Nancy Spence, Ph. D.

Elected to Who’s Who in America, Nancy Spence is co-founder of i∙ki∙gai as well as creator and principal presenter of i∙ki∙gai  workshops.

Over the past 28 years, she has developed numerous programs and classes winning local and national recognitions, including a U.S. Presidential citation for “outstanding public service.”  

Her national-award-winning course on how to live a meaningful life (which she taught for seven years at the University of Cincinnati) was cited by a major online news source as “among the ten most worthwhile, interesting courses on college campuses.” 

Her book Life Medicine: Wisdom for Extraordinary Living, in its 4^th edition, has been used by faculty or staff in more than 60 colleges and universities. It is also available at Joseph Beth Booksellers, Cincinnati. (Click here for a brief description; click here to listen to radio interviews.)

In addition to facilitating i∙ki∙gai workshops, Spence has served as faculty for students earning advanced degrees in clinical psychology, education, organizational management, diversity training, conflict resolution, and religion.

While director of women’s programs at UC from 1985-1997, Nancy implemented one of the first university relationship-violence-prevention programs, requested by 92 colleges nationwide; offered among the first undergraduate courses on women and eating-disorders; and developed one of the first sexual-assault-prevention programs and courses in the country—which together reached over 48,000 people and won a Cincinnati J.C. Penney/United Way Award.

In addition, she has seven years’ experience teaching college writing and literature, including four years at Xavier University, Cincinnati, where her department chair described her teaching as “provocative, challenging … inventive and engaged …with an unusual capacity to reach a wide variety of students.”  She also has worked as an ethnic-studies bibliographer and a book editor.

A Phi Beta Kappa graduate in English Language and Literature from Penn State, Nancy earned masters degrees in Library & Information Studies and in American Culture (with a thesis on African-American writer Charles Wadell Chesnutt)—both from the University of Michigan—and a Ph.D. in East-West Psychology from the Union Institute. Her doctoral dissertation on the psycho-spiritual journey has been described by a founder of human-potential psychology as “a very, very important study… rich, crucial and quite wonderful.”

Nancy has volunteered as a counselor, a GED teacher, a political organizer, a speaker on nonviolence and international human rights, a hospice spiritual-care volunteer, and as developer of a program to explore social and ethical issues with young adults.

She also has served as a trainer for the Cincinnati Police Department, Cincinnati’s Women Helping Women, and the Cincinnati YWCA and has presented over 70 radio, television, and conference programs, including the first-ever Sino-American Conference on Women’s Issues in Beijing.

Her lifelong passion for travel and world cultures has taken her to 23 countries so far: She’s studied Asian psychotherapies in Japan, explored Chinese medicines in The Peoples’ Republic of China, observed Hindu ritual along India’s sacred Ganges, shared midnight stories with New Zealand’s Maori, studied Celtic spirituality in Ireland, and hiked East Africa’s Serengeti with one of the world’s last semi-nomadic tribes—all experiences she loves to share with workshop participants.

She is a member of the American Counseling Association, the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA), and the International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP).


Susannah Crossland-Dwyer
As co-founder of i∙ki∙gai, Susannah has always been interested in what provides individuals with meaning and drive in their daily lives.

In pursuit of this interest, she received a bachelor’s degree in Comparative Religion from Miami University, Oxford, OH where she learned how people use belief and spiritual practices to make sense of their experiences. Her independent research focused on women’s spiritual quests and on nonviolence and spiritual leadership, and she received numerous awards in “recognition of high scholastic achievement” from both Miami and Indiana University. Studying world religions further ignited her interest in culture and she went on to study Spanish and Women’s Studies at Miami. After graduation, she continued her language and cultural studies in Valencia, Spain.

Reflecting the importance she attaches to education, Susannah has worked for the Cincinnati Park Board as a nature educator. For the past five years, she’s served as editor-in-chief for PRO-Ohio, a system which creates learning tools to enhance achievement. In this capacity, she works with over one hundred Ohio schools, directing 40+ teachers and educational consultants.

In addition to helping others maximize their potential in spiritual and intellectual arenas, Susannah is committed to doing the same in the physical realm. A lifelong athlete, she’s played soccer for 20 years; has run and completed several marathons; and is an avid cyclist. Susannah’s passion to motivate people to enhance their physical well-being has led her to become a lifetime certified Jonny G. Spinning™ instructor and an ACE-certified Personal Trainer.

Despite the fact she now lives out her many passions, this does not mean that Susannah is a stranger to the question of What Should I Do With My Life? For many years, she struggled to find her own answers and, once discovering them, others challenged her: “A degree in Comparative Religion? What are you going to do with that?” Out of this, came her commitment to support others in finding and living out their own unique (and sometimes-at-odds-with-popular-opinion) calling.

As a result, she has co-created i∙ki∙gai’s community-oriented process by which individuals identify, then move forward, toward their own best lives.