We Are Upstate NY with Sarah Urech of Omega Women’s Leadership Center

Since 1977, Rhinebeck’s Omega Institute has served as a bucolic retreat where over one million people have ventured to explore their spirituality and creativity, improve well-being, and connect with a global community of lifelong learners.

One of its most vital initiatives has been the Omega Women’s Leadership Workshop (OWLC).  Now in its 13th year, OWLC is the umbrella for a series of workshops, conferences, and retreats designed to foster a new era of women leaders who are redefining power–with a more compassionate and supportive approach. 

We recently caught up with OWLC’s senior strategist, Sarah Urech.  A founding member of the OWLC, Sarah is a certified coach and social worker who had a diverse career before joining Omega, working in the Oncology Support Program at a local hospital and as a globe-trotting performer and teacher with Hudson River Playback Theatre. 

The fact that the Swiss-born Sarah speaks seven languages came in handy last month when represented Omega at The Wellbeing Project’s Global Hearth Summit in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Omega is hosting a regional version of this transformative event for change leaders, August 24 – 27, called The HEARTH Summit, Rhinebeck, NY, with a few spaces available by application. 

Read on to hear more about OWLC’s offerings and Sarah’s role in its expansion. And be sure to check out this year’s lineup for Omega’s Women’s Leadership Intensive HERE – October 19th – 24th, 2025.

INSIDE+OUT: Please give us a quick history of Omega Women’s Leadership Center (OWLC), its founding mission, and how it has grown and evolved.

Sarah Urech : Omega Institute was founded in 1977 on the belief that each person’s well-being is deeply connected to the well-being of all living things. Over the years, more than 600,000 women have participated in Omega’s educational programs—many drawn by our mission of hope and healing for individuals and society.

Recognizing this strong connection, we launched the Omega Women’s Leadership Center (OWLC) in 2012 to support and amplify women’s leadership. Rooted in holistic values, the OWLC encourages a new kind of leadership—compassionate, inclusive, and grounded in connection rather than control.

Since then, the OWLC has become a dynamic space for workshops, retreats, and community-building events that empower women of all ages and backgrounds. Through its growing initiatives, the OWLC helps women lead with purpose and impact, aligning with Omega’s vision of a world where everyone can realize their full potential while caring for each other and the Earth.

OWLC was an outgrowth of the 2002 Women & Power Conference. How did this event set the stage and trajectory of OWLC’s mission?

In 2002, Omega launched its acclaimed Women & Power series, bringing together visionary speakers worldwide to explore how women can use their voices and lived experiences to redefine power. Over the years, the series has featured inspiring leaders like Dr. Maya Angelou, Dolores Huerta, Amy Poehler, Roxane Gay, Brené Brown,  Ai-jen Poo, Mary Robinson, Anita Hill, Sharon Salzberg, Kimberlé Crenshaw, Carol Gilligan, Natalie Merchant, and Kerry Washington. 

As excitement around Women & Power grew, so did the call for an ongoing women’s leadership curriculum and community. In 2005, Omega launched a research initiative to gain a deeper understanding of what women wanted and needed in leadership development. That work led to the creation of the Omega Women’s Leadership Center (OWLC) in 2012. Cofounded by Elizabeth Lesser, Carla Goldstein, and Sarah Peter, the OWLC convenes, trains, and inspires women to Do Power Differently®.

Omega Women’s Leadership Center’s heart and soul are its in-person workshops. Tell us about the six that will occur from August through October, the kind of attendance they will attract, and the activities.

The OWLC offers a dynamic, interdisciplinary approach to leadership that supports both personal and professional growth at every stage of life. Whether you’re just starting out and want to build skills and confidence or you’re a seasoned leader ready to make a shift, give back, or create change, we’re here for it.  We have a great lineup of in-person workshops coming up.

Our OWLC signature programs focus on doing power differently and the need for balance: 

• The Omega Women’s Gathering: Rest & Reset with Nadia Bolz-Weber, Tricia Hersey and Elizabeth Lesser | Oct 3 – 5
• The Omega Women’s Leadership Intensive with Mallika Dutt, Leslie Salmon Jones, Sharon Salzberg +  more | Oct 19 – 24  

Additional skill-building workshops cover a wide range of topics and practices: 

• Get Rooted with Robyn Moreno | Aug 22 – 24
• Deep Breaths & Heal with Lisa Hillary Johnson | Sep 19 – 21
• Women & Money with Tuti B. Scott and Gwendolyn VanSant | Sep 26 – 28
• Joy of Life with Liana Naima and Shirin Eskandani | Oct 10 – 12

The OWLC has drawn inspiration and visibility from an Advisory Council of accomplished women, many of whom were part of Omega’s early Women & Power gatherings. How has the presence of these influential voices helped shape the conversation around women’s leadership at Omega?

From the very beginning, Omega’s Women & Power gatherings brought together bold, visionary voices—women who were helping to shift the public conversation around leadership, justice, and power itself. Many of the women on our Advisory Council, like Gloria Steinem, Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, Jane Fonda, V (Eve Ensler), and Isabel Allende, were part of those early moments. Having their voices on the Women & Power stage brought visibility and legitimacy to the work we were doing and helped attract a broad and demographically diverse audience. By sharing their personal stories, challenges, and triumphs, they modeled a new kind of leadership we now call “doing power differently.” That influence continues to ripple through our programs and inspires the women who gather at Omega today.

A lesser-known and unique OWLC program is the Juno Women’s Leadership Residency. Tell us about this offering.

The OWLC has been hosting the Juno Women’s Leadership Residency on Omega’s Rhinebeck campus since 2013. It is a self-led, individual retreat for those who identify as women and are committed to being of service in their communities. We welcome leaders across leadership and life stages who represent a range of backgrounds, professional disciplines, and geographical locations. During this retreat, Juno residents have a unique opportunity to take a rest and rejuvenation retreat on Omega’s campus. Recipients stay in our special Juno Cottage, with full accommodations, meals, and amenities. Over 250 leaders have used their residency time to create, nurture or complete projects; write grants; plan; reflect; and, most importantly, rest and reset. 

This year, you’re making rest a central theme of your women’s gathering. Why?

Yes! We’ve reimagined and redesigned the Women & Power Conference to meet this moment and what women need now. The Omega Women’s Gathering: Rest & Reset is devoted to rest, relaxation, rejuvenation, and community. Why? Because women who care deeply about the world are tired. The past years have been challenging—the pandemic, the shutdowns, the big swings politically, socially, and environmentally. It’s difficult to keep giving and caring when the well feels empty. This weekend at Omega is a chance to fill the well. 

OWLC also has an excellent resource library, with links to dozens of informative articles, videos, and, increasingly, podcasts that tackle many issues, especially concerning working women. What are some of the most popular issues addressed in this content, and who are some of the more popular creators?

The OWLC’s free online resource library is a treasure trove of hundreds of articles, interviews, videos, and podcast episodes, offering insights from our diverse group of thought leaders and presenters. Covering a broad spectrum of topics—ranging from leadership and feminism to power and money, to creativity, and more—this rich collection serves as an invaluable tool for anyone seeking inspiration and guidance on their personal and professional journey. The library also features archival clips from notable Women & Power presenters, including a recently reshared video of author Alice Walker, which went viral with over 130K views and continues to resonate with audiences.

Omega and OWLC offer scholarships and financial support for select workshops.  How does an interested person apply?

We believe that to remain energized and committed to changing the very nature of power and leadership, we must support one another. The OWLC offers scholarships for our workshops and with the support of our generous funding partners, donors and sponsors, to empower women to become guiding voices for change. Omega also offers scholarships for some of our other programs. 

Before you joined Omega as one of the original team members to launch the Omega Women’s Leadership Center, you were the director of the Oncology Support Program at a Hudson Valley hospital and a seasoned performer, facilitator, and trainer with Hudson River Playback Theatre. How did you make your way to Omega, and how has your past experience helped you in your role at Omega?

I spent a decade doing oncology social work, or “soul work,” which included programming healing arts, complementary medicine, and support programs that prepared me well for the programming work at Omega, as well as the nonprofit milieu. I also learned to cherish life and be present with death and dying. 

My work in Playback Theatre, which initially drew me to the Hudson Valley in 1994 to study with founders Jo Salas and Jonathan Fox, gave me deep training in listening, embodied expression, social justice, and leadership. I’ve had the fantastic opportunity to travel to 20 countries and use my seven languages to perform and teach. Being an improviser is a tremendous attribute to life in general and leadership training in particular! I also continue to grow in my creative expression as a singer and song curator, and love performing an annual concert with musicians at the wonderful Rail Trail Cafe in Rosendale, NY. Most recently, I have joined my wife Felicia, aka Rainbow the Clown, as Elbow the Clown to delight and engage children of all ages at Omega’s Family Week and at Mohonk Mountain House. 

Photos courtesy of Omega Institute

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Omega Institute is a nonprofit, donor-supported educational organization at the forefront of holistic studies. Located in New York’s beautiful Hudson Valley, Omega offers a wide variety of workshops, retreats, conferences, and professional training, both in person and online. Since 1977, more than one million people have come to Omega for reasons big and small—to spark creativity, explore spirituality, improve well-being, and connect to a community of lifelong learners.

Contributing writer Sal Cataldi is a musician, writer and former publicist living in Hudson Valley NY.