Grateful Hope: Guest Speakers
Maggie Jackson
Maggie Jackson is an award-winning author and journalist known for her prescient writings on social trends, particularly technology’s impact on humanity. Her new book Uncertain: The Wisdom and Wonder of Being Unsure (Nov. 7, 2023) was nominated for a National Book Award and named a Top 10 Social Sciences book of 2023 by Library Journal and a Top 50 Psychology book of the year by the Next Big Idea Club.
Her essays, commentary, and books have been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, New Philosopher, on National Public Radio, and in media worldwide.
Simran Jeet Singh
Simran Jeet Singh, Ph.D., is the Executive Director of the Religion & Society Program at the Aspen Institute and the author of the national bestseller The Light We Give: How Sikh Wisdom Can Transform Your Life (Riverhead, Penguin Random House).
Simran’s thought leadership on bias, empathy, wisdom, and justice extends across corporate, educational, and government settings. He is an Atlantic Fellow for Racial Equity with Columbia University and the Nelson Mandela Foundation, and a Soros Equality Fellow with the Open Society Foundations.
John Paul Lederach
John Paul Lederach is Senior Fellow at the foundation Humanity United and Professor Emeritus at the University of Notre Dame. He works extensively as a practitioner in conciliation processes, active in Latin America, Africa, Southeast and Central Asia.
He is the author of 24 books and manuals, including The Little Book of Conflict Transformation (Skyhorse Publishing), and The Moral Imagination: The Art and Soul of Building Peace (Oxford University Press).
Cristina Pato
Cristina Pato has been hailed as “a virtuosic burst of energy” by The New York Times. After 25 years of experience as a professional musician, touring around the world with the Galician bagpipes and piano, Cristina now channels her creativity into writing, producing, and teaching, focusing on the role of the arts in society.
Cristina has served as a visiting professor and artist-in-residence at New York University (NYU), Harvard University, and the University of California, Santa Barbara. Additionally, she collaborated for over fifteen years with The Silkroad Project, the non-profit organization founded by cellist Yo-Yo Ma.
Mingyur Rinpoche
Mingyur Rinpoche is a world-renowned meditation teacher who integrates traditional Buddhist practice and philosophy with the current scientific understanding of the mind and mental health. As the head of the Tergar Meditation Community, he supports groups of students in more than thirty countries, leading workshops around the world
In his most recent book, In Love with the World, Mingyur Rinpoche shares how his meditation practice sustained him when he left his monastery to wander through India and the powerfully transformative insights he gained from the near-death experience he had at the beginning of his journey. Mingyur Rinpoche recently appeared in the Netflix series The Mind, Explained, in an episode about the benefits of mindfulness.
Rabbi Sharon Brous
Rabbi Sharon Brous is the senior and founding rabbi of IKAR, a Jewish community that launched in 2004 to reinvigorate Jewish practice and inspire people of faith to reclaim a soulful, justice-driven voice. Her book, The Amen Effect: Ancient Wisdom to Heal Our Hearts and Mend Our Broken World, is a national bestseller, and her 2016 TED talk, “Reclaiming Religion,” has been viewed by more than 1.5 million people.
She was named #1 on the Newsweek/The Daily Beast list of most influential Rabbis in America. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times and Washington Post.
