Chair
Westina Matthews, PhD
Savannah, Georgia (USA)
For many years, Westina (she/her) has connected with others through her writings, speaking, workshops/retreats, spiritual companioning, mentoring, and teaching. A graduate of the Shalem Institute, her practice reflects contemplative living through “holy listening”. For 12 years, Westina was an adjunct professor in the Center for Christian Spirituality at General Theological Seminary, teaching contemplative spiritual direction. Currently, she offers spiritual direction to seminarians and clergy worldwide, across faith traditions. After a 24 year career with Merrill Lynch, primarily responsible for philanthropy and community engagement, Westina was a fellow at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard which took her to Burundi in central Africa. An educator at heart – with a doctorate and two post-doctoral fellowships in education in addition to the Harvard fellowship — Westina then became chief program officer for four years with the Jackie Robinson Foundation (a premiere scholarship and leadership program for college students). But writing remains her passion, the author of Dancing from the Inside Out: Grace-Filled Reflections on Growing Older (2019), This Band of Sisterhood: Black Women Bishops on Race, Faith, and the Church (2021) and lead editor of Soul Food: Nourishing Contemplative Living and Leadership (2023).
Vice Chair
Agnes Hermans
Aotearoa New Zealand
Agnes Hermans (she/her) is a spiritual companion, supervisor, and serves as a hospice spiritual care coordinator. She is one of the founding coordinators of the Contemplative Network Aotearoa New Zealand.
Agnes has a background in social work, community development, health service management as well as governance roles in community organisations. Across these roles she has worked to improve equity of access to services and outcomes for Māori and raise awareness of the effects of colonisation. She has compiled two books with stories about her community.
Agnes lives on the Whangārei harbour in the north of Aotearoa New Zealand, with her husband Peter. They have three children and three grandchildren.
Treasurer
Stephen Rivet
Dayton, Ohio (USA)
Stephen (he/him/his) is a Spiritual Director trained at the Dominican Center of Marywood with a Master of Pastoral Studies from Loyola University – New Orleans; his passion is journeying with working professionals and youth. Married to Anne for 41 years, they have four grown children and nine grandchildren. Currently a business consultant; he has over 45 years of International Business experience from engineering to sales to executive management, traveling extensively throughout the world. He is a FAA Certified Private Pilot.
His primary focus is turning vision to action with measured results and calculated strategic risk-taking. His vision for SDI is authentic, compassionate, and loving opportunities fostering a trusting and inclusive climate of diversity, creativity, and growth.
Joel Kushner, Psy.D.
Los Angeles, California (USA)
Joel Kushner is trained as a psychologist, hospital chaplain, and spiritual director, and holds graduate degrees in counseling and clinical psychology as well as studies in organizational psychology. He began his career working at Bellevue Hospital in NYC with the mentally ill homeless and then spent ten years as a management consultant in behavioral healthcare. Next came 18 years at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion where he founded an institute on LGBTQ+ issues and Judaism and then led the Kalsman Institute on Judaism & Health which focused on health and healing. Joel began his spiritual direction practice nine years ago. With creativity being an essential path of learning and growth for him, he later applied for the first cohort of Creative Facilitator training with the Jewish Studio Project. This became a two-year journey learning a methodology to incorporate creative process (non-product focused art making) with text study to foster growth, and as a way to deepen spiritual exploration. He has also extensively supervised chaplaincy students in learning the art of pastoral care.
Kate Keefe
Oxfordshire, England (UK)
Kate is a voluntary project manager with the Centre for Applied Carmelite Spirituality in Oxford, UK. Under the director of CACS, Fr. Alexander Ezechkwu OCD and alongside a team of friars and lay volunteers she has led several projects to support a strong foundation for the centre.
This has included the foundation and development of the CACS international safeguarding policy; the Alumni community for post-graduate students of CACS Spritual Direction Formation Programme; the establishment of the Sacred Encounter Ministry, an online CACS ministry of spiritual direction, supervision of pastoral workers/spiritual directors and one to one guided retreats.
Future projects for January 2025 include her establishing an online supervision course shaped by Carmelite Spirituality and current thinking of excellence in the supervision of Spiritual directors.
Kate is a lifelong lover of learning; she was trained as a supervisor of spiritual directors by the Jesuits in London; as a spiritual director by the Carmelites in Oxford and the One Spirit Inter-faith community in the UK. She practices within the Contemplative Christian tradition of Catholicism and sits with a White Tara Buddhist group in Oxford monthly. She is committed to inter-faith dialogue and belongs to several inter-faith groups.
Kate has always been in active as a volunteer in civil society being involved in establishing a homeless centre in London and anti-racial work in her early years in teaching. Professionally Kate has worked in university lecturing, as a high school principal, as an assistant director for the Catholic Church in England and Wales. In church ministry she has worked from church cleaning to facilitating her parish Synod discussion group. She is married to Brian, and they are parents to their adult son Levi who joined their family at 6 years of age. She currently lives in Oxfordshire on the River Thames in England.
Robbin Brent
Johnson City, TN (USA)
Robbin Brent is a spiritual director, writer, retreat leader, certified teacher of the Enneagram in the Narrative Tradition, Clearness Committee convener, and founder of Wisdom Way of Knowing, a nonprofit dedicated to making the Christian Wisdom tradition accessible to a broad and growing global community. She currently serves as Director of Publications and Resource Development for Living Compass, a faith-based spirituality and wellness organization whose resources have reached more than half a million people. For more than a decade, she has worked alongside its founder to shape offerings that integrate contemplative spirituality, depth psychology, and holistic wellness across faith traditions.
A graduate of Shalem Institute’s Spiritual Guidance and Transforming Community programs, Robbin was formed by a constellation of people whose influence feeds and infuses her work and life in incalculable ways. Among them: Liz Ward, Ann Dean, Cynthia Bourgeault, Sam Portaro, Porter Taylor, Lisa Senuta, Leong Tan, David Daniels, Helen Palmer, Steven Charleston, and her five grandchildren. The blessings of their accompaniment flow through everything she does.
Her call to SDI board service grows from what Rosemary Dougherty describes as the place where our longings and desires join God’s longings and desires for us. Fidelity to that holy ground—and learning to recognize it, trust it, and serve from it—has shaped every dimension of her ministry: the writing, spiritual companioning, community-building, and the organizations she has helped midwife into being.
In everything she undertakes, Robbin brings what she calls her informal statement of intent: Gracious collaboration and holy mischief-making in a supportive culture of trust and integrity.
Gene Foehl
Galena, Maryland (USA)
In November of 2025, Gene completed six years on the Shalem Board, with three years as Treasurer and on the Executive Committee. He plans to continue working to bring information about the value of a contemplative spiritual journey to people all around the world.
His fifty-year legal and entrepreneurial career has included running businesses and legal transactional and litigation matters, from legal aid and pro bono representation to advising large corporations and serving on numerous corporate and non-profit boards. He has over 35 years of experience operating a non-profit corporation in the inner city, primarily working with children.
His involvement in Shalem’s SGP from 2016 to 2019 further focused his spiritual journey. He seeks an expanded relationship with SDI to continue on that path, helping others to serve by bringing tools and concepts to those toiling in the fields. He has felt led to greater involvement with SDI to help others consider the deep richness of a contemplative lifestyle and to serve spiritual directors all over the world.
Rev. Fr. Kevin Oodo, SJ
Wein Town, Liberia
Kevin is a Catholic priest of the Jesuit Order, spiritual director and school leader working in Monrovia, Liberia. Originally from Nigeria, Fr. Kevin ordained and missioned to Liberia to help establish the first Jesuit owned school in the country. He is the director and principal of Xavier Jesuit School, Liberia and facilitates and directs retreats for religious, lay faithful, young adults, and youth. He has previously worked in Zimbabwe, Nigeria, USA and Canada. Fr. Kevin was an SDI New Contemplative in 2017 and since then, has been collaboratively working to initiate SDI Africa. He is a current member of the SDI DEIJ steering committee and spends most of his free time teaching and learning from less advantaged children.
Rev. SeiFu Anil Singh-Molares, MTS (Ex officio)
Seattle, Washington (USA)
Rev. Seifu Anil Singh-Molares is the Executive Director of Spiritual Directors International (SDI), a Motivational Speaker, a Zen Priest, and a Spiritual Director / Companion / Guide. After nine years at SDI, his relish and enthusiasm for the SDI community continues to grow. He has dedicated his life to promoting the virtues of spiritual companionship as a healing modality, through various incarnations including his current ones, as well as a scholar of comparative religions. He has a graduate degree from Harvard University in that field.
