Vy Vu is a Vietnamese artist, educator, and organizer based in Washington, D.C.. They use their arts as a tool to uplift collective voices and shift power to communities. Vy works with a variety of mediums such as painting, printmaking, digital illustration, and sculpture, tailoring their artistry to fit the needs of different communities. They hope to offer a different perspective on art as a communal process that helps communities heal, celebrate and reclaim their identities in the face of injustice. Vy believes in creating and organizing with intention, spiritual groundedness, humbleness and mutual accountability. Vy got a B.A. degree in English and Studio Art from the College of Wooster in Ohio. They currently work full-time as a Sex Educator and Youth Organizer for a local non-profit, do freelance visual art as a side hustle, and serve as a Leader at The Sanctuaries, D.C. Some of Vy's most recent works include: creating mobilization art for 2019 Women's March; live creating and speaking at 2018 Parliament of the World's Religions: Justice Assembly; 2018 Reimagining Interfaith: Keynote Panel; and 2017 PICO Prophetic Resistance Summit: Reorganizing Faith Movements Panel.
Gretta Vosper
Gretta Vosper is the best-selling author of With or Without God: Why the Way We Live is More Important than What We Believe (2010) and Amen: What Prayer Can Mean in a World Beyond Belief (2014). These books are informed and inspired by her pastoral ministry at West Hill United Church and reflect her conviction that it isn't good enough to talk about an abstract belief that has no consequences for living well in community.
Her work at West Hill is about promoting an environment where people, often of widely differing opinions and backgrounds, can come together and work at living well within themselves, with one another, and in right relationship with the whole world. Gretta is committed to ensuring that the language within a church community is non-exclusive, and that people – ALL PEOPLE - have a place to ask tough questions and give free rein to their spiritual yearnings.
Gretta Vosper is founder of the Canadian Centre for Progressive Christianity. To learn more about Gretta, visit her website.
Stein Villumstad
Stein Villumstad, a Norwegian citizen, has been the General Secretary of European Council of Religious Leaders-Religions for Peace since January 2011. He has extensive experience in interreligious dialogue, international development, conflict transformation, and human rights.
Prior to this assignment he was the Deputy Secretary General of Religions for Peace International, based in New York for five years. Mr. Villumstad served in different functions in Norwegian Church Aid for close to twenty years before joining RFP, latest as Regional Representative for Eastern Africa with responsibility for NCA operations in ten countries. Previously he held among others the position as Assistant General Secretary with specific responsibility for policy, peace and human rights. Stein has served on a number of committees in Norway and internationally, and he was the first chair of ACT International, a global umbrella organization for Protestant and Orthodox humanitarian organizations. He has also been a member of the World Council of Churches’ (WCC) Commission on International Affairs.
Stein Villumstad has published a number of articles in international and Norwegian periodicals, and he is the author of a book about social reconstruction in Africa.
Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, Ph.D., is a Sufi teacher and author. In recent years the focus of his writing and teaching has been on spiritual responsibility in our present time of global crisis, and an awakening global consciousness of oneness. More recently he has written about the feminine and the emerging subject of Spiritual Ecology. Among his books is Spiritual Ecology: the Cry of the Earth (2013). He has been interviewed by Oprah Winfrey on Super Soul Sunday and featured on the Global Spirit Series, shown on PBS.
Alison Van Dyk
Alison Van Dyk is chairman of the Board and executive director of the Temple of Understanding, one of the world’s first international interfaith organizations. She grew up under the eye of Juliet Hollister, an interfaith pioneer who founded the Temple. Professionally, Alison holds graduate degrees in clinical psychology and transpersonal psychology and is a specialist in the Lowenfeld Sandplay technique. In 1990 she set up the Early Childhood Project, St. Luke's School, South Bronx, New York, and continues as a consultant there. She provides therapy for kindergarten children at risk. Alison has been involved with Temple activities since 1967, taking her to interfaith projects around the world. In 2010 she organized the Temple of Understanding’s 50th anniversary celebration. She frequently participates in North American Interfaith Network, Parliament of the World’s Religions, and United Religions Initiative activities.