Plenary Speakers

Back to the Future: Re-envisioning Compassion as an Indicator of Quality Spiritual Care
Compassion lies at the heart of every major religious and spiritual tradition, serving as both a marker and a medium of spiritual care. This presentation will build upon this historic foundation by discussing the precise nature of compassion and its impact on patients and healthcare providers alike.

Dr. Shane Sinclair is an Associate Professor and Cancer Care Research Professor with the University of Calgary, Faculty of Nursing. His research focuses on psychosocial and spiritual issues within oncology and palliative care, including his nationally funded program of research on compassion—with his recent study on Sympathy, Empathy and Compassion being awarded ‘Paper of the Year’, by Palliative Medicine. Dr. Sinclair is a certified spiritual care practitioner with the Canadian Association for Spiritual Care, and with a current H-index of 24, he is on the cusp of becoming the world’s pre-eminent chaplain researcher.  He is the recipient of the International Psychosocial Oncology Society New Investigator Award, the CIHR Institute of Cancer Research New Investigator Award, and is a former “Top 40 under 40” awardee and former President of the Canadian Association of Psychosocial Oncology.  He is the Director of the Compassion Research Lab where he is currently leading two nationally funded, multi-centered studies to develop and validate a patient-reported compassion measure, and a qualitative study to develop a pediatric model of compassion.

The Inner Work of Spiritual Care and Social Justice
In this keynote address, Professor Magee will share practices, research, and developmental pathways supporting the personal, inner work of spiritual care for self and others, including the most vulnerable. She will highlight how self-care practices provide a foundation for justice work in the world.

Rhonda V. Magee is Professor of Law at the University of San Francisco, and has spent more than twenty years exploring the intersections of anti-racist education, social justice, and contemplative practices. She is an internationally recognized thought and practice leader on integrating Mindfulness into Higher Education, Law and Social Justice. A Fellow of the Mind and Life Institute, she has served as an advisor to a range of leading professional development organizations and is currently serving as Chair of the Board of the Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute.  A prolific author, Professor Magee most recently published The Inner Work of Racial Justice: Healing Ourselves and Transforming Our Communities Through Mindfulness (Penguin Random House Tarcher Perigee: 2019).

Title: TBD (January 2020)
Description: TBD (January 2020)

Adrienne Boissy, MD, MA is Chief Experience Officer of the Cleveland Clinic Health System and a staff neurologist. Dr. Boissy leads initiatives to address and improve every aspect of a patient’s encounter with the Health System – from their physical comfort to their educational, emotional and spiritual needs. Dr. Boissy co-chairs the Empathy and Innovation Summit, the largest independent summit on patient experience in the world.  She serves as Editor Emeritus of the Journal of Patient Experience and on the advisory board for Option B.  She has published extensively about relationships and empathy in healthcare, and advocates for major operational changes in healthcare systems for a more humane experience, noted in her TED talk “Can empathy help heal healthcare?”  She has been featured in several publications such as The Wall Street Journal.  A Harvard Macy scholar, she has been nationally recognized as a leading physician executive.

Diversity is not Just the Differences You Like: Spiritual Care in the time of Tribalism
We live in an era where people choose sides and prepare for battle. What would it look like to be a leader who sought the well-being of the whole – both people you identify with, and people you don’t; people you agree with, and people you don’t; people on this side of the line, and people on the other side. What would it mean to engage in multicultural and interfaith work with the recognition that diversity is not just the differences you like? In this talk, Eboo Patel, Founder and President of Interfaith Youth Core, will draw on inspiring examples from American history and religious traditions to show how we can build a country where all people thrive. The best symbol for this is not a melting pot, but a potluck dinner. After all, a diverse democracy does not benefit from endless sameness, but upon the various gifts that its diverse people bring. If people don’t contribute, the nation doesn’t feast. The task of the leader is to inspire people’s fullest and best participation – and that requires the highest level of spiritual care.

Eboo Patel is the Founder and President of Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC), a non-profit organization that is working to make interfaith cooperation a social norm in America. He is the author of four books and dozens of articles, has spoken on more than 150 campuses, and served on President Obama’s Inaugural Faith Council. A key figure on issues of religious diversity and democracy, Eboo was named one of America’s Best Leaders by U.S. News & World Report in 2009. He is the author of Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, the Struggle for the Soul of a Generation; Sacred Ground: Pluralism, Prejudice, and the Promise of America; Interfaith Leadership: A Primer; and Out of Many Faiths: Religious Diversity and the American Promise. He also publishes a regular blog for Inside Higher Ed, called ‘Conversations on Diversity’. Eboo holds a doctorate in the sociology of religion from Oxford University, where he studied on a Rhodes scholarship. He has been awarded the Louisville Grawemeyer Prize in Religion, the Guru Nanak Interfaith Prize, the El Hibri Peace Education Prize, the Council of Independent Colleges Academic Leadership Award, along with honorary degrees from 15 colleges. Eboo lives in Chicago with his wife, Shehnaz, and two young sons. He is a die-hard fan of Notre Dame Football, Wilco, and really good coffee.