Dr. Robert C. Henderson

Baha'I

USA

General Secretary, National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'i's of the USA

Dr. Henderson formerly served as a founder and Senior Vice-President of Air Atlanta, the first United States African-American owned jet airline in the history of aviation. He also served as a Managing Director of Tarkenton and Company and as a Federal Commissioner of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Federal Holiday Commission. His initiation and direction of the study, "Models of Unity -- Racial, Ethnic and Religious" on behalf of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States, in collaboration with the Chicago Human Relations Foundation, resulted in a landmark analysis of inter-group unity in the Chicago metropolitan area and stimulated similar studies across the country from Portland, Oregon to Atlanta.

He was invited by President Clinton’s Advisory Board on Race to participate in the religious forum held in Louisville, Kentucky and was invited by the U.S. Agency for International Development in Washington, D.C. to give a plenary address to the international conference on girls’ education, “Educating Girls: A Development Imperative.” Invited by Nobel Prize winner, Eli Wiesel, and former New York Governor Mario Cuomo, Dr. Henderson also participated in the process for promoting harmony among diverse groups, "Anatomy of Hate: Saving Our Children." He addressed the Eli Wiesel Foundation for Humanity sponsored “Education Against Hatred" Seminar at Haifa University, a conference that brought together Americans, Arabs, Germans, and Israelis to consider means for eradicating long-standing hatreds.

Lally Lucretia Warren

Baha'i

Botswana

Chairperson, National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’I in Bostwan

Ms. Warren, a nurse and midwife, began her involvement in interfaith activities two decades ago by being one of the organizers of local observances of World Religion Day. She is part of the 2002 International Advisory Committee. She chaired a session at the 2004 Parliament of the World's Religions: “Strategies for Mainstreaming Gender into Peace Building and Inter-Faith Programs” and women raising children as peace market”

Dharma Master Hsin Tao Shih

Buddhist

Taiwan

Chairman and Founder, World Religions Museum

Dharma Master Hsin Tao was born in 1948 in Burma, and having no chance of schooling, Master Hsin Tao was tricked into joining a guerilla army very early he began his studies at military schools. Since he heard the story of Bodhisattva Kuanyin, Master Hsin Tao made a vow to spend his life following the spiritual example of Bodhisattva Kuanyin. At 25 he was tonsured as a monk. The method of spiritual cultivation chosen by Master Hsin Tao was ascetic hardship and solitary living. Over the following years he would sit in meditation for 18 hours a day, eating only one meal, and reading sutras.

In 1989, at the age of 41, Master Hsin Tao reentered society and established the Ling Jiou Mountain Cultural Foundation. Since then Master Hsin Tao has traveled extensively, founded a monastery in Taiwan and more recently the Museum of World Religions. Of the Museum, Master Hsin Tao states: "By establishing a museum where the identities of different religions are brought together and where this identification is put into practice, we can realize the ideal of: Respect for each religion, Tolerance for every culture and Love for every life,Together we can create a new century of love and peace.

Samuel Ruiz Garcia

Christian Catholic

Mexico

Bishop Emeritus, Diocese of Chiapas

Samuel Ruiz García was born on 3 November 1924 and is known as Tatic (meaning “father” or “elder”). It is an affectionate Tzotzil title. Ruiz was a Mexican bishop from San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, from 1959 until 1999. He became aware of the problem of the indigenous people and started defending them, this zone in Mexico is characterized by its poverty and its indigenous population. Some 40,000 indigenous Mexicans received some kind of help from this bishop for over 10 years. Samuel Ruiz offered his help in conflicts in Central America and defended indigenous populations in Mexico and in Central and South America. He contributed largely to calm the difficult situation between the Mexican government and the Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional (Zapatista Army of National Liberation).

He won the Simon Bolívar International Prize from UNESCO in 2000 due to his efforts to fight poverty, exclusion, corruption, and violence and for his help in the mutual understanding of Latin Americans. He became a symbol of Latin American liberation theology and a good mediator between conflictive groups. He was a prominent invitee to the 1999 Parliament in Cape Town, South Africa, Presenter at the 2004 Parliament in Barcelona, Spain. His publish book: “Lessons Of The Zapatista Uprising”

Joseph Praghu

Christian Catholic

USA

CSLA

Dr. Praghu has been teaching at CSLA since 1978, although, he has been a visiting professor at UCBerkeley, Harvard, Occidental College, Boston University and universities in India and Germany, part of his new editions are: "Gandhi and a Culture of Peace", "Human Rights in Cross-Cultural Perspective" and "Hegel, India and the Dark Face of Modernity."

At CSLA, he gives courses of introduction to philosophy concentrating on human values and views about reality and knowledge. He also teaches courses on Indian/Asian philosophy, 19 and 20C European philosophy, ethics, metaphysics, philosophy of religion and social and political theory. His goals in teaching are threefold: 1. to actually do philosophy in the classroom, so that students learn how to think for themselves, 2. to provide students with both worldviews and detailed arguments, so that they are exposed to the excitement and rigor of the subject, and 3. to show the practical relevance of such thinking, to their personal lives and the world at large.

H. E. Msgr. Francisco Robles Ortega

Christian Catholic

Mexico

Archbishop of the Archdioceses de Monterrey

Rev. Robles is currently the Archbishop of the Archdioceses de Monterrey. He was named on January, 25, 2003, as the XI Archbishop of Monterrey, by the Pope Juan Pablo II. He was born in Mascot, Jalisco (Diocese of Tepic). He was the third child from a Christian home. He studied "Humanities" in the Smaller Seminary of Autlán; of "Philosophy" in the Seminary of Guadalajara and "Theology" in the Seminary of Zamora.

He was ordained Presbyter on July 20,1976 in the Parish of Mascot, Jalisco, for the Diocese of Autlán, by the H.E. Dn. Maclovio Vázquez, Bishop of Autlán. After his sacerdotal arrangement he completed his studies in Rome where he obtained the Degree in Dogmatic Theology in the Pontifical Gregoriana University.

He has served as a Vicar in the Parish of Santa Maria de Guadalupe in Autlán, Spiritual director in the Smaller Seminary of Autlán; Director of the Seminary of Autlán, etc. On regards of this Episcopal ministry. He was consecrated Bishop by S. And R. Mons. Alfredo Towers Romero, Second Bishop of Toluca.

Most Reverend Patrick J. Zurek

Christian Catholic

United States

Archdiocese of San Antonio TX

Patrick J. Zurek was born in Wallis, Texas, on August 17, 1948. He attended local elementary and secondary schools and received a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and chemistry from the University of Houston. He also attended the Seminary of St. Mary, studying philosophy at the University of St. Thomas, Houston, and the North American College, Rome, studying theology at the Angelicum University. Subsequently, he earned a licentiate in moral theology at the Alphonsian Academy, Rome. He was ordained a priest in Rome for the Diocese of Austin on June 29, 1975, by Pope Paul VI.

After several parochial assignments, Bishop-elect Zurek served as pastor of St. Thomas Church, College Station, and as diocesan director of permanent formation of clergy and as diocesan director of vocations. He has also served as vice president and president of the National Conference of Directors of Vocations. The Archdiocese of San Antonio serves a Catholic population of over 650,000 in a total population of 1.8 million. It is comprised of 21 Texas counties and parts of two others in the southwestern portion of the state.

H. E. Cardinal Julius Riyadi Darmaatmadja

Catholic

Indonesia

Archbishop of Jakarta

Cardinal Julius Riyadi Darmaatmadja, Former President Delegate of the Special Assembly for Asia of the Synod of Bishops, and former President of the Bishops’ Conference of Indonesia. He was born in Muntilan, Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia. On 1957 he entered St Stanislaus Novitiate of the Society of Jesus in Giri Sonta - Klepu, Semarang, Central Java, and took his first vows. He studied philosophy at De Nobili College, Pontifical Athenaeum, Poona, India, where he received his licentiate in philosophy. He did his regency at St Peter Canisius minor seminary in Mertoyudan, Magelan, Central Java, in the Archdiocese of Semarang. He Studied theology at St Ignatius College, Yogyakarta, in the same Archdiocese. He received tonsure from Bishop A. D'Souza in the chapel of De Nobili College, Poona, India. He also received Minor Orders from the same prelate. Cardinal Justinus Darmojuwono, Archbishop of Semarang, ordained him in Yogyakarta to the subdiaconate and diaconate.

His apostolic activity has been intense. He was subprefect and teacher at St Peter Canisius minor seminary in Mertoyudan, Magelang, and served as parish priest in Kalasan parish, Yogyakarta. He was rector of St Peter Canisius minor seminary in Mertoyudan, Magelang. In addition, he was a member of the 'Commissio de Ministeriis' of the Indonesian Province of the Society of Jesus; co-ordinator of the 'Commissio Educationis' of the Indonesian Jesuits; and national secretary of the East Asian Jesuit Educational Commission. He served as Provincial of the Indonesian Province of the Society of Jesus. On 1983 he was appointed Archbishop of Semarang (the Diocese had been established on 3 January 1961) and he received Episcopal ordination there on 29 January of the same year.

Dr. Jesus Castillo Coronado

Catholic

Belgium

Professor of the Saint John's International School
Philosophy and Religious Studies Department.

Jesus Castillo Coronado has a background in philosophy, holds Masters and Ph D Degress in Theology from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and did posdoctoral studies on the relathionship between philosophy, religion and science. He teaches Philosophy and Religion at Saint John's International School and has been a guest lecturer at Lumen Vitae and coordinator of the Vesta Initiatives of the Office for International Students and Scholars of the KULeuven (Belgium). He has taught Medieval Philosophy and Systematic Theology at the University of Saint Mary of the Lake (Mundelein, IL, USA), is the editor of Faith Seeking Humanity: The Theological Endeavor of Juan Luis Segundo (Louvain Studies 22 [1997] 3) and Livres e Responsaveis: O Legado Teologico de Juan Luis Segundo (Sao Paulo: Paulinas, 1998) and is a member of the Global Issues Network.

Dr. Fabian Salazar

Christian Catholic

Colombia

Professor of the University of

Universidad del Rosario Colombia

Fabián Salazar has started his social work as a volunteer in marginalized communities, fruit of this encounter with the Colombian reality and his personal search of God, and as a secular person he studied Theology in the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana of Bogota, in this same university where he studied Bioethics. He was Coordinator of the Cultural center of the Arquidiócesis of Bogota, professor of the international Institute of Theology at Distance and Professor of Theology at the Rosario University. His academic contact with the religions carried him next to another colleague to propose the Rosario University of Bogotá, the creation of the Center of Theological Studies and of the Religions in order to promote the religious knowledge, the dialogue and the social joint work in favor of processes of solidarity, peace and justice in Colombia and its integration to international level.

Israel Batista

Christian Protestant

Ecuador

Secretary General of the Latin American Council of Churches.

Rev. Israel Batista, Secretary General of the Latin American Council of Churches (CLAI), has responded to the call to alleviate the social violence in Central and South America. Batista and the CLAI organization have undertaken initiatives in the scopes of mediation in the conflicts and youthful delinquency. These initiatives aim to end the violence of the bands and to form to leaders of churches on the way to treat the conflicts and the violence in the communes. Batista works for a Latin America that already does not undergo the plagues of the civil wars and the violence within each nation.

He was ordained Pastor at the Methodist Church of Cuba. Graduated in Theology at the Evangelical Seminary of Theology of Matanzas and Bachelor in Computer Science at the University of Havana. He has held positions like: Pastor of the Methodist Churches in Havana, Matanzas and Cienfuegos. Pastor of the Latin American Community in Geneva, Switzerland. National coordinator of the Council of Cuba Churches. Professor and Dean of the Evangelical Seminary of Theology of Matanzas. Director of the Provincial Library of Matanzas (Ministry of Culture). Secretary of Program in Unit II. "Justice, Peace and Creation" of the World-wide Council of Churches. Secretary General of the Latin American Council of Churches. In his Ecumenical experience: he has hold diverse positions in the Council of Churches of Cuba (CIC)> he is Member of the Board of directors of CELADEC. He is the leader of Movimiento Estudiantil Cristiano (MEC). And leader at the World-wide Advice of Churches CLAI.

Hans Ucko

Christian Protestant

Sweden

Interreligious Relations and Dialogue, World Council of Churches

Rev. Dr. Hans Ucko was born in 1946 in Sweden, studied in France, Sweden, Israel, and India. He is an ordained minister of the Church of Sweden. He received his Ph.D. from the Senate of Serampore, India. His thesis "A Proposal for a Critical Interaction on Concepts Integral to the Jewish Tradition, as used in Jewish-Christian Dialogue, and in Minjung and Dalit Theologies, with special Emphasis on the Concepts of 'People' and 'People of God'" has been published by LIT-Verlag, Münster, 2002, under the title The People and the People of God in Minjung and Dalit Theology in Interaction with Jewish-Christian Dialogue . Hans Ucko is the Program Secretary in the Office on Interreligious Relations and Dialogue of the World Council of Churches, Geneva, Switzerland. Other publications include Common Roots and New Horizons (WCC, Geneva 1994), People of God and Peoples of God - A Christian-Jewish Encounter in Asia , (WCC, Geneva 1995), The Jubilee Challenge: Utopia or Possibility? (WCC, Geneva, 1996). He is the editor of the biannual WCC publication Current Dialogue and has written extensively on Jewish-Christian and interreligious dialogue in several languages.

Dr. Ucko is since 1989 the Program Executive in the Office on Interreligious Relations and Dialogue of the World Council of Churches, Geneva , Switzerland . He has published an extensive number of articles and papers, covering issues such as interfaith dialogue, Jewish-Christian relations, Theology, Missiology, Liturgy in several languages. He is on the Board of Trustees of Hartford Seminary and an official observer at the International Council of Christians and Jews. He is the editor of the biannual WCC publication Current Dialogue.

Dr. Ricardo R. Saavedra Hidalgo, PhD

FIADASEC
Chief Administrative Officer and Commissioner before United Nations

Dr. Ricardo Saavedra Hidalgo holds a Bachelor’s Degree of Health Sciences, Master Degree of Education and a Doctoral Degree in Psychology in Organizational Leadership.

Dr. Saavedra is currently Executive Advisor for International Development of Southern Christian University, Universidad Central de Nicaragua, and Universidad San Juan de la Cruz.

Dr. Saavedra currently supports to help reduce the vulnerability of poor people affected by natural disasters, conflict and environmental degradation – events which, sadly, are increasing. Dr. Saavedra also helps poor people to make a better living – by enabling producers to improve their production, processing and marketing. Dr. Saavedra helps poor communities respond to the challenges of new technologies, helping them to access simple effective technologies that can change lives forever, bringing positive, lasting change to people's lives in developing countries.

Dr. Ricardo R. Saavedra Hidalgo is Chief Administrative Officer and Commissioner of FIADASEC before United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). FIADASEC (International Federation of Associations of Social, Ecological and Culture Aid) www.fiadasec.org is a group of associations from different countries around the world. The main objective of FIADASEC is to help people in general to increase the levels of self-consciousness with a social development, self-consciousness, ecological and cultural education for peace that help to develop a complete human being and improve quality of life. Some of the recent activities made by FIADASEC:

Social aid activities:

Build and development of “The Integral Development Center” in Bani, Dominican Republic where we assist HUNDRED of children providing them food every day, and health care for the Santa Rosa Community (2522 families) through the medical center offering pediatric, dental, gynecologic care, internist, psychological care, layer assistance and vaccinations programs. Technical Schools such us sewing and tailoring, literacy programs (alphabetization) for adults. Building and development the “Alina Sanchez” feeder for hundreds of children in the Palave community where we assist 1427 families. Expending and assisting children with hydrocephalic valves.

Build and development of “The Integral Development Center” La Vega, Dominican Republic where we assisted children providing them food every day, and health care for the Juan Pablo Duarte Community (thousands of beneficiaries) through the medical center offering pediatric, dental , gynecologic care, internist, psychological care, layer assistance and vaccinations programs. Technical Schools such us sewing and tailoring, alphabetization for adults.

Environmental activities:

Lectures about Transgenic farming and Food Environmental Summit. Reforestation of parks and community fields at different cities. Ecological and Global Warming Awareness

Cultural Activities:

International assistance to all the FIADASEC members sending facilitators to increase knowledge to promote the education for peace and sustainable development. Giving lectures, workshops and seminars such as: “Increasing your life will”, “Resolving your relationships”, “You can get what you want” “Educating in moral values”

Reverend Isai

Dr. Mario Pereyra

Uruguay

Christianity

Clinic Phycology Professor, Universidad de Montemorelos, NL, México.

Dr. Pereyra specialized in Clinical Psychology, having the rolls of Family Therapist, Researcher, writer, University professor and Visitor Professor in the universities of Argentina, Chile, Peru, Haiti and Spain. He was recognized with the Certificate of “Excellence in Psychology” given by the American Psychological Association, Washington, US. He is author of several books and more than 350 articles of published newspapers and magazines of many countries which are based on family therapy, forgiveness and reconciliation, happiness. Currently he is Post graduate and graduate professor in the school of Clinical Psychology of the University of Montemorelos, NL, Mexico. He has attended and performed various congresses, seminaries, workshops, forums all of them orientated towards mental hygiene, therapy for forgiveness-reconciliation, solutions strategies for the conflict.

Rev. Dr. Wesley Ariarajah

Christian Protestant (United Methodist Church)

USA

Professor of Ecumenical Theology/Inter-religious understanding at Drew University

Dr. Ariarajah is the Former Deputy General Secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC). He also is a Methodist Minister from Sri Lanka, who served as a Minister of the church, a lecturer in the History of Religions and New Testament in the common Protestant seminary of the Churches. In his education he has attained a Bachelor in Divinity (BD) degree from the University of India (is this what the university is called? If not, then it should say… from a university in India) after that he did his postgraduate work at Princeton (TH.M) and at the University of London (M.Phil and Ph.D.).

He had been at the forefront of the Council on Interfaith Dialogue at the World Council of Churches for a period of 10 years, time in which he represented the diverse and respect of all of the major religions in the world. At first glance, one would have a hard time discerning which of these religions he loved the most. That is why he is very recognized as a popular teacher in the field of religion. Presented at the 1999 Parliament in Cape Town, South Africa: “Ecology as Experience in African Religions” In his publications we can mention: Hindus and Christians: A Century of Protestant Ecumenical Thought, The Bible and People of Other Faiths, among others.

The Very Rev. Leonid Kishkovsky

Christian Orthodox

United States

Ecumenical officer, Orthodox Church in America

The Very Rev. Leonid Kishkovsky

Ecumenical officer, Orthodox Church in America

Ecumenical Officer of the Orthodox Church in America, which is in unity with the Russian Orthodox Church, the Very Reverend Leonid Kishkovsky takes a fitting place in Chautauqua's Week One focus on Russia.

Having immigrated to the US in 1951, studied at the University of Southern California, and graduated from St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary in 1968, Reverend Kishkovsky was ordained to the priesthood of the Orthodox Church in 1969. He served in a parish assignment in San Francisco until 1974, at which time he became Rector of Our Lady of Kazan Church in Sea Cliff, New York, and Assistant to the Chancellor of the Orthodox Church in America, positions in which he continues to serve into the present.

Among numerous national and international involvements, from 2000-2003 Reverend Kishkovsky was also Moderator of Action by Churches Together (ACT), the Geneva-based ecumenical alliance of churches and humanitarian agencies), and had served prior to that as President of the National Council of Churches of Christ USA, an organization for which he continues to serve on the Executive Board and General Assembly. He is also on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of Church World Service (CWS), and is editor of The Orthodox Church, a monthly publication of the Orthodox Church in America.

M. P. Mathai

Christian

India

Professor and Director, School of Gandhian Thought and Development Studies, Mahatma Gandhi University

Dr. Mathai holds an M.A. from Kerala University, M.A from Madurai Kamaraj University and a Ph.D. from Mahatma Gandhi University. He has a long career as a teacher and lecturer in St. Peter’s College, Kolenchery. He Served as Principal of St. Peter’s College, Kolenchery for two years. Selection Grade Lecturer/Reader in the School of Gandhian Studies, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam. He has been a Visiting Professor at the Institute of Gandhian Studies, Gopuri, Wardha, Maharashtra since 1990. He has published some books and articles such as: Meditations on Gandhi, Samakaleeka Samasyakal, Mahatma Gandhi’s World-view, Gandhi Darsan Grandhavali a study series of 5 short volumes on the life and ideas of Mahatma Gandhi, Sahitya Padhanangal, (Current Books, Kottayam, 2004). His has published over twenty research articles, as well as books.

He has traveled extensive though US and delivered lectures and conducted workshops on Gandhi’s life and message, particularly on ‘The Legacy of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.’ at the invitation of Non-Governmental Organizations.

Tu Weiming

Taoist / Confucianist

USA

Director, Harvard Yen Ching Institute

Tu Wei-Ming is a Professor of Chinese History and Philosophy at Harvard University. He was born in Kunming, China and educated in Taiwan (B.A. at Tunghai University) and North America (M.A. and Ph.D. at Harvard University). Professor Tu is currently interpreting Confucian ethics as a spiritual resource for the emerging global community. He assumed his tenure as the Director of the Harvard-Yenching Institute in January 1996. In 1985, he was a Fulbright Research Scholar in China and was asked to teach "Confucian Philosophy" in the Department of Philosophy at Peking University. He also taught the modern transformation of Confucian humanism as a Visiting Professor in the Department of Philosophy and History at Taiwan University. Invited by the Indian Council of Philosophical Research, he delivered 16 lectures under the general rubric of "A Confucian Critique of the Enlightenment Mentality" including the following topics: (1) modernity reconsidered; (2) the cultural implications of the rise of East Asia; (3) Confucian China and its modern fate; (4) on Confucian spirituality; (5) dialogue of civilizations; and (6) toward a global ethic. The lectures were given at New Delhi, Madras, Santineketan, Lucknow, and Vanarasi November 24 through December 14, 1995.

Tu Wei-ming’s research interests are Confucian humanism, Chinese intellectual history, philosophies of East Asia and comparative religion. He has served as Chair of the Committee on the Study of Religion and Chair of the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University. He is currently chair of the Advisory Board of the Institute of Chinese Literature and Philosophy, Academia Sinica; vice chair of the Board of Directors of the International Confucian Association in Beijing; co-moderator of the Aspen Seminar on The Chinese in the Global Community; fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; member of the Advisory committee to the Program Committee of the American Philosophical Association; faculty advisor of the Singapore and Malaysia Association; member of the International Advisory Panel of Faculty of Arts and Sciences of the National University of Singapore; Board of Directors of the American Association for Chinese Studies; and member of the International Advisory Board of the book series "Global Encounter: Studies in Comparative Political Theory" (to be published by Rowman & Littlefield). He is also an interviewee of "Intercultural Visual Library of the Year 2000" that is sponsored by the UNESCO. He has published in Chinese and English.

Dr. Seshagiri Rao

Hinduism

USA

Chief Editor, Encyclopedia of Hindusim

K.L.Seshagiri Rao is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Religious Studies, University of Virginia, and Chief Editor of the Encyclopedia of Hindusim project. Dr.Rao is also one of the founding editors and regular writers for "Interreligious Insight", published by the World Congress of Faiths, London. He is also on the editorial boards of both "Dialogue and Alliance" and of "Ghandi Marg" journals for many years.

Dr. Rao received the prestigious Vishwa Hindu, title in 2006, conferred by Avadhoota Dattapeetham, Mysore. He also received Certificate of Honor awarded by Indological Research Association, Bangalore, in 2005. He received the Hall of Fame "Anim Award" from the International Parapsychology Association; Ecumenical Studies Award from the Integral Yoga Association in Buckingham, Virginia; and the Consciousness Studies Award from the College of Natural Law in Washington, D.C. In 2004 he was invited to participate in the World Parliament of Religions in Barcelona, Spain. His areas of interest and expertise are: Indic Religions, Gandhian Studies, and Interreligous Dialogue.

Born in 1929, Dr. K. L. Seshagiri Rao received his Master's degree with distinction in Philosophy at the University of Mysore. He received his Ph.D. degree in Comparative Study of Religions from Harvard University. Dr. Rao is Professor Emeritus, in the department of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia, where he worked there for nearly 25 years as full Professor from 1971-1995. Dr. Rao has received both a Fulbright Grant and a Fellowship of the Center for the Study of World Religions (Harvard University), where he completed his doctoral program.

Swami Dayananda Saraswati

Hindu

India

Founder, Arsha Vidya Gurukulam

Sri Swami Dayananda Saraswati is a distinguished, traditional teacher of Vedanta. His depth of understanding and nuanced appreciation of Western culture makes him that rare teacher who can communicate the vision of non-duality to modern listeners. He is able to make one see, with immediacy, the truth of oneself as the whole. Swami Dayananda has been teaching Vedanta in India for more than four decades, and around the world since 1976. In his public talks abroad, Swamiji has spoken at many of the most prestigious American universities, and has addressed international conventions, UNESCO and the United Nations, where he participated in the Millennium Peace Summit.

Under Swami Dayananda’s guidance, numerous centers for Vedic teaching have been founded around the world. The two main centers in India are the Arsha Vidya Ashram in Rishikesh and the Arsha Vidya Gurukulam in Coimbatore. In the U.S., the main center is the Arsha Vidya Gurukulam at Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania. At present there are at least sixty centers in India and abroad that carry on the same tradition of Vedantic teaching.

In November 2001, Swami Dayananda convened the first World Congress for the Preservation of Religious Diversity in Delhi, inaugurated by the Dalai Lama and the then Prime Minister Mr.A.B.Vajpayee. An important outcome of the Congress is the formation of a Global Commission for the Preservation of Religious Diversity, spearheaded by Swami Dayananda. The Commission had its inaugural meeting in Bangkok in June, 2002. Swami Dayananda was also active in forming and participating in the Women’s Global Peace Initiative, which convened at the United Nations in Geneva in October 2002.

Babalowo Wande Abimbola

African Indigenous Religions ( Yoruba)

Nigeria

Professor, University of Ife

Dr. Abimbola is the spokesperson and ambassador of Yuruba Religion, President of the University of Ife. President of the World Yoruba Congress. He has participated in different interreligious events addressing topics such as: “Religion and Human Rights,” He is a

Physolosophy Professor from Nigeria, with a M.A. in Linguistics and a Ph.D in Literature , he has held many positions not only in his native country but also in USA as an African Language professor, Advisor, Senate Majority Leader, Researcher/Scholar and Visiting Lecturer,

As well as the other religion leaders he promotes the dialogue between religions of humankind in order to solve problems such as to end wars, terrorism, greed, hatred, religious conflict, ethnic cleansing and racial bigotry. But dialogue on an equal basis, in an atmosphere of respect, and equality. In June 1981, he founded a World Congress of Yorùbá Religion which has become very popular and successful. Three congresses have been held in Africa; one in the United States; one in Trinidad and Tobago; and two in Brazil.

As the President of the University of Ifè, Dr. Abimbola was the first senior Yorùbá official to travel to Cuba and has since been there on several occasions as part of his role as ambassador for Yorùbá culture and religion. He helped pave the way for the 1987 state visit to Cuba of the Oòni of Ifè, one of theYorùbás' two principal kings, the other being the Aláàfin of Òyó.

He was recongnized as a “Awase awo ni Agbaye”. Dr.Abimbola has 30 Articles and many books published in the International Academic Journals or as chapters in Academic books, among his publications we have: Ifa: An Exposition of Ifa Literary Corpus, Awon Oju Odu, Sixteen Great Poems ofIfa, "Ifá will mend our broken world," is extraordinarily rich in information and contains a great deal on Cuba.

Princess Adetokunbo Abimbola

NIGERIA

Precious Childcare Foundation (PCF)

Mrs Abimbola, graduated from the University of Lagos Nigeria with a BA(Hon) History in 1978 and masters degree in Political Science specializing in International. She worked variously as lecturer, researcher and administrator at the Universities of Lagos and Ife(now Obafemi Awolowo University)Nigeria. She is the founder of a precious home school; a nursery primary school as well she is the executive director of the Precious childcare Foundation. This is a non governmental organization working on the rehabilitation and integration of street children and orphans of HIV/AIDS victims. The foundation has an orphanage for street children and orphanage of HIV/AIDS victims in Oyo town Nigeria. Mr Abimbola also runs a cultural outfit known as Songobiyi African Creations This outfit aims at promoting all aspects of yoruba culture and tradition She is presently a Lecturer at Ajayi Crowther University Oyo Town Oyo state Nigeria. Mrs Abimbola has traveled widely around the world attending, conferences, seminars and workshops related with the African culture, gender issues and the rights of the African child.

Dr. Laxmi Mall Singhvi

Jain

India

Judge, Supreme Court of India

His Excellency was born in Jodhpur on November 9th, 1931, studied law in India and the United States, and is today one of the world's most honored eminent jurist, a leading constitutional expert, an expert in public and private international law. Dr. Laxmi Mall Singhvi, a distinguished parliamentarian, a highly respected intellectual, a prominent exponent of human rights, a doyen of the Indian Bar, a citizen-statesman, an author, poet, publicist, linguist and litterateur, man of peace, and vegetarian. These virtues, together with an outpouring love of mankind and a conviction that the timeless principles he understands so well are the best gift he can make to his fellow humans, are making Dr. Singhvi most appreciated with people of all faiths and backgrounds - including his good friends, Britain's royal family.

He is a scholar of the Dharma Shastras, Hinduism's ancient codes of laws and ethics, and regularly invoked their principles in interpreting constitutional law during his years as Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court of India. He sat in India's Parliament from 1962 to 1967 being a member of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha ( 1998- 2004). He is active in, or has founded, countless societies, including UN agencies, for the promotion of law, ethics, human rights, ecology, etc. He will be speaking on "India as your business partner--Past, Present and Future". He received the Padma Bhushan, one of the highest civilian honors in India, in 1998 in recognition of his pre-eminent contributions to public law and public affairs.

He served as a High Commissioner for India in the United Kingdom, and in 1987 he was elected Honorary Bencher and Master of the Middle Temple, one of the highest honors for those in the legal profession in the United Kingdom. And he served as the Advocate General of India.

Raksha J. Shah

Jain

India

Mrs. Raksha Shah is a Jain scholar, visiting lecturer at the University of Mumbai, jounalist, spiritual columnist, a public speaker; and has hosted and directed several programs on television and radio in India. She was a speaker at the 2004 Barcelona Parliament. She got his B.SC, M.A and a LL.B at the University of Mumbai, N.D. at Naturopath, and a Diploma in Jain Philosophy a the University of Mumbai- Gold-Medallist. Currently doing research in Jaina Philosophy on Pratikramana. She is editor of the leading Jain Newsletter ‘Jain Prakash’. She was Awarded Best Jain Patrakar (Journalist) Award by Mumbai Jain Patrakar Sangha, for the - Year 2005 and Awarded Journalist Award by Ekta Forum and Rashtranjali Weekly, for the Year 2004.

She has been a Spiritual Columnist who writes a column, every Tuesday in the special supplement ‘Metro’, under the heading ‘Shrutasya’ for the leading newspaper –‘Mumbai Samachar’ since three and a half years. Free-Lance Anchor on Television and Radio.

Anop Vora

Jainism

USA

Former President, Federation of Jain Associations in North America (JAINA)

Mr. Vora was born on India. He received his Master’s Degrees in (1) Mechanical Engineering from the University of California(2) Business Administration from the Rochester Institute of Technology. He the former President of Federation of Jain Associations of North America popularly known as JAINA, Past President of Jain Society of Rochester, Founder President of International Alumni Association of Shri Mahavir Jain Vidyalaya. He gave a major push to the interfaith activities over the two years of my JAINA Presidency. The attendance to the World Parliament of Religions by the JAINA delegation was a watershed event. We funded this project with $15,000, drew delegates from UK and India, formed a Unified Jain Group and worked cohesively. He Participated in the production of a video film on Religious Diversity in June 2003 for the benefit of the public schools in Rochester.

He wrote and published articles based on the teachings of Jainism. The topics included: Anger, Forgiveness, What Religion should Mean to Us, Jain Model of Learning Process, Theory of Karma, Liberation through Meditation. Established R. K. Charitable Trust in 1982 and Kanchan Foundation in 1998 to help the poor and needy people residing in India.

Prof. Paul Mendes-Flohr

Judaism

USA

Professor, University of Chicago Divinity School

Paul Mendes-Flohr, was born in 1941. After gaining a B.A. from Brooklyn College in History and Philosophy in 1964, Paul Mendes-Flohr studied Near Eastern and Jewish Studies at Brandeis University. Ph. D. in 1972. Since 1973 teaching at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Paul Mendes-Flohr is a full professor since 1988. Since 2000 he is Professor at the Divinity School at the University of Chicago. Paul Mendes-Flohr was a visiting professors at Harvard University, Brandeis University, the University of Virginia, and the University of Chicago, where he also currently helds a chair in religious philosophy.

He has held many different professional appointments; at present he is a member of the advisory board of the Leo Baeck Institute in Jerusalem, member of the Academic Steering Committee of the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, member of the Beirat of the Institute for German History, Tel Aviv University and at the Simon Dubnow Institute, Leipzig and the Chair of The Olga and William Lakritz Fund in Martin Buber Studies. In 1986 he was awarded a Simon Guggenheim Fellowship; in 1997/98 he received the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Prize and in 2000 he was elected Honorary Senator of the Abraham Geiger College, Potsdam, Germany. He is in the editorial board of numerous professional journals in Israel, the U.S.A., and Europe; he is a co-editor of The Journal of Jewish Philosophy and Thought. Paul Mendes-Flohr has been the director of the Franz Rosenzweig Centre since 1999.

Avraham Soetendorp

Jewish

Netherlands

Awraham Soetendorp was born in 1943 in Amsterdam and survived as a “hidden child”. He is Rabbi of the Liberal Jewish Community in The Hague (The Netherlands). He presides over the European Region of the World Union for Progressive Judaism. Awraham Soetendorp is Earth Charter Commissioner and a Founding Board Member Green Cross International. Awraham Soetendorp is co-chair of the Global Forum of Spiritual and Parliamentary Leaders, with Sheikh Ahmed Kuftaro, Grand Mufti of Syria. He is also a member of International Advisory Committee of World Peace Summit. He acts as advisor to the American Jewish World Service and is the founder and chair of Hope Foundation for Children for Universal Education.

Awraham Soetendorp, President, European Region, Progressive Judaism, Netherlands, and Amitai Etzioni, Professor, George Washington University, USA. Founder and Chair, Hope Chief Organizer, Interfaith Meeting to mark the beginning of the Dutch parliamentary year. His mayor recognitions and awards were on 1996 with the Africa Prize for leadership. Most recent publications include storybooks about Jewish values for children. Co-Author, storybook, "Children of Abraham", written together with Muslim and Christian authors. Together in hope. (Reflections On Tolerance), Als het niet nu is, wanneer dan wel, etc.

Sheik Suhail Assad

Muslim

Iran-Chile

Director, Center of Islamic Culture of Chile

Sr. Sheik Assad has a Bachelor in Islamic Doctrine from the University of Qom, Republic of Iran. Teacher in Culture and Islamic Civilization at the University of Qom. Doctor in Philosophy and Islamic Theology, University of the Islamic Civilization, Beirut, Lebanon. Spiritual guide of the Islamic communities in: Peru, Bolivia, Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, Mexico, Argentina, Costa Rica, Chile, etc. He worked as a translator of Philosophy and Islamic History, in Persian Arab and he was invited professor of different universities from Latin America and the Middle East.

Khaled Abou El Fadl

Muslim

Kuwait

Professor of Law University of California

Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl is the most important and influential Islamic thinker in the modern age. An accomplished Islamic jurist and scholar, he is Professor of Law at the UCLA School of Law where he teaches Islamic law, Immigration, Human Rights, International and National Security Law. Dr. Abou El Fadl previously taught Islamic law at the University of Texas at Austin Law School, Yale Law School and Princeton University. He holds degrees from Yale University (B.A.), University of Pennsylvania Law School (J.D.) and Princeton University (M.A./Ph.D.). Dr. Abou El Fadl is a world renowned expert in Islamic law and an American lawyer. He is a strong proponent of human rights and serves on the Advisory Board of Middle East Watch, and previously on the Board of Directors of Human Rights Watch. He was also previously appointed by President George W. Bush as a commissioner on the US Commission on International Religious Freedom.

Dr. Abou El Fadl is a prolific author and prominent public intellectual on Islamic law and Islam, most noted for his scholarly approach to Islam from a moral point of view. His recent books include: The Search for Beauty in Islam: A Conference of the Books (Rowman and Littlefield, 2006); The Great Theft: Wrestling Islam from the Extremists (HarperSanFrancisco, 2005); Islam and the Challenge of Democracy (Princeton University Press, 2004); The Place of Tolerance in Islam (Beacon Press, 2002); etc.

Dr. Raksha Shah

Jain

India

Nahid Angha

Muslim

USA

International Association of Sufism

Dr. Nahid Angha is the Founder of the Sufi Women Organization, Co-director of the International Association of Sufism Executive editor of the journal Sufism: An Inquiry. Seyedeh

is the codirector of the International Association of Sufism (IAS), She is the main representative of the IAS NGO/DPI to the United Nations, and the First Muslim woman inductee to the Marin Women’s Hall of Fame, 2005.

Nahid Angha, Ph.D., is an international Muslim Sufi leader, a renowned scholar, and a resident of Marin County. Her long CV demonstrates tireless dedication to the transformation of individuals, communities, and institutions; an ongoing commitment to human rights; and interfaith cooperation. She has worked tirelessly for more than 25 years to empower others - especially women - through education and leadership training. Her peers and many admirers consider her a visionary transformer.

Dr. Angha was appointed to teach in her father's Uwaiysi tradition, becoming the first woman given this honor. An internationally published author, she is one of the influential Sufi women and contributors to the world of Sufi doctrine, and one of the major Sufi writers and translators of Sufi literature of the present time. She has written numerous books on the subjects of Sufism, philosophy, and spiritual traveling, such as: Negah (vision, non-English); Critical analysis on Existentialism Theory (non-English); Divan (non-English); Principles of Sufism (second edition); The Journey: Seyr va Soluk (second edition); The Nature of Miracles; etc.

Akbar Ahmed

Muslim

USA

Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies

American University

Ambassador Akbar Ahmed is known as “The world’s leading authority on contemporary Islam” according to the BBC. He has been Visiting Professor at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, Harvard and Cambridge Universities and he was the High Commissioner of Pakistan to Great Britain. He has advised Prince Charles and met with President George W. Bush on Islam. His numerous books, films and documentaries have won awards. His books have been translated into many languages including Chinese and Indonesian. Dr. Ahmed is regularly interviewed on CNN, CBC, the BBC, ARY TV and has appeared several times on the Oprah Winfrey Show and Night Line. He has presented and narrated “The Glories of Islamic Art”, the three-part television series for Channel 5, UK, broadcast this fall. His book Journey into Islam: The Crisis of Globalization is under publication with Brookings Press and he is writing a play called Noor: Dreaming of Paradise. His book with Amineh Hoti called Knowledge: Why Civilizations Rise and Fall is with Polity Press, Cambridge.

He has been a Trustee for several years of the World Faiths Development Dialogue set up by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the President of the World Bank. He is also a Senior Fellow at The Case Foundation in Washington, D.C. and is a Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Hasan Family Foundation . He spoke at the Chairman’s Distinguished Speakers Lecture Series at the Pentagon and gave the inaugural lectures for the first Chair in Jewish-Muslim Studies at the University of Illinois-Chicago. He lectured at a World Affairs Council event along with Dick Cheney, Dr. Henry Kissinger and Bernard Lewis. He was the first Muslim to lecture at the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC. Ahmed is Principal Investigator for “Islam in the Age of Globalization”, a project supported by The Brookings Institution, American University and The Pew Research Center, and Visiting Fellow at Brookings in addition to his appointment at American University. He is presently Non-Resident Senior Fellow at Brookings. He is a member of the “Incident Management Team” for the Department of Homeland Security and an expert panelist with the new online feature,” On Faith,” for the Washington Post and Newsweek . He was Finalist with Dr. Judea Pearl in the “Most Inspiring Person of the Year 2005” in a poll conducted by BeliefNet and has won the first ever “Purpose Prize Award.”

Sister Jayanti

New Religious Movements

Brahma Kumaris

Co-Administrative Head, Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University

Sister Jayanti is a spiritual teacher and leader, a pioneer and an emissary for peace. She has a vision and experience that is truly global and deeply spiritual. Born in India, and growing up in England, Sister Jayanti is a blend of Eastern wisdom and Western education and culture. At the age of 19 she began her life’s path of spiritual study and service with the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University.

She has trained for more than 40 years with some of the world’s most remarkable yogis. As a result, she has become an exceptional meditator and teacher and has developed a rare clarity and purity of mind. Sister Jayanti is also a much sought-after speaker around the world.

Sister Jayanti has been an Advisor to the Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions and Advisory Committee Member of the International Interfaith Centre. She is also a

member of the Executive Committee of the World Congress of Faiths.

Sister Jayanti is the European Director of the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University and

assists in co-ordinating the University's activities in more than 100 countries. She is also their

representative to the United Nations, Geneva.

Andras Corben Arthen

Pagan traditions

USA

President of the EarthSpirit Community

Andras Corban Arthen is cunningman of the Glenshire witches, as well as an elder in three other branches of contemporary witchcraft, and is director of the EarthSpirit Community, a pagan educational and service organization with an international membership, founded in 1980.

Andras was chosen to represent the pagan traditions at the United Nations Interfaith Conference in 1991, and was a speaker at the Parliament of the World's Religions --- the world’s oldest and largest interfaith gathering --- in Chicago in 1993 and in Barcelona in 2004; he currently serves on the Parliament’s Board of Trustees. In 1990, he was one of the organizers and celebrants of the interfaith ceremony that launched Boston’s twentieth celebration of Earth Day, which drew 250,000 people.

Andras has been featured in the books Witches and Witchcraft (Time-Life Books), Fire in the Head, Never Again the Burning Times, People of the Earth, Drawing Down the Moon, A Community of Witches, and The New Pagans, and in the award-winning television program Smithsonian World. He has taught and lectured widely at conferences and academic institutions throughout the country and abroad. He is proud to have been singled out as "a bad role-model for the youth of America" by right-wing Christian zealot Pat Robertson on the "700 Club" in 1996.

Bhai Sahib Mohinder

Sikh

Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha

Bhai Sahib Mohinder Singh is Spiritual Successor and Chairperson of Guru Nanak Niskam Sewak Jatha, a registered Sikh charity which has an estimated one-million members worldwide. Educated in civil and structural engineering, Bhai Sahib has managed projects across Africa, India and the UK, focussing on spiritual regeneration, conservation, health, education and employment. Bhai Sahib serves on the University of Birmingham Community Advisory Board and is Patron of the United Religions Initiative.

Mohinder Singh, a civil engineer by profession, is the chairman of the Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha in Birmingham, England. A strong proponent of interreligious dialogue, Singh is a member of the European Council of Religious Leaders and an advisor to the Sikh Heritage Trust.

About Sikhism: Based on the teachings of ten gurus, or enlightened masters, living in sixteenth and seventeenth century India, Sikhism promotes a life of virtuous action, hard work, and dedication to family and community. Simple in its theology and open to the teachings of other faiths, it now ranks as the fifth largest religion with over twenty million adherents worldwide.

Dr. Anahat Kaur Sandhu

Sikh

USA

Chair of WSC-AR's Education Committee

Dr. Anahat K. Sandhu works on religious leaders gatherings in the US. Helping to get to know each other better and work towards building bridges for healing this imperfect world.

Community Activities Human rights; Inter-Faith and Inter-Religion dialogues.

Homi B. Dhalla

Zoroastrian

India

Founder and President, Cultural Foundation of the Zarathustra World

Dr. Dhalla holds a Ph.D. received an M.A. in Near Eastern Languages and Literatures from Harvard University and his doctorate from Bombay University Department of Avesta-Phalavi. He taught as Assistant Professor at the Asia Institute , Shiraz University , Iran , for two years. He has been conducting research in Zoroastrian Studies and Parsi History for the past three decades. As a representative of the Parsi community , he has read papers at international conferences focusing on the Zoroastrian view of peace, ecology , and inter-religious dialog. Dr. Dhalla also has been very active in the interfaith movement both at the local as well as the international level. He is the Zoroastrian representative of the Presiding Council of the Inter-Religious Federation for World Peace New York , as well as a Consultant to the International Interfaith Centre , Oxford. In early 1998 , he established the World Zarathushti Cultural Foundation in Mumbai. As President, he has launched several cultural projects for the Parsi community , such as reviving old Parsi songs and poetry, establishing Gujarati language classes, seeking to preserve ancient manuscripts , and conserving historical sites.

William Lesher

Christian Protestant

USA

Pastor, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Nancy M. Martin

Interreligious

USA

Associate Director and Co-Founder

Global Ethics and Religion Forum

Professor Nancy Martin received her M.A. from the University of Chicago Divinity School and her Ph.D. from the Graduate Theological Union in conjunction with the University of California, Berkeley. An Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Chapman University, she is an historian of religion with expertise in Asian religions, gender issues, and comparative ethics. Involved in extensive fieldwork in Rajasthan, her research focuses on devotional Hinduism, women's religious lives, and the religious traditions of low-caste groups in India. Her book on the sixteenth-century saint Mirabai, entitled Mi rabai: A Woman Poet-Saint in India , is forthcoming with Oxford University Press. She is the recipient of the Graves Award for the Humanities, and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Institute of Indian Studies, and she is a Life Member of Clare Hall, Cambridge University. With Joseph Runzo, she is Co-editor of The Meaning of Life in the World Religions ;Love, Sex and Gender in the World Religions ;Ethics in the World Religions; and Human Rights and Responsibilities in the World Religions, and General Co-Editor of the "Library of Global Ethics and Religion." Together they jointly delivered the Lowell Lecture for 2001 in comparative ethics at Boston University, and Dr. Martin has lectured widely on devotional Hinduism, religion and human rights, and comparative ethics in India, China, Italy, Germany, Belgium, England, South Africa, and the USA, including at the Parliament of the World Religions in 1998.

Rick Nahmias

Interreligious

USA

Film and Religious Studies

Rick Nahmias is a Los Angeles-based photographer and writer who has been documenting numerous subjects including marginalized communities and social justice issues for his own projects, national publications and other freelance clients since 2002. His worked has toured museums, cultural centers and universities of the U.S. extensively and been published in
newspapers, magazines, academic journals and news weeklies across the country. He holds a BFA in Film and Religious Studies from New York University.

Joseph Runzo

Interreligious

USA

Director and Co-Founder, Global Ethics and Religion Forum

Dr. Runzo, internationally recognized for his work in comparative religious worldviews, global human rights, and the ethics of war, is the founding Executive Director of the Global Ethics and Religion Forum. Dr. Runzo is Professor of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Chapman University, California, and a Life Member of Clare Hall, Cambridge University, England. Trained in philosophy, ethics, religious studies and Asian culture, he received his BA from the University of California, Irvine, his MA and Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Michigan, and an MTS in theological studies from Harvard University. He also studied South Asian religion and culture as a Fellow at the East-West Center of the University of Hawaii and received a British Spalding Trust Award for research in India. The recipient of six awards and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, he is the executive producer for the Forum’s documentary project Patterns for Peace and the interviewer of Nobel Peace Laureates and world religious leaders for the Forum’s documentary Global Voices for Human Rights; general co-editor with Dr. Nancy M. Martin of The Library of Global Ethics and Religion; a member of the editorial board of the journal Faith and Philosophy ; Honorary Research Scholar at the Centre for the Study of World Religions, University of Wales, Lampeter; and a member of the advisory board of the Citizen Peacebuilding Program, University of California, Irvine. Dr. Runzo currently serves on the Program Committee for the Global Congress “The World’s Religions after September 11” to be held in Montreal, Canada, September 11-15, 2006.

Dr. Runzo has received international acclaim for his current work on global human rights and the ethics of war. He has been an invited speaker on human rights in China and at the Third Parliament of the World’s Religions in Capetown, South Africa. In 2003 he was honored as the keynote speaker at the 72 nd Congress of the Canadian Federation of the Humanities and Social Sciences (2003), in recognition for his international leadership of the Global Ethics and Religion Forum and his work on the ethics of war.

Gerardo Martinez Cristerna

Roman Catholic

President of the World Ethical Foundation of Mexico

Mexico

Gerald Martinez Cristerna is a writer, essayist and lecturer on topics like: Theology and Society: Philosophy and Religion. Ethics and Human Responsibility, etc. He has participated in some congresses and forums between Spain and Mexico. He has organized and Coordinated many national and international academic encounters with specialist like Dr Hans Küng, Juan Jose Tamayo Acosta, Director of the Chair of Theology and Sciences of the Religions, Ignacio Ellacurìa of the University Carlos III of Madrid, Adolph Vázquez Rock (Valparaiso University of Chile) Andrea Mutolo (Gregoriana Pontifical University, Rome) among others.

Katherine Marshall

Interreligious

USA

Senior Officer, The World Bank

Katherine Marshall has worked for over three decades on international development, with a focus on issues for the World’s poorest countries, including social policies. She has as a senior officer at the World Bank since 1971, and is currently responsible for a broad range of issues revolving around ethics, values, rights and faith in development work. Ms. Marshall previously was director for World Bank programs in East, Asia( focus on social policy and governance), Africa and latin America. Marshall is a graduate of Wellesly College and the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University ( MPA 69). She serves on the boards of several NGOs, and most prominently was engaged in the creation and development of the World Faiths Development Dialogue (WFDD).

Among her publication we can mention: Millennium Challenges for Development and Faith Mind, Heart and Soul in the Fight Against Poverty , New Social Policy Agendas for Europe and Asia: Challenges, Experiences, and Lessons Finding Global Balance: Common Grounds Between the Worlds of Development And Faith, etc

Lcdo. Salvador Beltrán del Río

Mexico

Ministry of Energy, Mexico

Consulate Beltrán -del -Río is originally from Chihuahua, he studied law and continued

his studies at the University of New Mexico where he taught at the law school. Studies at Harvard led him to become member of the law firm Baker & McKenzie in its Juárez office. He returned to Monterrey to open an office for the firm and became politically involved once again. The Consulate General is the key administrative representative for the Mexican government. The office serves a broad range of informational, legal, and document-related needs for Mexican citizens as well as services for foreigners who want to travel, study or work in Mexico. As importantly, the Consulate has responsibilities for protecting its citizens, from offering general services (passports, marriage and birth registry, etc) to providing legal advice on broad issues from migration, labor, and civil and legal disputes. He is working with U.S. elected officials to inform the community about laws that affect them and about health and educational resources that are available to improve their quality of life and future in the United States.

Beltrán del Río is collaborating with elected officials and foundations for English as a Second Language and literacy programs, early childhood education and post-secondary education programs. A mobile Consulate, he travels once a month throughout the tristate area to provide consular services and advice to all Mexicans liv ing in this region .

Leonel Narváez Gómez

Christianity Roman Catholic

Colombia

ESPERE

Leonel Narváez Gómez. He is a Colombian Catholic priest. He received his M.Phil degree in rural sociology from the University of Cambridge in England and his Masters in Theology from the Harvard Divinity School. He has participated very closely in the peace negotiations with the leftist guerrillas in Colombia. He is one of the founders and facilitators of Schools of Forgiveness and Reconcilation in Bogata. These schools promoting interpersonal reconciliation, have become popular as an important contributor to the construction of peace in Colombia.

These workshops, Schools of Forgiveness and Reconciliation, are known by their Spanish acronym ESPERE—which in Spanish means "hope."

Alejandro Morton

Mexico

Director for the Protection of the Minor and the Family System (DIF Nuevo Leon).

Dr. Alejandro Alberto Morton is the director for the Protection of the Minor and the Family System (DIF Nuevo Leon). Graduated in Infantile Neuropsychology by the Faculty of Psychology of the Independent University Leon. Graduated in Sistematics Intervention in Familiar Violence by the CIFAC (Familiar Research center, A.C.). Graduated in Legal Psychology by the Faculty of Psychology of the Independent University Leon. Masters in "the Psychosis, the Incapacity of the Boy and the Family". Hospital Saint - Antoine, University of Paris VII. General Psychiatry Hospital the International of the University of Paris. Professor Jeammet. Graduated in Social and Economic Sciences of the Health. Faculty Lariboisiere Medicine. His residences is mostly done in Paris. Additionally He has been responsible and involved with health and psychological programs focusing on children, children of mental deficiency , young adults in different countries. He was in charge of the psychiatric consultation of the Medical Services of the Municipality of San Nicholas.

Travis Rejman

Interreligious

USA

Director, The Golden Institute

Travis Rejman worked closely with Diane Goldin to design and create the Partner Cities Network and the Goldin Institute. Prior to creating the Goldin Institute, Travis served as Director for the Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions, leading the development of the program for the 2004 (Barcelona) and 1999 (Cape Town) Parliaments of the World's Religions.

Prior to working in the interreligious field, Travis worked in the environmental movement, focusing on coalition building, grassroots education and civic engagement. Travis has conducted consultative site visits and worked on location in over 20 Partner Cities in Asia, Europe, Africa, the Middle-East and, South and North America.

Simon Cohen

London UK

Managing director of the Global Tolerance organization

Simon Cohen is managing director of global tolerance and is a media trainer and consultant.

Simon is an international speaker on the media and ethics. Simon presented at the Economic Forum in Poland in 2006, attended by scores of heads of state from across the world. He is also a regular speaker for the international NGO, Initiatives of Change, and is media advisor for the International Communications Forum, a global organisation that promotes the ethical role of the media in society.

Simon has run media training courses in numerous places across the world, including the Parliament of the World Religions in Barcelona (2004) and the World Spirit Forum in Arosa (2005). In 2006, he ran a course at the global congress World's Religions After 9/11 in Montreal, and was key-note speaker at the Gandhi memorial event at the Martin Luther King Junior International Chapel at Morehouse College in Atlanta.

An accredited writer with the British Association of Journalists, Simon has had articles published in national and international publications.

Mediaweek magazine voted Simon one of the top young media professionals in Great Britain for two years running. He has received awards from UnLtd and the Millennium Awards Trust as one of the leading social entrepreneurs in the UK.

Simon has seven years top level experience in the media industry, working across regional press, national press, radio and online.

Sr. Jairo Carvajal

Mexico

Christianity

Founder Maranatha Bookstore

Jairo Carbajal graduated as an Industrial Chemical Engineer in the National Polytechnical Institute of the Mexico city. He is the founder of Maranatha Bookstore, which had the recognition SEPA (Evangelical Editorial Association in Spanish), considered the best Distributor of the Year. Through Maranatha Ministries. He has carried out diverse activities for the fortification of the family, in churches, schools and public events. In the ministerial scope, he has served in the leadership of the Church for more than 30 years, currently he serves in the church of “the House of my Father”.

On the field of Literature,2000 he founded the Ariel Editions. On 2004 he started the bimonthly publication of the magazine Renovation. He is author of the book named “A family according to the heart of God, published in 2004 by the publishing House Creation, in Orlando, Florida. This book gained the prize as the best book of the year that grants SEPA.

José Alberto Villasana Munguía

Mexico

Vice-president of the Mexican Civic Association Pro Silver.

Jose Alberto Villasana; writer, journalist, and analyst of foreign affairs and relationship between Church-State. He is the Vice-president of the Mexican Civic Association Pro Silver. Also he is member of the Club of Journalists of Mexico. His background education in International Communication, Classic humanities, Philosophy; Theology made him to be involved as an Adviser for the Secretary of the International affairs between Mexico-Vatican relationship. He has worked as a Researcher and editorialist for the General Managing of information and news at the Azteca TV. He was Director of International affairs of the Instituto de Seguridad y Servicios Sociales de los Trabajadores del Estado.

He was awarded twice with the National prize of Journalism. He is Author of many books and numerous of national and international articles.

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