Nancy McKay, M.Div., is a minister and spiritual director in the United Church of Christ and spent ten years in parish ministry. Today she provides one-on-one spiritual direction and teaches a laying-on-of-hands and prayer healing process in churches. “Love heals,” she says, “and we get to cooperate with the source of love!” She is one of the founders of the Chaplaincy Institute-An Interfaith Seminary and Community in Berkeley, where she taught spirituality. Nancy attended the first Healing Journeys conference in 1994, in Monterey, California, while she was still in treatment with an experimental vaccine for metastatic melanoma. What she learned and felt there supported her hope for a full recovery. She is now cancer free.
Fr. Patrick McInerney
Patrick McInerney is a Columban missionary priest. He was assigned to Pakistan for more than 20 years. He has a licentiate from the Pontifical Institute for the Study of Arabic and Islamics in Rome (1986), a Masters in Theology from the Melbourne College of Divinity (2003), and a PhD from the Australian Catholic University (2009).
Father McInerney is director of the Columban Mission Institute, coordinator of its Centre for Christian-Muslim Relations and a staff member of its Centre for Mission Studies. He offers courses on Interreligious Dialogue and Islam at the Catholic Institute of Sydney and the Broken Bay Institute’s Centre for Mission and Culture.
He is a member of the Australian Catholic Council for Ecumenism and Interreligious Relations (ACCEIR), a board member of the Australian Catholic University’s Centre for Inter-religious Dialogue (CID), and on the executive of the New South Wales state meetings of Religions for Peace (RfP). In 2011 he was awarded the title of Honorary Fellow of the Australian Catholic University. He attends interfaith and multi-faith conferences and gives talks on Islam, Christian-Muslim Relations and Interreligious Relations to a wide variety of audiences.
Janet McGarry
Janet McGarry lives in San Francisco where she writes about environmental and agricultural issues. She studied at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies after a career as a lawyer.
Rory McEntee
Rory McEntee is a contemplative rooted in the tradition of interspirituality and new monasticism who works at an intersection of spirituality, education, and culture. As a close friend and mentee of the late Brother Wayne Teasdale, he was part of the founding of the interspiritual movement. He is currently the administrator for the Snowmass InterSpiritual Dialogue, founded in 1984 by Father Thomas Keating. Rory works and collaborates with spiritual leaders from many different traditions and is particularly interested in deep, contemplative formation processes for young people that can emerge from collaborative and intergenerational friendships among contemplatives. He is the coauthor of New Monasticism: An Interspiritual Manifesto for Contemplative Life in the 21st Century (2015).
Yona Zeldis McDonough
Yona Zeldis McDonough is the award-winning author of five novels, twenty-one books for children and the editor of two essay collections. Her essays, articles and short fiction have been published widely in numerous national and literary publications. She is also the Fiction Editor at Lilith Magazine. Visit Yona at her website.
P.K. McCary
P.K. McCary is an interfaith activist, storyteller, and writer. Her books include Black Bible Chronicles: from Genesis to the Promised Land (1993) and Rappin with Jesus: The Good News According to the Four Brothers (1993). PK, a much loved speaker, was included by Bill Moyers in a PBS series on storytelling in scripture. She has worked as a print and broadcast journalist and a playwright. PK founded and hosts Think Peace Radio, a web-based program. Long an ecumenical and interfaith activist in Houston, Texas, and globally, she has been a trustee and secretary of United Religion Initiative’s Global Council and remains active in URI Multi-Region. Her blog can be found at thepeacehour.blogspot.com.
Michael J. McCallion
Michael J. McCallion received his Ph.D. in sociology from Wayne State University in Detroit and his M.A. in liturgy/theology from the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. He is a professor at Sacred Heart Major Seminary where he holds the Fr. Cunningham Chair in Catholic Social Analysis. He is also director of the Institute for Research on the New Evangelization. He is primarily interested in the sociology of religion, spending whatever time he can studying the relationship between Christian service and local religious congregations as well as the relationship between Christian service and the New Evangelization. In all of his research, the relationship between youth and religion is a primary focus.
Marian Van Eyk McCain
Marian Van Eyk McCain, a retired psychotherapist and wellness educator, is the author of eight books, including The Lilypad List: 7 steps to the simple life (Findhorn Press, 2004), and Downshifting Made Easy: How to plan for your planet-friendly future (Earth Books, 2010), both of which are about living simply and lightly on the planet. She also edited the anthology GreenSpirit: Path to a New Consciousness (Earth Books, 2002) and has helped to produce a series of ebooks on green spirituality, which is one of her primary interests, along with wellness – both personal and planetary – the evolution of consciousness and conscious aging. Her latest book is Self-Therapy Made Easy (Psyche Books, 2012). Visit her on http://www.marianvaneykmccain.com
Dorothy J. Maver
Dorothy J. Maver, Ph.D., is an educator and peacebuilder whose keynote is inspiring cooperation on behalf of the common good. Dot is president and CEO of the National Peace Academy in the USA, executive director of the River Phoenix Center for Peacebuilding, coordinator of Push4Peace, and a founder and Governance Member of the Global Alliance for Ministries and Infrastructures for Peace. She formerly served as president and CEO of Peace Partnership International. Her career as an educator includes teaching at Norwich University, the oldest private military academy in the USA; appearing as a 2011 World Affairs Guest Lecturer at Iowa State University; co-authoring Conscious Education: The Bridge to Freedom (1992); and serving as a keynote speaker and workshop facilitator at conferences worldwide. From 2005-2007 Dot served as executive director of The Peace Alliance and Campaign for a US Department of Peace, and prior to that was the National Campaign Manager for Kucinich for President in 2004. In the world of fast-pitch softball, Dr. Dot is known for her revolutionary fast-pitch hitting technique, The Maver Method: Secrets of Hitting Success.
Avon Mattison
Avon Mattison traces her commitment to peacebuilding to her childhood years during World War II, hearing her parents talk of war, and being utterly captured by the notion of spending her life promoting world peace. She is founder and president of Pathways to Peace (PTP), an international peacebuilding, education, and consulting nonprofit holding consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council. PTP was instrumental in supporting efforts by Robert Muller and John McDonald to establish a UN International Day of Peace, celebrated today by more than 4000 NGOs around the world. PTP remains the Day of Peace’s strongest supporter. Avon serves on the advisory councils/boards of several international organizations, including the Global Commission to Fund the United Nations, the Center For Visionary Leadership, Ehama Institute, Foundation for the Healing Among Nations, Radio For Peace International, World Peace Prayer Society, the World Centers of Compassion for Children, and the World Fund for the Dignity of Children.
Sarah Masters
Sarah Masters is managing director of Hartley Film Foundation in Westport, Connecticut. Sarah oversees granting and fiscal sponsorship programs at the Foundation, attends pitching forums for documentary filmmakers seeking funding, serves on a jury at Full Frame Film Festival where Hartley sponsors the Full Frame Inspiration Award, and works with filmmakers on fundraising and outreach strategies. She also screens documentaries at national and international film festivals for potential candidates for the annual Elda and Irving Hartley Award.
Sarah comes to Hartley with a background in radio and television production and editorial oversight. Prior to joining Hartley Film Foundation, she helped launch and was editorial director of an international online news service for physicians.
Johnny Martin
Johnny Martin is a student at Arizona State University studying Religion, Public Life, & Conflict. He is the founder of Sun Devils Are Better Together (SunDABT), ASU’s premiere interfaith student organization, and is currently working as the Youth Director for the Arizona Interfaith Movement. Johnny has previously been a North American Interfaith Network (NAIN) Young Adult Scholar and a Better Together Coach with the national Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC). He serves on the Leadership Council for the North American region of the global United Religions Initiative (URI) and as a Board Member of the Arizona Faith Network (AFN).
Katherine Marshall
Katherine Marshall has worked for four decades in international development focusing on the world’s poorest countries. She is a senior fellow at Georgetown’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs and visiting professor in the School of Foreign Service. She spent 35 years at the World Bank, in many assignments focused on Africa, Latin America, and East Asia. From 2000 to 2006, she was counselor to the Bank’s president on ethics, values, and faith in development. She holds various board positions including the World Bank Community Connections Fund, AVINA Americas, the Opus Prize Foundation, and the Washington National Cathedral Foundation, and she served recently as a trustee of Princeton University. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and serves as a visiting professor at the University of Cambodia. She is the author of several books and many articles, most recently Global Institutions of Religion: Ancient Movers, Modern Shakers, published by Routledge in 2013.
Matt Mardis-LeCroy
Matt Mardis-LeCroy became senior minister of Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ in Des Moines, Iowa in November of 2014. Plymouth is a progressive church of more than 3,000 members in the heart of the Midwest. He had served Plymouth in various pastoral roles since 2005. Before making the move to Iowa, Matt was pastor at The Community Church of Little Neck, New York.
An ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, Matt holds a Bachelor of Religion degree from Messiah College and a Master of Divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary. In 2013 he completed his Doctor of Ministry degree in preaching at Chicago Theological Seminary. Matt is married to Mary Beth Mardis-LeCroy, an ordained Presbyterian minister. They have one daughter, Ellie, one son, Wil, and two cats
Sable Manson
Sable Manson, Ph.D., is the Assistant Director for Student Leadership and Development at the University of Southern California’s Joint Educational Project (JEP). She also serves as Interfaith Scholars Program Director, through the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life at USC. Sable was identified as one of the Future50 Faith leaders in Los Angeles by USC’s Center for Religion and Civic Culture and the Interreligious Council of Southern California (IRC) in 2014 and has served as Interfaith Minister-in-Residence for the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles since 2018. Sable served as Vice-Chair for NASPA’s (Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education) Spirituality and Religion in Higher Education Knowledge Community (SRHE_KC) from 2019 - 2021. Her previous research on #DigitalFaith examined how individuals have used digital spaces and technologies for spiritual and religious exploration. More recently Sable, along with her co-editor J.T. Snipes, Ph. D., edited Remixed and Reimagined: Innovations in Religion, Spirituality, and (Inter)Faith in Higher Education (2020).
Louise Mangan
Louise Mangan is passionate about grounding regenerative change in the wisdom of heart-mind practices that connect us with our inner teacher, with one another, and with the natural world. Centring Prayer is her regular personal practice. She received her BA from UBC, ministry foundations from Vancouver School of Theology, and MDIV from Toronto School of Theology. She trained as a Spiritual Director with Pacific Jubilee Associates.
Louise was actively involved in the founding executive of the InterSpiritual Centre of Vancouver Society in 2004. She chaired the Building and Technical Committee, and served twice as Chair of the Board between 2005 and 2018. Louise represented the ISC in the collaborative development of the Greater Vancouver Compassion Network and its Compassionate Cities Campaign. And she co-founded Women of Spirit and Faith Canada (later known as Women and Wisdom Canada), assisting regularly with Women and Wisdom programming.
In addition to her role with the Interspiritual Sustainability Council, Louise serves as a Director of the Multifaith Action Society, and as a co-founder of several multi-regional Cooperation Circles of the United Religions Initiative. She offers spiritual guidance and support to individuals and couples of various spiritual backgrounds. And she divides her personal time between enjoying her grandchildren and adult children in Vancouver, and enjoying her home on Salt Spring Island with her partner, friends, family and goofy dog.
Lia Mandelbaum
Lia Mandelbaum is a participant in the interfaith Future50 cohort, profiled in the December 2014 TIO. She is a graduate student in social work at Cal State L.A., where she also received a Bachelor’s in social work. Over the past three years, Lia interned at a mental health care agency in South Central Los Angeles, at an LAUSD high school in downtown Los Angeles as a psychiatric social worker, and is presently interning with the Alzheimer’s Association.
Starting in 2008, she worked in development for Beit T’Shuvah, a non-profit residential treatment center and synagogue in L.A. Lia volunteers for JQ International, an LGBTQ Jewish movement, and sings in a Muslim-Jewish singing group called the Peace Choir. She has helped to produce various events for Craig N’ Co. and the Sinai Temple Community. She is an alumna of the Jeremiah Fellowship with Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice, and New Ground: A Muslim-Jewish Partnership for Change. Lia has a blog with the Jewish Journal called “Sacred Intentions” and also enjoys public speaking and often shares her personal journey. She has become a leader in developing cultures of compassion as an organizer of “The Compassion Games: Survival of the Kindest.”
Mark Mancao
Mark Mancao is communications manager for United Religions Initiative (URI). In that role he manages content at uri.org, its online community features, URI’s brand, the design of print and digital resources, community surveys, orientation/training resources, and other communications projects. With two graduate degrees in religion, he worked as director of JUSTPEACE Center for Mediation and Conflict Transformation, a United Methodist start-up in Chicago and Washington DC. In 2006, Mark moved with his partner and two cats across the country to San Francisco, California, to serve as executive director of RockRose Institute. RockRose produced an international conference, “Facing Violence: Justice, Religion and Conflict Resolution-World Forum 2007,” while sharing offices with URI. After a successful World Forum, Mark moved down the hall and has been working with URI ever since.
Maij Vu Mai
Maij Vu Mai (pronounced like MAGE, pronouns they/he/sib/homie/fam) is a powerful Black Asian Trans Queer Neuroexpansive MaGe who is devoted to creating radical healing spaces where marginalized folks can tap into their own alchemical power and knowledge ecosystems. They exist and play at the intersections of the Bipolar/Multipolar spectrum, ADHD, and OCD. All of these neurodistinct experiences color and shape the living textures of his day-to-day life- which can be described as an ever shifting cauldron of power, agency, and meaning-making in a world that seeks to eliminate them. Living on these spectrums has allowed Maij to create new constellations of care and support and embrace the temperature play of their dynamic emotional landscape. They currently serve as the Asian/American and Pacific Islander Roundtable Coordinator for The Center for LGBTQ Studies and Gender in Religion. Maij is a mood bender, an emotional alchemist, and a magi who joyfully explores their body wisdom so that they can share that wisdom with others.
Rabbi Allen S. Maller
Rabbi Allen S. Maller attended the University of California, Los Angeles from 1956 to 1960, majoring in physics. He studied at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem his junior year and while there decided to become a rabbi.
Rabbi Maller has published more than 200 articles in more than two dozen journals, magazines and websites as varied as Jewish Social Studies, US Catholic, Islamicity, and The Journal of Dharma. He is author of a book on Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) and editor of the Tikun series of High Holiday Prayer Books.
Rabbi Maller taught in the theology department of Loyola Marymount University for three years. In 2006, after 39 years as Rabbi of Temple Akibain Culver City California, he retired.
His website is: www.rabbimaller.com. He can be contacted on malleraj@aol.com.