In 2015, Pope Francis penned his encyclical letter Laudato Si’, urging all people of the world to take action on the climate emergency and ecological crisis. In 2021, in a heartfelt response to this call, the School Sisters of Notre Dame Central Pacific Province (SSNDCP) dedicated themselves to a seven-year effort to “live more simply, responsibly, and sustainably and to educate, advocate and act in collaboration with others for the dignity of life and the care of all creation.”

SSNDCP are now in year three of this important seven-year journey and have found meaningful fellowship and success in evolving the goals of Laudato Si’ into actionable ideas for daily life.

Each year, the Women’s Leadership Luncheon series offers attendees the opportunity to connect with speakers and stories that are timely, engaging and inspiring - and which relate to topics of importance for the School Sisters of Notre Dame (SSND). In 2025, the Women’s Leadership Luncheon theme is The Nun Study: Transforming the Future of Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Related Dementias.

The Nun Study is a longtime study on aging, initiated by Dr. David Snowdon in the late 1980s. The study followed 678 SSND, who as volunteers agreed to participate in ongoing clinical evaluations of both cognition and physical function over their lives, with donation of their brain after their deaths. While the sisters who initially signed on for this study are no longer with us, the impact of their work, and willingness to participate, lives on in new research being conducted from their contributions.

For the 2025 luncheons, one of two current dementia research experts - Dr. Margaret Flanagan, M.D. or Professor Sudha Seshadri, M.D. - will speak and share on how the Nun Study influences and informs their research today.