be positioned to endure.
She also understands expanded-state work — not just theoretically, but experientially and professionally.
That combination is rare.
Engagement Scope
Stephenie is available for paid consulting engagements focused on:
• Capital campaign architecture for initiatives in psychedelic research, consciousness studies, and human transformation
• Donor strategy, cultivation, and high-level solicitation for complex and emerging initiatives
• Board governance design, including bylaws revision, trustee role definition, committee infrastructure, board composition, fiduciary obligations, and personal giving standards
• Bridge-grant strategy and operational funding stabilization during donor pipeline development
• Executive leadership and advancement team training in campaign strategy, pipeline development, and disciplined execution
• Institutional narrative development that responsibly bridges science, philosophy, and experiential research
Engagement formats may include strategic advisory retainers, project-based consulting, campaign intensives, executive and advancement team advisory sessions, and board service.