Some experiences cannot be explained. They must be made.
The Sempergeist Institute develops trauma-informed creative technologies for veterans and service communities. Through Poewell, our AI-assisted platform for storytelling and image-making, participants work within peer-supported cohorts to give shape to experiences like PTSD, CPTSD, and moral injury — experiences that resist ordinary language.
Our Mission
The Sempergeist Institute (Conway Cultural Development Corporation, EIN: 47-5065116) works at the intersection of emerging technology, mental health, and community care. We partner with veteran service organizations and healthcare providers to make healing tools that are accessible, ethical, and accountable.Our work is grounded in a simple principle: every person has inherent dignity. Healing cannot be forced, meaning cannot be imposed, and technology should support, not replace, human relationships. This shapes how we design programs, conduct research, and build tools that honor the complexity of human experience.
What We Do
1. StorytellingVeterans and others navigating profound transition use ethically bounded technological tools to bring internal, often nonverbal experience into visual and narrative form. The technology structures attention and pacing without interpreting, diagnosing, or directing meaning.2. Peer-Facilitated CohortsThis work is held within trauma-informed, facilitator-led cohorts that emphasize witnessing over resolution. These groups support connection and belonging without requiring performance, disclosure, or closure.3. VSO and VA IntegrationSempergeist develops HIPAA-compliant platforms designed to work within existing VSO and VA ecosystems. Programs are piloted collaboratively, evaluated responsibly, and aligned with evidence-informed practices — without displacing human care or peer support.The Gap We BridgeAdvanced artificial intelligence tools are rapidly entering domains of meaning, identity, and care. At the same time, veterans' organizations and the VA serve millions of people whose experiences cannot be reduced to optimization or outcome metrics.Sempergeist bridges these worlds — bringing emerging technology into governed, dignity-preserving systems that support meaning-making without instrumentalizing suffering or replacing human presence.
Contact
Dennis Stevens, Ed.D., Founder & Managing Director
Conway Cultural Development Corporation (dba Sempergeist Institute)82 Nassau St., #61562, New York, NY 10038
501(c)(3) Nonprofit | EIN: 47-5065116
poewell.com | dennis-stevens.com
[email protected] | tel: 843.331.6020© 2026 Conway Cultural Development Corporation