The Sophia Institute’s National Advisory Board

Jean Houston, Ph.D.,is a world renowned scholar, futurist, and researcher in human capacities, social change, and systemic transformation, and is one of the principal founders of the Human Potential Movement. She is also a founder of the field of Social Artistry, “Human development in the light of social change,” and worked intensively in over 40 cultures, lectured in over 100 countries, and worked with major organizations such as UNICEF, UNDP, and NASA, as well as helping global state leaders, leading educational institutions, business organizations, and millions of people to enhance and deepen their capacities. She is the co-author of the #1 Amazon Bestseller “The Quest of Rose,” the first book of the “Future Humans Trilogy” with Dr. Anneloes Smitsman, and has authored over 35 published books and a great many unpublished books, plays, and manuscripts. She is presently Chancellor of Meridian University and Chair of the United Palace of Spiritual Arts in New York City.

Joan Borysenko, Ph.D. is known for her gracious presence, world-class sense of humor and brilliance as a speaker and workshop facilitator. Trained as both a cell biologist and clinical psychologist, Joan is a pioneer in psychoneuroimmunology, stress management, and women’s health. She is the author of 15 books, including the New York Times bestseller Minding the Body, Mending the Mind and her most recent book Fried: Why You Burn Out and How to Revive. A radio and television personality, wife, mother, and grandmother, Joan lives in the front range of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains. You can find out more about her at www.joanborysenko.com.

Mark Nepo is a poet and philosopher who has taught in the fields of poetry and spirituality for forty years. A New York Times #1 bestselling author, he has published fourteen books and recorded eight audio projects. Recent work includes: Reduced to Joy (2013), Seven Thousand Ways to Listen which won the 2012 Books for a Better Life Award, Staying Awake (2012), Holding Nothing Back (2012), As Far As the Heart Can See (2011), Finding Inner Courage (2011),and Surviving Has Made Me Crazy (2007), as well as audio books of The Book of Awakening, Finding Inner Courage, and As Far As the Heart Can See (2011). As a cancer survivor, Mark devotes his writing and teaching to the journey of inner transformation and the life of relationship.

Mark has appeared with Oprah Winfrey on her Super Soul Sunday program on OWN TV, and has been interviewed twice by Oprah as part of her SIRIUS XM Radio show, Soul Series. He has also been interviewed by Robin Roberts on Good Morning America about his New York Times bestseller The Book of Awakening. As well, The Exquisite Risk (Harmony Books) was cited by Spirituality & Health Magazine as one of the Best Spiritual Books of 2005, calling it “one of the best books we’ve ever read on what it takes to live an authentic life.” Mark’s collected essays appear in Unlearning Back to God: Essays on Inwardness (Khaniqahi Nimatullahi Publications, 2006). He is also the editor of Deepening the American Dream: Reflections on the Inner Life and Spirit of Democracy (Jossey-Bass, 2005). Other books of poetry include Suite for the Living (2004), Inhabiting Wonder (2004), Acre of Light (1994, also available as an audiotape from Parabola under the title Inside the Miracle, 1996), Fire Without Witness (1988), and God, the Maker of the Bed, and the Painter (1988).

Mark Nepo's work has been translated into twenty languages including French, Portuguese, Japanese, and Danish. In leading spiritual retreats, in working with healing and medical communities, and in his teaching as a poet, Mark Nepo’s work is widely accessible and used by many. He continues to offer readings, lectures, and retreats.

For a complete listing of our teaching faculty, click here.

Poet David Whyte grew up with a strong, imaginative influence from his Irish mother among the hills and valleys of his father’s Yorkshire. He now makes his home, with his family, in the Pacific Northwest of the United States.

The author of eight books of poetry and four books of prose, David Whyte holds a degree in Marine Zoology and has traveled extensively, including living and working as a naturalist guide in the Galapagos Islands and leading anthropological and natural history expeditions in the Andes the Amazon and the Himalaya. He brings this wealth of experience to his poetry, lectures and workshops.

His life as a poet has created a readership and listenership in three normally mutually exclusive areas: the literate world of readings that most poets inhabit, the psychological and theological worlds of philosophical inquiry and the world of vocation, work and organizational leadership.

An Associate Fellow at Templeton College and Said Business School at the University of Oxford, he is one of the few poets to take his perspectives on creativity into the field of organizational development, where he works with many European, American and international companies. In spring of 2008 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Neumann College, Pennsylvania.

In organizational settings, using poetry and thoughtful commentary, he illustrates how we can foster qualities of courage and engagement; qualities needed if we are to respond to today’s call for increased creativity and adaptability in the workplace. He brings a unique and important contribution to our understanding of the nature of individual and organizational change particularly through his unique perspectives on Conversational Leadership.

Marianne Williamson is an internationally acclaimed spiritual author and lecturer. Marianne has been a popular guest on television programs such as Oprah, Larry King Live, Good Morning America, Charlie Rose & Bill Maher. Seven of her twelve published books have been New York Times Best Sellers. Four of these have been #1. The mega best seller A Return to Love is considered a must-read of The New Spirituality. A paragraph from that book, beginning “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure…” is considered an anthem for a contemporary generation of seekers.

Marianne’s other books include The Law of Divine Compensation, The Age of Miracles, Everyday Grace, A Woman’s Worth, Illuminata, Enchanted Love, Healing the Soul of America, A Course in Weight Loss, The Gift of Change, A Year of Miracles, and her newest book, Tears to Triumph: The Spiritual Journey from Suffering to Enlightenment, available now.

Marianne is a native of Houston, Texas. In 1989, she founded Project Angel Food, a meals-on-wheels program that serves homebound people with AIDS in the Los Angeles area. To date, Project Angel Food has served over 10 million meals. Marianne also co-founded the Peace Alliance. And she serves on the Board of Directors of the RESULTS organization, working to end the worst ravages of hunger and poverty throughout the world.

According to Time magazine, “Yoga, the Cabala and Marianne Williamson have been taken up by those seeking a relationship with God that is not strictly tethered to Christianity.”

Lynne Twist, global activist, fundraiser, speaker, consultant and author, has devoted her life to eradicating hunger and poverty, and supporting global sustainability and security, human rights, economic integrity and spiritual authenticity. She has raised hundreds of millions of dollars and trained thousands of fundraisers to be more effective in their work for organizations that serve the best instincts of all of us - ending hunger, empowering women, nurturing children and youth and contributing to the creation of a world view of equity and sustainability for all life.

Jean Shinoda Bolen, M. D. is a psychiatrist, Jungian analyst, clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California San Francisco, a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and recipient of the Institute for Health and Healing’s "Pioneers in Art, Science, and the Soul of Healing Award". She is a former board member of the Ms. Foundation for Women, and the author of The Tao of Psychology, Goddesses in Everywoman, Gods in Everyman, Ring of Power, Crossing to Avalon, Close to the Bone, The Millionth Circle, Goddesses in Older Women, Crones Don't Whine, and Urgent Message From Mother. Visit jeanshinodabolen.com.

“The Sophia Center has drawn a line-up of notable authors and workshop leaders second to none to speak about the sacred feminine. Names that draw large audiences to Omega and Esalen come to Charleston to give size-limited workshops that stimulate thought and can touch heart and soul."
- Jean Shinoda Bolen, M.D. Jungian analyst and author.

Andrew Harvey is an internationally renowned religious scholar, writer, and teacher, and the author of over 30 books, including the critically acclaimed Way of Passion: A Celebration of Rumi, as well as Journey to Ladakh, The Return of the Mother, Son of Man, and The Direct Path: Creating a Journey to the Divine Using the World’s Mystical Traditions. He is also coauthor of the best-selling The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. His work has been honored with the Benjamin Franklin Award and the Mind Body Spirit Award (both for Mary’s Vineyard: Daily Readings, Meditations, and Revelations, with photographs by Eryk Hanut), and the Christmas Humphries Award for A Journey in Ladakh. Born in south India in 1952, Harvey studied at Oxford University and became a Fellow of All Soul’s College in 1973. He is Founding Director of the Institute for Sacred Activism. His work can be seen at www.andrewharvey.net

Lama Palden has been a student and practitioner of Buddhism for over 35 years, and of Comparative Mysticism for over 40 years. She is the founding teacher of Sukhasiddhi Foundation www.sukhasiddhi.org in Marin County, California, a Tibetan Buddhist center in the Shangpa Kagyu lineage and co-founder of Zen Heart Vajra Heart, a Zen teacher and personal disciple of Suzuki Roshi’s. She also co-founded the Feminine Wisdom School, dedicated to helping actualize the deep feminine wisdom for individuals and for humanity as a whole. The school just completed a year-long pilot program entitled “Unfolding the Sacred Feminine.” Also a licensed therapist, Lama Palden is engaged in facilitating psycho-spiritual integration and development.

Sera Beak is a Harvard-trained scholar of mysticism and comparative religion and an intrepid spiritual cowgirl who’s spent the last dozen years traveling the world exploring spirituality. She’s the author of The Red Book: A Deliciously Unorthodox Approach to Igniting Your Divine Spark. Check out: http://www.serabeak.com. Sera was featured on the cover of The New York Times Sunday Style Section in the article “Seeing Yourself in Their Light” as one of the new “Carrie Bradshaws of self-help spirituality”. Her work has been published in magazines ranging from People Magazine to Skirt! to Washington Woman. She has been interviewed in Publishers Weekly and on numerous radio shows ranging from the Dr. Oz show on Oprah and Friends, Martha Stewart’s “Living A Charmed Life,” NPR’s New Dimensions with Justine Toms, Father Paul Keenan’s Catholic radio show, “As You Think,” Kristin and David Morelli’s show, “Everything is Energy”, and Stuart Davis’s HBO T.V. show: Sex, God, Rock and Roll. She has facilitated Red workshops and presented Red talks at retreat centers such as Omega Center, Kripalu, The Open Center, Mount Madonna, and The Sophia Institute, as well as bookstores, yoga studios, churches, and universities. She’s also a member of the blog posse on Crazy Sexy Life and a proud board member of REVEAL Conference: Young Women Defining the Divine

Pat Mitchell is known for her leadership in the media industry as a CEO, producer and activist. Her career has focused on using media as a force for social change, with a special emphasis on the representation of women’s voices and stories.

The first woman President and CEO of PBS, she most recently served as president and CEO of the Paley Center for Media; she is now a Senior Advisor to the organization. Mitchell is also the former President of CNN Productions, where she executive produced hundreds of hours of documentaries and specials, which received 35 Emmy Awards and 5 Peabody Awards.

She was inducted into the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame in 2009, named one of the Most Powerful Women in Hollywood by Hollywood Reporter and featured in Fast Company’s special report, The League of Extraordinary Women: 60 Influencers Who Are Changing the World.

Mitchell currently advises foundations and corporations on issues of women’s empowerment and leadership development as well as media and governance. She is the Chair of the Women’s Media Center and Sundance Institute boards, a founding board member of V-Day, a member of the board of the Acumen Fund, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Mitchell partners with the TED organization to co-curate and host a global TEDWomen conference.

A magna cum laude graduate of the University of Georgia, with a master's degree in English literature, Mitchell has taught at her alma mater, Virginia Commonwealth University, as well as Harvard University’s Institute of Politics.

Mitchell and her husband, Scott Seydel, have six children and twelve grandchildren and reside in New York City and Atlanta, Georgia.

Connie Numbers, PsyD, is an author, inspirational speaker, spiritual teacher and a psychotherapist who believes that the inner journey is by far, the most exciting and rewarding quest we can take in our lives. It is an adventure like no other, filled with mystery, intrigue, and suspense, along with a myriad of opportunities to discover love, happiness, and the richness of life. Dr. Numbers has devoted her life to this ‘diving to the depths’ adventure and believes that anyone can grow as a human and evolve as a soul through the practice of Self Love. Believing in one’s self-worth is the first step to accepting our Divine magnificence as a soul who is here to learn, grow, and become the next outstanding version of ourselves.

Dr. Numbers has a passion for helping others remember this version of who they are by discovering that they can lead a deeply fulfilling spiritual life while still experiencing and loving themselves as an imperfect human being. She brings a wealth of wisdom, experience, and humor into her retreats and workshop settings, illustrating the concept that inner work does not have to be a burden. Instead, it is a joy and a privilege that brings healing, love, and light to the adventure of being human and divine at the same time.

Connie has a Bachelor and Masters in Music, as well as a Masters in Social Work and a Doctoral degree in Psychology. She has been in private practice as a psychotherapist for 30 years helping others to find their way and lead a more fulfilling life. She is the author of The Dear One Letters: A Path to Growing as a Human and Evolving as a Soul, and is currently working on Volume II of the same title. She continues to offer workshops, retreats, spiritual guidance and psychotherapy and more information is available on her website: www.connienumbers.com.

Dr. Paula Reeves is a well-known workshop leader in the fields of psychology and women's spirituality. A therapist in private practice in Atlanta, GA, she has led retreats in Spain, Switzerland, Ireland, England, Canada and the US. She has taught at the CG Jung Institute in Zurich. A colleague of Marion Woodman’s for over fifteen years, she leads women’s retreats with her as a member of the BodySoul Rhythms team. Author of two books, Women's Intuition: Unlocking the Wisdom of the Body and Heart Sense: Unlocking Your Highest Purpose and Deepest Desires, she has a deep interest in the relationship between spirit and matter, leading her to work with the metaphors of both the body and the psyche. The founder of Spontaneous Contemplative Movement, she teaches participants in her retreats how to listen to the wisdom of the body and follow the directions of the embodied feminine.

Peggy Rubin is Founding Director of the Center for Sacred Theatre in Ashland, Oregon. She is also the principal teaching associate of Jean Houston, Ph.D., in Dr. Houston’s worldwide multicultural transformational work and in her schools of spiritual studies, as well as a member of the core faculty of the School for Social Artistry, an intensive leadership, training program. Working with Jean Houston, Peggy Rubin has presented classes, workshops and trainings throughout the United States, and in Australia, New Zealand, England, Ireland, Sweden, Greece, Egypt, The Netherlands, India, West Africa, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Jamaica, and on behalf of the United Nations Development Programme, in Albania, St. Lucia, Barbados and Kenya.

Before joining Dr. Houston’s staff in 1987, Peggy was for 14 years the Public Information and Education Director for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, one of the largest classical repertory companies in the United States. She has also been a teacher of English, a freelance writer and editor, and an actor. She has studied extensively with Elaine De Beauport, Ph.D., founder of the Mead Institute, leading teacher of humanistic and behavioral applications of current brain/mind research; and with William Emerson, Ph.D., pioneer in the field of pre and peri-natal psychology, and its importance in understanding human development.

"Carolyn Rivers has created a dream world in The Sophia Institute, a world of wisdom, goodness, beauty, clarity, intentions, intuition, and power. The work presented here inspires the mind and touches the heart."
- Peggy Rubin

Ellen Burstyn’s illustrious acting career encompasses film, stage and television. She became a “triple crown winner” when she won an Emmy for her guest appearance in “Law & Order: SVU” (2009) to add to her Oscar win for “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” (1974) and her Tony Award for “Same Time, Next Year” (1974) on Broadway. Ellen has been nominated for an Academy Award five other times for “The Last Picture Show” (1972), “The Exorcist” (1973), “Same Time, Next Year,” (1979), “Resurrection” (1981), and “Requiem for a Dream” (2000).

Her many theater credits include the Broadway production of “84 Charing Cross Road” (1982), the acclaimed one-woman play “Shirley Valentine” (1989) and “Sacrilege” (1995). She received glowing reviews in Stephen Adley Guirgis’ play “The Little Flower of East Orange” (2008), directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman at The Public Theater in New York. Earlier this year, Ellen appeared in London’s West End in Lillian Hellman’s “The Children’s Hour” to rave reviews. She
just finished shooting a TV miniseries, “Coma,” and is teaching a Master Class in acting in Australia.

Ellen was the first woman elected president of Actors Equity Association (1982-85), and served as the Artistic Director of the famed Actors Studio where she studied with the late Lee Strasberg. She continues to be active there as co-president with Al Pacino and Harvey Keitel.

Academically, Ellen holds four honorary doctorates, one in Fine Arts from the School of Visual Arts, a Doctor of Humane Letters from Dowling College, a doctorate from the New School for Social Research, and a doctorate from Pace University where she teaches in The Actors Studio M.F.A. program. Ellen lectures throughout the country on a wide range of topics, and became a national best-selling author with the publication in 2006 of her memoir, Lessons in Becoming Myself, published by Riverhead Press.

In addition to a continuing and thriving acting career, Ellen is writing a screenplay, as well as planning a book of her photography accompanied by her favorite poetry.

China Galland, M.A., is the author of The Bond Between Women, A Journey to Fierce Compassion, one of five national finalists for the annual “Best Spiritual Book” award, as well as the critically acclaimed non-fiction, Longing for Darkness, Tara and the Black Madonna, a pilgrim’s tale of travel and transformation. She is also the author of Women in the Wilderness, A Woman Like You. and Family Secrets. Her newest non-fiction work is The Keepers of Love brings us into the heart of America’s most searing dilemma: how to choose love when there’s reason to hate, forgiveness, reconciliation and race, the story of Love Cemetery in East Texas.

She is featured in a documentary on the Black Madonna by BBC/Opus Arte in the DVD, Stabat Mater, in an hour-long PBS documentary with Gloria Steinem, Jane Goodall, Alanis Morisette and others in the 2003 special, “Women of Wisdom and Power” and in the prize-winning documentary, On the Road Home, A Spiritual Journey Guided by Remarkable Women by Christina Lundberg.

Founder and Director of the non-profit, Images of Divinity (IOD), Galland is also a Professor in Residence at the Center for Arts, Religion and Education (CARE) at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley where she teaches periodically. She has lectured at universities all over the country from Harvard, Columbia, and Cornell, to Prescott College in Arizona, as well as local colleges and universities in the Bay Area, and taught at Chartres Cathedral outside of Paris for Lauren Artress’s World-Wide Labyrinth Project.

"Carolyn Rivers has her hand on the pulse of the emerging sacred feminine. Rightly she sees this emergence not as an end in itself, but one that brings the gifts of the feminine into an eternal movement that includes both male and female. With the Sophia Institute, Carolyn has created a unique and intimate container for creativity, beauty, and intelligence, warmed by southern hospitality, to foster the dance of being fully human. The arts, music, our relationship with a divine center, our natural inclination towards inclusivity, diversity, and social justice, all find a place in Carolyn Rivers' garden. Let yourself blossom in this exquisite container called the Sophia Institute. I loved teaching there."
- China Galland

Please visit www.imagesofdivinity.org

Barbara Marx Hubbard is a visionary, social innovator, author, educator, and leader in the new worldview of conscious evolution which she describes as the awakening of the spiritual, social, and scientific potential of humanity, in harmony with nature, for the highest good of all life. She has worked closely with some of the great innovators of our time such as Dr. Jonas Salk, Abraham Maslow, and the great Buckminster Fuller who said of Barbara, “she is the best-informed human now alive regarding futurism and the foresights it has produced.” She is the producer and narrator of the award-winning documentary series entitled Humanity Ascending: A New Way through Together. She has been instrumental in founding many future-oriented and progressive organizations, including the World Future Society, New Dimensions Radio, Global Family, Women of Vision In Action, The Foundation for the Future, and the Association for Global New Thought. Barbara’s books include: The Hunger of Eve: One Woman’s Odyssey toward the Future; The Evolutionary Journey: Your Guide to a Positive Future; Revelation: Our Crisis is a Birth – An Evolutionary Interpretation of the New Testament; Conscious Evolution: Awakening the Power of our Social Potential and Emergence: The Shift from Ego to Essence.

Helen LaKelly Hunt is one of a small army of women who helped to seed the women’s funding movement. She co-founded the Texas Women’s Foundation, The New York Women’s Foundation, Women’s Funding Network and Women Moving Millions. Helen was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 2001. Helen is the author of Faith and Feminism: A Holy Alliance. Her latest book, And the Spirit Moved Them, The Lost Radical History of America’s First Feminists, shares the inspiring story of the abolitionist feminists. In addition, in past decades, she has co-authored several books with her partner, Harville Hendrix, on Imago Therapy, which helps transform relationships. Helen and Harville have helped to co-found Safe Conversations, LLC, a training institute that teaches Safe Conversations. Safe Conversations summarizes the new science of relationships that can help anyone shift from conflict to connection. Their work echoes the vision of Dr. Carol Gilligan and other feminist psychologists who have asserted for decades the importance of a relational culture. Helen believes that the Safe Conversations process can contribute to what the global feminist community has longed for, a more relational world.

Gloria D. Karpinski is a holistic counselor, spiritual director, teacher and author. For twenty-plus years, Gloria has taught all over the world for such diverse groups as psychotherapists, actors, and doctors, in venues ranging from large conferences to colleges, churches, and hospitals. Gloria is the author of Where Two Worlds Touch: Spiritual Rites of Passage (1991) and Barefoot on Holy Ground: Twelve Lessons in Spiritual Craftsmanship (2001). In 1989, Gloria received a grant from the Laurence D. Rockefeller Fund for the Advancement of the Human Spirit.

Dr. Lee Irwin is a scholar of world religions with an emphasis on Native American traditions, Western Esotericism, contemporary spirituality, and transpersonal religious experience — particularly as connected to dreams and visions. He is a Guiding Voice for The Seven Pillars House of Wisdom (Sufi International Order) and the Vice President of the Association for the Study of Esotericism. He has been a workshop leader and group facilitator for over twenty years, particularly in the areas of visionary cosmology and the development of the sacred human.
 His books include: The Dream Seekers; Visionary Worlds; Awakening to Spirit; The Alchemy of Soul; and Coming Down From Above: Prophecy, Resistance, and Renewal in Native American Religions.

Ana L. Oliveira became the President & CEO of The New York Women’s Foundation in 2006. Under her leadership, The Foundation has grown in several dimensions, establishing a new strategic plan, sponsoring landmark research reports, increasing visibility and public awareness of The Foundation’s presence in NYC; and dramatically increasing the impact of The Foundation, with the distribution of a record $5 million in grants in its 25th year, in 2012.

Ana has worked in the health and human services field for over 22 years, developing programs for vulnerable populations throughout NYC.  She served as the Executive Director of Gay Men’s Health Crisis for over seven years, overseeing a complete turn-around of the agency. Before working at GMHC, Ana directed innovative community-based programs at Samaritan Village, the Osborne Association, Kings County and Lincoln Hospitals. Ana has served as a member of the New York City HIV Planning Council, in the New York City Commission on AIDS, chaired the NYC Commission for LGBTQ Runaway and Homeless Youth, and, most recently, Co-Chaired Mayor Bloomberg’s Young Men’s Initiative.

Ana currently serves as a Co-Chair of the Board of the Women’s Funding Network.

In 2005, Ana was profiled in Newsweek as “America’s Best,” a series highlighting ordinary individuals using their extraordinary vision on behalf of others.

Her awards feature:  Mutual Welfare League Certificate, (Osborne Association); Liberty Award, (Lambda Legal & Education Defense Fund); Community Service Award (Empire State Pride Agenda); the Rosie Perez Fuerza Award, (Latino Commission on AIDS), and the New York City Civil Liberties Union Liberty Award, among others.

Ana was born and raised in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and resides in Manhattan.  She has an M.A. in Medical Anthropology from the New School for Social Research. She has just been awarded an Honorary Doctor Degree by her alma matter.