In twenty-first-century Western culture, leaders are rewarded for their drive, decisiveness, productivity, and long work hours. Especially in the social justice arena, burnout is rampant. What would it look like for activists to cultivate the inner life, to step off the treadmill, to take time apart for personal reflection, in order to be more resilient? What would social justice leadership arising from a core of contemplative grounding and compassion look like?

This will be an experiential workshop, in which participants' own experiences will serve as the basis for reflection and discernment. Stories of resilient activists and principles of resilient activism will complement personal reflection.

About Instructors

Sarah Willie-LeBreton

Provost and Professor of Sociology who studies higher education and work and teaches about race, racism, and social inequality. Informed by her work with community groups, Willie-LeBreton has taught courses on African American culture, politics, race, racism and social inequality. Considering herself an applied sociologist, she has worked with a variety of groups on inclusivity and justice initiatives. Her research explores minority/majority and subordinate/superordinate relations, the construction of knowledge, and the subversion of oppression. She is the author of Acting Black: College, Identity and the Performance of Race (Routledge 2003), a study of college-educated African Americans in the post-civil rights movement era. Since joining Swarthmore's faculty in 1997, she has also served as associate provost, chairperson of the sociology and anthropology department, and coordinator of the program in Black Studies. An exchange student at Spelman College in 1984, Willie-LeBreton graduated from Haverford College in 1986 and received her Ph.D. from Northwestern University in 1995.

Margaret Benefiel

Margaret became Shalem’s executive director in July 2015. Prior to coming to Shalem, she ran her own consulting, speaking, training, and coaching business, Executive Soul, helping leaders and organizations nurture their souls and express their deepest values institutionally. At the same time, she taught as adjunct faculty at Andover Newton Theological School in the area of contemplative leadership. Margaret is a Quaker and holds a B.A. in History from Princeton University, an M.A. in Mathematics from Portland State University, an M.A. in Theology from Earlham School of Religion, and a PhD in Spirituality from Catholic University of America. She has written extensively on various aspects of contemplative leadership and spirituality at work, including The Soul of Higher Education; The Soul of Supervision; The Soul of a Leader: Finding Your Path to Fulfillment and Success; and Soul at Work: Spiritual Leadership in Organizations.