Get to Know Me
My life is an average-sized glass overflowing with love.
As a priest, author, speaker, and justice entrepreneur, I have tried to spend my life inspiring communities to organize and act with love.
I have heard the same story in 23 languages.
Whether it is a woman in Nashville, in Ecuador, in Rwanda, a grandmother in Texas, or a young girl in Botswana—the story of abuse and exploitation is universal.
As a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, I always longed to open a sanctuary for women.
In 1997, Thistle Farms opened its first home and welcomed five women who had survived trafficking, prostitution, and addiction.
Today Thistle Farms has grown to become a $14M organization with multiple social enterprises and residential programs. Its impact has expanded from the Nashville headquarters to include 44 global artisan communities and a national network supporting 90+ sister organizations.
When you invest in women, you build community. And when women are exploited, violated, and impoverished, entire communities suffer.
Building a global movement for women’s freedom, we have watched a wild tapestry emerge from the margins—a beautiful love story woven from thousands of lives.
I know how to raise money for mission, create opportunities for communities of women who are survivors, and speak in a way that invokes compassion.
I don't know how to keep things separated, create spreadsheets, and haven't practiced patience enough to be the pastor and writer that lives in me.
i still have miles to go before i sleep
Kind Words From Beloved Friends
“I think [Becca] is the shape of God’s heart. For me, she represents the marrow of the Gospel, as Saint Francis used to say. I appreciate her vision, which brings people together. She decided not to shake her fist at anything, but rather to roll her sleeves up. She doesn’t argue with an existing model; she decided to fashion her own.”
Father Greg Boyle
“Becca has spent decades working for and with women survivors. It’s a life spent in unconditional service, and joyful faith.”
Isabel Allende
"Amidst all the noise and chaos of our world, Becca finds God in simple, beautiful, quiet places and tells us we can too."
Kimberly Williams Paisley
"Becca is a force of nature-both as a speaker and with her words on the page. Her message always gets right to the heart of the matter."
The Late John Prine
Recognition
Becca has been profiled on PBS NewsHour, The Today Show, CNN, ABC World News and in The New York Times. Her many awards include CNN Hero, White House Champion of Change, Humanitarian of the Year by the Small Business Council of America, Tennessee Human Rights Outstanding Service Award, Nexstar's 2026 Remarkable Woman of the Year, and induction into The Entrepreneur Center’s Hall of Fame, and Tennessee Women’s Hall of Fame.
A graduate of the University of the South and Vanderbilt Divinity School, Becca has received alumnae distinction awards from both institutions. She has also been conferred seven honorary doctorates.
