My sister is part of a large global organization of entrepreneurs. They have a program where you gather a small group of entrepreneurs, and they become your life long buddies. A group holds monthly meetings where they share everything about their lives. Not just business but what happens in their private lives, too. They help each other grow as professionals, parents, husbands and wives, friends, etc. The organization sponsors trips where they do activities to advance their psychological health. The goal is to develop as a human being, not just a business person, within a small group of very close friends for life.
I have the deepest admiration, and not a small dose of envy, for this practice. I have to do all of this completely by myself, and I feel great yearning for this kind of collective experience of supported growth.
Clarissa's Blog 
sorry – didn’t mean to put the thumbs down there.
LikeLike
You might look into: NAS (National Ass’n of Scholars); HxA (Heterodox Academy) ; The Mercatus Center or the International Studies Institute (ISI).
LikeLike
Thank you but if academics gather anywhere, it will be to complain about how miserable they are.
LikeLike
Precisely why these are recommended. They are structured for the few (“Heterodox”) academics equally replused by the prototype.
LikeLike