236 Cheryl Keen: Scholarly Activist Follows Her Callings

Women Over 70: Aging Reimagined

Cheryl Keen, EdD—scholar, activist, Quaker—has always tried to follow her callings which personify commitment, connection, and community. As a pioneer in significant movements--peace education and justice, service-learning, and progressive higher education--Cheryl job-shared seven leadership positions with her husband, Jim. They are parents/grandparents to one biological family as well as three ‘made families.’ They have always lived communally because “ethically, I need to share the space that I have.” Now in the new chapter of retirement, Cheryl relishes “just letting myself be in the moment, enjoying hours of unscheduled time, never feeling bored.” In the midst of gardening, singing in choruses, remodeling their home for safer living on the first floor, traveling, playing with grandchildren, and managing a ‘green condo community' in Florida, Cheryl is trying on new identities. She is exchanging her colorful business jackets for garments better suited to her flexible lifestyle.

Connect with Cheryl

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Co-author w/ L. Daloz, J. Keen, & S. Parks, (1997). Common Fire: Leading Lives of Commitment in a Complex World.

Cheryl & Jim, founders of the Governor’s School of Public Issues and the Future of New Jersey (GSPINJ) news article: https://gspinj.org/the-founders/