The Soul of Leadership

An 18-month program for contemplative leadership

Several dates and locations offered

Would you like to lead in a more conscious, heart-centered way?

Now Enrolling:

The Soul of Leadership South Africa
March 2025 – September 2026

Coming Soon:

The Soul of Leadership Boston
May 2025 – October 2026

The Soul of Leadership recognizes that leaders today face particularly difficult challenges. The commitment to inspire others while also increasing productivity and balancing the needs of the organization can leave leaders feeling depleted. Long hours and countless demands often result in a deep need for renewal.

This 18-month program helps leaders integrate spiritual heart practices with leadership realities in order to more truly embody their vocational path. Through individual and communal activities, participants engage in a variety of contemplative practices, while learning strategies to address some of their most pressing leadership challenges.

The Soul of Leadership includes four residencies, each featuring a different leadership focus, supplemented by reading, reflection and spiritual companionship.

Learn more about The Soul of Leadership in this short video, filmed at a UK residency by Soul of Leadership graduate Thea Haavet:



Free Info Call or Taster Session

Join us on Zoom to discern about the rightness of this program for you. Talk with the Director and recent grads. Choose a date below to register in advance.

SOUL OF LEADERSHIP SOUTH AFRICA TASTER SESSIONS:


SOUL OF LEADERSHIP BOSTON INFO SESSIONS:


SOUL OF LEADERSHIP COHORTS

In South Africa
March 2025 – September 2026
NOW ENROLLING

Residencies:
March 10-13, 2025
September 15-18, 2025
March 16-19, 2026
September 7-10, 2026

Leaders
Althea Banda-Hansmann, Margaret Benefiel & Elmor Van Staden

Price
Early Bird (by December 13, 2024): R58 500
Regular (after December 13, 2024): R62 500

Need-based tuition assistance available.

Offered in partnership with Volmoed Retreat Centre.

Contact Wilma Terry Jakobsen at safricawilma@gmail.com with questions.

In Boston
May 2025 – October 2026
COMING SOON

Residencies:
May 19-22, 2025
October 27-30, 2025
April 6-9, 2026
October 12-15, 2026

Leaders
Margaret Benefiel & Debora Jackson

Price
Early bird (by 4/14/25): $5600
Regular (after 4/14/25): $6000

Need-based tuition assistance available.

MORE INFORMATION COMING SOON.

In Radstock, UK (near Bath)
May 2024 – January 2026
CHECK BACK FOR FUTURE DATES

Residencies:
May 27-30, 2024
January 13-16, 2025
June 2-5, 2025
January 12-15, 2026

Leaders
Margaret Benefiel & Margie Buchanan-Smith

Price
Early Bird (by 3/15/24): £4730
Regular (after 3/15/24): £4950

Need-based tuition assistance available.

Offered in partnership with The Ammerdown Centre.

On Zoom
September 2023 – March 2025
CHECK BACK FOR FUTURE DATES

Residencies:
September 14-17, 2023
March 14-17, 2024
September 12-15, 2024
March 20-23, 2025

Leaders
Margaret Benefiel & Tony Mazurkiewicz

Price
$2,500

Need-based tuition assistance available.

In DC

CHECK BACK FOR FUTURE DATES


“Through the Soul of Leadership Program, I gained the guidance I needed to shift into the role of a leader within my job in early childhood education. This included understanding my own mission and vision and gifts. To this day, I return to the practices I learned for making decisions and discerning the role I want to play in each and every challenging situation (and believe me, my field is full of challenges right now!).”

-Linda Schumacher


LEADERS FOR CURRENT & UPCOMING COHORTS

Althea Banda-Hansmann

Althea Banda-Hansmann is the Founding Director of Transforming Moments Consulting…

She uses her capacities as a coach, facilitator, organisational development consultant and spiritual director to support leaders in birthing the versions of themselves and society longed for. With over 30 years of private and public sector experience globally, Althea possesses a deep-lived understanding of individual, relational, organisational and societal change. Born and raised in the intensity of Apartheid, her formative experiences shape her integration of healing and inclusion as foundational to leading self and others in the world. Althea completed Shalem’s Contemplative Conversations about Race Retreat and Group Spiritual Direction training. She is one of the contributing writers in the book Soul Food: Nourishing Essays on Contemplative Living and Leadership. Althea is a 2023 graduate of the UK-based Soul of Leadership programme and looks forward to sharing this programme for a South African context.

Margaret Benefiel

Margaret, Executive Director of Shalem, holds a PhD in Spirituality from Catholic University and an MA. in Theology from Earlham School of Religion…

She is a graduate of Nurturing the Call: Spiritual Guidance Program and serves on the staff of that program as well as on the staff of our Going Deeper: Clergy Spiritual Life and Leadership Program and Crossing the Threshold: Contemplative Foundations for Emerging Leaders. She created and directs the Soul of Leadership Program and is a co-director for the Heart Longings: An Invitation to the Contemplative Path program. She has authored or co-edited 7 books, including Soul Food, Crisis Leadership, The Soul of Higher Education, The Soul of Supervision, The Soul of a Leader, Soul at Work, and Hidden in Plain Sight, and has published over 50 articles and book chapters.

Margie Buchanan-Smith

Margie has played a variety of leadership roles within the humanitarian aid sector…

She has conducted and published research into models of excellence in value-driven humanitarian leadership across the globe. She now works as an independent consultant and facilitator and is a professionally qualified coach. She is frequently called upon to lead cross-cultural teams for international projects. Margie is on the staff of our Soul of Leadership program.

Jan Gregory-Charpentier

Jan Gregory-Charpentier has been an ordained UCC pastor for over 30 years serving congregations of diverse sizes and settings…

She brings a wealth of experience as an organizational leader as well as a workshop and retreat leader. She received her Doctor of Ministry Degree from Drew School of Theology with a concentration in Worship, Spirituality and Preaching. With a keen interest in the intersection in leadership and spirituality, Jan’s doctoral thesis is titled, “Mother May I? Clergywomen’s Experience of Mother and Ministry.” She is a 2014 Soul of Leadership graduate and is honored and excited to share the riches of the program with others.

Debora Jackson

The Reverend Dr. Debora Jackson is the Stoddard Endowed Professor of Management and Dean of The Business School at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, where she leads the school in its mission to develop adaptive leaders…

who create sustainable solutions, deliver globally responsible impact, and conduct transformative research at the intersection of business, technology, and people. Dr. Jackson is a recognized non- and for-profit leader whose work experiences include Yale Divinity School and the Ministers Council of the American Baptist Churches, USA. An ordained pastor, Dr. Jackson was formerly the CIO/COO of an e-commerce energy services company. Dr. Jackson holds a DMin and MDiv from Andover Newton Theological School. She holds a ME in Manufacturing Engineering and a MS in Management from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. She holds a BS in Business from Indiana University. Dr. Jackson has written numerous articles, book chapters, and two books, Meant for Good: Fundamentals in Womanist Leadership (Judson Press, 2019) and the award winning Spiritual Practices for Effective Leadership: 7 R’s of Sanctuary for Pastors (Judson Press, 2015).

Tony Mazurkiewicz

Tony Mazurkiewicz serves as the Georgetown University Chaplain for Athletics and the Senior Advisor of the Georgetown John Main Center for Meditation and Interreligious Dialogue…

Prior to his current positions, Tony served as a member of the Carmelite Order as a brother and priest for 15 years, including five years as President of Mount Carmel High School in Chicago, IL. Tony has over 20 years of ministerial and leadership experience in K-12 public and private schools, parishes, retreat centers and prisons. He received his undergraduate degree from Yale University and received his Masters in Divinity degree from the Washington Theological Union. He is a trained Spiritual Director, Mediator, and Enneagram Facilitator who also holds certificates in Carmelite Studies, the Spiritual Exercises and Non-Profit Management.

Elmor van Staden

Raised in Apartheid South Africa, Elmor van Staden is a proud 2023 graduate of the UK’s Soul of Leadership programme…

With an illustrious career that spans almost three decades, he has assumed diverse leadership positions within the South African Information Technology sector. Deeply interested in contemplative leadership, Elmor has devoted himself to comprehensive research and has made contributions to the academic field of spirituality. Currently, he holds the position of Service Delivery Manager at a leading global data management organization. Elmor is dedicated to contributing to his beloved country’s progress by aiding its leaders in their transformative journey.

HAVE QUESTIONS?

Michelle Geuder is the Registrar for The Soul of Leadership and can be contacted at michelle@shalem.org.


Mission

Our mission is to nurture contemplative living and leadership.

Vision

In 2025, Shalem will be a dynamic and inclusive community, empowered by the Spirit, where seekers engage in transformation of themselves, their communities, and the world through spiritual growth, deep connection, and courageous action.

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