Geo Britto

Founder and Board Director of ETP

Geo Britto, a veteran Joker. Member of the Board of Directors of School of Popular Theatre- ETP(Escola de Teatro Popular) organization created and founded by himself and Julian Boal. He worked for 32 years at the Centre of Theatre of the Oppressed-CTO in Rio de Janeiro and was one of the first generation of students who trained with Augusto Boal for 19 years.

The ETP have worked with many different grass-roots movements – housing, students, LGBT, land and others – come to learn, teach and become a multiplier. Geo Britto has coordinated and participated in many projects in slums, prisons, mental health institutions, education, cultural and human rights.

He graduated in Social Sciences from the Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (1994) and has a Master in the Graduate Program in Contemporary Studies of Arts-UFF. 2013. He has experience in the area of Arts with emphasis in Theatre Direction. In general, from his education as Social and Political Scientist and simultaneously with the start of interest in the performing arts, he started a process to join the theory of the university campus with the practice of theater. Since 1990, when he met Augusto Boal and from this meeting he has not separated from him, learning continuously a lot in their workshops, laboratories and workshops. From 1993 to 1996 democratized politics through theater as they took the theater into the Municipality of Rio de Janeiro and took the camera for the squares, streets and slums, theatricalizing their discussions and creating the Legislative Theatre. His job, as proposed by the methodology itself, has always been broad and transversely on Human Rights. In this period built and formed groups of slums, street boys and girls, black movement, women, elderly, LGBT, mental health, peasants, ecclesial movements base, students, banking, domestic workers among others were built. After the mandate, and with the experience, I could take the work of the Theatre of the Oppressed, we can call it the Theatre of Human Rights to other social groups and to continue and deepen what they already did. Geo created, as other members of the Theatre of the Oppressed, what he called the Solidarity Network in which through the Oppressed Theatre performed theatrical dialogue where different oppressed groups had for each other. Different oppressed discovered how much their oppressors were similar and many came from the same “barracks”. Today, the Theater of the Oppressed is a present methodology in more than 50 countries on five continents, working on several fronts and themes, always with a human rights focus. He actively participated in the construction of this global network. He continued as a sociologist working not only in the classroom, but in the streets, squares, slums, prisons, settlements, mental health, schools; a practical and theoretical research with the Theatre of the Oppressed his everyday martial art, holding lectures, workshops and theatrical performances in Palestine, Bolivia, Mozambique, Egypt, India, South Africa, Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia, Peru, Mexico, Guatemala, Croatia, Portugal, Spain, Germany, England, Canada and U.S.A. He has a Master in Arts-UFF Federal Fluminense University and is also a father of twins.

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Imam Sayed Razawi

British scholar and religious leader

Imam Sayed Razawi is a British scholar and religious leader with a research interest in Islamic philosophy, mysticism, and comparative religion. In particular, he focuses upon the concept of “love” theoretically and applies his insights as a practitioner of theology to expound upon the values and thought-system of Islam on one hand and to undertake interfaith dialogue and peacebuilding through civil society engagement on the other.

He is the Chief Imam and Director General of the Scottish Ahlul Bayt Society (SABS). He is also an associate and a director at Harvard University’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, as well as being a Visiting Scholar at the University of Strathclyde.

Nationally, he has served as an advisor on the United Kingdom’s Independent Sharia Review commissioned by Theresa May and participates as a member of the Oxfam GB Zakat Advisory Panel. He is also a trustee for Faith for the Climate.

Internationally, Imam Razawi is a trustee and member of multiple international organizations and non-governmental bodies including an international Trustee of Religions for Peace (RfP), a member of the European Council of Religious Leaders (ECRL), a member of the United Nation (UN) Multi-Faith Advisory Council, and an advisory board member of the Islamic Reporting Initiative (IRI).

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Gary Cohen

Health Care Without Harm president and founder

Gary Cohen has been a pioneer in the environmental health movement for more than 35 years. He has helped build coalitions and networks globally to address health impacts related to climate change and toxic chemical exposure. Cohen is co-founder and president of Health Care Without Harm, created in 1996 to help transform the health care sector to be environmentally sustainable and support the health and climate resilience of the communities they serve. Since its inception, the nonprofit has grown to lead and partner in groundbreaking initiatives in more than 72 countries. Cohen was awarded the Champion of Change Award for Climate Change and Public Health by the White House in 2013. In 2015, Cohen received a MacArthur Fellowship and a “Genius Grant” from the MacArthur Foundation.

For more information on Health Care Without Harm, click here: https://noharm.org/

For more about Cohen and his work, view the MacArthur Award video here

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Falu & Karyshma

Musician

Falu is a GRAMMY award winning, internationally recognized artist known for her rare ability to seamlessly blend a signature modern inventive style with a formidable Indian classically-shaped vocal talent. In her early years in Bombay, singer Falu (aka Falguni Shah) was trained rigorously in the Jaipur musical tradition and in the Benares style of Thumrie under the legendary Kaumudi Munshi and semi classical music from Uday Mazumdar. She later continued studying under the late sarangi/vocal master Ustad Sultan Khan, and later with the legendary Smt. Kishori Amonkar (Jaipur style).

Originally from Bombay, Falu moved to the States in 2000 and was appointed as a visiting lecturer at Tufts University. Falu’s subsequent career in the States had led to a series of brilliant and high profile collaborations with Yo-Yo Ma, Wyclef Jean, Philip Glass, Ricky Martin, Blues Traveler and A. R. Rahman amongst others. She was appointed Carnegie Hall’s ambassador of Indian Music in 2006, where her shows at Zankel Hall have consistently sold out. Falu has performed for President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House and was also the featured performer at the Time-100 gala in 2009.

Her songs have appeared on numerous compilations and soundtracks. She was described by The New York Times as “East and West, ancient and modern” and by Billboard as “Ethereal and Transcendent”. Her first album “Falu” was featured in Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History’s “Beyond Bollywood” exhibit as representative of the voice of Indian American trendsetting artists. In 2015, Falu was named one of the 20 most influential global Indian women by the Economic Times of India. In 2018, she won the Women Icons of India award in Mumbai, India. Falu was an integral part of Givenchy’s September 11th fashion show (Ricardo Tisci collection under the art direction of Marina Abramović) in NYC, where she performed for a star-studded audience. Falu continues to pursue her commitment to introducing children to the wonders of the world through both of her GRAMMY nominated kids project, “Falu’s Bazaar” and GRAMMY winning follow-up album, “A Colorful World” which take families on a musical journey through South Asia and the day-to-day of a child’s wonder, as well as through her artist-in-residence position at Carnegie Hall. She also sits on the NY Chapter Board of Governors for the Recording Academy.

Falu currently performs and writes with her band, Falu & Karyshma, an internationally recognized supergroup known for its ability to weave together the intensity of rock, the improvisation of jazz, and the intricacies of India’s deepest musical traditions. These seemingly disparate worlds, when combined, create collisions of sounds and sights rarely experienced by audiences before.

Falu & Karyshma have performed over 500 concerts in the US and around the world. The artists have been featured the New York Times, RollingStone, and Billboard magazine among others.

What brings the four band members – Falu, Sandeep, Shomo, and Gaurav together is their decades of deep musical training, intelligence, and a sense of shared destiny. They know they are meant to be on stage together. When they perform, their magical chemistry combusts with spontaneous energy, levitating audiences of all ages and backgrounds in its wake. They released their most recent album, “Someday” on August 28, 2020.

Click here to visit Falu’s website

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Emeline Michel

Artist

Only a few performers earn acclaim for developing a unique sound. Emeline Michel can count herself among those few. Known for her fusion of traditional Haitian rhythms (kompa, rasyn, and twoubadou) with other musical genres (pop, jazz, and blues), Michel created a sound, which appealed to both traditional and contemporary listeners worldwide. Combined with Michel’s hypnotic and bluesy voice (which draws comparisons to the great Joni Mitchell), and remarkable stage presence, Michel has made her mark as one of the most notable Haitian singers, songwriters, and musicians of the past two decades.

Born in Haiti, Michel’s foray into music began as a singer in the Church of Gonaives’ gospel choir. Later, she studied at the Detroit Jazz Center, refining both her voice and musical style. Her return to Haiti showcased a new sound, highlighted on her debut album, Douvanjou ka leve. Michel continued her studies in France, where she received classical voice training under the tutelage of the legendary voice coach, Richard Cross.

Several albums followed: Tankou Melodie, Flanm, and Ban’m Pase included. Michel’s second album, Tout Mon Temps, featured the top single, “A.K.I.K.O.” As Michel stated, “A.K.I.K.O.” urged Haitians to stop fighting, come together, and create a country that would make the next generation proud. Without unity, we have no future.” A global sensation, “A.K.I.K.O” charted in many countries, including Belgium, French Guiana, Chile, Japan, and Canada.

Michel’s list of appearances is quite extensive: Carnegie Hall, United Nations, the Clinton Global Initiative, Montreal International Jazz Festival, New Orleans Jazz Festival, Fuji Rock Festival, Seychelles Island Creole Festival, and the Teatro del Silencio, where she performed with Andrea Bocelli and the Choir Voices of Haiti in Italy. Still, it was Michel’s performance on MTV’s “Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief” telethon, which garnered the most acclaim. Michel’s rendition of Jimmy Cliff’s “Many Rivers to Cross,” and other similar performances, led New York Times’ Ben Sisario to declare Michel a “diplomat of music,” and a “dancing ambassador with a voice as serene and warm like the breeze.”

Michel has received countless awards, including Haiti Musique en Folie Award for Best Haitian Album and Best Production for Cordes et Ame (2000). She has also receive the Catherine Flon Award (2017) and a New York City Council Proclamation for outstanding activism in the community.

In Michel’s upcoming autobiographical documentary, The Aroma of My Land (2019), viewers will have the opportunity to hear Michel’s life story in her words, and view behind the scenes exclusives: live performances, interviews, poetry, music, pictures and more. It is one to watch.

Click here to learn more about Emeline Michel

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Dr. Barry Kerzin

American physician and Buddhist monk

Dr. Barry Kerzin is an American physician and Buddhist monk. He serves as a personal physician to the 14th Dalai Lama, along with treating people in the local community.

He has written Tibetan Buddhist Prescription for Happiness, and with the Dalai Lama and Professor Tonagawa, Mind and Matter: Dialogue between Two Nobel Laureates. He has also written Nagarjuna’s Wisdom: A Guide to Practice, Compassion-Bridging Practice and Science and No Fear No Death: The Transformative Power of Compassion.

Barry Kerzin is an ADJUNCT PROFESSOR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, Affiliate Professor at the University of Washington Tacoma, a Visiting Professor at Central University of Tibetan Studies in Varanasi, India, an Honorary Professor at the University of Hong Kong (HKU), and a former Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington.

Barry is a fellow at the Mind and Life Institute and consults for the Max Planck Institute in Leipzig on compassion training. He is the founder and president of the Altruism in Medicine Institute (AIMI) and the founder and chairman of the Human Values Institute (HVI) in Japan.

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Dr. Sará King

Neuroscientist

Dr. Sará King is a neuroscientist, political and learning scientist, education philosopher, social-entrepreneur, public speaker, and certified yoga and mindfulness meditation instructor. She specializes in the study of the relationship between mindfulness, art, complementary alternative medicine, community health and social justice. She is currently a post-doctoral fellow in Neurology at OHSU , a Garrison Institute Fellow and Society for Neuroscience Associate, and a member of Google’s well-being think tank “Vitality Lab”. She is the Co-Director of the Embodied Social Justice Certificate Program, as well as she is the Director of Science and Healing for Mobius – an organization dedicated to stewarding the development of liberatory technology. She is the founder of MindHeart Consulting, a scientific consulting firm through which she offers up “The Science of Social Justice” framework and the “Systems Based Awareness Map” (SBAM) which she created to explore our capacity to heal intergenerational trauma and promote the well-being of “collective nervous systems”. She is currently partnered with the Museum of Modern Art in N.Y. to bring her applied neuroscience research on the (SBAM) to the world as a part of their “Artful Practice For Well-Being” Initiative.

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Dr. Eddie S. Glaude Jr

Educator, author and political commentator

Dr. Eddie S. Glaude Jr., is an educator, author, political commentator, and public intellectual who examines the complex dynamics of the human experience. His writings, including “Democracy in Black: How Race Still Enslaves the American Soul”, “In a Shade of Blue: Pragmatism and the Politics of Black America”, and his most recent, the New York Times bestseller, “Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and Its Urgent Lessons for our Own”, takes an exhaustive look at Black communities and the democratic challenges we face. He is also a former president of the American Academy of Religion, with a number of best-selling books published on religion and philosophy. He is the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor and Chair of the Department of African American Studies, on the Morehouse College Board of Trustees, an MSNBC contributor and a columnist for TIME Magazine. Combining a scholar’s knowledge of history, a political commentator’s take on the latest events, and an activist’s passion for social justice, Glaude challenges all of us to examine our collective conscience.

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Jennifer Woodlard

Georgetown University

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A Professor of psychology and adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University, Jennifer Woolard began her career at the National Victims Resource Center. While obtaining her doctoral degree in developmental and community psychology at the University of Virginia she also served as a victim-witness volunteer in the county police department, a staff member to the Virginia Commission on Family Violence Prevention, and a consultant with Virginians Against Domestic Violence (now Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance) . She then joined the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Adolescent Development and Juvenile Justice and became an assistant professor at the University of Florida’s Center for Studies in Criminology and Law. In 2002 she joined the psychology faculty at Georgetown University. Her research and action laboratory, the Georgetown Community Research Group, studies individual and family experiences with systems of care and control in order to create fair, effective, and just legal processes. Projects examine how youth and parents understand the right to remain silent, the right to an attorney, and the right to a trial. Her lab is the evaluation partner for the Youth In Custody Practice Model initiative, which helps juvenile correctional institutions implement evidence-informed and developmentally-appropriate practices. Dr. Woolard has testified as an expert before federal and state legislatures as well as in juvenile and criminal cases. She has presented her research findings to a wide variety of academic, legal, and policy audiences, and won several awards for teaching excellence, including the Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence. She currently serves as chair of the Psychology Department.

Dr. Julia Kim

Program Director, Gross National Happiness Centre Bhutan

Dr. Julia Kim is the Program Director of the Gross National Happiness Centre Bhutan. She joined the GNH Centre after serving as a member of the International Expert Working Group for a New Development Paradigm, convened by the Royal Government of Bhutan. Prior to living in Bhutan, Julia worked as a physician and HIV researcher in Africa and Asia, before serving with the United Nations (UNDP and UNICEF) in New York. She brings a background in leadership development, research, and policy in the fields of wellbeing economics, global health, and sustainable development, and is an Executive Committee member of the Club of Rome, and an associate of the Presencing Institute – a global network that views awareness-based systems change as a core capacity for 21st-century innovation and leadership