Ervin Laszlo, Ph.D.
Ervin Laszlo is Founder and President of The Club of Budapest, Founder and Director of the General Evolution Research Group, Chancellor of the World Macroshift University (currently in development), Fellow of the World Academy of Arts and Sciences, Member of the International Academy of Philosophy of Science, Senator of the International Medici Academy, and Editor of the international periodical World Futures: The Journal of General Evolution. He is the author or co-author of forty-nine books, and editor of another thirty books, translated into as many as twenty-one languages.
Dr. Laszlo has a Ph.D. from the Sorbonne and is the recipient of four honorary Ph.D.’s (from the United States, Canada, Finland, and Hungary). His numerous awards include the Goi Peace Prize in Tokyo in 2002, and the International Mandir of Peace Prize in Assisi in 2005. He is a Universal Peace Ambassador and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 and 2005.
Birgitte Rasine, Strategic Communications Advisor
Birgitte Rasine is a writer, producer, journalist and a tireless thinker and innovator. She is also the founder and CEO of LUCITÀ, a high end visual media and consultancy company recognized in the US and Europe as an innovative media organization dedicated to responsibility and ethics in its industry.
A passionate speaker on socially conscious media and related topics, she has most recently given a keynote at Oregon State University’s Third Annual Social Change conference, and spoken on two panels on social responsibility in the media at the DEMOS Forum and the Stern School of Business in New York City. In 2004, she was a keynote speaker at Women’s International Networking 2004 in Geneva, Switzerland. She has been interviewed by NPR, Ethical Corporation magazine, and the Australian national radio. She is also the author of The Colors of Perception, LUCITÀ‘sreport on social responsibility in the media and communications industries in the US.
In her previous career, Ms. Rasine wrote for two of the media industry’s top publications, The Hollywood Reporter and Daily Variety. Her articles have also appeared in Business Week and Dialogo Mediterraneo, a tri-lingual journal on policy, economy and the environment in the Mediterranean region. In 1997, three of her plays for children were staged in the San Francisco Bay Area. Prior to that, Ms. Rasine was a visual effects coordinator, camera assistant, and electrician on Hollywood and independent feature films. She worked for companies such as PDI/Dreamworks, ILM/Universal Studios, HBO, and Disney, and credits them for giving her time in the trenches.
An award-winning poet, Ms. Rasine speaks 5 languages and has lived in 6 countries. She holds a BA in Aesthetics of Film from Stanford University.
Barbara Fields, Ph.D.
Dr. Barbara Fields Executive Director, The Association for Global New Thought, Co-founder and Project Director – The Gandhi King Season for Nonviolence 1998-2006;
Program Director – 1993 Parliament of the World’s Religions in Chicago; Co-founder and Project Director of the Synthesis Dialogues with His Holiness, the Dalai Lama of Tibet, Dharamsala, India, 1999, Trent, Italy, 2001, and Rome, 2004;
Co-director, with Dr. William Ury, Harvard Global Negotiation Network’s Abraham Walk Initiative in the Middle East; Conference and Program Director for the Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies 1996 (Chicago) and 2000 (Tacoma, WA);
Program Director – International Buddhist-Christian Theological Encounter, Purdue University and the Lilly Foundation 1998-2004; Participant – UNESCO Seminar on Religion and Peace, Granada, Spain, 1998. Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, United Church of Religious Science, 2005, and Religious Science International’s first Peace Award in 2003; Recipient of The Peace Museum’s 1998 Community Peacemaker Award, in the area of Diplomacy. Serves on the Boards of EarthAction, the Foundation for Conscious Evolution, and La Casa de Maria in Santa Barbara, CA.
Co-founder of The Earth Network, a non-profit alternative television organization dedicated to the environment, social action, and the human spirit for which she received the 1994 Visionary Award from the Center For New Television; Contributing author, The Community of Religions (Continuum Press, 1996).
Donald J. Simon, CFP, ChFC, CLU
Donald J. Simon, CFP, ChFC, CLU is the founder and owner of Simon Financial Company located in Marietta, GA. He has a B.A, in Business Administration from Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, Ga. Mr. Simon is past President and a Board Member of the Indian River Florida Chapter of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors. He is also a member of the Planned Giving Council of Georgia. He has 20 years of experience advising non-profits how to implement and administer major gift programs.
Don is also the published author of The Zen of Personal Finance and founder of the Universal Prayers of Peace website.
Don Alejandro Cirilo Perez Oxlaj
Don Alejandro Cirilo Perez Oxlaj is head of the National Mayan Council of Elders of Guatemala, Day Keeper of the Mayan Calendar, a 13th generation Quiche Mayan High Priest and a Grand Elder of the Continental Council of Elders and Spiritual Guides of the Americas. He is also an international lecturer on Mayan Culture.
Don Alejandro, also known as ‘Wandering Wolf’, is charged as the primary keeper of the teachings, visions and prophecies of the Mayan people, which are very much alive today. He travels the world sharing the message and prophecies of the Mayans. One prophecy says: “Arise, all arise, not one nor two groups be left behind.” Another says: “Let the morning come, let the dawn come for the people to have peace and be happy. Together we are to see our children. Together we are to see our mountains. Together we are to see our cities. Together we are to see our waters.” His message of hope and empowerment resonates with people of all faiths and beliefs around the globe. To learn more about Wandering Wolf’s messages, visit Shift of the Ages, his official website.
Avon Mattison
Avon Mattison is a Peacebuilding and Inter-Organisational Consultant, Advisor and Mentor with over three decades’ experience. She works with innovative leaders, groups and organisations on the “frontline” building Cultures of Peace inter-generationally and inter-culturally for the children of this and future generations.
She is Founder and President of Pathways To Peace (PTP), an international peacebuilding, educational and consulting organisation. PTP has Consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council and is an official Peace Messenger of the United Nations (UN).
A U.S. Foreign Service diplomat for three years serving the European Community, Avon has served as special advisor to Presidential Conferences, renowned international leaders, and emerging youth leaders. A Summa Cum Laude graduate in political science and international communications. She serves on the Advisory Councils/Boards of several international organizations and has been quoted numerous times in publications worldwide.
Through Pathways To Peace, she created the “WE THE PEOPLES” INITIATIVE, now “CULTURE OF PEACE INITIATIVE,” in 1983 with the approval of former UN Assistant Secretary-General Robert Muller. This local/global Peacebuilding initiative unites the strengths of over 300 international organizations and focuses co-operative activities annually on the UN International Day of Peace. Through PTP, Avon inaugurated an ongoing Rights of the Child Caucus within the UN system during the first preparatory conference for the World Summit on Social Development. Avon coordinates PACEM – Pathways Consulting, Educating and Mentoring.
Reavis Daniel Moore
Reavis Daniel Moore is a Board Member and Co-Founder, with Chris Deckker and Matthew Marshall, of Earthdance International, 501c3 – the global music and dance festival for peace. The festival has been held annually since 1997, in conjunction with the International Day of Peace on September 21. The Earthdance 2007 event included over 300 locations in 60 countries with an estimated 200,000 people participating. The highlight of Earthdance is the playing of the Prayer for Peace music track simultaneously at all event locations, creating a profound moment of global alignment. Reavis is currently based in Tel Aviv, Israel, where he is developing a Middle East peace festival under the auspices of Earthdance.
In 2008, he led the co-creation and beta launch of 30 Days of Peace, a global peace event networking project of Earthdance and The Culture of Peace Initiative. Reavis was also the Executive Director and Co-Founder, with Jeffrey Bronfman and Eliza Gilkyson, of the Rainbow Warrior World Music Festivals & Fund, a pioneering pan-world music event held annually in Santa Fe, New Mexico from 1989 to 1992.
Reavis has over 25 years experience in the music industry as an executive, entrepreneur, and consultant in Austin, Los Angeles, and New York. He is currently a partner in YouLicense, Inc., a web 2.0 music licensing marketplace representing 3,000 music artists from around the world.