CERTIFICATE IN TRANSFORMATIVE LEADERSHIP

Certificate in
Transformative Leadership

EARN A CERTIFICATE WITH AN EMPHASIS ON LEADERSHIP FROM BELOW THAT SEEKS TO SUBVERT OPPRESSIVE STRUCTURES AND USHER IN SOCIAL CHANGE WITH WISDOM, RESILIENCE, INNER TRANSFORMATION, AND STRENGTH IN COMMUNITY.

PROGRAMS / LEADERSHIP

Leading with wisdom and resilience in a fractured and tumultuous world.

At St. Stephen's University, we recognize the pressing need for leaders who can lead transformatively across a wide variety of communities and sectors of society (faith-based nonprofits and NGOs, social movements, churches & ministries, and governmental & corporate roles), while being rooted in a theology with dirt under its nails expressed as co-suffering love and solidarity with the vulnerable and disinherited.

Our leadership philosophy is simple yet multi-layered: Kenotic (self-giving and self-emptying) leadership from below that seeks to subvert harmful systems and structures of dominance and oppression, heal the fractures in our polarized societies, and usher in social change with wisdom, humility, courage, resilience, through inner transformation and strength in community.

Our online Certificate in Transformative Leadership equips students as leaders in transformative, decolonized, Christlike ways by giving them opportunities to learn from practitioner experts with demonstrated impact in transformative leadership around the world. Our vision for transformative leadership is both internal and external — because transformation through peacebuilding in the world flows out of a deep inner contemplative formation and transformation. If you envision a future in leadership in communities, organizations, social movements, and other contexts that are actively contributing to the common good and flourishing of our world (perhaps even while exploring whether the Master of Arts in Transformative Leadership is the right fit for you), we hope you will join our enriching learning community.

Course Sequencing

The successful completion of the online Certificate in Transformative Leadership requires a total of 18 credit hours, usually 9 credit hours in the Fall (Sep. – Dec.) and 9 credit hours in the Spring (Jan. – Apr.). All students must complete LEAD 5000: The ARC of Leadership: Foundations & Conversations (3 c/h) and LEAD 5090: Leadership Practicum Placement, but electives are possible depending on the student's vocational aspirations and program pacing (see below for more details).

The courses in the Certificate in Transformative Leadership are listed below.

BOTH ONLINE/DISTANCE AND IMMERSIVE TRAVEL OPTIONS AVAILABLE

THE CertTL AT A GLANCE

DURATION — 8 MONTHS (FULL TIME)

CREDIT HOURS — 18

DELIVERY MODE — ONLINE COURSES, OPTIONAL

10-DAY IMMERSION INTO NORTHERN IRELAND

EMPHASES — DECOLONIZING LEADERSHIP, INNER FORMATION OF A LEADER, POWER AND STORY IN LEADERSHIP, NARRATIVE LEADERSHIP, JUSTICE-SEEKING & PEACEMAKING, COMMUNITY ORGANIZING, KENOTIC LEADERSHIP

Fall Semester

9 CREDIT HOURS

LEAD 5000

LEAD 5820

LEAD 5222

The ARC of Leadership: Foundations & Conversations (3 c/h)

TEAM TAUGHT BY SSU'S BOARD / DR. BRADLEY JERSAK

Leadership & Justice in a Fractured World (3 c/h)

ANU GEORGE CANJANATHOPPIL

Kenotic & Decolonized Leadership (3 c/h)

REV. JOASH THOMAS

Spring Semester

9 CREDIT HOURS

LEAD 5652

LEAD 5242

LEAD 5090

Story & Power Dynamics in Leadership (3 c/h)

RENÉ AUGUST

Inner Formation & Contemplative Leadership (3 c/h)

OSHETA MOORE

Leadership Practicum Placement (3 c/h)

DR. ANDREW PHILLIP KLAGER

This is option includes an immersive trip for ten days in N.Ireland (click here to learn more), but space is limited for SSU students on a first come, first served basis. If a student is not able to participate in this immersive trip due to limited space, online courses are available as enriching alternatives, or the student may wish to wait until the following year to participate in this travel opportunity while completing the other components of the Certificate.

Further, students for whom community organizing for peacebuilding and activism is a leadership goal can take

Most students will progress through the CertTL with the course sequencing described above. All courses are offered online, except for the Leadership Practicum Placement, which students complete either locally or in an appropriate organizational context in another location that's agreeable to the student. If a student starts in the spring semester, LEAD 5000 and LEAD 5090 are interchangeable.

However, a limited number of students can replace two electives with

LEAD 5811

Global Immersion Leadership Cohort (6 c/h)

DR. JER SWIGART

PJST 5584

Faith-Rooted Community-Based Peacebuilding (3 c/h)

LISA SHARON HARPER

Students who choose this option must be prepared to make a case for replacing one LEAD course with PJST 5584 by submitting a rationale.

Anu George Canjanathoppil

AFFILIATE FACAULTY in

TRANSFORMATIVE LEADERSHIP

amputating the soul in the process. What’s emerging here feels different. Thoughtful. Grounded. Brave enough to hold theology, justice, leadership, development, and human dignity in the same room without flattening any of them into slogans.

And the timing matters deeply. So many people are exhausted by performative leadership and hungry for something more integrated, ethical, and spiritually coherent. A program like this does not merely produce graduates. It can form translators between worlds: faith and policy, activism and humility, systems and people.

The phrase that kept coming to mind while looking at this program was: 'formation for the long obedience.' Not leadership as charisma, but leadership sturdy enough to remain human while carrying complexity.

here are plenty of leadership programs that teach scale, influence, and strategy. Very few teach transformation without

Faculty in Transformative Leadership

Rev. René August

AFFILIATE FACAULTY in TRANSFORMATIVE LEADERSHIP

Anglican priest, anti-apartheid activist serving under and mentored by Arch. Desmond Tutu, co-director of The Justice Conference South Africa.

For more on René's experience and expertise, click here.

Lisa Sharon Harper, PhD (ABD)

AFFILIATE FACAULTY in

PEACE & JUSTICE

Founding president of freedomroad.us, author, named one of 50 powerful women religious leaders by Huffington Post (2015).

For more on Lisa's experience and expertise, click here.

Osheta Moore

AFFILIATE FACAULTY in TRANSFORMATIVE LEADERSHIP

Spiritual director, author, Community Life Pastor at Roots Moravian Church, Program Specialist at Global Immersion.

For more on Osheta's experience and expertise, click here.

Felicia Murrell

AFFILIATE FACAULTY in TRANSFORMATIVE LEADERSHIP

Author, speaker, certified master life coach, former ordained pastor with over twenty years of church leadership experience.

For more on Felicia's experience and expertise, click here.

Fr. Joash Thomas

INSTRUCTOR in PUBLIC THEOLOGY, PEACE & JUSTICE

Ordained Priest in the Diocese of St. Anthony, author, speaker, Director of Fundraising & Advancement at SSU, M.A. in Christian Leadership.

For more on Joash's experience and expertise, click here.

Anu George Canjanathoppil

AFFILIATE FACAULTY in TRANSFORMATIVE LEADERSHIP

Former CEO of International Justice Mission Canada, previous Head of the University of Aberdeen School of Law (Indian Campus), B.A., B.L., M.B.A., and M.A. in Organizational Leadership.

For more on Anu's experience and expertise, click here.

Derek Holser, J.D.

AFFILIATE FACAULTY in TRANSFORMATIVE LEADERSHIP

Attorney, SSU Board member, author, Professor at Seapointe College, VA.

For more on Derek's experience and expertise, click here.

Steven E. Harris, Ed.D.

AFFILIATE FACAULTY in TRANSFORMATIVE LEADERSHIP

Owner & Principal of Harris Consulting, SSU Board member, author, former Adjunct Instructor at Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

For more on Steven's experience and expertise, click here.

Bradley Jersak, Ph.D.

PRINCIPAL of SSU

Author, theologian, Professor of Theology & Religious Studies, Dean of Theology & Culture

For more on Bradley's experience and expertise, click here.

Judith Moses

AFFILIATE FACAULTY in TRANSFORMATIVE LEADERSHIP

President & CEO of Judith Moses Consulting, 35 years in federal government advising successive Prime Ministers of Canada, Chair of SSU Board of Governors.

For more on Judith's experience and expertise, click here.

Doug Murrell

AFFILIATE FACAULTY in TRANSFORMATIVE LEADERSHIP

Operations Administrator at Mayo Clinic, former Chief Operating Officer at the Center for Action and Contemplation, Master of Public Administration.

For more on Doug's experience and expertise, click here.

Jer Swigart, DLd

AFFILIATE FACAULTY in TRANSFORMATIVE LEADERSHIP

Co-Founding Executive Director of The Global Immersion Project, author, Doctor of Leadership in Global Perspectives from George Fox University.

For more on Jer's experience and expertise, click here.

Ernie Tai

AFFILIATE FACAULTY in TRANSFORMATIVE LEADERSHIP

President & CEO of LW Scientific, Inc., author, public speaker, mentor, SSU Board member.

For more on Ernie's experience and expertise, click here.

The scholar-practitioners who make up SSU's Leadership faculty provide a breadth of knowledge and real-world living experience that's deeply rooted in contexts of struggle where there is a genuine need for social change and healing.

They each bring their own unique leadership philosophies that speak from and into SSU's mission to "prepare people, through academic, personal, and spiritual development, for a life of justice, beauty, and compassion, enabling a humble, creative engagement with their world," thus giving our program an unrivalled texture and richness for equipping our students to lead with hope with our eyes wide open.

As one of our Affiliate Faculty, Anu George Canjanathoppil, remarked, "These are not just lecturers. These are people who have scars, field notes, and living convictions.”

In this way, our faculty model leadership that's rooted in humility, courage, compassion, and resilience through SSU's shared vision to "engage and reconcile communities through a relational, contemplative, and transformative university education.”

Faculty with scars, field notes, and living convictions.

Course Descriptions

KENOTIC & DECOLONIZED LEADERSHIP | FR. JOASH THOMAS | 3 CREDIT HOURS

Grounded in the example Jesus sets for us — leadership that is self-emptying of power & privilege (kenotic / kenosis as seen in Philippians 2) — this course creates a space for leaders and leaders-in-training across various contexts to wrestle with deconstructing and decolonizing Empire-shaped models of leadership, and reconstructing healthier, ancient, Jesus-centered, Empire-resisting ways of leadership — especially when it comes to leading our budgets, bottom lines and the people we've been entrusted with stewarding. Learn from the perspectives of a diverse group of leaders and practitioners who have wrestled with these leadership dimensions for years, while poking holes in and expand our narrow Empire-shaped imaginations of leadership (ways that are grasping, controlling, seizing, and dominating) with leadership principles grounded in the kenotic way of Jesus of Nazareth (ways that are humble, curious, self-giving, and neighbour-oriented).

THE ARC OF LEADERSHIP: FOUNDATIONS & CONVERSATIONS | BOARD TEAM TAUGHT / DR. BRADLEY JERSAK | 3 CREDIT HOURS

This is a required introductory course for all Leadership Track students. Lecturers bring expertise and experience in profit and not-for-profit leadership, with a range of skill sets as business executives, board members and staff in churches, ministries, colleges, corporations, and government. As the title says, this is a broad "leadership foundations" course rooted in the ARC of SSU's ethos, where ARC represents Alignment (with SSU values), Responsiveness (to real-world needs), and Connection (from relationships to global networks). The course will be comprised of 12 x 40 minute sessions, some in lecture style and some as interview/conversations.

LEADERSHIP & JUSTICE IN A FRACTURED WORLD | ANU GEORGE CANJANATHOPPIL | 3 CREDIT HOUR

The world doesn't need more competent leaders. It needs leaders who refuse to look away. This course is for those who sense that something is deeply broken — in systems, in institutions, in the stories we tell about power — and who want to do something about it. Drawing on Christian theology, global justice movements, and hard-won field experience from the frontlines of human rights work, Leadership & Justice in a Fractured World reframes leadership as the practice of restoration: building institutions that resist exploitation, cultures that refuse dehumanization, and communities where mercy and accountability are not opposites but partners. Participants leave not with easy answers, but with the courage, clarity, and tools to lead transformatively — in boardrooms, communities, and the places most people never look.

INNER FORMATION & CONTEMPLATIVE LEADERSHIP | OSHETA MOORE | 3 CREDIT HOURS

Sustainable leadership begins within. This course invites students into the formative practice of crafting a Rule of Life, drawing deeply from the Black Church contemplative tradition and other enduring streams of spiritual wisdom. Together, we'll explore how leaders construct an infrastructure of support — the rhythms, relationships, and practices that sustain a grounded, embodied, and prophetic leadership presence over the long haul.

FAITH-ROOTED COMMUNITY-BASED PEACEBUILDING | LISA SHARON HARPER | 3 CREDIT HOURS

For leaders who want to be better equipped for community organizing, this course will explore key elements of peacebuilding as applied in the context of North American faith-rooted community-based movements for change. Peacebuilding typically refers to the delicate work of knitting together relationships between disparate factions or nations in a way that enables durable peace. More often than not, the West views peacebuilding as an outward venture; one that takes place "over there." Yet, viewed through the lens of the oppressed, we understand that peacebuilding has been foundational to the struggle of decolonizing justice movements around the world, including in from the abolitionist movement to the women's suffrage movement through the Civil Rights and Black Lives Matter movements.

GLOBAL IMMERSION LEADERSHIP COHORT | DR. JER SWIGART | 6 CREDIT HOURS

This cohort and course forms leaders in the practices and postures of conflict-competent leadership. Grounded in spiritual formation, communal learning, and immersive experience, participants cultivate the inner life and relational and tactical skills necessary to lead with courage, humility, and resilience amid conflict. The journey culminates in an international immersion and a contextual leadership project rooted in participants’ own communities.

LEADERSHIP PRACTICUM PLACEMENT | DR. ANDREW KLAGER | 3 CREDIT HOURS

This practicum course gives leadership students an opportunity for embodied and experiential learning and to gain practical experience for developing leadership instincts and skills in various contexts within organizations, social movements, governmental departments, and/or ecclesial spaces. Students will identify and coordinate work, co-op, internship, or volunteer opportunities with organizations that are working to address challenges and pressing needs in our world that may be local and/or global in scope. Students will also read about the contexts they will be engaging, record reflections during their experience, and submit a final report on key areas of the experience. The fieldwork experience should normally be approximately 80 hours in length to receive 3 credits, with the amount of supplementary coursework adjusted commensurate with the number of hours below or above 80 hours.

GO TO FULL SSU COURSE LIST

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