Reverend Rebekah Carpenter has spent over twenty-five years creating and presenting leadership development initiatives for corporations, colleges, public and private schools, businesses, non-profit organizations and churches. Early in her career, Rebekah began noticing that most leadership initiatives soon became “flavor of the month” – forgotten and replaced with the next new shiny program – all offering at best, temporary results and empowerment. Rebekah’s mission became to develop leadership development keynotes, seminars, author a book Awakening – 12 Tools to Unlock Ultimate Potential and a Facilitator’s Guide for small groups, that all take people beyond surface learning, into true absorption of leadership material taught and presented – holistically, consistently and more permanently opening up critical thinking, innovation, vitality, creativity, teamwork, accountability, authentic passion and inspired productivity.

After 15 years in the field of leadership development, Rebekah wanted to further explore how suppressing critical thinking, innovation, creativity, imagination and authentic passion and potential begins in childhood. Rebekah entered a Master’s Program in Psychology at the University of West GA. Her research was primarily focused around the school systems, where some of this early suppression can begin. Rebekah’s mission became to not only keep children, youth and adults from becoming simply “downloaders/memorizers” of information, rule followers and obedient workers, but she also wanted to create transformative environments where all can regularly connect to their ability to critically think, to question, to be innovative, creative, collaborative, and most importantly, authentically passionate leaders in today’s world.

Lastly, one short, intuitive and deeply spiritual occurrence shifted and deepened Rebekah’s journey even further. While at home, a brief flash of an intuitive message went through Rebekah’s mind and heart: “death and rebirth” – ‘This’ is what you have been doing and what I want you to continue doing. Rebekah began to more intentionally frame all of her leadership keynotes and seminars around the idea of dying to the old (outdated beliefs, paradigms, identities, relationships), then in that clean space, discovering one’s voice, gifts, authentic identities, passions and purposes, and then rising to the new by designing and rebirthing ones’ life based on these discoveries. Not surprisingly, soon after this, the call to seminary emerged. During this precious seminary time, Rebekah deepened her study of the bible, deepened her study of Jesus’ powerful, world changing journey of living, dying and resurrecting – embodying “death and rebirth” in the most profound way possible. Now as an ordained minister in the PCUSA church, Rebekah continues leading churches and advising organizational leaders of all types about how to model, practice and embody “death and rebirth” in all parts of their lives, creating more critically thinking, innovate, and authentically passionate leaders – fully awake to who God designed them to be – so they can be in service to the church and the world during this critical time in history.