Our Team

The People Who Care for This Place

Ignatius Jesuit Centre is sustained by a dedicated team working across land stewardship, spiritual life, operations, and community engagement. Together with the Jesuit community on site, staff carry forward a shared responsibility for this land and its mission caring for forests and fields, welcoming community, stewarding buildings and trails, and shaping the next chapter of IJC’s work.

Our team reflects the integrated nature of this place. Conservation, farming, spiritual programming, partnerships, and operations are not separate silos, but parts of a living whole. Each role contributes to the shared work of cultivating spiritual growth and ecological engagement.

Religious Presence

Religious life remains an integral part of daily life at IJC, offering spiritual leadership, companionship, and continuity with the Centre’s long history.

  • Dirk Dunfee, SJ (Society of Jesus)
  • Madeleine Gregg, fcJ (Faithful Companions of Jesus)

Their presence grounds the work of IJC in Ignatian spirituality and in lived traditions of reflection, service, and care for creation.

Leadership

  • Kevin Kelly, SJ – Interim Executive Director
  • Carsten Knoch – Senior Director, Transition
  • Wendy Fraser – Director of Operations
  • Andrea Scapinello – Director of Partnerships
  • Heather Lekx – Farm and Land Manager
  • Craig Chamberlain – Buildings Manager
  • Kel Smith – Communications and Community Manager

The leadership team guides IJC through a period of transition and renewal, holding together mission, land stewardship, community relationships, and organizational sustainability.

Working Together

Staff work closely with volunteers, partners, tenants, and the wider community. Much of what happens at IJC is made possible through collaboration between people with different skills, backgrounds, and callings, united by a shared commitment to care for this place and for one another.

Together, the team stewards a landscape that is at once spiritual, ecological, and communal, carrying forward a tradition that continues to evolve in response to the needs of our time.

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