Carla Goldstein

Carla Goldstein, JD, is Omega Institute’s chief external affairs officer and co-founder of the Omega Women’s Leadership Center. An attorney with 25 years of experience in public interest advocacy, she has contributed to more than 100 city, state, and federal laws, and has worked extensively in city and state government on issues related to women’s rights, poverty, public health, and social justice. As a pioneer in spiritual activism, she advocates for a holistic approach to social change. She is a commentator for WAMC’s show, 51%, writes a column and serves on the advisory board for Feminist.com, and serves as an Advisor to Women Without Borders.

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Andrea Cristina Mercado

Andrea Cristina Mercado, Executive Director of Florida Rising, leads scaled civic engagement programs, and strategic campaigns that center Black and brown communities. Florida Rising is the result of the merger of New Florida Majority and Organize Florida. Under her leadership New Florida Majority registered over 150,000 Floridians to vote. The daughter of immigrants from South America, who made South Florida home, Andrea has been organizing in communities of color and immigrant communities for twenty years, she helped build Mujeres Unidas y Activas in the San Francisco Bay Area. Andrea is one of the co-founders of the National Domestic Workers Alliance and led the California Domestic Worker Coalition, a statewide effort to include domestic workers in labor laws, which successfully passed Domestic Worker Bill of Rights Legislation in 2013, seven states have now passed similar legislation. She went on to lead nationally recognized campaigns for immigrant and worker rights such as We Belong Together, and the 100 women 100 mile pilgrimage for migrant dignity. She is a graduate of Brown University, Fulbright Scholar and Emily’s list awardee, recently named best South Florida Activist by the Miami New Times.

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Rod Owens

Rod Owens is an activist, organizer, poet, and authorized Dharma teacher in the Tibetan tradition of Buddhism. He is a core teacher with Natural Dharma Fellowship in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and a third year master of divinity student at Harvard Divinity School where he studies the intersection of Buddhism and social change. Known for his authentic teaching style of self-inquiry and humor, he has appeared in the Buddhist publications Lion’s Roar, Buddhadharma, and Tricycle and has been recognized as one of the emerging leaders of the next generation of Dharma teachers. He is also a co-author of Radical Dharma: Taking Race, Love, and Liberation published by North Atlantic Books which explores race and oppression within American Buddhist communities.

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Jasmine Sydeullah

angel Kyodo Williams

angel Kyodo williams is an author, activist and master trainer that has been bridging the worlds of spirit and justice since her critically acclaimed book, Being Black: Zen and the Art of Living With Fearlessness and Grace was hailed as “an act of love” by Pulitzer Prize winner Alice Walker, and “a classic” by Buddhist pioneer Jack Kornfield. Called “the most intriguing African-American Buddhist” by Library Journal, she is currently one of only two black women Zen “Senseis” or teachers. She applies wisdom teaching to social issues and is a leading voice for Transformative Social Change. In recognition of her work, angel Sensei received the first Creating Enlightened Society Award from Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche. Her work has been widely covered, including in The New York Times, Boston Globe, Ms., and Essence.