Retreat Leaders (Page 2)
Lead Facilitator, Healing of Memories
Lori Rubenstein
After starting her career as a successful family law attorney, Lori Rubenstein, JD, PCC, came to the understanding that the well-being of divorced families was clearly not the task of the legal system. She realized that she was like a square peg trying to fit into a round hole as a divorce attorney. Instead, she chose to follow her own mission – empowering people to heal from their relationship wounds, eventually becoming a certified coach. While seeking that goal, she learned…
Retreat Leader
Catherine Slabaugh
Catherine Slabaugh is all about connecting people through powerful stories and creative communication. She currently holds the role of Director of Communications and Community Engagement at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Sacramento, Calif., serves as Communications Director for the 2027 ELCA Youth Gathering, and is the Co-Founder of Vero Communications LLC. Catherine’s journey has included leading communications and events for the Sierra Pacific Synod, heading up the social media team for the 2024 ELCA Youth Gathering, and steering communications for…
Spirited Book Club, Retreat Facilitator
Sheri Brown
Sheri Brown is a retired special education teacher, news reporter, and video producer who has written liturgy, poems, and reflections for nearly 15 years. Her writing has been described as “sometimes raw but always real,” and as a “fresh perspective on old words”. Her writings, when she writes, are distributed to an email group under the heading, From the Edge of the Inside. (The reason for that obtuse self-descriptor became clear when she learned she is a healthy 4 during an…
Retreat Leader
Felecia Boone
Felecia Boone is vice president of the Minneapolis Area Synod of the ELCA and served on the ELCA Commission for a Renewed Lutheran Church. Ms. Boone has spent 30 years in local government with over 10 years in Human Resources and is currently a senior diversity, equity and inclusion consultant, which includes strategic planning, supporting departmental diversity and inclusion committees, and investigating respectful workplace discrimination complaints. She is also a Qualified Administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory. In 2023 she…
Lead Facilitator, Healing of Memories
Graciela Marroquin
Graciela Marroquin enlisted in the U.S. Navy at age 18 in 1992, beginning as a plane captain. In 2003 Marroquin transferred into the Army National Guard, and in 2004 served a tour in Baghdad, Iraq, as a combat-medic and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree. After serving 14 years in the military, she returned to her civilian job at a community mental health agency, while earning her Master’s Degree in Social Work. She now resides in Tempe, AZ where…
Retreat Leader
Paul Witman
Paul Witman is a Professor Emeritus of Information Technology Management, in California Lutheran University’s School of Management, retired founding director of the MS in Information Technology program, and retired Director of the School’s Undergraduate programs in Business, Accounting, and Economics. His research interests include social networking for non-profits, information security, usability, and electronic banking and finance. In addition, he frequently writes teaching case studies based on current events, focused on the use and abuse of information relative to vulnerable populations.…
Lead Facilitator, Healing of Memories
Linda Rich
Linda L. Rich, DCSW, LSW, CSAC has been an Institute for Healing of Memories facilitator since 2010 and chairs the board of IHOM-NA. As a social worker she has worked in a wide range of addiction treatment, mental health and medical programs. She served in military hospitals with the American Red Cross in Vietnam and in the U.S. She believes deeply in each person’s capacity to heal and to help others heal the wounds of the past. Linda is a…
Retreat Leader
Desta Goehner
Desta Goehner (she/her) is a trauma-informed spiritual director with over 27 years of experience within the ELCA, serving in congregations, synods, Lutheran higher education, and seminaries with a focus on leadership and spiritual formation. She is trained and practiced in mediation skills, conflict mediation, and restorative conversations through the Lombard Mennonite Peace Center. Together with colleagues Paul Witman, Catherine Slabaugh, Felecia Boone and Christopher Njunge, Desta Goehner facilitates the Executive Skills for Church Leaders retreat in January, 2025 at Spirit in the Desert.
Retreat Leader, Legacy Workshop
Mary Price Dunn
Mary Price Dunn is founder of The Legacy Workshop. She is passionate about leading transformational conversations that bridge the spiritual dimensions of life with the practical. As a distinguished leader in the nonprofit sector, Mary has pioneered programs to engage people – just as they are – in courageous and hopeful change. While serving as CEO of a charitable foundation, she developed a groundbreaking, grassroots initiative to help people build stronger, healthier communities in the rural towns and villages of…
Facilitator, Healing of Memories
Lina Webb
Lina Webb is a native of Okinawa, Japan with an MA in Human Services Counseling. She was a Korean linguist and analyst in the United States Air Force for 21 years. While on active duty, she also became a Sexual Assault Victim Advocate, Resilience Trainer and Crisis Intervention Unit Responder aiding victims of violent crimes and other mental health crisis. Her deep interest in generational trauma and the power of storytelling led her to become an authorized HOM facilitator in…
Retreat Leader, Legacy Workshop
Alanna Mack
Alanna Mack is retired from a highly successful practice as a tax CPA. In her work with clients on estate and trust tax matters, she found that surviving spouses often feel unprepared to face new – and unexpected – financial responsibilities and realities. Helping clients understand and manage their finances after the loss of a loved one became a specialty for Alanna. She also has served on exempt organization boards and finance committees, most recently the Franciscan Renewal Center and the…
Retreat Leader
Carla Christopher
Rev. Carla Christopher brings a unique and deeply experienced voice to the topic of congregational vitality, community engagement, and strategic planning through a lens of justice and belonging. A former case manager and therapeutic educator turned community organizer then Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility, and Belonging trainer for nonprofit and government entities along with faith communities, Carla was ordained into the ELCA Ministry of Word and Sacrament as a certified Redeveloper in 2020. As Assistant to the Bishop for Justice Ministries…