"It had been my intention to attend seminary, but the reality of my Southern Baptist affiliation became clear to me in my senior year at Grand Canyon College when they told me that I could never be ordained. The blessing in that year (1982) was that they sent me to do an internship at Sojourner Center. I learned there that ministry takes many forms."

- Connie Phillips, Executive Director, Sojourner Center

Fellow Biography

Connie Phillips has been part of Sojourner Center since 1994, when there were 28 beds to offer women and children escaping domestic violence. There will be 324 beds at Sojourner in the next 18 months. Ms. Phillips would say that the state of Arizona responded, donors appeared and volunteers have come to help. In fact, she led Sojourner through a successful, all-consuming capital campaign. Over two years, the organization raised $11.8 million.

Field Notes

"I began my sabbatical in earnest in May of 2008 with a spiritual retreat at Living Waters Retreat Center in Cornville, Ariz. I became aware once more that I am not alone in this work.

"I then left for the class Performance Measurement for Effective Management of Nonprofit Organizations at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. There were two main strategies for measuring effectiveness that I was able to bring back to the Center, both of which we were already familiar and using. While we have been using both models for a while, I was not aware of their depth and how we could more richly use them to gain meaning.

"Perhaps the most profound experience that I had through my time away was the two weeks that I spent working as an advocate at our Hope Campus. I answered our crisis phone, greeted new arriving women and children, assisted in readying rooms, and sat in on the classes that are taught. I was able to witness the courage of the women and the dedication of the staff. At the end of those two weeks, I had learned more about our work than I have in the past 14 years.

"My final activity during this past year has been my attendance at the World Conference of Shelters held in Edmonton, Alberta. There were 800 representatives from 50 different countries at this first ever conference of shelter workers. I learned a great deal about the domestic violence movement throughout the world and the similarities and differences of providing shelter to women who are fleeing abuse."

Contact Information

Connie Phillips
Executive Director
Sojourner Center
602.244.0997
cphillips@sojournercenter.org
www.sojournercenter.org