Mission in motion

In my mission integration role at SCS, I am often invited by faculty members across professional disciplines to amplify the University’s mission by presenting some material related to the Spirit of Georgetown in a way that is tailored to the course’s unique learning objectives. This week, I dropped into Ethics in Urban Planning and offered a Jesuit-inspired framework for knowledge, skills, and values in the area of ethical leadership. It was an engaging session that flowed in three movements: the foundational concepts of ethical leadership, an applied case study demonstrating these principles, and suggestions for personal practices that might develop ethical leadership capacity. Grounded in the Jesuits’ spirituality and philosophy of education but offered in a way that is inclusive of spiritual diversity, the concluding segment of the session provoked critical reflection about how spirituality might relate to ethical leadership. 

There are many ways into this conversation about how Jesuit spirituality and education relates to ethics and to leadership. I rely on ideas presented by Chris Lowney, a leadership expert in the Jesuit tradition, whose book, Heroic Leadership: Best Practices from a 450-Year-Old Company that Changed the World, offers an Ignatian style of leadership that embraces self-awareness, ingenuity, love, and heroism. 

Lowney contests traditional understandings of leadership theory grounded in competency models of what leaders need to acquire in terms of technical skills in order to be effective. While technical skills are important, the Jesuit tradition of leadership emphasizes interior self-development and the development of what many would call “soft skills” like emotional attentiveness, self-reflection, an attitude of gratitude, and a determination to care for others. This perspective on leadership emphasizes that: 

• everyone has the opportunity to lead (not only those at the top of the organizational chart); 
• leadership springs from interior self-knowledge (not just from actions); 
• leadership is a way of living and not just single tasks; and 
• leadership is an ongoing process of discovery of self and self with others.

An important takeaway of this model is that the exercise of ethical leadership depends upon taking regular time for quiet reflection in a way that facilitates greater self-awareness. Contrary to assumptions, regular silence in the form of meditation or prayer do not foster inaction and passivity in the face of pressing responsibilities but actually encourage more generous and ethical action in the world. Leaders grounded in self-awareness, cultivated by practices like the examen, are more likely to make meaningful contributions to social justice and the common good. And consistent with the Spirit of Georgetown value of Contemplation in Action, busy professionals, like the students at SCS, need this time for contemplation even more. 

One hope of a Jesuit education is that students come to realize more and more that their educations are not for themselves alone but also for others. Ethical leadership in the Jesuit tradition makes clear that one’s development as an ethical leader is not just about avoiding mistakes or bad decisions but about growing in habits of discernment about how one is called to use one’s gifts and talents in service of others, especially the most vulnerable members of society. I invite you to take this summer to reflect on these questions as they relate to your growth as an ethical leader: 

• What are the gifts and talents that you bring to leadership? 

• What are the values that matter most to you and why? In other words, what do you consider to be your “North Star” guiding principles for leading in the world? 

• How are you working to translate these values into action? How are you bringing your leadership values to your work at home, in the community, at the workplace, and in the larger world?

Early in the pandemic, Mission in Motion reflected on popular articles that examined the qualities of Jesuit education that contribute to the formation of ethical and reflective leaders working in every sector of society.  The Jesuit approach to education tends to produce effective leaders because of the framework’s embrace of self-awareness, ingenuity, love, and heroism, according to Jesuit leadership expert Chris Lowney. Jesuit educated leaders are often considered “servant leaders,” or those who work against the traditional model of power accumulation and focus instead on the development and wellness of the people and communities in which they exercise leadership.  There has been a growing discussion about this relationship between leadership and Jesuit spirituality and pedagogy, leading to global efforts like the Jesuits’ recently created Program for Discerning Leadership.

This week we call attention to the work of Georgetown University’s Institute for Transformational Leadership (ITL), a first-of-its-kind institute that develops and sustains worldwide communities of leaders and coaches. Housed at the School of Continuing Studies, ITL’s approach to this work is anchored in the values of the Spirit of Georgetown and demonstrates Jesuit leadership principles in action.

ITL offers a range of certificates, programs, workshops, and special events dedicated to awakening, engaging, and supporting the leadership required in today’s world to create a more sustainable and compassionate future. A quick glance at ITL programs illustrates how clearly mission and values guide the Institute. With programs in Facilitation; Health & Wellness Coaching; Leadership Coaching; Organizational Consulting & Change Leadership; and Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion, ITL is providing students with experiential learning opportunities geared toward helping leaders understand the context of a complex and challenged world.

The Executive Certificate in Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion is a prime example of how ITL is helping address issues of social justice through its transformative education. A recent SCS web story, “Program Promotes Equity and Belonging in the Workplace,” captures the spirit of the program and the way that it moves beyond a narrow conception of competency in DEI. More than preparing leaders to offer “stand-alone solutions” to the persisting challenges of realizing inclusion in workplaces, the program attends to both the larger structural dynamics impacting DEI as well as the self-knowledge needed to lead in this area. Program instructor Maria Kelts describes the approach in this way:

“The course is experiential in nature and is built on the foundation of understanding oneself through the identities one holds and acknowledging oneself as a change agent. Knowing how you walk through the world allows you to more effectively analyze, diagnose, and address DEI issues in the workplace and beyond.”

Aligned with a Jesuit stance on leadership development, ITL makes interior development and the contribution of spirituality a focus of its programming. This commitment to the interior lives of leaders, which is one of many leadership principles that animate ITL’s approach, aligns well with the Educating the Whole Person value at the heart of the Spirit of Georgetown. By including interiority in the curriculum, ITL reinforces a powerful lesson that generous doing or action in the world ultimately flows from a generous sense of self or being. In the midst of increased social and political polarization, a focus on the inner work of social transformation is critical.

If you want to learn more, please visit:

• The ITL homepage on the SCS site
• The ITL blog
• This SCS web story: “Program Promotes Equity and Belonging in the Workplace”

This week kicked off the 2021 AJCU Justice in Jesuit Higher Education Conference, a virtual gathering hosted by Georgetown and taking place throughout the month of June that will focus on racial justice, immigration justice, environmental justice, faith and justice, and women’s leadership and justice in light of the Jesuits’ four Universal Apostolic Preferences. Mission in Motion recently reflected on how this conference fits into the larger context of the history of social justice education in Jesuit colleges and universities. The opening sessions of the first week affirmed this longstanding tradition and also invited participants to update the resources of Catholic and Jesuit education to meet the pressing challenges of today. Two of the conference’s opening session presenters captured the spirit of this challenge with their open-ended questions:

• Robert Kelly, Ph.D., Vice President and Special Assistant to the President of Loyola University Maryland, asked: “This time calls us to look at ourselves and our institutions and our students to see ways in which we’ve evolved, and need to evolve moving forward. What does that evolution look like?”

• Fr. Arturo Sosa, S.J., Superior General of the Society of Jesus, asked: “The pandemic has struck us all, it has knocked us all down. Which of our plans will change? How can we better accompany the young as they build a future of hope?”

So many first week images stand out from the presentations and the live Zoom questions and responses, but one particular image surfaced for me most prominently. “Deferred maintenance” is a concept that Robert Kelly used to compare the situation of addressing pressing, no-longer-avoidable physical infrastructure needs on an aging campus with addressing persisting issues of injustice, particularly around racial equity and inclusion, that cannot be delayed any longer.

The task for all involved in Jesuit higher education is to confront the reality of racism and other pressing issues of social injustice present on campuses by engaging, according to Margaret Freije, Ph.D., Provost and Dean of College of the Holy Cross, both contemplatively and critically in this work. Taking meaningful action in response to these challenges from out of a stance of deep discernment is a hallmark of Jesuit spirituality and education. A more hope-filled future, one that is demanded by students, staff, and faculty who do not always feel welcome on Jesuit campuses including LGBTQ+, first generation students, and people of color, demands a perspective that brings together the contemplative and the critical.

Another image that resonated this week was cura propria, or personal care and wellness, an addition to the familiar Jesuit lexicon of cura personalis and cura apostolica. Debra Mooney, Ph.D., Vice President for Mission and Identity at Xavier University, introduced this newly minted Ignatian virtue in the context of the ongoing psychological pandemic. Citing the alarmingly high rates of mental health struggles on campuses, Mooney offered that Jesuit educators and students of Jesuit schools need to take care of ourselves – body, mind, and spirit – if we are to address the questions of injustice that haunt us today. Mooney then pointed to the resources of Ignatian spirituality, particularly the Examen as a healthy habit of identifying gratitude, as a way to maintain personal care and wellness in times that will continually challenge our personal and collective resolve.

Fr. Tom Smolich, S.J., International Director of the Jesuit Refugee Service, offered an extended reflection on the speech of prior Jesuit Superior General Adolfo Nicolas about the challenges posed by two –isms: aggressive secularism and fundamentalism. Jesuit schools need to discern how to make service of faith an integral component of their commitment to justice. This means taking seriously the critical questions of faith that are presented by the Catholic, Jesuit intellectual tradition. Doing so and encouraging campus communities to embrace Jesuit mission requires discernment, said Smolich, or “decision-making about the mission where the perspectives of each person and the values of the institution are brought together to find the way forward, guided by the Spirit.”

There was so much more to explore in this week’s events. Gratefully, this year’s conference materials will be preserved as digital resources, including recorded poster presentations from across the Jesuit network of schools. You can still sign up for two more weeks of events by visiting the registration page.

Recently, Mission in Motion focused on the Hoya Professional 30 as a cherished annual milestone in the life of the School of Continuing Studies. Tropaia, a yearly ceremony that honors the outstanding contributions and accomplishments of members of the SCS community, is another ceremonial mark on the calendar that invites us to celebrate together and reflect on the deeper purpose of a Georgetown education (you can view a recording of the event).

Typically hosted in historic Gaston Hall, the pandemic made this year’s Tropaia Ceremony a virtual event. But SCS Dean Kelly Otter, noting that this virtual setting is not what we traditionally envision for the celebration, lifted up how an online ceremony helps us appreciate the extraordinary ways that students, faculty, and staff have cultivated habits of leadership, excellence, and mutual support during the pandemic.

Reverend Ebony Grisom, Interim Director of Protestant Christian Ministry, provided a sacred introduction to the proceedings. Rev. Grisom affirmed that, despite the challenges of this past academic year, there is joy in the journey. She called upon the many diverse ways that our community names God and reminded us that we all share deeply in the mission that animates the Spirit of Georgetown. Our students, faculty, and staff, Rev. Grisom remarked, show consistent commitment to serve their diverse communities with compassion and respect, goodness, justice, and love. This prayerful context expanded a sense of gratitude about how the night’s honorees have exemplified the leadership that the world needs now more than ever before.

One of the signature honors presented at Tropaia is the Spirit of Georgetown Award, which is given to a graduating student, alumna, or alumnus who exemplifies Georgetown’s Jesuit values of people in service to others, commitment to justice and the common good, intellectual openness, and leadership. This is a highlight in the work of mission integration at SCS because it brings together a faculty and staff committee to more deeply reflect on our Jesuit values and how the award nominees have made Georgetown’s mission a part of who they are and who they have become as a result of their SCS education.

This year’s award went to Jocelyn Law-Yone, or Chef JoJo, who is a 2018 graduate of the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies. Chef JoJo emigrated to the United States from Burma in 1970 and has made her life about welcoming others by bringing people together over food, friendship, and hospitality. After two decades of teaching English and AP Art History, she opened a Burmese restaurant in Washington, D.C., and has won top awards in the restaurant industry. More than serving food, JoJo’s restaurant Thamee has gained attention for its intentional commitments to racial and social justice. You can read more about her work in these articles in The Washington Post, Zagat, and DC Eater.

Former Jesuit Superior General Peter-Hans Kolvenbach once said that “the real measure of our Jesuit universities lies in who our students become.” Given that so many of our SCS students are adult learners well into their personal and professional lives, I would slightly amend this criterion to “who our students are becoming” because all of us, especially adults, are always engaged in dynamic processes of ongoing growth and development. This year’s Tropaia highlighted the many ways that SCS students, faculty, and staff are contributing their gifts to realize personal and social transformation needed to meet the demands of today.

Since its inception in 2015, the Hoya Professional 30 has become a celebrated and much-anticipated annual milestone in the life of SCS. The awards are given to 30 students at the School, representing a diversity of programs, professional experience, and future ambitions. In addition to the well-deserved recognition for some exemplary students, this process is an important mission opportunity to promote the Spirit of Georgetown, the characteristics and values of the Jesuit tradition that animate our work and study at SCS.

Which Jesuit value resonates most with you and why?

By asking each award winner to answer this question in their own words, the Hoya Professional 30 provides concrete examples of the Jesuit values in action. I feel pride each year listening to how these students express the many ways that they have interiorized Jesuit mission and values through their Georgetown SCS education and then put them into action as part of their professional development. The entire support network at SCS of faculty, staff, and community partners should share in this pride because the education we deliver at SCS is a shared project.

This year’s awardees reflected in a focused way on how much the social justice challenges facing our university, communities, and world inspires their way of proceeding. Karensa Thomas, for example, a student in the Master of Professional Studies in Cybersecurity Risk Management program, is motivated by the value of Community in Diversity:

“I believe in ‘Community in Diversity.’ Exemplifying support for diversity, trust, and equal rights during these unprecedented times is critical for rebuilding and healing our nation. As a trusted leader at Georgetown University and in the community, church, and the United States Armed Forces, I will continue to create diverse teams founded upon honor, inclusion, and trust.”

Morgan Payne, a master of professional studies student in the Integrated Marketing Communications program, picks up on this value as well as others, like People for Others and Faith that Does Justice:

“While much of my work promotes the need for diversity and undisputed benefits of unique representation, it is impossible to ignore the need for us to be ‘People for Others’ and be accepting and supporting of each other. Also with this, of course, comes the need for faith and justice. As a Black woman working in social and racial justice in a time of civil unrest, these values are at the forefront of everything that I do. When developing communications, marketing and strategy for clients, these values often serve as a north star for where we all should be looking to evolve towards as we chart the path to a better future.”

The many inspiring examples of their public leadership and the ways that a Georgetown education has inspired the professional journeys of these students calls to mind the critical importance of action in the paradigm of Jesuit teaching style known as Ignatian Pedagogy. The Jesuit educational tradition at Georgetown, which arises from Jesuit spirituality, is always oriented to making discerned choices about how to serve justice and the common good in one’s unique circumstances. The stage of “action” in the Jesuit learning cycle, which follows the stage of reflection, is meant to inspire generous responses to a world in need: “It is hoped that real education will lead the student to take actions, large and small, to make the world a better place for all, and particularly those most in need.” This year’s awardees are already making the world a better place.

You can watch the SCS virtual award recognition here

You can read more about each of the 2021 awardees here