Jill Stratton believes in knowing people by name and story. Students aptly named and know her as the Dean of Joy.

With nearly 30 years of experience in higher education, Jill has invested a great deal of time and energy in researching joy, strengths-based leadership, the concept of creative flow, and college student development. She and musician Jenna Lindbo have presented on these topics at numerous professional conferences, school districts, college campuses, non-profits, and community agencies. 

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Jill loves teaching and has developed university courses focused on positive psychology, leadership, and college student development. Through opportunities to connect personally and professionally with scholars, writers, teachers, and artists, she is firmly convinced that the more time spent exploring joy and sadness and how to hold both, the more fulfilled people will be in their lives and careers.

Jill grew up in Mayfield, Kentucky, where she earned her BA in psychology at Transylvania University. She holds graduate degrees from Indiana University and Union Institute & University and is a trained life coach.

Jenna Lindbo is a musician, poet, singer-songwriter, and aspiring author. No matter what the art form or arena, human connection is at the heart of Jenna’s work. She has an effervescent spirit and embodies genuine joy, whether on or off stage. Her background in Outdoor Leadership & Experiential Education guides her approach to facilitation, and The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron, has deeply shaped her creative practice and path as an artist. Bridging the outdoors and creative worlds, Jenna has worn many hats: from environmental interpreter to teaching artist, tour guide to touring musician, operations manager to minister of music.

Jenna is the co-founder of The Cove Songwriting Retreat, a gathering that continues to inspire a vibrant community of makers, musicians, poets, and photographers. Retreat participants have described her as a “song doula,” and she delights in bearing witness to courageous expression and the creative process as songs bloom and stories take flight. Jenna's own writing draws on inspiration from the natural world and makes room for the sweetness and sorrow life brings, illuminating the sacred in the ordinary and finding magic in the mundane. She loves dogs, playing the banjo, and singing with people. She believes everyone is creative and there is an undeniable spark in creating and singing together – and when we do, our lives and the world are better for it.