Changing Course: Windcall and the Art of Renewal

Susan Wells

Innovative program helped cure compassion overload

Seeing the need to help non-profit leaders sustain their vision, balance and resilience, lifelong activists and philanthropists Albert and Susan Wells launched an experiment in the late 1980s. The couple converted their small Montana ranch into a place where community activists could address their symptoms of burnout, restore their energy and creativity, and return to their jobs with fresh hope and commitment. They called this inspiring, groundbreaking place Windcall.

In Changing Course: Windcall and the Art of Renewal, Susan Wells narrates the couple's journey as they grow Windcall into a highly respected and wildly successful endeavor. Aside from offering a history of the project, the book serves as a practical guide, not only for other nonprofit leaders who can learn from Windcall's unique model, but for anyone who has ever experienced the debilitating effects of burnout. Changing Course shows readers how they can restore balance in their own lives.

About the Author

Susan Wells has been active in the social justice movement since the 1950s. She and her husband, Albert, are founding board members of the Abelard Foundation which has supported social-change efforts for over fifty years. At 41, she earned a graduate degree in clinical psychology and opened a private practice in adult psychotherapy. Susan Wells is a graduate of Wellesley College and holds masters degrees from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Sonoma State University.