Our Board of Directors

In December, we said farewell to two beloved Board members, Joyce Plaza and Sheryl Cohen, who provided commitment and leadership for many years. Both served as Board President (Joyce most recently). Both helped guide us through the merger of Enneagram Studies in the Narrative Tradition (ESNT) and Enneagram Association in the Narrative Tradition (EANT). 

Brian Vent joined our Board last summer and recently stepped courageously into the role of Board President. Brian is a coach and consultant who works globally with nonprofits, a former COO and CEO and recently completed the Narrative Enneagram Teacher Track.

New to our Board this year is Mary Jo Ruccio, a long-time member of the Narrative Community deeply involved with the Enneagram Center of the Ohio Valley (ECOV) and former ESNT Executive Director. Mary Jo will serve as the new Board Treasurer. Dr. Kendra O’Hora, a Licensed Clinical Marriage and Family Therapist and owner of a successful group practice who is pursuing certification with TNE, will serve as our new Board Secretary. 

Our Programs

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, we went entirely online for the remainder of 2020, something planned to roll out over three years, but accomplished in two months. Due to continuing uncertainty about the pandemic and vaccine roll outs, we have decided to remain entirely online in 2021, offering more rounds of training than ever before – with most classes recurring every two to three months. Classes are filling quickly so sign up early. Beginning in February 2022, we expect to offer a hybrid schedule of both online and onsite classes. The exact mix will depend on the needs and desires of our students.

Our Fall Fundraising Campaign

We want to extend our sincerest gratitude to the hundreds of people who donated toward our 2020 fundraising campaign, allowing us to surpass our annual fundraising goal. We are using these resources to award more scholarships than ever before, build our faculty capacity, develop new programs and complete an overhaul of our technology infrastructure, including launching a new website in 2021 which is crucial to be able to meet the needs of our growing community.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Our mission and core values cannot be fully realized until TNE looks deeply and honestly at issues around diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), systemic racism, privilege and related issues. We took many steps forward in 2020, outlined in previous blog posts but are eager to continue our work in 2021. 

In January, we began working with Dr. Deborah Egerton, affectionately called the “Enneagram JEDI,” for her leadership and expertise in Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. Guiding all TNE staff, faculty and board members through in-depth exploration, Dr. Egerton will facilitate monthly sessions with ongoing assignments culminating in a day-long retreat later in the year. As we do this imperative work together, our collective impact will create an intentional cultural change for The Narrative Enneagram and the greater Enneagram community. 

As Amanda Gorman spoke in her inaugural poem: “We lift our gazes not to what stands between us, but what stands before us.”

Stay tuned for updates as we progress through this journey together.