Founders

Chris HeuertzChris Heuertz, founding partner, has spent his life bearing witness to the possibility of hope among a world that has legitimate reasons to question God’s goodness.

Originally from Omaha, Nebraska, Chris studied at Asbury University in Kentucky before moving to India where he was mentored by Mother Teresa for three years. While living in India, he helped launch South Asia’s first pediatric AIDS care home — creating a safe haven for children impacted by the global pandemic.

A forerunner in the New Friar movement, Chris and his wife Phileena served with a humanitarian organization for nearly 20 years, working for women and children victimized by human traffickers in the commercial sex industry. This has taken Chris to over 70 countries working among the most vulnerable of the world’s poor.

In 2012 Phileena and Chris launched Gravity, a Center for Contemplative Activism.

Named one of Outreach magazine’s “30 Emerging Influencers Reshaping Leadership,” Chris is a curator of unlikely friendships, an instigator for good, a champion of collaboration, and a witness to hope, Chris fights for a renewal of contemplative activism.

Chris Heuertz is a frequent contributor or frequently highlighted in such publications as Christianity Today, Duke’s “Faith & Leadership,” Q Ideas, Relevant Magazine, The Work of the People and the Washington Post’s “On Faith” section. He is known for his provocative storytelling, and has written 4 books:

Simple Spirituality: Learning to See God in a Broken World (IVP, 2008) shows how a lifestyle of humility, community, simplicity, submission and brokenness sustains us through the challenges of life in a broken world.

Friendship at the Margins: Discovering Mutuality in Service and Mission (IVP, 2010) is the 4th title of Duke Divinity School’s Center for Reconciliation’s book series.

Unexpected Gifts: Discovering the Way of Community (Howard Books, 2013) offers insight on how the soul is shaped through fidelity in difficult relationships.

Best-selling and award winning The Sacred Enneagram: Finding Your Unique Path to Spiritual Growth (Zondervan, 2017) and The Sacred Enneagram Workbook (Zondervan 2019) are Chris’ first Enneagram books, helping readers use the Enneagram to move beyond type as mere caricature and learn how to work with the Enneagram for spiritual growth.

The Enneagram of Belonging: A Compassionate Journey of Self-Acceptance (Zondervan 2020) and The Enneagram of Belonging Workbook (Zondervan 2020) is for the Enneagram enthusiast looking to deepen their transformation by committing to an inner journey integrated the whole of who we are into the promise of who we can become.

Chris Heuertz is also the host of the chart-topping podcast, Enneagram Mapmakers where he facilitates candid and vulnerable conversations that chart the unexplored interior landscape of the ego.

Join Chris Heuertz on Facebook and Twitter in his adventures to love on the margins.

Click here for Chris’ Speaker Kit.


Phileena gazePhileena Heuertz, founding partner

Phileena spent her early adult life in social justice work among the world’s poor. For nearly 20 years she and her husband Chris served in more than 70 countries building community among victims of human trafficking, survivors of HIV and AIDS, abandoned children and child soldiers and war brides.

Author, spiritual director, yoga instructor, public speaker and retreat guide, Phileena is passionate about spirituality and making the world a better place. Phileena leads contemplative retreats for non-faith and interfaith groups in leading cities across the nation and around the world. She is a sought-after speaker for universities, seminaries, faith communities, and conferences. In 2012, Phileena and her husband Chris founded Gravity to support the development of consciousness by making contemplative practice accessible to individuals, communities and organizations.

Phileena’s work includes public speaking, teaching, and writing on contemplative spirituality, facilitation of contemplative retreats, and spiritual direction. She holds a Masters of Christian Spirituality from Creighton University’s department of theology and is a certified spiritual director in the Ignatian contemplative evocative method.

Named “Outstanding Alumni” by Asbury University and one of Outreach magazine’s “30 Emerging Influencers Reshaping Leadership,” Phileena believes that contemplative spirituality is crucial to authentic, creative, liberating social change. She is  a board member emeritus for Duke Divinity School’s Center for Reconciliation and Richard Rohr’s Center for Action and Contemplation. Phileena is known for her provocative theological narrative, Pilgrimage of a Soul and contemplative classic, Mindful Silence.

Click here to listen to various reflections, interviews and speaking engagements.

Follow Phileena on her InstagramFacebook, Twitter.

Click here for Phileena’s Speaker Kit.