Susan Skjei, President of SaneSystems, has been consulting with leaders of businesses, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies for over 15 years in participative approaches to leadership, strategy and organizational change. She was vice-president and chief learning officer for a large high tech company in Colorado. Susan is a founding member of the Shambhala Institute and is the director of the Authentic Leadership Certificate Program at Naropa University.

Susan's current research focuses on methods for cultivating "leadership wisdom." She will interview female leaders over 50 who are currently engaged in some type of contemplative practice (e.g. meditation, contemplative prayer, etc.) to determine how that discipline influences their behavior as leaders. Key themes will be distilled from the interviews and the findings will be presented in the Summer of 2005.