The Dignity Lens
Atlanta-based author and speaker, Dr. Beth-Sarah Wright writes to make a difference. She writes to develop the courage for transformation and change, in our communities, our institutions, and our lives. Her work strategically addresses the types of insidious challenges we face, either in our individual lives or in our communities- be they corporate, educational, religious or otherwise-that require identity shifts and increases in capacities and competencies to bring about sustainable and meaningful change. Wright is an advocate for authenticity in our communities, no matter what our context, by aligning our aspirational identities with our lived realities.
Beth-Sarah is the author of seven books. Her most recent book, The DIGNITY Lens Workbook: Implementing the Seven Strategies for Creating Authentic Community is a companion to her book DIGNITY: Seven Strategies for Creating Authentic Community. DIGNITY is a comprehensive lens through which to view and solve for insidious barriers to authenticity and narrow the gap between who we say we are and who we are in reality. For Wright, stories are the currency for dignity. Wright published her first children’s book in 2022 Meet Babs and her Beautifully Different Friend, which celebrates the concept of respecting the dignity of every human being from a child’s perspective. Babs is a bright young girl, who learns from an unlikely and extraordinary teacher that differences are beautiful. Two of her earlier books address living authentically and healing through mental health challenges by embracing and telling our stories: Me? Depressed? and Ten Things I Wish I Knew About Depression before it Almost Took My Life. Another, Becoming Who I Am, highlights her poetry and meditations as she tackles spiritual growth and healing with a fresh take on the Nicene Creed. Weeping May Endure For a Night, is a spiritual novel that traverses the lives of three generations of women and the power their secrets have for both devastation and healing if and when they choose to tell them.
A former college professor at NYU and Spelman College, she currently serves as the Director of Enrollment Management at Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School in Atlanta and an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Emory School of Medicine. She holds a PhD in Performance Studies from New York University, an MPhil in Anthropology from Cambridge University and a BA (magna cum laude) from Princeton University in Sociology and Afro-American studies.
Beth-Sarah is originally from Jamaica and has lived and studied worldwide, from Edinburgh, Scotland to San Juan, Puerto Rico. She is married to Robert C. Wright, the Episcopal Bishop of Atlanta and they are parents to 5 children.