Manuela Roosevelt is Chair of the Board of Directors of the Omega Institute and Former Chair of the Stewardship Council.
Manuela has been a book publisher since the early 90s, running companies in Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and now in the United States. Throughout her publishing career, she has overseen the publication of more than 300 illustrated nonfiction titles on the subjects of science, history, spirituality, biography, current affairs, art history, and gift titles. She has also authored eight books, which have been published in several languages. She serves as Vice President, Associate Publisher, and Editorial Director at Callaway Arts & Entertainment, a publishing and multi-media company headquartered in New York City. Callaway recently launched the Georgia O’ Keeffe One Hundred Flowers immersive exhibition in Atlanta and Las Vegas and published The Beatles: Get Back, the companion volume to Peter Jackson’s exhaustive documentary for Disney+.
From 2000 to 2003, she edited Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan’s last book, In Search of the Hidden Treasure. This work led to a treasured friendship with Pir Vilayat, who is one of Omega’s cofounders, and ultimately to her many years of association with Omega.
Manuela was born in Bern and raised in Lugano, Switzerland, where her family can trace its patriziato lineage to the year 1400. On a family trip to India and the Andaman Islands when Manuela was 15, she was exposed to meditation for the first time and its impact was so profound that it resulted in a daily meditation practice that Manuela has since sustained for almost four decades.
Manuela obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Social Anthropology from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London University. She speaks English, Italian, Spanish, Catalan, and French fluently. She has lived in six countries, and has traveled extensively. In addition to her commitment to Omega’s board, Manuela also serves as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Eleanor Roosevelt Val-Kill Partnership, the Board of Directors of The Sustainability Laboratory, and the Board of the Dutchess County Human Rights Commission. She lives with her family on the Springwood estate in Hyde Park, New York, where Franklin D. Roosevelt was born and lived and that is now a National Park Service Historic site. She also spends time at her homes in Switzerland and Spain.
