Ludwig to Lead Audire 2024 Dear Alums and Friends of Audire, On behalf of the Board of Directors and staff of Audire, I am excited to announce a new chapter for our organization. Last month, Audire founder and Board Chair Tim Arsenault moved out of leadership to expand his CAROL LUDWIG spiritual direction practice and ease into retirement. During his thirty-five-year tenure, off and on, Tim launched the Audire program, focused the organization, inspired the team, and led many new initiatives such as our website makeover and our ongoing re-visioning process. Tim’s service took Audire to a new level of commitment and opened Audire to a larger, more diverse audience. On his departure, we needed someone who could build on Tim’s foundation and take Audire to the next level. The role demanded both a deep understanding of our mission and a strong track record of leading and growing a non-profit organization. We found that in Carol Ludwig, who joined the Audire team in 1999 and took over Board leadership in July. Carol has also served in leadership at the Vero Beach FL Center for Spiritual Care since 2000, taking on the Executive Director’s position in 2012. This experience further enhanced her nonprofit organizational development skills. Prior to her work in Florida, Carol had a twenty-eight year career in the U.S. diplomatic service with tours in Tokyo, Manila, Mexico City, Rome and Washington, DC. She also coordinated the U.S. Foreign Press Centers in Washington, DC, New York and Los Angeles from 1988-1991. Carol holds BA, MA and ABD degrees from Clarke University,
the University of Dayton and the American University. She also has certificates from the Shalem Institute, Mercy Center Burlingame and the Washington Theological Union. She served from 2001-2007 on the Coordinating Council of Spiritual Directors International, and continues on the Presence journal Editorial Board. Her numerous Presence interviews over the years include spiritual leaders Richard Rohr OFM,, Joyce Rupp OSM, John Philip Newell, Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, Greg Boyle SJ, RonRolheiser OMI, Jeremy Taylor and Krista Tippett. In 2002, she authored the two-part “Brief History of Spiritual Directors International.” With this background, it was not surprising that Carol was chosen to lead Audire. We will soon let you know of some of our new initiatives that are sure to inspire your engagement and support. - Mary Manrique, Audire Board Treasurer
Warm Summer Greetings to the Audire Community! Welcome to the relaunch of Audire’s newsletter The Listener, which went on hiatus when COVID-19 set in. It’s been a very eventful summer for our program: Audire founder and outgoing Board President Tim Arsenault retired this summer. His replacement is former Board Secretary Carol Ludwig. Tim had been with the program on and off for 34 years; Carol joined the team in 1999. We graduated five new spiritual directors during our year-end contemplative retreat at the Franciscan Center in Tampa. They GREETINGS CONTINUED ON PAGE 4