Rev. P. Gerard O’Rourke, a native of Ireland, was educated there and at Fordham University before being ordained in 1950. He has served as a diocesan priest in Wisconsin, New Jersey, California, Ireland, and Brazil. As a citizen diplomat during the Cold War, he raised funds to fly medical supplies to victims of the Chernobyl meltdown. He was appointed director of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs of the Archdiocese of San Francisco in 1990, serving more than a dozen years before named emeritus. He played a critical role in creating and promoting interfaith opportunities in San Francisco and beyond, always a champion of inclusivity and forgiveness. His insight, passion, and commitment were critical to groups he helped found and develop – the San Francisco Interfaith Council, Interfaith Center at the Presidio, United Religions Initiative, and Mastery Foundation, on whose behalf he has led annual peacemaking workshops in Ireland and Northern Ireland for the past 13 years.
David Robert Ord
Rev. P. Gerard O’Rourke, a native of Ireland, was educated there and at Fordham University before being ordained in 1950. He has served as a diocesan priest in Wisconsin, New Jersey, California, Ireland, and Brazil. As a citizen diplomat during the Cold War, he raised funds to fly medical supplies to victims of the Chernobyl meltdown. He was appointed director of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs of the Archdiocese of San Francisco in 1990, serving more than a dozen years before named emeritus. He played a critical role in creating and promoting interfaith opportunities in San Francisco and beyond, always a champion of inclusivity and forgiveness. His insight, passion, and commitment were critical to groups he helped found and develop – the San Francisco Interfaith Council, Interfaith Center at the Presidio, United Religions Initiative, and Mastery Foundation, on whose behalf he has led annual peacemaking workshops in Ireland and Northern Ireland for the past 13 years.
Joran Oppelt
Joran Oppelt is an author, interfaith minister, marketing professional, award-winning producer, and singer/songwriter. He is the founder of Interfaith Week and Integral Church in St. Petersburg, Florida. Joran is author of The Mountain and the Snow (2014) and co-author of Transform Your Life: Expert Advice, Practical Tools, and Personal Stories (2014) and Integral Church: An Interfaith Handbook of Ceremonies and Rituals (2014). He serves as chaplain emeritus at Unity Spiritual Campus, a member of the St. Petersburg Interfaith Association, and ambassador of the Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions. He has spoken about marketing and spirituality at campuses and conferences across the U.S., including Building the New World in Radford, VA and South by Southwest in Austin, TX. You can visit Joran online at integralchurch.org or joranslane.com and follow him on Twitter @joranslane.
Jacob K. Olupona
Jacob K. Olupona is Professor of African Religious Traditions at Harvard Divinity School, with a joint appointment as Professor of African and African American Studies in Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences. A noted scholar of indigenous African religions, his books include African Religions: A Very Short Introduction, City of 201 Gods: Ilé-Ifè in Time, Space, and the Imagination, Òrìsà Devotion as World Religion: The Globalization of Yorùbá Religious Culture, co-edited with Terry Rey, and Kingship, Religion, and Rituals in a Nigerian Community: A Phenomenological Study of Ondo Yoruba Festivals. In 2007, he was awarded the Nigerian National Order of Merit, one of Nigeria’s most prestigious honors.
Sheryl Olitzky
Sheryl Olitzky began her career in the field of marketing at Procter and Gamble, the leader in consumer packaged goods. She helped to build a nascent health care marketing firm into a powerhouse where she served as president before the company was sold. Most recently, Sheryl founded Olitzky Whittle, a specialized healthcare consulting company. She is a sought-after speaker, especially in the area of motivational sales.
Sheryl is cofounder of the Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom, emerging out of a local women’s group – which she also cofounded – designed to foster abiding relationships that are built on mutual trust, respect and friendship between local Muslim and Jewish women. The Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom is the first national grassroots organization of Muslim and Jewish women committed to living in harmony, developing meaningful relationships who work together to limit acts of anti-Muslim and anti-Jewish sentiment. Sheryl combined her strong leadership, relationship building and organizational skills with her passion to rid the world of hate in starting this organization. She has extensive training and vast experience in identifying unmet needs in the marketplace and in facilitating/moderating group discussion.
Rev. Ellen Grace O'Brian
Rev. Ellen Grace O’Brian is the founding minister and spiritual director of the Center for Spiritual Enlightenment (CSE) in San Jose, California, a 30-year-old interfaith ministry and seminary in the tradition of Kriya Yoga. Rev. O’Brian was ordained in 1982 by Roy Eugene Davis, a personal disciple of Paramahansa Yogananda, who brought the teachings of Kriya Yoga to the west. She is the author of several books on meditation and spiritual practice as well as CD commentaries on classic spiritual works. She is a frequent speaker on the value of meditation and the importance of ethical and spiritual awakening. Rev. O’Brian has received human rights awards from governmental, interfaith, Muslim, and Hindu communities. She serves on the Advisory Council of the Association for Global New Thought and the Executive Board of the International New Thought Alliance, and is a trustee of the Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions.
Mark Novak
Mark Novak is the founding rabbi of Minyan Oneg Shabbat: A Sanctuary for the Soul - Washington, DC’s Jewish Renewal community. He received ordination in 2012 from Reb Zalman Schacter-Shalomi and ALEPH, and serves on the ALEPH faculty as a mashpia, a Jewish spiritual guide. Mark is a rabbi (RebMarko.com), professional musician/composer (TheMarkNovakBand.com), storyteller (Jewishstorytelling.com), and co-founder of the MultiFaith Storytelling Institute. He is a devoted practitioner and teacher of mindfulness practice through a Jewish lens. He and his wife storyteller/juggler Renée Brachfeld have served as Artists in Residence at over 150 synagogues throughout the US and Canada, and have been featured performers and teachers at storytelling festivals in the U.S. and UK. He can be reached at MultiFaithStorytelling@gmail.com.
Cody Nielsen
J. Cody Nielsen is Founder and Executive Director of Convergence and Executive Director of the Wesley Foundation, a Boston Cambridge Ministry of Higher Education. Cody previously served as Expert in Residence for Religious, Secular, and Spiritual Initiatives at NASPA and is former President of the National Campus Ministry Association. Cody’s passion is integration of higher education with religious, secular, and spiritual identity diversity work. Cody is pursuing a Ph.D in Higher Education Administration at Iowa State University and holds Master’s degrees in Mental Health Counseling from the University of Northern Iowa and Divinity from Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington D.C. He frequently blogs and offers consultation for universities regarding strategic thinking around religious, secular, and spiritual identity. His 2013-2015 study Multifaith in the Public University, a Louisville Foundation funded initiative, explores over 25 public and private universities in the United States and Canada regarding their policies, practices, and initiatives to support campus climates.
Clement Awanfe Ngueto
Clement Awanfe Ngueto is the founder-president of Global Compassion, a non-profit based organization in Douala, Cameroon and affiliated with United Religions Initiative. It has worked with an international and local team of volunteers/interns to create and develop projects that help the Santchou community become self-sufficient (e.g., potable water project; computer lab center; empowering rural women; and peace education for youth). Clement’s passion is serving community initiatives and growing small businesses managed by women and youth in rural areas.
Additionally, Clement has experience in peacebuilding (conflict management and negotiation) through distance learning with USIP (www.usip.org), the University of Amsterdam, and the North South Centre for The Council of Europe. He is also among the 100 youth fellows selected for an interfaith co-existence, intercultural, and peacebuilding program called “A Common Word Among the Youth,” that includes several trainings and conferences in Africa, Europe and America.
Carrie Newcomer
Carrie Newcomer is a Grammy-winning singer-songwriter. Her albums include Kindred Spirits, A Permeable Life, The Beautiful Not Yet, and The Point of Arrival, and two books of poetry and essays.
Carrie is the 2019 recipient of The Shalem Institute’s “Contemplative Voices Award.” Recent media appearances include PBS’s Religion and Ethics and Krista Tippett’s On Being. Newcomer was a cultural ambassador to India and has traveled to Kenya and the Middle East, performing in concert halls, hospitals, schools, and spiritual communities. She has lent her support to organizations focused on social justice, health and hunger services, progressive spirituality, and environmental preservation. She lives in the woods with her husband and two shaggy dogs. For information about Carrie’s touring schedule, CDs, and books, visit her site.
Yonatan Neril
Rabbi Yonatan Neril founded and directs the Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development, based in Jerusalem, which works to catalyze a transition to a sustainable, thriving, and spiritually-aware society through leadership of faith communities. Yonatan speaks internationally on faith and ecology, and co-organized five interfaith environmental conferences, in Jerusalem, New York City, and Washington D.C. He is the lead author and general editor of two books on Jewish environmental ethics including Uplifting People and Planet: 18 Essential Jewish Teachings on the Environment. A native of California, Yonatan completed an M.A. and B.A. from Stanford University with a focus on global environmental issues, and received rabbinical ordination in Israel. He lives with his wife and two children in Jerusalem.
Melissa K. Nelson
Melissa K. Nelson, (Turtle Mountain Chippewa), is a writer, researcher, educator, media-maker, and cultural and environmental activist. Melissa has served as The Cultural Conservancy’s president and executive director since 1993. In 2000 she completed her Ph.D. in Cultural Ecology with an Emphasis in Native American Studies at the University of California, Davis. Since 2002 she has also served as a professor of American Indian Studies at San Francisco State University. Her published works have appeared in academic and national journals. Her edited anthology is Original Instructions – Indigenous Teachings for a Sustainable Future (Bear & Company 2008). Nelson is a Switzer Environmental Fellow and Leadership Award recipient and has served on the boards of numerous environmental organizations including Earth Island Institute, United Religions Initiative, and currently, the Center for Whole Communities and Bioneers.
Ameena Naqvi
Ameena Naqvi is 13 and in eighth grade at Arbour Lake School in Calgary, Canada. Her hobbies include drawing, playing the flute, and reading. She has a passion for music and writing.
Despina Namwembe
Despina Namwembe is a social scientist with a Masters in Peace and Conflict Studies. She coordinates the work of over 30 grassroots interfaith organizations doing different social action in the Great Lakes countries of Africa. Despina is a community organizer, and trainer who also mentors many in organizational development. Growing up in a continent that sometimes fuses strong customs with religion to deter full women participation, Despina has passion for addressing issues that support women and girls achieve their full life potential. She is widely traveled something that has helped her conceive many life changing situations outside the box. She is also a contributor to different literature in the areas of interfaith, gender, environment and peace building.
Anum Mulla
Anum Mulla is a writer, editor, and an empathy & compassion cultivation facilitator. With roots in India, Pakistan, the Middle East, and Canada, she is passionate about the fluid interrelation of cultures and perspectives and is a strong advocate of social justice and reform. Her work is rooted in the belief of a metaphysical alignment of the core human values of empathy and compassion.
Anum serves on the Board of Trustees for the Charter for Compassion through which she focuses on engaging more youth in compassionate actions. She is a Level II Facilitator of the CIT Program (Center for Compassion Integrity & Secular Ethics), a Social Emotional & Ethical Learning Facilitator (Emory University), and a Crossing Borders Education Facilitator. Along with her team, Anum spearheaded the CIT for Educators in South Asia, CIT for Educators in Africa, and CIT for Young Changemakers programs, she continues to facilitate compassion based education trainings across the globe.
LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anum-mulla-9650211b2
Michael Nagler
Michael Nagler is Professor emeritus of Classics and Comparative Literature at UC, Berkeley, where he co-founded the Peace and Conflict Studies Program in which he taught the immensely popular nonviolence course that was webcast in its entirety as well as PACS 90, "Meditation" and a sophomore seminar called "Why Are We Here? Great Writing on the Meaning of Life" for fifteen years.
Among other awards, he received the Jamnalal Bajaj International Award for “Promoting Gandhian Values Outside India” in 2007, joining other distinguished contributors to nonviolence as Archbishop Desmond Tutu and peace scholar and activist Johan Galtung in receiving this honor.
He is the author of The Search for a Nonviolent Future, which received a 2002 American Book Award and has been translated into Korean, Arabic, Italian and other languages; Our Spiritual Crisis: Recovering Human Wisdom in a Time of Violence (2005); The Upanishads (with Sri Eknath Easwaran, 1987), and other books as well as many articles on peace and spirituality.
He has spoken for campus, religious, and other groups on peace and nonviolence for many years, especially since September 11, 2001. He has consulted for the U.S. Institute of Peace and many other organizations and is the founder President of the board of the Metta Center for Nonviolence Education. Michael has worked on nonviolent intervention since the 1970’s and served on the Interim Steering Committee of the Nonviolent Peaceforce.
Michael is a student of Sri Eknath Easwaran, Founder of the Blue Mountain Center of Meditation, and has lived at the Center's ashram in Marin County since 1970. He gives workshops on Easwaran's system of passage meditation around the world.
John W. Morehead
John W. Morehead has been involved for many years in interreligious relationships and conversations in the contexts of Islam, Mormonism, and Paganism. He is the director of the Evangelical Chapter of the Foundation for Religious Diplomacy, and the editor of Beyond the Burning Times: A Pagan and Christian in Dialogue by Philip Johnson and Gus diZerega (2009).
Bee Moorhead
Bee Moorhead has been Executive Director of Texas Impact since 2000, managing every aspect of the organization’s work and answering to a 45-member board of directors. The Texas Impact Board is made up of representatives from the state’s many faith communities. Under Bee’s leadership, Texas Impact has moved from fewer than 1,000 members to more than 20,000 and earned recognition as a national leader in interfaith education and community leadership development.
Bee spent eight years as a senior fiscal policy analyst for former Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, John Sharp. Bee was responsible for the Comptroller’s attention to public policy issues related to health and human services, and she was the chief architect of Family Pathfinders, a unique program linking Texas congregations and civic organizations with families on public assistance.
Bee holds a B.A. in Drama from the University of Texas in Austin, and a M.A. in Public Affairs from the Lyndon Baines Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas.
Deborah Moldow
Rev. Deborah Moldow is an ordained interfaith minister committed to assisting in the transformation of human consciousness to a culture of peace through her ministry, international peace work, interfaith efforts, speaking, writing and singing, all part of the movement of awakening humanity.
Deborah is the founder of the Garden of Light, an online platform for the emerging global spirituality. The Garden of Light provides a virtual home for a new community rooted in shared spirituality that transcends differences of culture so that it can become visible as a powerful force in uplifting the human spirit.
She is Co-Director with Diane Williams of the Evolutionary Leaders circle, a project of the Source of Synergy Foundation that brings together visionaries committed to the acceleration of the conscious evolution of humanity in these critical times. She is also a Core Collaborator at Unity.Earth.
Deborah served for more than 20 years as the Representative to the United Nations of the World Peace Prayer Society, which promotes the universal prayer “May Peace Prevail on Earth,” and has traveled the globe to conduct Peace Pole dedications and World Peace Flag Ceremonies sending peace to every nation. At the United Nations, she co-chaired the International Day of Peace NGO Committee and the Values Caucus, and founded the United Religions Initiative multi-faith cooperation circle.
Rev. Deborah leads monthly Interfaith Sundays at the Chapel at Croton Falls, has a practice in spiritual counseling and facilitates a local Spirit Salon.
Ammara Mohsin
Ammara Mohsin is from Pakistan. She currently is pursuing a bachelors in Social Sciences at SZABIST (Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Techology), looking to major in Economics. Writing has always held an appeal for her because it makes her feel that an ordinary person like herself can make an impact on the world and its people. She’s recently taken up debate, and her favorite authors currently are Arundhati Roy and Leo Tolstoy.