kelley nicole palmer

kelley nicole palmer is a black, queer creative and community advocate based in Charlotte NC.  kelley uses the practices and philosophy of yoga to guide her work in creating equitable and sustainable access to wellness for BIPOC. Along with teaching movement, meditation and contemplative practices, kelley leads retreats, hosts workshops and contributes to multiple teacher …

Vandana Shiva

Dr. Vandana Shiva is trained as a Physicist and did her Ph.D. on the subject “Hidden Variables and Non-locality in Quantum Theory” from the University of Western Ontario in Canada. She later shifted to interdisciplinary research in science, technology and environmental policy, which she carried out at the Indian Institute of Science and the Indian …

Bruce Barrett

Bruce Barrett is Professor and Vice Chair for Research in Family Medicine and Community Health (DFMCH) at the University of Wisconsin – Madison.  Following M.D. and Ph.D. (Anthropology) degrees in 1992, he did an international health fellowship in Guatemala, then family medicine residency in Eau Claire WI, then a primary care research fellowship. He joined …

Kaira Jewel Lingo

Kaira Jewel Lingo is a Dharma teacher with a lifelong interest in spirituality and social justice. Her work continues the Engaged Buddhism developed by Thich Nhat Hanh, and she draws inspiration from her parents’ lives of service and her dad’s work with Martin Luther King, Jr. After living as an ordained nun for 15 years in Thich …

Christiana Figueres

Christiana Figueres is a Costa Rican citizen and an internationally recognized leader on climate change. She was Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) from 2010 to 2016. During her tenure at the UNFCCC, Ms. Figueres brought together national and sub-national governments, corporations and activists, financial institutions and NGOs to …

Willa Blythe Baker

Willa Blythe Baker, PhD, is the Founder and Spiritual Director of Natural Dharma Fellowship in Boston, MA and its retreat center Wonderwell Mountain Refuge in Springfield, NH. She was authorized as a dharma teacher (lama) and lineage holder in the Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism after twelve years of monastic training and two consecutive three-year …

Kelvy Bird

Kelvy Bird is an artist and internationally recognized “scribe”, translating content and dynamics into visual, tangible formats to aid with reflection and decision-making. She has worked in the fields of human and organizational development since 1995, with a focus on innovation, collective intelligence, and systems thinking. As a co-founder of the Presencing Institute since 2007, …

Martin Vitorino

Martin Vitorino, PhD serves as a lead faculty member for Courage of Care and directs their LGBTQIA+ initiative. He is also the Director of Programming at InsightLA and leads the organization’s diversity, equity and inclusivity efforts. He facilitates a meditation group for the transgender community called “Mindful Transitions” that focuses on deepening self-compassion and building …

Angel Acosta

Dr. Angel Acosta recently completed his doctorate degree in the Curriculum and Teaching Department at Teachers College, Columbia University. For the last decade, Angel has worked to bridge the fields of leadership, social justice and mindfulness. Angel has supported over 30,000 educational leaders and their students by facilitating leadership trainings, creating pathways to higher education, …

Jasmine Syedullah

Jasmine Syedullah is a theorist of abolitionist movement scholarship as well as co-author of Radical Dharma: Talking Race, Love, and Liberation (North Atlantic Books, 2016). She joined the faculty of Vassar College in 2019 and holds Africana Studies’ first Assistant Professor line there, currently developing interdisciplinary Prison Studies curricula and programming that integrates cultural studies, …