Dr. Alka Arora
is Chair of the Women’s Spirituality program at the California Institute of Integral Studies. Her research and teaching interests are focused on multicultural feminist theory, spiritual activism, and ecofeminist perspectives on animal rights.
Tatyanna M. Wilkinson
Born and raised in Massachusetts. Black, Irish, Indigenous North American(Powhatan), French, eclectic, tech geek, small biz owner, web designer, blogger, youth advocate, mother of one young man, grandmother to one baby boy, kitty mommy of two and mentor to young women. Tatyanna has been a Board Member for several years and is now Advisory Board Member for the Morningstar Foundation. Her feet are firmly planted on the Red Road with her sisters and brothers in Spirit.
Sylvia Brallier
is a respected author and spiritual teacher who assists people overcome their limitations with impeccability, kindness and humor. She is currently working to heal humanity by popularizing the notion of personal responsibility for planetary change through impact media events with the I Resolve Initiative. http://globalresolutions.org
Dee Anderson
As a minister with The Church of Religious Science, my passion as a spiritual counselor is in holding sacred space while assisting my clients in clearing blocks to the truths of their own amazing selves. In the words of Rumi, “Your task is not to seek for Love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.” I wholeheartedly embrace our collective intentions born of Spirit and Faith.
Alisa Roadcup
With over ten years of experience in the field of human rights, strategic communications and fundraising, Alisa currently serves as director of US advocacy and development at Heshima Kenya, an NGO that provides holistic care for refugee girl and young women in Nairobi, Kenya. Alisa previously worked as communications director for the 2009 Parliament of the World’s Religions in Melbourne, Australia. She advises on campaign strategy as a member of Amnesty International’s Women Human Rights Coordination Group and since 2010 has served as vice president of the board of directors at Rape Victim Advocates. Alisa holds professional certification in Forced Migration Studies from Northwestern University, an MA in Comparative Religions and a BA in Humanities.
GrandMother Rachelle Figueroa
(Oyate Wi Cu Ya Wita Winyan/She Who Gathers the People) is a Clan Mother of the Yamassee Muskogee Nation, with Arapaho and Tarascan lineage. She is a Traditional Practitioner and the Founder and Executive Director of the Morning Star Foundation, based in Los Angeles, California. The organization is committed to bring greater awareness to Native/Indigenous Culture, Traditions and Teachings. Their primary service is to support and protect Sacred Elders & Youth, Sacred Ceremony, Sacred Sites and Mother Earth. MSF has brought together a Native/Indigenous, International GrandMother & GrandFather Council, which holds the Sacred Teachings and Traditions of 50 Wisdom Keepers. These Traditional Elders have committed to share their knowledge and healing at International gatherings, open to all cultures, women, men and youth. More information can be found at our website: www.TheMorningStarFoundation.org
Diana Rowan
Born in Ireland, harpist Diana Rowan lived all over the world before settling in Berkeley, California. Diana’s music interweaves Celtic, Eastern European, Near Eastern and classical arts and mythology. Besides performing everywhere from the Australian Harp Festival to Washington DC’s Smithsonian to Eastern European cathedrals, Diana teaches to advanced level and can be heard on many CDs and soundtracks for film and TV, including her three solo albums. She splits her time between the SF Bay Area and Eastern Europe, pursuing a PhD in harp composition at the National Academy of Music in Sofia, Bulgaria. Diana believes strongly in the healing power of music and plays often in hospitals and healing centers. www.dianarowan.com
Michelle Balandra
(spiritual name Sumatra), is a women dedicated to the holistic empowerment of women. She is the creator of Women circles NYC – Goddesses of the sacred fires and provides healing through different therapies.
Ellen Hurst
I am an artist working with plaster and paint and fabrics. I am also a coach and consultant for family and women owned businesses bringing vision, balance and fun to the workplace. I am committed to our spiritual core being expressed in all areas of our lives.
Denise Casey
I study and practice yoga therapy, mindfulness, singing, writing and movement. Story has always been a large part of my practice; whether that be the stories in our bodies or the stories we live by. I am currently working on a performance called From Silence to Song; using song, spoken word and dance to express a young woman’s journey through an inheritance of silence, hunger and story.
Karla Mendez
I love working with people whose background is different than mine because it has given me the opportunity to learn who I am. My personal experience with religious diversity started when I moved to the United States approximately 10 years ago. I admired (and still do) how people practice their spirituality and many different ways. I am currently a Psychology student at Westminster College and my future goals include working with refugees and immigrants as they adapt to the new culture.
Alda Glover
Agreeing that “God is too big for just one religion,” Alda believes that we are all meant to attune and harmonize with creation as individuals, each with our own purpose. Through her work as a Shiatsu massage therapist Alda helps to bring people into the structural, energetic and emotional harmony that facilitates a physical awareness of Spirit. Recognizing the value and importance of preserving indigenous traditions and ceremonies as foundational to the future of Humans, she volunteers and serves on the board of Morning Star Foundation.
Jeanne Anderson
I have been called many names– “Jeanne”, “Chiquita”, “Spitfire”, “Teacher”, “Bibi wa Handason”, “Mama wa Kibi”, ” Mrs. A.”. Yet my most dear and precious name is “Mom”.
Wendy Herschman
is the executive director of The Red Shoes, a women’s center for personal and spiritual growth. This inclusive and diverse community is an oasis of healing and a sacred space to nurture the divine feminine. We encourage women to look within, connect with their divine light and birth the gifts they have to offer the world. Inspirational speakers, meditation groups, sacred circles, book studies, creative arts and yoga all illuminate the journey.
Michelle Landry
hails from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada where she seeks to make a difference by her presence. Pregnancy- I am a woman giving birth to mySelf. Experiencing the pains of labour. The waves of contractions. My waters are breaking. I surrender to the process. Let go of fear of pain. I bathe myself in Love.
Grandma Kusum Samaranayake
I’m a retired director of English in Sri Lanka. I’m proud to say that I have served my country for 37 years as a government servant. I have the honor of being one of the spiritual grandmothers in the Morning Star Foundation working together and sharing the traditional customs and involving actively in the ceremonies. My evaluation of the values and the spirituality of the indigenous people are very high. I’m very much connected with nature and understand the spiritual powers of the four elements, the Earth, water, air and fire and how much they are connected to human beings. My time is mostly spent in meditation and trying to understand “Who I am?” Also a strong believer of “Living in this moment” My “motto” in life is to spread “Loving kindness” to all living beings. May all living beings be happy and peaceful.
Bonnie Halford
Bonnie believes everyone has a unique note to play in the symphony of creation and is committed to catalyzing one at their inner core to leap into their highest soul purpose. Her company, Wild Goose Journeys challenges individuals at the crossroads of decision to Jump in an array of powerful work and career possibilities.
Ellen Dumer
LCPC is a life success coach and holistic psychotherapist. She works with Catholic/Christian women in developing and using their inner wisdom to discern their God gifted purpose and bring it to fulfillment in their personal and family life, their community and the world at large.
Sharon Brostrom
I am a retired ELCA pastor and a retired English Professor in this country and in Africa (Ethiopia,Tanzania, Ghana). I have a big garden and have used my garden to help my church and meet people. I have four children and 11 grandchildren. It is all good!
Karen Boyett
is an interfaith activist, Professor of Religious Studies and Anthropology, and a mother of 2 young daughters. Karen has a deep commitment to mindful, compassionate living and a love of laughter and play.
Linda Higdon
works with accomplished women with huge hearts who are at a time in life when they’re asking “if not now when” and are ready to leave a global legacy for the world’s forgotten children. She is the founder and president of Global Room for Women, a global community of women who are rattling the system, speaking truth, and creating fresh responses to some of the most vexing issues in women’s lives from Africa to the Middle East and beyond.
Jamia Wilson
is a feminist media activist, organizer, truthseeker, and storyteller whose words and works have been featured in Alternet, CBS News, C-SPAN, Forbes.com, Fox.com, Good magazine, GRIT TV, In These Times, Ms. Magazine, the Today Show, Rookie magazine, TED.com, the Washington Post, Women of Spirit and Faith’s 2011 anthology Women, Spirituality, and Transformative Leadership: Where Grace Meets Power and more. Jamia is a member of the eminist.com board and the Omega Board of Directors.
Rowan Lynn
has worked as a Director of Finance & Administration for a production company in Los Angeles for the past 4 1/2 years. Having recently been “freed” of that position she is taking this divine opportunity to explore ways of integrating her creative gifts and spiritual purpose into whatever comes next. She has a colorful religious/spiritual history but has found her greatest spiritual connection and healing through the gift of Indigenous teachings and the land. Currently, she is on the Board of Directors as Treasurer for the Morning Star Foundation and is blessed to sit in the Hummingbird Drum Circle.
Kendra Ford
infuses her daily life with devotion to the Goddess in her many forms guided by the claim to living authentically and fully in this world. She is a mind-body spiritual guide, yoga teacher, academic, educator, writer, and lover of life. Her website is thrivinginwellness.com.
Anna C. Yang
is a Holistic Nurse interested in assisting women in the 50’s navigate significant turning points in their lives. She weave together tools that support the body-mind-hear-spirit during these challenging times so women can blossom into who they really are. Flower essences and the labyrinth are two of the tools she uses. She is also very interested in healing the wounds between women, those things that keep women in competition rather than collaboration.
Ericka Zamora-Wiggin
Yaqui/ Apache, Eskatel Yaqui Pueblo. Ericka is a ceremonial leader, traditional healer, and teacher. She engages in, and advocates for the use of “backwards medicine”; a decolonizing agenda in the reclamation and restoration of traditional indigenous knowledge for the healing of humanity and our sacred Mother Earth. Ericka holds an M.S. in Counseling and is an elementary school counselor by profession.
Donna Ahlstrand
I am an artist, a change agent, a good friend, a “retiree” who hasn’t stopped working yet, and a proud Gather the Women Convener. Something new is starting to bubble up in me, and I’m excited to find out what it will be.
Kathleen Jordan
I want to be part of the energy that holds the feminine intentions which are incubating and growing into compassionate action in the world. I am inspired by joining in sisterhood of other women to actively work for social justice and peaceful resolution for all women. My particular passion/compassion is for children and women who are exploited in human trafficking.
Clare Watts
Clare Watts
is an ordained priest and master teacher in the mystical Christian tradition, and as such is the director of the Order of Christ Sophia which has Centers of Light in seven cities in the US and one in Canada. She is dedicated to evolutionary awareness and to joining with others of all spiritual traditions to bring the great mystical Christian teachings, sacraments and initiations forward into this dawning age of consciousness.
Krithika Harish
is an Indian-American social justice activist who currently works as the Young Leaders Program Coordinator with the United Religions Initiative. She lives in San Francisco, CA and is passionate about international human rights, creating inclusive communities, and human-centered design. Follow her on twitter: @krithika.
Lucy Yanz
has been a nature mystic and artist since early childhood. Her work with Belovedjuice is experiential spiritual ecology. Her work bridges spirit and nature through practices of radical embodiment. All of her work draws on her background in organic farming, Sufism, motherhood, and eco-depth psychology.
Alison Fast
is a documentary filmmaker and “connector” with a passion for transformative storytelling. She has been at the forefront of the conscious media movement in Los Angeles for well over a decade, and works internationally through Barefoot Workshops, to support community-based storytelling workshops in South Africa, the Middle East and parts of the United States. She is dedicated to earth-based spirituality, drawing on the teachings of indigenous traditions through the The Morning Star Foundation, and teachings of Tibetan Buddhism through Lama Tsultrim Allione and Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche.
Angela Urata
is a butoh dancer and certified yoga teacher. She believes in transforming the world from the inside out.
Sharon Leman
As an Interfaith Hospice Chaplain, Hospice Program coordinator, and Grief Support Counselor my work has been both organizational and spiritual in nature. Currently, I am self-employed through Spirit Care (www.spirit-care.com) offering Grief Support and Spiritual Direction plus celebrating the Feminine Divine through art with images available on Cards and Paintings.
Katie Ward
is the Regional Coordinator for the United Religions Initiative in North America and has worked in the nonprofit industry with a focus on major gift fundraising and organizational sustainability for over 15 years. Katie is most inspired by her caring mother, two passionate sisters, self described “peaceful” 6 year old daughter and deeply supportive husband.
Sandy Pendleton
As an Embodied Wisdom Coach and Teacher in Training for The Tantric Dance of Feminine Power® Sandy Pendleton is committed to helping her clients embrace their deepest wisdom, clear stuck patterns, and implement effective strategies to claim more peace, pleasure and power in their lives and businesses.
Christine Kacirek
I currently stay home with my 2-year-old daughter, and I have another daughter on the way, due in January. Raised Catholic, I have very mixed feelings about how to provide a healthy spiritual education for my daughters and am looking for ideas and inspiration.
Jessamine Dana
PhD, is an anthropologist and the director of the Woman and the Owl Project: Cultivating and Connecting Women Spiritual Leaders, a research and resource organization that explores and supports women’s spiritual leadership around the world. Dr. Dana is a teacher, writer, mentor, and facilitator at the individual, group, university, and corporate levels. She is currently writing a book on the development of women spiritual leaders in new and native traditions. To learn more about her or the Woman and the Owl Project, visit womanandtheowl.com and jessaminedana.com
Cristina Rose
With la Golondrina Ibon, the river swallow, as her guide, Cristina Golondrina Rose has flown around the world seeking her home as a Mestiza. Born in LA, she taught writing at CSULB after studying writing for her BA and MA. Then, as she worked to co-create a farm and intentional community in Ventura, Cristina studied Women’s Spirituality at CIIS. Now, she aspires towards nepantla and babaylan endeavors, the first of which, is to finish her dissertation.
Dorthy Levine
has been a life long seeker for the Truth. A long and interesting life journey had led her to find the Divine within her and to help others find it within them.
Deborah Arca
is the Managing Editor of the Progressive Christian Channel at Patheos.com, one of the largest religion and spirituality sites on the web. Deborah lives in Denver, CO and is an active member at a progressive UCC Church. Her spiritual practices include singing, breathing in nature, and walking her dog, Buster Brown.
Ambika Talwar
is an educator, poet and artist, who has composed poems since her teen years. She has authored and self-published Creative Resonance: Poetry—Elegant Play, Elegant Change; 4 Stars & 25 Roses (poems for her father) and others. She is published in Kyoto Journal; Inkwater Ink, vol. 3; Chopin with Cherries, On Divine Names; VIA, Poets on Site collections, Tower Journal, St. Julian’s Press, and others. Interviewed by KPFK, she also won an award in Belgium for a short film. Her style is largely ecstatic making her poetry a “bridge to other worlds.” She currently resides in Los Angeles, practices energy medicine, and continues to teach English at Cypress College.
Judith McBride
is a life-long School Psychologist and professor of Psychology and Education. She and her husband have four children, having adopted two African-American children in the early “70’s. She is passionate about issues of equity and justice in all areas, but especially in the area of race. “Alchemy” last time was life-changing.
Alex Warden
is a mystic devoted to sharing with others the call of her heart, to experience the essential oneness of life. Her work focuses on developing relational consciousness, an awareness born from the primordial feminine knowing of unity. A speaker, spiritual director and educator born in Argentina, Alex has been working with individuals and groups in Latin America and the United States since 1985.
Yvette A. Warren
Publisher • Writer • Grandmother • Minister I published books for several Appalachian authors. I write, edit, and publish as a mothering ministry. I am an ordained minister to honor the place I hold in life in an official way. Contributing Writer: Women of Spirit and Faith/Patheos, WorldPulse. Author: Our Tennessee Mountain Home I & II, Coker Creek Connections, Getting Into New Orleans Seafood
Mohini Moore
I live in Los Angeles, where I am constantly inspired by the magic and blessing all around me! I live everyday with the intent to contribute to it in any way I possibly can- from creating beautiful jewelry to being in sacred circle, to kissing my fiance or simply trying to spread love and light wherever I go. I am learning about my ancestors and their spiritual traditions, while trying to connect and appreciate other faiths and practices, as I believe, in ALL of them, we find truth and our path for the future. I have the honor of being part of the Core Circle of Women of Spirit and Faith, and am helping to plan this beautiful event- Alchemy: Occupy Your Sacred Self!!
Marla Kolman Antebi
is a renegade spiritual warrior on a personal mission to make a positive difference in the world. An educator, community organizer, inter group facilitator and peacemaker, she is the director of the Torat HaLev Spirit School in Berkeley, CA and teaches mysticism and meditation to adults, children and families. She feels inspired and aligned with purpose when in the company of kindred women of spirit and faith, a delightful balance to her testosterone-laden home life (where she is mom to two boys under 5).
Ethar El-Katatney
is from Cairo, Egypt and is an award winning international journalist, and author of Forty Days and Forty Nights in Yemen. She has an MBA and an MA from the American University in Cairo.
Diane Jung
I have been and still am a teacher/ Reikimaster/ spiritual guide/ counsellor– and have been involved in healing circles for many yrs. I am passionate about more women in circle and am committed to seeing this happen here in Canada. Look fwd to meeting you in circle in San Francisco in November.
Lana Dalberg
is a meditation practitioner and a leader in women’s spirituality. Angela Urata, with whom Lana will lead a break-out session, is a butoh dancer and certified yoga teacher. She believes in transforming the world from the inside out. Lana and Angela co-founded a women’s spirituality group that has been meeting for 13 years and have worked on many social justice initiatives together. Lana is also the author of Birthing God: Women’s Experiences of the Divine.
Maria A. Olmos
I believe the light of spirit runs thru all of us and that each of us has the ability to invoke change upon the world. Many small ripples can create a tidal wave.
Suzanne Grenager
is a sister seeker, awakener and scribe with a passion for helping women wake up, fall in love with ourselves and make the difference we are born and dying to make. An early Kripalu Yoga leader, CTI life coach and spiritual mentor, her intimate, achingly honest book, Bare Naked at the Reality Dance, lays bare the courage and self-compassion it takes to strip down and step up to our particular greatness. “I can’t wait to meet and play with you all –because the world can’t wait for our light!”
http://suzannegrenager.com
Doris Jakobsh
is Associate Professor at the University of Waterloo, Waterloo Canada. She teaches World Religions courses, with a specialization in ‘Sikhism’ and ‘Women in Religion’. She is the author of several books including “Sikhism: Dimensions of Asian Spirituality.
Kalli Holmes Sorensen
is impassioned about the feminine journey toward personal and global transformation. She has founded and facilitated women’s ministries, groups, circles and retreats for over 30 years, currently through Seaside Center for Spiritual Living.
Carol Lee Flinders, Ph.D
is an author and lecturer who has concentrated on the intersection of feminism and contemplative spirituality and on the life stories of women mystics and spiritual activists. She currently teaches at the Sophia Center at Holy Names in Oakland with her husband Tim Flinders. Her books include: Enduring Grace: Living Portraits of Seven Women Mystics; At the Root of This Longing: Reconciling a Spiritual Hunger and a Feminist Thirst; Rebalancing the World, and Enduring Lives: Women of Faith and Action.
Susan Strouse
Rev. Susan M. Strouse, D.Min. is pastor of First United Lutheran Church in San Francisco and Dean of the San Francisco Conference of the Sierra Pacific Synod (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America). She has also served as Interim Executive Director of the Interfaith Center at the Presidio in San Francisco.
Jennifer Ball
is passionate about bridging Canadian and African contexts, working with women, Circle processes, listening to people and their stories, community development and peacebuilding, spirituality and healing. These she is involved in through her roles as teacher, researcher, community development planner, author, feminist, facilitator, and story catcher. She is co-author of “Doing Democracy with Circles: Engaging Communities in Public Planning”. And her current book, “All Are My Children: Voices of Ugandan Women Peacebuilders” is soon to be released.
Mary Kay Carle
I am a woman of deliberate spirit living in the middle of Minnesota where I am close to family and friends who share my overwhelming commitment to living mindfully awake to the beauty, love, hope and passion for the world that fills my soul.
Salima Jennifer Holt, Ph.D., M.Div.
is a peace psychologist, Islamic Sufi minister, and sacred chant artist who helps individuals and groups, as a therapist, prison volunteer, and musician, open to greater states of freedom and inner peace. Her global vision is to create a bridge of unity among all peoples inclusive of gender, sexual preference, culture and spiritual lineage.
Dr. Christine Page
has been a pioneer in the field of healthcare for over 35 years, working in particular with women. She’s passionate to help women find true health by reconnecting them to their sacred wisdom, the rhythms of their bodies and their unique powers of inspiration, fertility and transformation. Author of seven books, she focuses on women in 2012 and the Return of the Great Mother and her latest The Healing Power of the Sacred Woman. www.christinepage.com
Melanie Carter
I’m not a leader of any group or movement, but we are living in a time of sweeping change where critical issues are crying out to be addressed by women of spirit and faith. I feel called to do something; what that something is I don’t know, but I believe my participation in the conference will plant seeds to that end.
Kathie Murtey
is a 73 year old Grandmother and Storyteller. In her lifetime she has had several careers including: Elementary School Teacher, Community Activist, and County Government Employee. She is the Founding Member of at least four non-profit organizations. In her retirement she is committed to giving her energies to bringing forth a world where women are equally valued decision makers all around the world in partnership with men.
Sharon Riegie Maynard
was given the mission to “dream awake the bones of our ancient mothers” and could only do that with the help of Spiritual Teachers who knew the wisdom in the bones. Armed with “bones” information, she has encouraged women to take back this world through personal sessions, workshops, published books, as a radio host, convener of the first Women’s Grassroots Congress and in empowered collaboration in the movement, Women Standing.
Barbara Belknap
Martin Luther King said, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” I believe that it is the power of women that will bend that arc.
Rev. Jane Ellen Davis
I am an artisit, author of Unlock Your Heart: Goal Setting From the Inside Out and spiritual growth counselor actively involved as a Leadership Advisor for Foundation For Women and New Mexico Womenʼs Foundation. I am excited about the opportunity to interact with women who are using their spiritual knowingness as a voice and catalyst for positive change among women and girls. As a group we will be able to invoke the collective intention to raise awareness of womenʼs issues, and to become individually and collectively empowered spiritual leaders.
Aisha Morgan
Consultant in language testing, leader in the Sonoma County (CA) Muslim community, volunteer on Islamic and Interfaith Speakers Bureaus, DIY fix-it lady, gardener, computer geek, cook, world-traveler, mother of one son, devoted daughter. Everyday I enjoy the explosion of color in my garden, I remember the wonderful women at Alchemy 2011 when I took the begonia table decorations home. They’re thriving as I hope all of you are.
Kathy Hearn
WAVE, Association for Global New Thought
Diane Longboat
a
Mohawk, Turtle Clan woman from Soul of the Mother, Six Nations Grand River Territory, Canada
Ayesha Mattu
author of “Love, InshAllah: The Secret Love Lives of American Muslim Women”
ALisa Starkweather
founder of the Red Tent Temple Movement; featured in the film “Things We Don’t Talk About”
Naomi Tutu
human rights activist passionate about race and gender, truth and reconciliation.
Suzan Nolan
I am a leader of women’s circles in Rapid City, SD, a wild enthusiast about life and spiritual practices and engaged in my own self exploration, for as I heal myself, I help heal the planet. I’m excited about the upcoming Alchemy Too conference and hope to be bringing women from my area.
Deborah Lindholm
is the Founder/CEO of the Foundation for Women and a passionate supporter of women and girls issues locally and globally.
Rev. Dr. Peggy Price
is an inspirational speaker and retreat facilitator in the New Thought movement. She is very active in the interfaith community and her personal mission is to serve as a bridge of peace between people of all faiths.
Kay Lindahl
is the founder of The Listening Center which explores the sacred nature of listening. She conducts workshops on listening as a spiritual practice and is the author of The Sacred Art of Listening. Kay is also a co-founder of Women of Spirit and Faith, serving on the Core Circle. She is active in the Episcopal Church and an ordained interfaith minister. Her commitment is to live life fully with love and compassion.
Julie Von Pelz
Interfaith Spiritual Director for personal and group direction specializing in journaling, music meditation and the Samaritan Woman Retreat. Amazed always that the Divine finds us in life and dances in our hearts surrounding us with love.
Andra Riffle
is a California native who now lives in Rapid City, South Dakota, where she loves to share her Divine Feminine music with women’s circles and other groups. Her new presentation and CD, The Grandmother Tree, will be going out on the road beginning this fall!
Kathleen Hurty
I am an educator, a family-centered grandmother, and a consultant for communities of faith, service and learning. As an active Lutheran, I believe that my faith tutors my life of commitment to justice, compassion and leadership. WSF is one creative way to dance the collaborative dance and sing the shared songs of a new era. I look forward to the Alchemy Gathering as a mutual teaching/learning time among beloved sisters seeking to explore and celebrate the “alchemy of power and grace” in community.
Laura Paskell-Brown
Woman of Spirit. I met WSF in 2011 at the last Alchemy conference – where I fell IN LOVE with all of you. Since then I have contributed by editing the Divine Feminine blog and helping to co-create this Alchemy event. I am studying for a PhD in psychology and I’m ultimately interested in creating a learning environment that goes beyond the classroom, honoring mind, body and spirit.
Kathe Schaaf
is a founding member of Women of Spirit and Faith, organized in 2010 with the intention of exploring, nurturing and celebrating women’s spiritual leadership. She is also one of the co-founders of Gather the Women and has anchored numerous ‘collaborative conversations’ connecting women and women’s organizations internationally. She is one of the editors of Women, Spirituality and Transformative Leadership: Where Grace Meets Power, an anthology of women’s wisdom published by SkyLight Paths in November 2011.
Anna Carmichael
I am an Episcopal priest in the Diocese of Eastern Oregon. I have been a priest for 5 years, have previously worked in student affairs and higher education, and am originally from the east coast. I am married and have two cats.
Mary Cunningham
I live in southern Arizona and spend my days in the bliss of retired life by reading to my heart’s content, walking in the desert, practicing yoga, volunteering at our beautiful library and serving as the Regional Coordinator Convener for Gather the Women Global Matrix. I strongly believe in the millionth circle concept, with more and more women’s circles being formed on a global scale until the tipping point is reached and a shift of the consciousness of humanity can occur toward loving kindness and peace for all.
Amari Thomas
is a Certified Soul Coach, one of a select group of people worldwide personally trained by internationally-known healer, teacher and author, Denise Linn. She is also certified as a Past Life Regression Coach. Amari is the founder of Wisdom Revealed, a spirit-based personal discovery and evolvement coaching and training organization.
Cathie Brunnick
is a founder of Patheos.com, one of the largest sites on the web covering Religion and Spirituality. Cathie also serves as the Managing Editor of the Patheos Spirituality and Seeker Channels.
Louise Mangan
is an interspiritual mentor, sacred activist and contemplative who describes herself as, first of all, a partner, mother, grandmother and friend. She is co-founder of Women and Wisdom Canada (Canadian affiliate of Women of Spirit and Faith), the Greater Vancouver Compassion Network, the InterSpiritual Centre of Vancouver Society, and the Pacific InterChristian Community. Louise is presently writing her second book, and enjoying her family’s retreat on Salt Spring Island near Vancouver, Canada.
Alice Bergman