With support from various members of the philanthropic community since our launch in 2018, the Chaplaincy Innovation Lab has conducted conversation circles and has created multiple resources and events on the history and future of chaplaincy for people from historically marginalized communities. We are pleased to offer a new round of conversion circles in 2025, with support from the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation. These six-month conversation circles will each meet 12 times for 90 minute each, extending and enhancing support for chaplains, especially those who do not have regular access to a professional community as a part of their daily work.
Interested chaplains should submit an application here.
Facilitators
Jason Callahan, MDiv, MS, BCC, is chaplain at the Thomas Palliative Care Unit at VCU Massey Cancer Center and Instructor in the VCU Departments of Patient Counseling and Pastoral Care. Jason is a seminary-educated secular chaplain, endorsed by the Humanist Society and nationally board-certified by the Association of Professional Chaplains. Prior to coming to VCU, Jason worked as an advertising executive and trauma-informed professional counselor.
Chaplain Ylisse C. Bess (she/they) serves as College Chaplain and Christian Life Coordinator at Wellesley College. Ylisse’s ecumenical background includes roots in the Church of God in Christ, the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the United Church of Christ, and American Baptist Churches. They continued their spiritual growth through their Methodist seminary education and have served as an Associate Minister in a UCC congregation. They earned their bachelor’s degree in sociology and religious studies from Gonzaga University, their M.Div. from Boston University School of Theology, and became a Board Certified Chaplain through the Association of Professional Chaplains.
Ylisse joined the Wellesley College Office of Religious and Spiritual Life staff after serving as Program Director for the Trauma Responsive Congregations Grant at Boston University School of Theology and adjunct faculty at BU School of Theology where they took a trauma-responsive approach to team teaching seminary students, and continuing education for clergy through courses such as “Sustaining Spirits While Empires Crumble,” and “Spiritual Care for the Nonreligious.” Ylisse has 5 five years of experience as an Intensive Care Unit chaplain at level 1 trauma centers in Boston, including multifaith pastoral care and counseling, as well as crisis response.
Ylisse draws on years of experience leading multifaith religious/spiritual services, providing opportunities for reflection, contemplative practice, education, and leading retreats. She has a passion for developing creative programming for spiritual nourishment and growth, advocating for reproductive justice, and freeing our community members from immigration jail through local community organizing. As a college chaplain, Ylisse supports students to explore, detangle, and rebuild a world for themself and their community. She supports students as they make meaning of the shifts in their lives – from their joy, grief, faith, activism, extracurricular activities, and everything in between.
In her free time, Ylisse enjoys roller skating to 90s R&B and adventures with her dog Paprika-Ylisse!
Registration questions may be directed to Yi He at yyhe@brandeis.edu.
In partnership with ACPE: The Standard for Spiritual Care and Education and Buen Vivir CPE, this project broadens the training opportunities open to chaplains who wish to provide meaningful spiritual care but have historically faced significant challenges to entering and advancing in the profession. Learn more about this project here.
E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation was formed in 1975 as E. Rhodes Carpenter Foundation by E. Rhodes Carpenter, founder of the Richmond, Virginia based company now known as Carpenter Co.
During Mr. Carpenter’s lifetime, the Foundation made a few substantial gifts but for the most part had minimal assets. In accordance with Mr. Carpenter’s wishes, the Foundation received significant funding following his death in 1980. His wife, Leona B. Carpenter, died a year later leaving substantial assets to the Foundation. In 1982, the name of the Foundation was changed to E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation. The Foundation operates independently of, and has no connection, to Carpenter Co. Learn more at CarpenterFoundation.us.
