Certified InterPlay Leader
Janina is a certified spiritual director who loves listening to the stories of others, particularly as we listen together for the deeper wisdom in the rhythms of one's spiritual life. She enjoys sharing her gifts and skills in resourcefulness, mindfulness, empathy, creativity and wholeheartedness in service to others in local communities and global ecosystems. She delights in participating in Atlanta-based Sustaining International Sisters and appreciates deeply the opportunity to collaborate with and learn from Ruth Schowalter and Canan Arikan. She most recently served as a communications and operations consultant for the Osage Forest of Peace, a contemplative, interspiritual retreat center west of Tulsa, OK, where she lived as a full-time resident in 2018-19. She has a wandering, yet intentional spirit - perhaps most aptly shown during her sabbatical year in 2017 that included sojourn on the Camino de Santiago, participation in the International Festival of Afro-Cuban Guaguancó in Spain, a 6,500 road trip across the United States & Canada (attending the International Expressive Arts Therapy Association’s Annual Conference in Winnipeg and visiting InterPlay communities in the Twin Cities, New England, Durham and Atlanta), and completion of a 200-hour yoga teacher training in Kerala, India. She spent the previous decade in voluntary and professional work in higher education systems and faith-based institutions. She has full working proficiency in the Spanish language. Janina is grateful to Betsey Beckman for first introducing her to InterPlay and mentoring her throughout the leadership process, as well as Madeline Danaher whose nurtured her deeper understanding of InterPlay's integration into daily life. She's grateful to have participated in the two-week long Art & Social Change for Millennial Leaders program and received in-person trainings from Cynthia Winton-Henry & Phil Porter, Soyinka Rahim, Coke Tani, Agnotti Benedict, Kate & Billy Amoss, and Ginny Going.