A burgeoning leader in the field of Social Entrepreneurship, Susan Olesek speaks–with compelling authenticity–to the messy business of stepping into our “higher selves.” We gather in order to meet the challenge of taking the Enneagram out of the theoretical and into the present, everyday-ness of our lives. As we do so, we cannot help but to deepen our awareness that “the work” has never been for a privileged minority, but for the global community of which we are all intricately a part. Currently, there is a readiness and willingness to receive the teaching, towards which our fore-fathers and fore-mothers were visionary enough to set us on course decades ago. In this final note of the 20th Anniversary IEA Conference, you will be supported in–as we say–striking a collective “Do” and feeling for the places in our world where the Enneagram wants to go. You will see that your next step is a leap of faith that is not only of practical necessity, but divinely supported.

With a steadfast compassion for the human condition, Susan Olesek brings her profound appreciation of the Enneagram to a meaningful application in the real world. Inspired by the hundreds of men and women with whom she has worked behind bars, she founded the Enneagram Prison Project, a non-profit offering self-awareness education to the incarcerated. By drawing from her unique education “on the inside,” where she is continually challenged to confront the prison of her own mind, Susan renders our hearts hopefully encouraged to do the same. While she weaves healing and consciousness into the narrative of her own life experience, you will sense your own purposeful placement in how you, too, are invited to bring your whole self beyond our shared community, to the world at large.