Our work at Creative Lives began in 2011 when our Director, Maureen Burford, asked her long-time meditation and philosophy teacher, Ellen Tadd, for help with a project to support children's learning and well-being. Ellen’s response inspired Maureen, and it ultimately became Creative Lives’ mission—to share Ellen’s discoveries about the chakra system and its role in human development. Today, we teach her pioneering whole-child approach, A Framework for Wise Education®, to educators and parents nationwide.

Ellen played a seminal role as a consultant for Creative Lives. Her wisdom has supported our application of her Framework from 2012 through early 2024. Committed to our success, Ellen provided in-depth training and coaching in her Framework to our Director, Maureen Burford. Additionally, she served as our content expert, reviewing and editing much of our written material.

Born in Washington, DC, in 1953, Ellen grew up in the bucolic college town of Amherst, Massachusetts. In her 20s, Ellen began counseling individuals and teaching her philosophy and meditation classes in western Massachusetts. Continuing this work for decades, by the 1990s, she had branched out, speaking and teaching in other parts of the state and throughout the country.

As an internationally known clairvoyant counselor, educator, and author, Ellen was widely respected for the integrity of her work, the accuracy of her perceptions and guidance, and the clarity and usefulness of her teaching. Ellen authored four books: A Framework for Wise Education, The Infinite View, The Wisdom of the Chakras, and the Boston Globe bestseller Death and Letting Go.

The Creative Lives Board of Directors and staff honor and appreciate Ellen's invaluable contributions to people worldwide, including her pivotal role at Creative Lives. We honor her legacy and impact on our organization and the thousands of youth and adults we serve.

If you have not yet had the opportunity, we invite you to enjoy an interview with Ellen Tadd about her Framework,

“The Chakra System in Today’s World,” a Creative Lives film taped in 2014.