Rev. Meg A. Riley is senior minister of the Church of the Larger Fellowship, a 3500-member Church Without Walls. She has worked in the intersection of religion and culture in a variety of contexts, including serving as director of the Unitarian Universalist Association's Advocacy and Witness staff group, Office of Lesbian, Bisexual and Gay Concerns, Washington Office for Advocacy, Youth Programs, and as a religious educator in several Unitarian Universalist congregations. She is currently president of the Board of Faith in Public Life: A Resource Center for Justice and the Common Good.
Theodore Richards
Theodore Richards is the founder of The Chicago Wisdom Project and the author of seven books and numerous literary awards, including three Independent Publisher Awards and two Nautilus Book Awards. His most recent book is A Letter to My Daughters: Remembering the Lost Dimension & the Texture of Life, winner of the Independent Publisher Awards Gold Medal in memoir. He lives on the south side of Chicago with his wife and three daughters. To learn more and contact, visit www.theodorerichards.com
Richard Reoch
Richard Reoch is the former President of Shambhala. He took part in the international interfaith mission of witness to the Rohingya refugee camp on the Bangladesh–Myanmar border from March 26-30, 2018.
William Rees
William Rees has over 35 years experience in UK independent education, He was a former Housemaster and Head of Admissions at Eton College, UK. While Head of Admissions, Mr Rees developed a modernised and meritocratic form of assessment at age 11 for entry to the school at 13, and was consulted by many other schools seeking to follow Eton’s pioneering example.
Since taking early retirement in 2009, he has been working as an independent consultant to senior independent schools in the UK. He advises on admissions and marketing strategy, structures, processes and communications. Since 2012, Mr. Rees has been working with My Tutor Club offering independent guidance and advice to parents on their UK education options as well as offering bespoke one-to-one interview practice for candidates applying to UK schools.
Raheel Raza
Raheel Raza, author of Their Jihad…Not My Jihad (2005), is a public speaker, diversity consultant, documentary film make, freelance journalist, and founder of SAMA (Sacred Arts and Music Alliance). Raza started writing at a young age in a culture where women were supposed to "be seen and not heard.” She bridges the gap between East and West, promoting cultural and religious diversity in print, on television and radio. An outspoken advocate for gender equality and an activist for women's rights, she has received numerous awards for her work to build bridges of understanding. She is a recipient of the City of Toronto’s Constance Hamilton Award and is the first South Asian woman to narrate a CBC documentary, “Passionate Eye.” Travelling extensively, Raza brings a fresh global perspective to her mandate “there is unity in diversity.” She has spoken at places of worship, the private sector, the Canadian Justice Department, school boards, and government institutions. She has also been invited to speak at universities in the United States and Canada, including Harvard and Columbia.
Netta Phillet
Netta Phillet was born in Edmonton and has a degree in Religious Studies. Much of her working life was spent in independent bookstores, and for five years in the mid - eighties she co-owned and managed a newspaper distribution business, bringing the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal to Edmonton for the first time.
Since 2006 she has been the coordinator of the Edmonton Interfaith Centre for Education & Action after being on the executive for 6 years. She is a life-member of Hadassah WIZO and has been active in different capacities at Beth Shalom Synagogue and the Women’s League for Conservative Judaism. For 25 years she has been a member of the Arab/Jewish Women’s Peace Coalition and was a founding member of the Phoenix Multifaith Society for Harmony. Much of the focus of her volunteer life is inter/intra faith dialogue and conflict resolution, as well as the place of women in religious ritual and observance.
Paul Brandeis Raushenbush
Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush is the senior religion editor for the Huffington Post. From 2003-2011, Raushenbush was the associate dean of Religious Life and the Chapel at Princeton University. He was the president of the Association of College and University Religious Affairs (ACURA) from 2009-20011. An ordained American Baptist minister, Rev. Raushenbush speaks and preaches at colleges, churches, and institutes around the country including The Chautauqua Institute, the Center for American Progress, the New America Foundation, and the Aspen Institute. Raushenbush is regularly invited to offer commentary on issues of religion and society on national television and radio. His current focus is on the interplay between religion and the internet. His first book, Teen Spirit: One World, Many Faiths (2004) was released in the Fall of 2004. He is the editor of the 100th Anniversary edition of Walter Rauschenbusch's book, Christianity and the Social Crisis – In the 21st Century(HarperOne). He was the co-director of the Program on Religion, Diplomacy and International Relations at The Liechtenstein Institute on Self Determination at Princeton University.
Shashank Rao
Shashank Rao is a Master’s of Divinity student at the University of Chicago, working on topics at the intersection of Hindu theology and literature. He is passionate about progressive Hindu community work, and in his spare time, enjoys making curry pastes from scratch. He is also a board member of the Sadhana Coalition of Progressive Hindus, where he helps facilitate the Liberation Theology Reading Group.
Cloë Poole
Cloë Poole (she/her) is a graduate of Seattle University with a degree in theology and religious studies. At Seattle University, Cloë specialized in comparative religion with an emphasis on the Islamic religious tradition. She is currently a first year Master of Theological Studies student at Harvard Divinity School focusing on Islamic studies and hopes to gain a deeper understanding of Islamic art in the contemporary period, Sufism, and the many ways spirituality is expressed and defined by Muslims today
Michael Ramos
Michael Ramos serves as the Executive Director of the Church Council of Greater Seattle. Work to accompany immigrants, address homelessness and lack of affordable housing, and create a culture of peace while confronting violence and hate are central to the Church Council’s mission. The interweaving of spirituality and social, racial and economic justice has been a lifelong passion of his stemming from his first peacemaking efforts in New York City more than three decades ago. He holds a Master of Divinity from Seattle University and is married with two adult daughters.
Saphira Rameshfar
Saphira Rameshfar is a member of the Bahá'í Community of New York City. She facilitates a gathering that welcomes people from all faiths and backgrounds, called Reflections on the Life of the Spirit, the purpose of which is to nurture a spirit of common purpose in the community, and to arise to serve the best interests of society together.
Anantanand Rambachan
Anantanand Rambachan is Professor of Religion, Philosophy and Asian Studies at Saint Olaf College, Minnesota, USA, where he has been teaching since 1985. He received his Ph.D and M.A. (Distinction) degrees from the Department of Theology and Religious Studies, University of Leeds, in the United Kingdom. He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad.
Among his books are, Accomplishing the Accomplished (1991), Gitamrtam: The Essential Teachings of the Bhagavadgita (1993), The Limits of Scripture (1994), The Hindu Vision (1996), The Advaita Worldview: God, World and Humanity (2006), and A Hindu Theology of Liberation (2014). His writings include a series of commentaries on the Ramayana (2006). The British Broadcasting Corporation transmitted a series of 25 lectures by Prof. Rambachan around the world.
Prof. Rambachan has been involved in the field of interreligious relations and dialogue for over twenty-five years, as a Hindu participant and analyst. He is active in the dialogue programs of the World Council of Churches, and was a Hindu guest and participant in the last four General Assemblies of the World Council of Churches. He is also a regular participant in the consultations of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue at the Vatican and an educator on interfaith issues in Minnesota.
Prof. Rambachan is an advisor to the Pluralism Project (Harvard University), a member of the International Advisory Council for the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, and a member of the Theological Education Committee of the American Academy of Religion.
Prof. Rambachan has traveled and lectured in many part of the world and teaches regularly at several Hindu temples in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. He resides with his family in Apple Valley, Minnesota.
Swami Ramananda
Swami Ramananda, the president of the Integral Yoga Institute in San Francisco and a greatly respected senior teacher in the Integral Yoga tradition. He has been practicing Yoga for more than 35 years. Ramananda offers practical methods of integrating the timeless teachings and practices of yoga into daily life, and transforming the painful aspects of human experience into steps toward realizing our full potential.
He leads beginner, intermediate, and advanced level yoga teacher training programs in San Francisco and offers a variety of programs in many locations in the U. S., Europe, and South America. Ramananda trains teachers to bring Yoga into corporate, hospital and medical settings and has taught mind/body wellness programs in many locations. He is a founding board member of the Yoga Alliance, a national registry that supports and promotes yoga teachers as professionals. His warmth, wisdom, and sense of humor have endeared him to many.
Alejandrino Quispe
Alejandrino M. Quispe is an indigenous Quechua man living in Ayacucho, Peru, in the Andes. He became involved in interfaith work through the United Religions Initiative in 2002 and worked to develop a Cooperation Circle of indigenous people of different faiths in his town. He has been a member of the URI since that time and is now serving as a global trustee for the South American and Caribbean Region. He is a graduate of the University of Peru in anthropology and works with the government there gathering information on remote pueblos such as economic status, health, and crop statistics, as well as other anthropological work. He is currently gathering video on the wisdom of his elders and the environmental damage that Peru is suffering, to post on YouTube. He also grows alfalfa to supplement his living and feed his 100 or so guinea pigs (a main source of protein).
Reed Price
Reed Price is a cross-media content consultant whose firm, @rveep, helps nonprofits and for-purpose organizations tell their stories in text, image and video. A former national journalist, Reed also has extensive professional experience in social media. Among his clients: The Charter for Compassion International, Island Volunteer Caregivers, and the Work Group for Community Health and Development at the University of Kansas. He’s the communications coordinator for the Bainbridge Island/North Kitsap Interfaith Council in Washington state and is a longtime member of Eagle Harbor Congregational Church (UCC) on Bainbridge Island. He admires the music of Leonard Cohen, the art of Wassily Kandinsky and the reflections of Henri Fredric Amiel. For more information, visit rveep.com.
Kiley Price
Kiley Price is a freelance journalist and senior at Wake Forest University in North Carolina. Originally from Philadelphia, she specializes in scientific and cultural writing and reporting, with an emphasis on the environment. Recently, Price covered the work of Buddhist ecology monks in Thailand with the country’s environmental movement. She was able to report on the intersection of faith and the environment by traveling to different Buddhist temples, Thai cities, and various NGOs throughout the country, with support and funding from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting in Washington, DC. Price is the youngest of five children, an avid reader, and animal lover. Her ultimate goal is to bridge the gap between the scientific community and the general public through journalism.
Isabella Price
Isabella Price is an educator, international speaker, and the author of the leading-edge book series “One Truth, Many Paths” on the world’s wisdom traditions. Two of her recent titles are Jesus Christ: The Love and Wisdom of a 1st Century Mystic (2014) and Sacred Love: Manifestations of the Goddess across Cultures (2015). Isabella holds an MA in the humanities (global history and comparative religion) from the University of Zurich, Switzerland. For over 25 years, she has been teaching classes and workshops at universities, colleges, and various religious venues.
Isabella travels extensively and participates in numerous rituals and celebrations across the religious and cultural spectrum. She has sought out teachers from different spiritual traditions and teaches meditation to veterans suffering from PTSD and other community members. Isabella is also a certified SQ21 Spiritual Intelligence coach. She is passionate about helping people, communities, and organizations identify and effectively address misunderstandings affecting members of all cultures and religions. For more information, please visit her website at www.onetruth-manypaths.com.
Joseph Prabhu
Joseph Prabhu is Professor of Philosophy and Religion at California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA) and member of the Executive Committee of the Parliament of the World's Religions. He is active as both a scholar and a peace activist. He has edited: The Intercultural Challenge of Raimon Panikkar (1996 ) and co-edited the two-volume Indian Ethics: Classical Traditions and Contemporary Challenges (2007, 2011). He has three books in process, “Liberating Gandhi: Community, Empire and a Culture of Peace,” due out in 2011, and “Hegel, India and the Dark Face of Modernity” and “Human Rights in Cross-Cultural Perspective,” due out in 2012. He has been a Senior Fellow of the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard University and of the Martin Marty Center at the University of Chicago and a Visiting Professor there. He has also been co-editor of Re-Vision from 1995-2003 and a contributing editor of Zygon. He is the past President of the international Society for Asian and Comparative Philosophy, 2008-09, and the Program Chair for the Melbourne Parliament of the World’s Religions, 2009. Among his many awards are the Outstanding Professor Award of CSULA for 2004-05 and the Lifetime Achievement Award from Soka Gakkai, USA and a Commendation from the Southern California Committee of the Parliament of the World’s Religions.
Riess Potterveld
Riess Potterveld is president of the Graduate Theological Union (GTU), beginning July 1, 2013. GTU is a consortium of eight seminaries and various centers and affiliates comprising one of the largest interreligious centers in the U.S. Previously he served as president of Pacific School of Religion (2010-2013), where he had earlier directed seminary development, and of Lancaster Theological Seminary (2002-2010). He is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ.
Dr. Potterveld has taught courses in transformational leadership and the practical skills of ministry. He preaches and speaks widely on issues of church and society and offers workshops on the interface between spirituality and art.
Riess previously served as senior minister of The Congregational Church of Northridge, California for 18 years. While at Northridge, he also lectured in the religious studies department of California State University, Northridge, where he received the Meritorious Performance and Professional Promise Award in 1988.
Riess was the co-founder and for three years, beginning in 1986, the president of The Valley Shelter, a large multi-service shelter for homeless people in the San Fernando Valley.
Riess is married to Tara Potterveld, a sign language interpreter for the deaf and sculptor, and they share four adult sons and seven grandchildren.
Tara Potterveld
Tara Potterveld is a sculptor working primarily in bronze and lives in the Bay Area. She received an MA degree in sculpture from California State University, Northridge and a BA in linguistics, Summa Cum Laude, from the same university. Tara’s sister, brother, and brother-in-law are all sculptors working in wood, stone, and metal and have participated in numerous exhibitions over the years.
Tara’s primary vocation is as a Sign Language Interpreter for the Deaf, and she specializes in interpreting in legal settings. She authored “Law Enforcement Interpreting for Deaf Persons” in 2012, published by the National Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf. In addition, she has led workshops and taught classes for other interpreters in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Trinidad Tobago, Maryland, New York, and Pennsylvania.
Tara and her husband Riess share four sons and seven grandchildren.