Spirituality Leadership & Management

Claire Jankelson, President of SLaM Inc, 2011 Conference Convenor

Claire Jankelson, PhD, has been a member of SLaM since its beginnings. She served on the board of the SLaM Network and has been President of SLaM Inc for the last two years. Her passion is in the design and creation of processes that enable and stimulate learning and awakening. She uses the generative qualities of respect and the validation of each person’s experience to develop a greater sense of engagement, professionalism and leadership within one’s practice. Teaching is her core work with the following current appointments: the hermeneutic circle and supervision of PhD’s at Macquarie Graduate School of Management within qualitative or phenomenological fields of research; Transformative Leadership at UWS and Research for Psychotherapists at the Metavision Institute. She is now driving an innovative program called the Leadership Project which is offered to senior leaders as an opportunity to improve their leadership using practically based reflective processes.

I am truly excited about the positioning of SLaM within the field of consciousness-raising and transformative, creative programs whose day has truly come.Through the continuing national and international interest being generated, the stream of emails and invitations to participate, the enthusiasm of people and programs around the world – I know we are doing work that does not belong to us! I am grateful for this opportunity to be involved.

Gisela Wendling, SLaM Inc Committee Member, Program Chair for Conference

Gisela Wendling, PhD, is an educator in the fields of humanistic/transpersonal psychology and organisation development and as an organisation learning and development practitioner works with and in organisations. She has held various corporate positions and most recently was assistant professor in the Psychology Department at Sonoma State University, California, where she directed their Masters Program in Organization Development. Gisela was born and raised in Germany and lived in the US until 2009. She received her doctorate in human and organisation development from the Fielding Graduate University in the United States. Her transformational work with individuals and organisations is inspired by the wisdom traditions of the indigenous people and their use of ceremony and rites of passages to support change and stability.

SLaM creates a space for essential but often marginalised conversations about the value of spirituality in organisational life. As the program chair for this year I am helping shape a conference experience that draws on rich content through research-based, experiential, and reflective learning processes and one that invites attendees to engage in a collective wisdom creation process. The intention is for the knowledge we share, the experiences we engage in, and the wisdom we evoke to guide our actions moving forward to help create a more wholesome and sustainable future.

Glenn Martin, Treasurer, SLaM Inc, Administrator for Conference

Glenn was involved in the organising of the 2010 SLaM conference and has been involved in the planning and delivery of several conferences for the Australian Institute of Training and Development as well as professional events for the Australian Human Resources Institute over the last ten years. He is a writer on business ethics, human resources, and training and development. He has spoken at many conferences and seminars on ethics, leadership and learning. He has two websites:
www.ethicsandvalues.com.au and www.glennmartin.com.au.

Ella Zhang, Secretary, SLaM Inc; Looks after SLaM websites

Ella is Secretary of the SLaM committee, in addition, she takes care of the websites with her very “layman” knowledge and skills. However, the honour of working with a group of like-minded inspiring people is indeed energizing for her.

Outside of SLaM activities, Ella spends her daytime working in the corporate sector as a L&D/OD professional, designing and delivering various programs; facilitating personal and professional development is her daily dose of happiness. Ella has also been involved in community activities focusing on developing and building capacities of future leaders since immigrating to Australia a decade ago. Before that, she practised as a lawyer and In-house Counsel in commercial and technology industries.

Anne Matheson, SLaM Inc Committee Member, Marketing and Sponsorship for Conference

Anne has a passion for people.  Her career has been as both a consultant and a manager in marketing and people and change, all of which have a common thread – the way people construct and manage the meaning of experiences, events and symbols, then go about making choices in their life.  She is currently undertaking her PhD in “Emotion in the Workplace” at Macquarie Graduate School of Management.  Anne joined the SLaM management team to assist in the marketing area.

John Lee, Conference Project Manager

“As Conference Project Manager my role is the timely co-ordination of the activities required to present a successful SLaM Conference. I chose to become involved with the SLaM Conference as I believed I could make a difference. It is truly a joy to work with the team of talented and committed SLaM members who are dedicated to creating an inspiring SLaM Conference. I encourage others to become involved with the Conference in whatever shape or form.”

Paul Eperjesi (Yeshi), Conference Weaver

With a Master of Education, Yeshi offers an integrated approach drawing on 35 years in wilderness education, psychotherapy, social ecology, meditation and dance. An early pioneer of outdoor education and executive coaching in Australia, he has 15 years’ experience in corporate leadership. This includes Managing Director of the highly successful Compass Learning, which specialised in team development and transformational leadership.

Yeshi has recently embarked on a Doctorate at The University of Wollongong looking at the changing environmental attitude in teenagers. He is also performing in ‘Bringers of The Dawn’ an environmental piece for our time with the Theatre of Living Light.

Noelene Kelly, SLaM Community and Spiritual Liaison

“SLaM it is your time! The crises and complexities the planet now faces demand a new paradigm! Predominantly mechanical intelligence measures are proving inadequate for the immense and immeasurable! Whole person and whole system approaches are called for now! To this end, it seems timely to engage the broad spectrum of human intelligence and wisdom along with the rational modes; timely to engage the more mythic, imaginative and soul modes of intelligence that have been kept alive at the private level across the centuries of their exclusion from public life!

I sense that we are at a major evolutionary tipping point; I am keenly interested in the human capacity and consciousness that are emerging and re-emerging now. I have spent many years engaging with age old human wisdom woven into the mystical traditions. I find in them a rich mine of insight and relevance for my practice in and beyond the Corporations.”

Noelene is a Transformational Coach. Her website is: www.noelenekelly.com.au

Yvonne Collier, Minutes Secretary for SLaM Inc Committee

Yvonne is a Certified Speaking Professional. She believes we all have a voice that deserves to be heard. She is passionate about helping people become more assertive, to speak up and speak out, respecting others and ourselves. Imagine if everyone could just ask for what they want and say ‘No’ to what they don’t want – what a different and wonderful world!

One of Yvonne’s top ten life highlights is/was spending a month in an ashram in Southern India in 1999. People from all religions / faiths basked in the peaceful energy and love of humanity. Her mission is to bring love, light and laughter to everyone she meets.

Lynne Baker, Liaison with Overseas Conference Participants

Lynne is a psychologist, management consultant, supervisor and filmmaker who has worked with individuals, groups and organisations for over 25 years. She synthesises her wealth of experience, deep perspectives and diverse training to bring a creative and inclusive approach to leadership and organisational change. She is a trainer in process-oriented psychology, www.processworkaustralia.org.au and teaches conflict resolution internationally.

Her research has dealt with themes such as death and dying, work/life values, and sacred places. An avid traveller, she is passionate about exploring life’s deeper meaning and purpose. She enjoys meeting new people and is the contact for overseas registrations at the SLaM conference.

Antoinette Braks, Vice President of SLaM committee

Antoinette was a newcomer to SLaM at the last Conference. She was delighted to find new friends amongst fellow PhD students and an environment that embraced intellectual pursuit and spiritual understanding. Antoinette has over twenty years’ consulting, coaching and executive experience in management assessment, leadership development, people and culture, and organization development. She has worked around the world with regional enterprises, multinational corporations and public sector organizations, and is highly regarded as an effective catalyst for transformational change. Her educational background includes an Honours degree in Law from Auckland University, an MBA from London Business School and two MGSM prizes for outstanding academic achievement in 2009-10. Antoinette currently manages a portfolio of consulting, coaching and writing work while supporting SLaM in its strategic goals.