Laurel Isbister has been with the foundation since 2004, and has been involved in education and not-for-profit work for over 20 years. During her tenure with FAITHANDREASON® she has served as Administrator, Project Manager, and now Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer. Her work has helped the foundation to expand programming, create strategic partnerships, manage financial and human resources, and bring customer service to consistently high levels of excellence.
Laurel earned her BA in Music at New College, a progressive liberal arts college modeled on the tutorial style of learning. In 1996 she was awarded a Fulbright grant to pursue international music studies in Bulgaria. She returned to the US and earned a Master’s degree in World Music Studies in 1999 at UCLA, with a focus on choral directing in the African-American gospel tradition. Her work in world music opened her eyes to the myriad of cultural and religious traditions around the planet, and this in turn guided her to the work of FAITHANDREASON®.
Laurel a practitioner of yoga and contemplative prayer. She has also been guided by Julia Cameron’s “Artist Way” program merging creativity and spiritual development. She regularly performs, writes and teaches music and is very interested in the relationship of music and theology, as well as the connection between mystical experience and justice work in social communities. Before coming on to the Dykes Foundation in 2004 she worked as a private music teacher, a teaching assistant at UCLA, and as an administrative assistant at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley.
“What I like most about our work,” says Laurel, “is the excitement people express when they discover that we are a Progressive Christian institution working in the deep South. The South is changing, one mind at a time, and we are a part of that evolving movement. People get excited because they are free to think and discuss their religious ideas without judgment, and that is what we are all about.”
Staff & Consultants
- David Dykes, CEO, D.L. Dykes Jr. Foundation
- The Rev. Deborah Dykes, Director of Media and Curricula
- Laurel Isbister, Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer
- Jennifer Vail, Administrative Assistant
- Darren Schwindaman, Graphic & Web Design / Brand Consulting
- Melia Dicker, Writing & Social Media Marketing
- Thabi Moyo, New Media