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A Sampling of Major Speakers

We are assembling a set of speakers from all religious traditions fromaround the globe, including a fine array of speakers from Australia. Asampling of our major speakers includes the following:

Prof Wande Abimbola Awise Awo Agbaye (World Spokesperson for Ifáand Yoruba Religion)

Born to Nigerian tradition bearers, and grounded inthe ancient oral tradition, Wande Abimbola is aBabalawo or priest of Ifa, prolific author, and anacademic authority on Yoruba religion which has over70 million followers in Africa and the Americas. Hisprograms at the Parliament will focus on healing theEarth and, as a result, healing the peoples of theEarth, and exploring the Yoruba principle ofbrotherhood and sisterhood of humans with allcreation. More...

Ms. Margot Adler Journalist, Author, and Radio Producer

Margot Adler has been a radio producer and journalistsince 1968, pioneering live, free-form talk shows onreligion, politics, women's issues, and ecology. Shelectures on Paganism and earth-centered traditionsand leads workshops on the art of ritual, celebration,and song. She is the New York Bureau Chief forNational Public Radio as well as a well-knowncorrespondent on NPR's All Things Considered andMorning Edition. She is also the host of JusticeTalking, a national radio show on constitutionalissues. Her most recent book is Heretic's Heart: AJourney Through Spirit and Revolution. More....

Dr. Akbar Ahmed The Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies atAmerican University

Akbar Ahmed will bring his world renowed insight intocontemporary Islam to the Parliament's dialogue; heis an inspirational speaker and prolific writercombining rare depth of knowledge coupled withpolitical acumen and global vision. He is consideredthe world's leading authority on contemporary Islam. More...

Sister Joan Chittister OSB Founder and Executive Director of Benetvision

Joan Chittister, OSB is a noted national andinternational lecturer who focuses on women in churchand society, human rights, peace and justice, andcontemporary religious life and spirituality. In additionto being the executive director of Benetvision, acenter for contemporary spirituality located in Erie,Pennsylvania, she is author of 22 books, including

Program

Illuminated Life: Monastic Wisdom for Seekers of Lightand The Story of Ruth: Twelve Moments in EveryWoman's Life. More...

Reverend Tim Costello Chief Executive Officer of World Vision Australia

Tim Costello is a leading Australian voice on socialjustice issues, having spearheaded public debates ongambling, urban poverty, homelessness,reconciliation, and substance abuse.. As CEO of WorldVision Australia, Tim has insisted that the issuessurrounding global poverty are on the nationalagenda. World Vision serves nearly 100 million peoplearound the globe. Tim's many awards includeVictorian of the Year (2004), Officer of the Order ofAustralia (2005), Victorian Australian of the Year(2006), 2008 Australian Peace Prize and AustralianLiving Treasure. More...

Dr. Homi Dhalla Founder and President, Cultural Foundation ofthe Zarathustra World

Dr. Dhalla is a leader and featured speaker innumerous international conferences focusing on theZoroastrian view of peace, ecology, and inter-religiousdialogue. He has been very active in the interfaithmovement both at the local as well as theinternational level. He promotes interreligiousdialogue and cooperation as a pathway to peace.

Mr. Hugh Evans Founder and Director of the Oaktree Foundationand the Global Poverty Project

Hugh Evans' Oaktree Foundation is a youth-led aidand development organisation, now established in thePhilippines, Papua New Guinea, India and East Timorproviding educational opportunities to more than40,000 young people. In 2004, Hugh was awardedthe Young Australian of the Year. He was a key leaderbehind the successful Make Poverty History campaign,including the concert involving major Australian artistsas well as U2 front man, Bono. Currently, Hughdirects the Global Poverty Project to communicate therealities of extreme poverty and what we can do about it. More...

Fr. Laurence Freeman OSB Director of The World Community for ChristianMeditation, UK

Father Freeman, a Benedictine priest, will bring to theParliament his wisdom as a highly regarded voice onthe universality of meditation, speaking on the revivalof Christian contemplation in modern times as a wayto serve global consciousness, and what Simone Weilcalls the 'new holiness'. This deepening of authenticreligious practice can fuel and sustain ethicalengagement with the world. More...

Dr. Dipak Jain Dean, Kellogg School of Management

A distinguished teacher and scholar, Dipak C. Jain hasbeen dean of the Kellogg School of Management sinceJuly 2001. He brings more than 20 years ofexperience in management and education to hisposition at the school’s helm. Dean Jain’s areas ofexpertise include consumer behavior, data analysis,entrepreneurship and small business management,high- tech marketing, new product development,cross-cultural issues in global product diffusion, andforecasting models. He has published extensively and

serves as a foreign affairs adviser for the Prime Minister of Thailand. More...

His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso The XIVth DalaiLama Tibetan Buddhist Leader, India

His Holiness the Dalai Lama is the head of state andspiritual leader of the Tibetan people. This Nobel Prizewinning peace activist is known for his unswervingcommitment to love, compassion and non-violence,and has moved the world with his spiritual teachingson "the universal religion of kindness." Since 1967,His Holiness has traveled and met with adherents,leaders and scholars in over forty-five countries andhas authored or co-authored more than sixty books.More...

Chief Oren Lyons Native American Faithkeeper of the Turtle Clanof the Onondaga Nation, USA

Chief Lyons, Faithkeeper of the Onondaga Nation ofthe Iroquois Confederacy, is a powerful andpassionate spokesperson for Indigenous human rightsand spiritual perspectives. An environmentalchampion, he speaks around the world, is active atthe United Nations, and is widely known through hiswritings. He is also proud of his earlier days as an AllAmerican Lacrosse player, a sport created byAmerican Indians. More...

Sri Swami Mayatitananda (Mother Maya) Spiritual Leader & Founder, Wise Earth School ofAyurveda

Sri Swami Mayatitananda, affectionately called MotherMaya, is an embodiment of peace and wisdom. She isa renowned spiritual leader, revolutionary healer, andworld-class educator. An authority in Vedanta andAyurveda, her loving presence and extraordinary workin healing devastating disease and despair hastouched and transformed the lives of thousands—filling a significant void in the world culture as anurturer, healer, and educator. In 1981, Mother Mayafounded the first school for Ayurveda Holistic Health education in the US—theWise Earth School of Ayurveda in North Carolina—a non-governmentalorganization which continues to flourish today. More...

Ms. Dalia Mogahed Senior Analyst and Executive Director, GallupCenter for Muslim Studies

Dalia Mogahed provides leadership, strategicdirection, and consultation on the collection andanalysis of Gallup's unprecedented surveyrepresenting the opinions of more than 1 billionMuslims worldwide. She also directs the Muslim-WestFacts Initiative and is co-author of Who Speaks forIslam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think. More...

Professor Joy Murphy Wandin, AO Senior Aboriginal Woman of the WurundjeriPeople, Australia

Aunty Joy will offer a traditional Welcome to the Land,as is her right and traditional role as senior woman ofthe Wurundjeri People, the traditional owners ofMelbourne. She will also offer her perspectives oncurrent concerns for Aboriginal Australians. More...

Dr. Chandra Muzaffar Political Scientist and Founder of JUST, Malaysia

Dr. Muzaffar is a powerful advocate for human rights,a brilliant social critic and innovative thinker on ourglobal crisis. He will offer insights into the world orderand possibilities for a more just and sustainablefuture. He has edited and written over 18 books andhundreds of journal articles on Malaysian politics andinternational relations, including Religion andGovernance, which explores how the values of diverseworld religions impact on governance. More...

Rev. Dr. Ishmael Noko General Secretary of the Lutheran WorldFederation and Convenor of the Inter-FaithAction for Peace in Africa

As its General Secretary, Ishmael Noko isthe world leader of a historic Protestant denominationand thus in effect the CEO of a major internationalorganization with great political responsibilities. He isthe first African to hold this position; as convener ofthe important new initiative Inter-Faith Action forPeace in Africa he brings a profound understanding ofthe multi-religious African continent and is a keyvoice of Christian leadership. More...

His Eminence George Cardinal Pell Catholic Archbishop of Sydney

Cardinal Pell served as Archbishop of Melbournebefore his appointment as Archbishop of Sydney. Hiswork in inter-faith relations has included attendanceat the Asia-Pacific Interfaith Dialogue (originallyestablished as the Australian-Indonesian summit oninter-religious dialogue and terrorism) in 2004, 2006and 2007. On each occasion, he attended theDialogue as part of the official Australian delegationled by the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Cardinal Pell'slong-standing commitment to ecumenism wasrecognized in 1998 with the conferral of the GrandCross of Merit of the Order of Saint Lazarus, and hispromotion to Ecclesiastic Grand Cross of St Lazarus, the Order's highestecclesiastical rank, in 2003. From 2001 to 2007 he served as the Order's NationalChaplain. More...

Uncle Bob Randall Yankunytjatjara Elder and Traditional Owner ofUluru (Ayers Rock)

Bob Randall is one of the Stolen Generation of theAboriginal people, taken from his family at the age ofseven. Throughout his life, Bob has worked as ateacher and leader for Aboriginal land rights,education, community development and culturalawareness. In the early ‘70s, Bob's song Brown SkinBaby (They Took Me Away) became an anthem for theAboriginal people. He is the author of two books: hisautobiography Songman and a children's book,Tracker Tjginji. He is also the subject of the recent documentary film Kanyini.More...

Rabbi Dr. David Rosen KCSG International Director of Interreligious Affairs,AJC

Director of the American Jewish Committee'sDepartment for Interreligious Affairs and theHeilbrunn Institute for International InterreligiousUnderstanding, Rabbi Rosen serves on the leadershipof several international interreligious organizations.Formerly Chief Rabbi of Ireland, he is the immediatepast Chair of the IJCIC, the International JewishCommittee on Interreligious Consultations, a broad-based coalition of Jewish organizations representingworld Jewry to other religions. Among various awardsand honors, Rabbi Rosen is the first Israeli and thefirst Orthodox rabbi to receive a papal Knighthood,conferred on him for his

contribution to Jewish-Catholic reconciliation. More...

His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Spiritual Leader of The Art of Living Foundation,India

His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is a renownedspiritual leader and multi-faceted humanitarian whosemission of uniting the world into a violence-free familyhas inspired millions of people worldwide. The icon ofnon-violence and universal human values, Sri Sriseeks global peace through service and dialogue. In1981, Sri Sri started the Art of Living Foundation, aninternational nonprofit educational and humanitarianorganization. The Foundation, now active in morethan 140 countries, offers educational and self-development programs designed to eliminate stressand foster a sense of well-being. More...

Ms. Joanne Shenandoah Grammy Award winning Native American SingerSongwriter

A Grammy Award and 11 Time Native American Musicaward winning artist, and Wolf Clan member of theIroquois Confederacy, Joanne Shenandoah hasfulfilled the promise of her Native American name,Tekaliwah-kwa (She Sings). " She's become one ofthe most acclaimed Native American recording artistsof her time." (AP) Since emerging as an artist in 1990,she has performed at such high-profile gigs asCarnegie Hall, the White House, Kennedy Center,Earth Day on the Mall, Woodstock '94, the Parliamentof the Worlds Religions in South Africa, Barcelona'sfamous Sagrada Familia in Spain, and Hwa Eom Temple in S. Korea, as well as atthousands of venues in the US. More...

Jathedar Singh Sahib Giani Gurbachan Singh Religious Head of Sri Akaal Takhat Sahib,Supreme Religious Authority of the Sikhs, India

Jathedar Singh Sahib Giani Gurbachan Singh,aged 60,is the current religious head of Sri Akaal TakhatSahib, the supreme religious authority of the Sikhs,based in Amritsar, Punjab, India. He was appointed asJathedar on 6 August 2008, after serving 37 years asa Sikh religious preacher. His last appointment was asHead Granthi of Sri Harmandir Sahib, also known asthe Golden Temple in Amritsar.

Dr. Karan Singh Member of Parliament, Former Minister forEducation and Culture, India

Karan Singh will speak from his perspective as anIndian politician, author, and diplomat on his interestsin Hinduism, the environment, and the interfaithmovement. His political leadership started at age 18when as Crown Prince he was called to act as regentof Jammu and Kashmir state. More...

Dr. M. Din Syamsuddin President of Muhammadiyah, Indonesia

Din Samsuddin leads Indonesia's second largestMuslim group and will speak on Islam and interfaithrelations, as well as religious pluralism within aMuslim majority country, from his perspective as ascholar and a leader. More...

Venerable Dharma Master Hsin Tao Founder of Ling Jiou Mountain Wu-ShengMonastery, and Museum of World Religions,Taiwan

The Venerable Dharma Master Hsin Tao is a Buddhistmonk who has combined his religious practices withpolitical and social activism. In addition to his dailymonastic practices, Hsin Tao has focused on threeissues: the promotion of peace; the encouragement ofinterfaith dialogue; and the preservation of theenvironment. Hsin Tao was born in Myanmar, Burmain 1948 to ethnic Chinese. At the age of four, he wasleft orphaned after his parents were killed by theChinese Nationalist Army. At the age of nine, Hsin Tao was forced to become achild soldier in the Burmese guerilla movement. Six years later, he fled to Taiwanto escape the invading Chinese. Exposed to the destruction of war and seekingspiritual guidance, Hsin Tao turned to Buddhism for answers. At the age oftwenty-five, Hsin Tao became a monk spending the next two years fasting andmeditating in a cave high atop Ling Jiou Mountain in northern Taiwan. Upon hisemergence from the cave, Hsin Tao established the Wu Sheng BuddhistMonastery at the site of his meditation. In subsequent years, he has formedother organizations to promote a number of projects as well as to performcharitable services. More...

Ms. Mary Evelyn Tucker Co-Founder and Co-Director, The Forum onReligion and EcologySenior Lecturer and Senior Scholar at YaleUniversity

Mary Evelyn Tucker is a Senior Lecturer and SeniorScholar at Yale University where she hasappointments in the School of Forestry andEnvironmental Studies as well as the Divinity Schooland the Department of Religious Studies. She is a co-founder and co-director with John Grim of the Forumon Religion and Ecology. Together they organized aseries of ten conferences on World Religions andEcology at the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard Divinity School.They are series editors for the ten volumes from the conferences distributed byHarvard University Press. More...

Mrs. Lally Lucretia M. Warren Chairperson, National Spiritual Assembly of theBaha’i's in Bostwana

Ms. Warren, a nurse and midwife, began herinvolvement in interfaith activities two decades ago bybeing one of the organizers of local observances ofWorld Religion Day. Since that time, she has led awide variety of interreligious initiatives and has servedas Chairperson of the National Spiritual Assembly ofthe Baha’i’s in Botswana. She chaired a prominentsession at the 2004 Parliament of the World'sReligions entitled “Strategies for MainstreamingGender into Peace Building and Inter-FaithPrograms.”More...

Dr. Tu Weiming Professor of Chinese History and Philosophy andConfucian Studies, Harvard University

Dr. Tu Weiming has been a Professor of ChineseHistory and Philosophy and Confucian Studies in theDepartment of East Asian Languages and Civilizationsat Harvard University since 1981. He was Director ofthe Harvard-Yenching Institute (1996-2008) and iscurrently interpreting Confucian Ethics as a spiritualresource for the emerging global community. Hisresearch interests are Confucian humanism, Chineseintellectual history, philosophies of East Asia andcomparative religion. As a renowned internationalscholar and thinker, he is committed to the study of Confucian teachings in themodern age. More...