Stewardship Circle

Francisco Burgos

Francisco is the executive director at Pendle Hill and has facilitated spiritual retreats and lectio divina sessions for many audiences. Francisco was a De La Salle Christian Brother for almost ten years, serving in Dominican Republic, Guatemala, and Costa Rica, and has been a Friend since 2004. He is a member of Harrisburg Friends Meeting and an attender of meetings including Monteverde Friends Meeting in Costa Rica and Adelphi Friends Meeting in Maryland.

Pendle Hill

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

francisco@retreatcentercollaboration.org

Nanci Lee

Nanci Lee (she/her) is a poet and facilitator who was active with Tatamagouche Centre, small retreat centre in Mi'kmaki, Nova Scotia, Canada first as Executive Director, then as Co-Director. She continues to do part-time poetry workshops and facilitation, most recently with a migrant workers' rights organization.

Tatamagouche Centre

Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia

nanci@retreatcentercollaboration.org

Brenda Salgado

Brenda is an author, wisdom keeper and organizational consultant. In the past, she has served as Director of the East Bay Meditation Center, Associate Director at Wisdom & Money, and Senior Fellow at Movement Strategy Center. Brenda is committed to co-creating a society filled with community wisdom, belonging, wholeness and beauty. Read her full bio here.

RHI Program Director

brenda@commonweal.org

Oren Slozberg

Oren is the executive director of Commonweal and the program director of the Center for Creative Community at Commonweal. He joined Commonweal in 2013 as the chief strategies officer, to develop sustainability and organizational development strategies for future programming. Oren has been a senior program developer for more than 30 years.

Commonweal

Bolinas, California

oren@retreatcentercollaboration.org

Kirstin Vander Giessen-Reitsma

Kirstin is Caretaker for Whole Systems Design at GilChrist Retreat Center. Her academic and professional background in the arts, education, publishing, and community development has given her a passion for the big picture and all of the patterns and pieces that make up that larger story. Certified in permaculture design, Kirstin utilizes this framework as a guide for dreaming and decision-making in a way that heals and regenerates our environment for ourselves and future generations.

GilChrist Retreat Center

Three Rivers, Michigan

kirstin@retreatcentercollaboration.org

Peter Wrinch

peter@uncommonpartners.io

Michael Shewburg

Michael serves as executive director of Five Oaks Centre. Michael came to Five Oaks in August 2017, after the centre went through a time of deep discernment and a recasting of its vision. His role has been to live out the vision of the membership as an intercultural/interfaith retreat centre and discover new and efficient ways of operating.

Five Oaks Centre

Paris, Ontario

** On leave **

Staff

Brenda Salgado

RHI Program Director

brenda@commonweal.org

Erin McAuley

Erin (she/they/any) serves as the admin assistant for the Retreat Center Collaboration. She has co-facilitated retreats and art-spirit groups for more than a decade, and also works as an editor and book designer for independent authors. She loves storytelling of all kinds and is studying the bardic path in the Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids.

RCC Administrative Assistant

erin@retreatcentercollaboration.org

Listening Circle

Beginning at our first gatherings with retreat center leaders in 2018, RCC leaders have sought community input to increase our collective understanding of the unique challenges and opportunities retreat centers face -- and inform how RCC supports retreat centers in meaningful engagement and collaboration. That circle of ecosystem awareness continues to expand at RCC with the Listening Circle, a group of volunteers from across the sector who make an annual commitment to attend quarterly meetings that inform the Stewardship Circle’s leadership.