Dr. Westina Matthews

Dr. Westina Matthews is an author, public speaker, spiritual director, and retreat leader who has found a way to connect with others through her books, essays, lectures, and teaching. For twelve years, she was an Adjunct Professor at The General Theological Seminary in the Center for Christian Spirituality where she taught Contemplative Spiritual Direction. Today, she  serves on the boards of the Gathering of Leaders (a networking organization for Episcopal clergy), Spiritual Directors International (Chair), and is a trustee of Berkeley Divinity School at Yale. She earned her Ph.D. in Education from the University of Chicago and completed postdoctoral research fellowships at both Northwestern University and the University of Wisconsin at Madison. After a successful 24-year career on Wall Street, Westina was a fellow at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University. She is the author of Dancing from the Inside Out: Grace-Filled Reflections on Growing Older (2019), the 2021 best seller This Band of Sisterhood: Black Women Bishops on Race, Faith, and the Church, and the lead editor of Soul Food: Nourishing Essays on Contemplative Living and Leadership (2023).