Staff Biographies

Seana Lowe Steffen, PhD

Founder and Executive Director

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Seana Lowe Steffen, PhD, is the founder and executive director of the Restorative Leadership Institute. She formerly served on the faculty at the University of Colorado at Boulder as the founding director of INVST Community Studies, where she designed and delivered award-winning leadership curriculum focused on developing a more just and sustainable world. In public service, Seana co-founded Explore Expeditionary Learning School, which received the first Colorado “Commissioner’s Choice Award for Getting Results,” and Rocky Mountain Youth Corps, the first rural regional youth corps in the country and a recipient of White House recognition for positive change in the Southwest.

Seana brings 20 years of experience as an executive coach, strategic consultant, and change catalyst offering leadership and organizational development expertise to the not-for-profit, private, and public sectors. Seana’s clients range from grassroots start-ups to Fortune 100 companies in all three sectors, including Hewlett Packard International, The Sustainability Consortium, Engineers Without Borders, and the National Civilian Community Corps. She has trained and consulted throughout the United States and the world in settings such as Mexico, Jamaica, and Rwanda.

 

As a scholar, Seana conducts participatory action research in the areas of leadership, education, community development, and sustainability. She has published multiple scientific journal articles, book chapters, and her most recent book on Engaging Classrooms and Communities through Art. Seana is currently writing a book on restorative leadership and women in sustainability.

 

Seana received her PhD in sociology from the University of Colorado, and BA degrees in psychology and French from Denison University. In addition, she was a Fellow at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business and received her Executive Certificate in Sustainable Management from the Presidio Graduate School. Seana is also a social-psychologist with certification in Gestalt psychotherapy, and certified in ashtanga and kundalini yoga instruction.

Her awards include ETown National Public Radio’s “E-chievement Award” for making a lasting difference in the community and beyond, the Betsy Moen “Walk the Talk” award as a sociologist integrating her vision for a better world with her research and teaching, Mortar Board’s “Outstanding Professor,”  and the Women’s Resource Center “Women Who Make a Difference” award. She also was a nominee for the Ford Foundation Leadership for a Changing World Award. Seana is proudest, however, of the award from her university students for being, “Most likely to remind us about our greatness on our answering machines.”

Jamie Rezmovits, J.D.

Program Director

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Jamie is an educator, attorney, and artist.  As an educator, she has provided transformative learning opportunities for students from all over the world. At the University of Colorado, she worked as a faculty member for the INVST Community Studies Department where she trained community leaders to work for the benefit of humanity and the environment.  She taught with the Civic Education Program at Northwestern University where she combined education and community service to promote civic responsibility among young people.  And most recently, she fostered global and cross-cultural knowledge and understanding as an International Trip Leader with the LEAP Now Program, in affiliation with the New College of California. 

Jamie currently works as an Associate Attorney with the Scheitler & Elio law firm in Denver, Colorado.  She is also the Co-Director of the Global Youth Forums Project, a project of the Maryland-based Innovation Center for Community and Youth Development, creating opportunities for leadership development and increased civic engagement for young people in developing nations.   Additionally, Jamie serves as the Chair of the Board of Directors for Un Mundo, an international development organization working in Honduras, and the Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors for CCCS, a Denver-based financial education and services non-profit.

Jamie is a filmmaker and artist and believes in using the arts as a powerful tool for social and environmental change.  She graduated with a BFA in filmmaking from the University of Colorado-Boulder and received her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Colorado School of Law.

Sierra Brashear, MA

Communications and Sustainability Steward

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Sierra’s background is in natural resource management, community development, and peace studies with an international focus. She holds her BA from the University of Colorado at Boulder and her MA from the United Nations Mandated Graduate School for Peace and Conflict Studies in Costa Rica.

In the past, Sierra worked as a founding member the Student Worker Alliance Program based at the University of Colorado, and served as an important asset to organizations such as the University of Colorado Environmental Center as well as the Boulder-based non-profit Global Greengrants Fund. Sierra has also worked with various international community-based organizations focusing on sustainable development, including organizations in Zanzibar and Guatemala. She currently works as the International Communications Manager for the non-profit Midwife International in Boulder, Colorado. Sierra is also an artist, as well as a dancer in the West African Dance Ensemble Logo Ligi.

Having studied and worked in communities in East Africa, Central America, and the United States, Sierra has a great understanding of the importance of leadership that restores our communities and the Earth’s ecosystems.

Advisory Team and Adjunct Faculty

Ian Christie - The Green Alliance

Investigating issues of policy and practice for sustainable living, Ian researches, writes and teaches to forward global policy shift around sustainability and economic development.

Stan Deetz, PhD - University of Colorado at Boulder

Stan is a President’s Teaching Scholar in communication and director of the Center for the Study of Conflict, Collaboration, and Creative Governance.

Bob Dunham - Institute for Generative Leadership

Bob consults internationally on mastering professional management, and his new book The Innovator’s Way is available on MIT Press.

Ellis Jones, PhD - Better World Shopper

As a scholar of social responsibility, global citizenship and everyday activism, Ellis authored The Better World Handbook.

Beth Krensky, PhD - University of Utah

An internationally recognized artist, Beth is the founder and area head of Art Teaching at the University of Utah.

Kellie McElhaney, PhD - University of California, Berkeley

As the founding executive director of the Center for Responsible Business, Kellie helped Haas earn the rank of #1 in the world in corporate responsibility.

Malini Mehra - Centre for Social Markets

A social entrepreneur from India, Malini founded the Centre for Social Markets, a non-profit organization promoting entrepreneurship for the triple bottom line – people, planet and prosperity.

Luke Seaward, PhD -  Inspiration Unlimited and the Paramount Wellness Institute

Luke is a renowned and respected international expert in the fields of stress management, mind-body-spirit healing, and health promotion. We thank him for the use of his masterful photography.

Charles Wright - Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

A creative, strategy-driven leader, Charles is passionate about helping communities organize their resources to support and accelerate success in education.