Board Members and Staff

Mindy Braun – Executive Director

Mindy was drawn to the Journey Center because of the radical hospitality and oasis of rest it provides while at the same time having a clear mission to bring healing and wholeness through encountering the Holy. She is married and homeschools their three young men in addition to being a certified health coach.

Mindy graduated with the 2021 Cohort of the Journey Center Association’s Spiritual Director Formation Program. Her passion is to create safe, sacred spaces for all people to experience love and belonging. One way she does this is through facilitating various groups – God in Nauture hikes, Poetica Pro Anima (Poetry for the Soul), Art Journal Examen, racial reconciliation groups, and Oasis: Group Spiritual Direction for Activists.

Her favorite spiritual practices are either art journaling, tending her garden, or hiking in the forest.

Mary Beene, Board President

Mary Beene is a life coach, pastor, spiritual director, retreat leader, and speaker. She works with individuals, groups, and churches to deepen their spiritual experience and help them discern God’s calling. She blends her 12+ years of nonprofit management experience with her spiritual training to bring a unique skill set to help those who want to go deeper into their faith and achieve more with their lives and work. Mary is also the pastor of Windsor Presbyterian Church.

Shawn Gutshall – Board Member

What have I encountered and what does encountering the Holy mean? Upon reflection I can speak of an experience characterized by a slow undoing over time, an undoing of assumptions, conclusions, attitudes and beliefs established on insufficient grounds long ago and by a gentle cracking open of the heart.

The tone and tenor of the dialog encountered that first visit, primarily of hospitality and inclusion, encouraged my engagement and return, again and again. In time, I began to truly feel welcomed. By that I mean, the arising of who I am didn’t feel squelched energetically by judgment or exclusion. I liken this to the analogy Parker Palmer makes in A Hidden Wholeness of the soul being like a wild animal; it remains hidden until it feels safe to emerge. With an insatiable curiosity and a mind full of questions, this welcome feeling was momentous.

Stephen Wise – Board Member

Stephen Wise is a mental health counselor and spiritual director living in Santa Rosa. After a spiritual conversion in high school in San Luis Obispo, he began his spiritual journey studying theology and humanities at the University of San Francisco; philosophy at UST in Houston; then counseling, divinity, and spiritual direction at Loyola University Chicago. A primary guidepost for Stephen’s life is staying open to new and difficult truths. Stephen relies on open dialogue with diverse people to stay grounded.

As a spiritual director, Stephen companions people on their life journey, helping them discover what is drawing them forward. His role is that of a dialogue partner who facilitates understanding and emotional awareness that lead to a deeper experience of all that is holy in day-to-day living. Stephen’s toolkit includes the Enneagram and suggestions for spiritual reading and diverse spiritual practices.

Gloria Fahy – Board Member

Joanna Quintrell, Co-Founder/Mentor/Advisor

Joanna Quintrell is the founding Director of Journey Center Santa Rosa. She currently serves as the Executive Director of the Journey Center Association (supporting those birthing Journey Centers in other locations) and is the co-director of their 2-year Spiritual Director Formation Program. It was in the year 2000 that Joanna found herself in a spiritual crisis and first learned about spiritual direction. Her own experience of meeting with a spiritual director was life-changing and heart-transforming, as she learned how to nurture her own inner life with God. After a few years, she felt a calling to serve others as a spiritual director and was initially trained at the Mercy Center in Burlingame, CA in 2003 (one-month intensive). Joanna has been serving as a spiritual director since then and received additional training through the 2-year program at the Center for Spiritual Direction in Chicago, IL. Joanna loves to hold sacred space for those seeking a deeper experience of the Holy. She is also a certified Enneagram teacher and oversees the Enneagram Series at Journey Center Santa Rosa.

Dan Beach, Co-Founder

Hi! Let me tell you a bit about myself:

As a certified Spiritual Director, I am interested in preparation, contemplation and practice. I am a person growing in pursuit of the Great Mystery. I am interested in experiencing the presence of the Holy in people’s lives and find it a privilege to be invited to sit and listen with them in their Spiritual journey.

One of my favorite philosophers presented a system of progression for mankind 400 years ago in one of his works entitled, “As You Like It.” The progress throughout life he presented continues to be true for audiences today. Sometimes you get profound current applicable points from ancient texts. I have been in development all my life and plan to continue for the rest of it.

Oh, and, I also serve others through my licensure as a Marriage and Family Therapist and as an ordained minister.