Following the Sound of the Genuine
Let me take you back to 2014, the year my journey with CAC began. I was the 32-year-old CEO of Invisible Children, an international nonprofit working to prevent violence in communities across East and Central Africa threatened by the Lord’s Resistance Army. We supported local interventions to protect civilians and save lives.
The work mattered deeply. It was also relentless. I was a driven young leader carrying immense responsibility without the inner capacity to sustain it.
During a particularly difficult season, my executive coach asked about my spiritual life. He asked if I’d ever read Richard Rohr. I hadn’t. Not long after, I learned that a respected colleague, Michael Poffenberger, had moved to New Mexico to work with Fr. Richard and the CAC. That caught my attention, and I joined a small retreat Fr. Richard led.
His teaching blew me away: his humility, his deep respect for wisdom wherever it appears. “As a Christian, I would say it this way,” he’d offer. “A Buddhist might say it this way. A psychologist might say it this way.” His articulation of the contemplative mind and the Franciscan alternative orthodoxy reshaped my adult spirituality. The strategist in me recognized: This message does not just change lives. It changes systems. In our very fractured world, this was good news.
In 2016, I joined the CAC leadership team full-time, helping operationalize our strategy for the future, including the transition beyond Fr. Richard’s active leadership and lifetime. What drew me then continues to inspire me now: the depth and practical wisdom of contemplative Christianity. It’s humility, openness, nonviolence, and love over ego. These teachings helped me carry leadership with greater steadiness and inner fortitude. They are good news not because they deny the pain and suffering in our world, but because they meet it without fear.
But after a life-changing and beautiful decade with CAC, it is now time for me to pass the baton. As I write this, I am in the process of transitioning out of my role to step toward a new chapter that is stirring strongly enough that I need to listen—or, as Howard Thurman would say, to follow “the sound of the genuine.”
At this stage in my journey, I feel called to work more directly at the integration of my two professional decades: ten years in action and ten years in contemplation. I hope to help business executives, development teams, and social-impact leaders work at the practical intersection of the two, bringing their leadership and strategy into greater harmony with their deepest values.
Over the past decade at CAC, we’ve made incredible progress. I’ve had the honor of supporting several aspects of our expansion, including helping develop our Financial Philosophy and values-aligned fundraising program. Thanks to wonderful and generous people like you, this has grown from $1.5 million in donations in 2015 to over $10 million in 2025.
But I know this is only the beginning. With the wisdom of our expanding faculty, the strength of our team, and your partnership, I can’t wait to see the impact of CAC’s future work in offering good news for our beautiful but hurting world. You’ll still see me as a supporter, participant, and friendly face at future CAC events.
My primary feeling right now is gratitude: for those who came before me; for our CAC team, especially Michael, Elliot, Danny, and Lindsey as they carry forward our Development work; for our generous donors and partners; and for all of you who made this journey possible.
Onward together!
With love and blessing,
Ben
Ben Keesey has been on the CAC Leadership Team since 2016 and has been the Development Editor of the Mendicant since 2020. Ben can be reached via [email protected]. CAC’s Chief Financial Officer, Elliot Ling, is leading the recruitment for Ben’s successor. Please send any development or fundraising-related questions to [email protected]. Michael, Elliot, Danny, Elizabeth, or Lindsey will be able to assist you as they carry forward our Development work. We appreciate your trust and partnership!
The Center for Action and Contemplation’s mission is to introduce Christian contemplative wisdom and practices that support transformation and inspire loving action. In this issue of the Mendicant, we are honored to share with you articles from five members of CAC’s community about what loving action looks like in their lives.