Berkeley Announces Director of the Leadership Initiative

September 26, 2022

Berkeley Divinity School at Yale is pleased to announce the appointment of Brandon Nappi as inaugural director of its Leadership Initiative, which will provide residential and online courses and programs to support clergy and lay leaders in The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion.

Brandon Nappi is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame (BA ‘97), of Yale Divinity School (MDiv ‘01), and of the Aquinas Institute of Theology (DMin ’10), where his doctoral studies focused on homiletics. He was for some years Associate Retreat Director at the Holy Family Retreat Center in West Hartford, before becoming Founder and Director of the Copper Beech Institute, based also at Holy Family, which has developed virtual and in-person retreats, courses and other programs fostering mindfulness, compassion and well-being. He is also a lecturer in homiletics at YDS.

Berkeley Dean Andrew McGowan welcomed Nappi’s appointment: “In Brandon Nappi we have found a talented colleague, who combines a deep commitment to Christian formation with the extraordinary experience of having created an institute whose shape echoes our hopes for leadership work among practitioners and ministers in the Episcopal Church. We are delighted to welcome him and to begin work together for this important new chapter of Berkeley’s life.”

Nappi, who will join the Berkeley team on November 2, said, “As a graduate of YDS, I am excited and beyond thankful to be rejoining a community that has already blessed me in countless ways.” 

While this is a heart-stretching time to do ministry in the Church, I also believe this to be a moment of profound hope at Berkeley and beyond. New connections spanning the globe enable us to listen more fully to our aching world, emboldening us to dream more daring dreams and to faithfully re-imagine ministry.”