History

The Institute for Spiritual Leadership was founded in 1974 by Jesuit Paul Robb and Cenacle Sister Irene Dugan. Robb, a clinical psychologist, and Dugan, a well-known spiritual director, integrated the wisdom of psychology and spirituality. They offered the unique insight that accomplished spiritual directors must balance their professional training with attention to the ongoing deepening of their own personal and spiritual lives. Through this process, the Institute forms competent, compassionate, and dynamic spiritual leaders.  

From its beginnings as a summer program, the Institute for Spiritual Leadership developed an intensive, nine-month program. During its 25th anniversary year, the Institute inaugurated a two-year weekend program. In 2005, a part-time weekday program began in Wilmette, Illinois.  

The Institute for Spiritual Leadership celebrates 35 years of offering spiritual direction and spiritual growth programs in a sacred place for growing. 

Board of Directors    

Officers of the Corporation

      President:
      Kevin Stevens
      School of Accountancy
      DePaul University, Chicago

      Treasurer:
      Rev. Timothy Mulroy, S.C.C.
      Formation Director
      Missionary Society of St. Columban

      Secretary:
      Jane Zimmerman
      Administrative Assistant
      Institute for Spiritual Leadership

      Members:
      Roslyn C. Leib
      Judith Valente

      Ex-officio:
      Lucy Abbott Tucker
      Co-Director
      Institute for Spiritual Leadership

      David Schimmel
      Co-Director
      Institute for Spiritual Leadership

Co-Directors

Institute for Spiritual Leadership Co-Directors

Lucy Abbott Tucker has worked at the Institute for Spiritual Leadership in Chicago preparing individuals for the ministry of spiritual direction for over 25 years. She is active in the work of Spiritual Directors International and has been involved in retreats and workshops in Europe and Canada.  She has also published several articles on topics related to the ministry of spiritual direction.  Lucy has a M.S. from Manhattan College, New York, New York and a M.A. from Catholic Theological Union, Chicago, Illinois.

David Schimmel has spent 26 years working in adult spiritual formation as a program director, speaker, writer, retreat director and spiritual director. He teaches the course, “Symbols and Spirituality” at the Institute for Spiritual Leadership. David has a Master of Divinity degree and M.A. in Spirituality.

Program Staff

      Lucy Abbott Tucker
      M.S. from Manhattan College, New York, NY
      M.A. from Catholic Theological Union, Chicago, IL

      Sara Griffith-Adducci
      B.S. Indiana University, Bloomington, IL
      M.A. Governors State University, University Park, IL

      Patricia Coughlin, OSB
      B.A. Mundelein College, Chicago, IL
      M.A. Loyola University, Chicago, IL
      M.P.S. Loyola University, Chicago, IL
      D.Min. Chicago Theological Union, Chicago, IL

      Lea Murray
      B.S. University of Texas, El Paso, TX

      Onyejiuwa Chika Justus, CSSp
      B.Sc. University of Ibadan, Nigeria
      B.A. Spiritan International School of Theology in affiliation with University of Nigeria
      M.A. Spiritan International School of Theology in affiliation with Dusquesne University

      Esmé Peterson
      B.A. University of Pretoria, South Africa
      M.A. Diaconal Candidate, Lutheran School of Theology, Chicago, IL

      Mary Ellen Ryley, SCMM
      M.A. University of Detroit, Detroit, MI
      M.P.S. Loyola University, Chicago, IL

      David Schimmel
      M.Div. Sacred Heart School of Theology, Hales Corners, WI
      M.A. Catholic Theological Union, Chicago, IL

      Jane Zimmerman, OP
      Administrative Assistant
      M.A. Instructional Development and Technology, Michigan State Univ., E. Lansing, MI
      M.P.S. Loyola University, Chicago, IL

Core Values

• A belief in the oneness of all spiritual traditions.
• A belief that we are in the midst of a foundational paradigm shift that affects our core identity and our relationship with the entire cosmic community.
• A belief that it is in and through the interior journey that individual and world consciousness changes.
• A belief that the interior development of the spiritual leader as a person supports that individual’s development as a skilled professional.
• A belief that one can be present to another person in a companioning way to the extent that a person is in touch with her/his own inner being and life journey.
• A belief that an incarnational spirituality that reverences the holy in all areas of life encourages the exploration of the unity between psychological development and spiritual growth.

In light of the Institute for Spiritual Leadership’s commitment to the Core Values,

Board and Staff are encouraged to

• Provide a safe and supportive environment in order to attend to life experience.
• Invite participants into the process of personal transformation.
• Teach a process of self-reflection and self-revelation which leads to deeper affective self-knowledge.
• Model a contemplative attitude toward all of life.

Program Participants are encouraged to

• Become familiar with the sacred space within themselves which mirrors the sacredness of the outer Universe.
• Engage in an exploration of the relationship between cosmic wholeness and their call to personal wholeness.
• Acquire an ability to name, accept, and integrate their personal experience.
• Grow in deeper appreciation of their own life stories.
• Gain an understanding of the dynamics of the transformative process.
• Integrate the conscious and unconscious elements of their own personality.
• Explore the myths and symbols that have power in their lives and the inner dynamics that have driven their behaviors.
• Develop a contemplative attitude toward life.
• Learn to trust the process of life.
• Develop a capacity for living in full and present awareness.
• Learn to companion self and others.
• Live more holistically.
• Become familiar with the sacred space within, where God dwells.