Carolyn D. Townes, OFS is a spiritual life and leadership coach and a loss to life mindset strategist, where she uses faith-based principles to provide spiritual and emotional wellness to those moving from the pain of grief and loss to a new life of purpose and peace.  Her passion and mission is to help them go from a place of tragedy and trauma to a place of peace and joy. She is also a speaker, writer, facilitator, circle keeper, singer, and storyteller.

Since professing as a Secular Franciscan in 2000, Carolyn has served in several leadership roles on the local, regional, national and international levels of the Secular Franciscan Order (OFS). She has served as National Animator for Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) for the Order for over a decade. Carolyn is currently serving on the Ecumenical and Interfaith Committee of the OFS; also educating on topics of mindful communications and racial justice with emphasis on unconscious bias, empathic listening, and conflict management.  

Carolyn has also served on the board of the Franciscan Action Network and is currently on the boards of Franciscans International, Pax Christi International Fund for Peace, and the Franciscan Federation. She also works collaboratively with the Franciscan Action Network, Catholic Mobilizing Network, as well as being a member of the Joint Committee on Franciscan Unity and as an active member on the Nuns Against Gun Violence Coalition.

Carolyn weaves songs, stories and Franciscan joy into her talks, retreats and days of reflection. A native New Yorker, she currently lives in Augusta, Georgia.