EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR SEARCH 2026
We are entering into a process of discernment to identify Shalem’s next executive director in light of Margaret Benefiel’s retirement after 10 years of service.
Executive Director Opportunity
Video Recordings of Transition Town Halls
Frequently Asked Questions
Keep checking this page for any announcements and updates from the Board of Directors regarding the status of the search process.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OPPORTUNITY
Executive Director Opportunity
Overview
The Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation (“Shalem”) nurtures contemplative living and leadership rooted in Christian spirituality, honoring and incorporating wisdom from other contemplative traditions. Founded as a nonprofit organization in 1973, Shalem offers training in contemplative leadership and personal practices, as well as a community of practice for clergy, spiritual directors, lay leaders, and individuals seeking spiritual growth. Through comprehensive educational programs, events, and resources, Shalem fosters discernment, faithful leadership, and reflective practice. Following the retirement of the prior executive director last year after 10 years of service, the board hired an interim leader to support the transition process and now seeks a permanent successor.
The Executive Director (“ED”) leads, oversees, plans, and monitors all aspects of Shalem’s operations, including its long and short-term programming, financial management, fundraising, core staff and program leader development, communications/PR, and board relations. In partnership with the board, the ED also is responsible and accountable for planning, supporting the larger Shalem community, cultivating strategic partnerships, and promoting equity.
Reporting and Location
The ED reports to a Board of Directors and oversees an administrative team of five full- and part-time staff and a few part-time contractors. The position also oversees dozens of additional program lead contractors. Shalem currently leases office space in Washington, DC; candidates unable to relocate must bring demonstrated skills and proven, positive experience in managing a remote team.
Preferred Qualifications
- Spiritual Grounding: Demonstrated commitment to deep personal contemplative practice rooted in the Christian tradition, with appreciation of other traditions; effectiveness as a servant leader driven by spiritual grounding rather than ego, with capacity to lead from reflective practice and prayerful discernment.
- Management: Prior experience leading a nonprofit organization or large division/department through a period of organizational evolution or change, having built organizational capacity and provided both strategic and spiritual leadership; experience in developing staff teams in a hybrid work environment.
- Strategic Planning and Program Development: Seasoned practice in discernment-shaped strategic planning; experience in program development, quality assurance, and data-driven evaluation, ideally in educational environments with adult learners.
- Philanthropic and Financial Acumen: Faithful stewardship of multiple revenue streams and restricted funds; history of generating philanthropic revenues, particularly in major donor development, and experience building and supporting a staff development function; familiarity with grant-writing and grant management.
- Governance: Experience working with and supporting a nonprofit board of directors.
- Communication: Exceptional verbal and written communication skills, with well-developed listening skills and proven ability to present to diverse audiences.
- Equity and Community: Demonstrated commitment to justice, reconciliation, and cultivating communities that honor diversity of race, culture, gender, age, and life experience, with experience supporting BIPOC and other marginalized communities.
- Personal Characteristics: High emotional maturity, intelligence, and diplomacy; capacity to hold tension and live with ambiguity; collaborative, inclusive decision-making style; innovative, creative thinker; organized, able to manage multiple priorities; strong sense of integrity with openness to where Shalem is being called.
The annual compensation for this position is $130-160K, commensurate with experience, plus benefits.
To Apply
Submit resume — with cover letter that speaks to interest in position and motivation for applying — to resumes@stammconsultancy.com. Applications received by 5-22-26 will be given priority. Those invited for an interview will receive a broader position summary in advance. Shalem is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
COMMUNITY UPDATES
4/28/26: Watch the Community Update “Transition Town Hall” where Shalem community members share their insights and ideas about Shalem’s future with the Board of Directors and Search Committee. View here.
4/6/26: Read Jehanne Gheith’s update about the Board-Staff retreat and the Executive Director search process:
Update from the Executive Committee
Dear Members of the Shalem Community,
I write with an update from the Executive Committee/Board about the Board-Staff retreat and also about the Executive Director search process. Most importantly, I want you to know that we have been in prayer with you throughout Lent, and now into the Easter season. And that we continue to rely on your prayers.
First news! There will be a Zoom meeting to give some updates from the Board on Tuesday, April 28 at 8 pm EST. Register here.
Our annual Board-Staff retreat was on March 6-8 at the Maritime Center in MD. All but one of the Board members were present and all local staff came to the retreat. Expertly led by our Interim Director Pamela Leland and Consultant Sonia Stamm, it was a wonderfully rich time. We worked together on how best to support Shalem through this time of transition and also on how to understand Shalem as both a source to nurture contemplative practice and as an organization that works deeply with the complexities of our time. From prayer and embodied practices to understanding our responsibilities as a Board and Staff, we all learned a lot, and learned to know one another in deeper ways. We are working together to update some of our structures (financial, nominations to the Board, registration practices, etc.) so that we can more fully support Shalem programming. And it was important simply to be together and to learn what staff and board constraints and joys are. Some staff members were surprised to find out that Board members sometimes work ten hours or more a week for Shalem while Board members learned more about how staffing works and how better to support staff. Staff left late Saturday afternoon and we had a productive Board meeting on Sunday, partly focused on the search process for the new Executive Director, as well as on transparency and clear procedures for the Board. Both Pamela Leland and Sonia Stamm did a wonderful job in leading this retreat and we are very glad to have them working with Shalem.
A report from the Search Committee: We have met twice and are on target to have a new Executive Director in place in the summer of 2026. Jeff Ross, President of the Shalem Board, is chairing the Committee and the eight-member committee is made up of seven Board members -one of whom has been a program lead and one outside member who is a Shalem alumni several times over. Three EC members are on the committee. It is a strong committee, and we are fortunate that Search Consultant Sonia Stamm is helping us with procedures. The committee is simultaneously preparing the position description as well as defining objective criteria by which to evaluate future candidates to meet the current needs of Shalem. We plan to advertise the position this month, so please be looking for that and praying with us about candidates for the position. The job announcement will include information on how to apply. We also welcome your suggestions. Please send suggestions to Sonia Stamm at sonia@stammconsultancy.com. Sonia will share these with the Search Committee.
Please let us know if you have questions- we want deep engagement with you all, especially in this season of transition, a liminal time, and one of growth. I have included the EC email addresses below.
Wishing you all a luminously joyous Eastertide- Jehanne
Tatiana Bien-Aimé, Secretary: tatiana@groundedgrief.com
Patricia Franklin, Treasurer: pmdfranklin@gmail.com
Jehanne Gheith, Vice-President: gheith7@me.com
Jeffrey Ross, President: frjeffross@aol.com
3/20/26: Read about the Search Committee for Shalem’s next Executive Director:
Search Committee for Shalem’s Next Executive Director is Named
Rev. Jeffrey Ross, President of Shalem’s Board of Directors, announced the formation of the Search Committee to identify Shalem’s next executive director. The following individuals have accepted the invitation to serve:
- Rev. Trey Campbell, Board Member
- Patricia Franklin, Board Member and Treasurer
- Rev. Beverly Gibson, Board Member
- Jehanne Gheith, Board Member and Vice President
- Rev. George Maxwell, Shalem Community Member and Program Graduate
- Rev. Amy Molina-Moore, Board Member and Program Co-Director
- Karah Palmer, Board Member
Jeff will serve as Chair of the Search Committee.
The Committee anticipates distributing a Position Announcement early in April. Screening of applicants and candidate interviews will likely begin in May with a goal that Shalem’s new executive director will be named before the end of Summer. Sonia Stamm, M.Ed. is serving as a consultant to the committee.
Watch for the Position Announcement in early April! It will be widely disseminated and also posted on the Shalem web-site.
Information for those who wish to apply for the position will be included in the Position Announcement. If you would like to nominate someone for the position, please contact Sonia at Sonia@stammconsultancy.com
3/6/26: Read the President of the Board Jeffrey Ross’s update on the Executive Director search.
Board Update on Executive Director Search
Dear Friends,
As the Shalem Institute looks toward its next season of leadership, we are invited into a moment that is both grounded and generative—grounded in the contemplative vision of our founder, Tilden Edwards, and generative in responding faithfully to the spiritual hunger and complexity of our present time. The search for a new Executive Director is therefore more than an organizational transition; it is a discernment about the kind of leadership that can hold our heritage while guiding us into the future God is unfolding. Read more.
1/9/26: Read the President of the Board Jeffrey Ross’s message about trusting the Spirit to guide us during this liminal time of transition:
Shalem in Transition: A Time for Discernment
Beloved,
Grace and peace to you as we stand together at an important threshold in the life of our community.
In Celtic tradition, thresholds are holy places. They are neither the place we have been nor yet the place we are going. They are liminal spaces—thin places—where the Spirit often feels closer, more active, and sometimes more unsettling. We do not rush through these spaces. We listen in them. We pray in them. We trust that God is already at work there as we expectantly seek the Divine… Read more.
VIDEO RECORDINGS OF TRANSITION TOWN HALLS
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
When will the position be advertised?
The board of Shalem is engaging in a comprehensive recruitment process that will begin with clarification of Shalem’s direction, leadership needs, and hiring criteria. Assuming all goes according to plan, the position should be posted in early spring.
Will there be opportunities to provide input into the recruitment process?
Yes! The first opportunity to inform the process will be through a series of “Transition Town Halls,” designed to invite community input on a path to success, which ultimately will help inform the hiring criteria for the new executive director. Additional opportunities for community participation will follow and might include candidate nominations, participation in a screening committee to review top candidates, or supporting the on-boarding process.
Is Shalem using a search consultant? If so, who is it?
Yes, Shalem has been working with Sonia Stamm, Principal of Stamm Consultancy, Inc. Ms. Stamm brings over 30 years of experience in supporting nonprofit organizations through critical junctures, including leadership transitions. With a background in retained executive search, Sonia has guided numerous nonprofits through the executive search process.
If I am interested in the position, how do I apply?
When the position is posted in the spring, the notice will include information on how and where to submit your application for consideration by the Search Committee.
Can I nominate someone for the position? If so, how?
Absolutely. When the position is posted, you will be invited to recommend candidates directly to the search consultant.
Who is making the hiring the decision?
For a nonprofit corporation, the responsibility for hiring a chief executive lies with its board of directors. That said, the Shalem Board is committed to engaging in a recruitment process that invites input from the larger Shalem community – e.g., Shalem Society members, staff, donors, and program participants.
If you have other questions, please contact Pamela Leland, Shalem’s Interim Executive Director at pam@shalem.org