Dr. Zack Ritter has spent more than 16 years in higher education across Southern California with a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusivity. He is currently a Lecturer at UCLA and Cal State Dominguez Hills, teaching courses on Equity in Higher Education and Civic Engagement Service Learning Capstone courses. He was Associate Dean of Students at CSU-Dominguez Hills, helping run the Office of Community Standards restorative justice department and Basic Needs housing and food insecurity program. He was also the Associate Dean of the Office of Institutional Diversity at Harvey Mudd College and University of Redlands. He also was Vice President of Leadership Development at the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles and Vice President of Advancement at Jewish World Watch. He has co-edited three books with titles such as Whiteness, Power, and Resistance to Change in Higher Education and and Emancipatory Change in Higher Education. He also runs a consulting business with Marium Mohiuddin, called Isma-Shema Consulting, focusing on Islamophobia and Antisemitism in the workplace. Dr. Ritter received his PhD from UCLA, focusing on East Asian international students, racial stereotypes, and American media promulgation of globalized race/class/gender hierarchies.
Chris RayAlexander
After a decade in higher education as a professor of Spanish-language literature, history, and culture, Chris RayAlexander completed an MDiv at Emory’s Candler School of Theology in 2023 and dove into a new career in interfaith relationship building. His current research focuses on the intersection of pluralism and practical theology of religions. He is passionate about creating a more humane and unified world through interfaith advocacy, education, and community cultivation. He is Program Coordinator at Interfaith Children’s Movement, a Board Member of Interfaith Atlanta, and Support Chair for its youth organization, Interfaith Atlanta Youth (IAY). Chris serves as an interfaith consultant in his community, and in his free time he translates philosophy as a member of the French Metaphysics Translation Project. He lives in Atlanta with his partner, their son, and a pile of philosophy and theology books that constantly remind him of his own mortal finitude.
Caitlin Ryan
Caitlin Ryan is a clinical social worker, researcher and policy expert. She has made groundbreaking contributions to LGBT health and mental health through early community development, program implementation, research, policy and systems change. Caitlin has an undergraduate degree with a concentration in human sexuality from Hunter College, a master’s degree in clinical social work from Smith College School for Social Work, and a doctorate in public policy with a focus on health policy from Virginia Commonwealth University. She directs the Family Acceptance Project at San Fransisco State University.
Rosemary R. Ruether
Dr. Rosemary Radford Ruether, Visiting Professor of Feminist Theology at Claremont School of Theology and Claremont Graduate University, is a renowned Roman Catholic feminist scholar. She formerly was Carpenter Professor of Feminist Theology at the Pacific School of Religion and Graduate Theological Union, and also taught at the Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. Ruether is the author of The Wrath of Jonah: The Crisis of Religious Nationalism in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (1989) and America, Amerikkka: Elect Nation and Imperial Violence (2007). Her many books on feminism, the Bible and Christianity include Sexism and God-Talk and Our Own Voices: Four Centuries of American Women’s Religious Writing (1993).
Jerald P. Ross
Jerald P. Ross serves as treasurer of the Board of the Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security, is an active member of the Massachusetts Peace Action Nuclear Disarmament Working Group, and is the Peace and Disarmament lead for the First Parish Bedford Unitarian Universalist Peace and Justice Committee. Jerry has also worked on nuclear disarmament issues with the Unitarian Universalist Office of the United Nations and serves as his congregation’s UN Envoy. Retired from a career as executive director of a community mental health center and private consulting practice, Jerry now devotes considerable energy to the goal of nuclear disarmament. He began his personal peace advocacy efforts as a conscientious objector during the Viet Nam War.
Seán Rose
Seán Rose is an experienced and award-winning educator, trainer, and writer specializing in interfaith and intercultural relations. Seán has extensive experience developing and managing projects in North America and Europe, including as Director of Training and Outreach for Project Interfaith, Schools Officer and Training Associate for 3FF, and Dialogue Facilitator for Tony Blair Faith Foundation’s Generation Global program. He was an inaugural Interfaith Youth Core Faiths Act Fellow, is a Fellow of the RSA, and is a Soliya Connect Program facilitator. Seán consults for schools and non-profit organizations and is on the Board of Directors of Young Spirit Foundation. He has presented at national and international conferences, and writes for online publications including The Interfaith Observer. Seán holds a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Geography and International Development from the University of East Anglia, and lives in California.
Rabbi Or Rose
Rabbi Or Rose is associate dean and director of Informal Education at the Rabbinical School of Hebrew College. He also serves as co-director of CIRCLE (Center for Inter-Religious and Communal Leadership Education), a joint venture of Andover Newton Theological School and Hebrew College. Rabbi Rose is the author or editor of several books and articles on Jewish spirituality, interfaith cooperation, and social justice. He is the co-editor and contributor to Righteous Indignation: A Jewish Call for Justice (2008), Jewish Mysticism and Spiritual Life: Classical Texts, Contemporary Reflections (2010), and Border-Crossings: Stories of Inter-Religious Encounter (2012). Professor Or is often found in the grassroots vineyard, has presented at North American Interfaith Network, and is active in the effort to enlarge the role of interfaith dialogue in theology schools and their offerings.
Jonathan Rose
Jonathan Rose was born in the United States and has been living and working in Mexico City for many years. He served as a publishing executive for the Addison Wesley Publishing Company until 1998, when he retired as Latin American Divisional President. He is a founding member of the Mexican Interfaith Council and became involved in United Religions Initiative (URI) in 1997. Mr. Rose was elected as a URI trustee from Latin America in 2002 and served on the Executive Committee of the Global Council as secretary from 2002 to 2005. From 2005 to 2007, he was regional coordinator for the URI’s Multi-Region sector and served on URI’s Finance Committee. Currently, he is working closely with the Multi-Region leaders to plan and implement their new vision and conclude the search for a permanent regional coordinator.
Catriona Robertson
Catriona Robertson convenes the London Boroughs Faiths Network and the London Peace Network. She has been part of the European Network on Religion and Belief from its inception. Born and raised in the highlands of Scotland, Catriona has lived and worked with local community groups in India, the South Pacific, and London, UK. A long time ago she spent a summer in Fresno, California.
Catriona facilitates an inter-convictional women’s group on gender justice and recently chaired the Women and Faith session at the Women of the World Festival. She works on the community coproduction of public services at Wandsworth Community Empowerment Network.
Holding an MA in Psychology from St Andrews University, Catriona’s writing on social justice, intercultural issues, and public policy appears in books, including Together and Different(2008), and journals, including “What did the Moors do for us?” about the Islamic history of Europe, in Arches Quarterly.
She lives in London, UK, with her family and blogs and tweets @multifaith.
Meg Riley
Rev. Meg A. Riley is senior minister of the Church of the Larger Fellowship, a 3500-member Church Without Walls. She has worked in the intersection of religion and culture in a variety of contexts, including serving as director of the Unitarian Universalist Association's Advocacy and Witness staff group, Office of Lesbian, Bisexual and Gay Concerns, Washington Office for Advocacy, Youth Programs, and as a religious educator in several Unitarian Universalist congregations. She is currently president of the Board of Faith in Public Life: A Resource Center for Justice and the Common Good.
Theodore Richards
Theodore Richards is the founder of The Chicago Wisdom Project and the author of seven books and numerous literary awards, including three Independent Publisher Awards and two Nautilus Book Awards. His most recent book is A Letter to My Daughters: Remembering the Lost Dimension & the Texture of Life, winner of the Independent Publisher Awards Gold Medal in memoir. He lives on the south side of Chicago with his wife and three daughters. To learn more and contact, visit www.theodorerichards.com
Richard Reoch
Richard Reoch is the former President of Shambhala. He took part in the international interfaith mission of witness to the Rohingya refugee camp on the Bangladesh–Myanmar border from March 26-30, 2018.
William Rees
William Rees has over 35 years experience in UK independent education, He was a former Housemaster and Head of Admissions at Eton College, UK. While Head of Admissions, Mr Rees developed a modernised and meritocratic form of assessment at age 11 for entry to the school at 13, and was consulted by many other schools seeking to follow Eton’s pioneering example.
Since taking early retirement in 2009, he has been working as an independent consultant to senior independent schools in the UK. He advises on admissions and marketing strategy, structures, processes and communications. Since 2012, Mr. Rees has been working with My Tutor Club offering independent guidance and advice to parents on their UK education options as well as offering bespoke one-to-one interview practice for candidates applying to UK schools.
Raheel Raza
Raheel Raza, author of Their Jihad…Not My Jihad (2005), is a public speaker, diversity consultant, documentary film make, freelance journalist, and founder of SAMA (Sacred Arts and Music Alliance). Raza started writing at a young age in a culture where women were supposed to "be seen and not heard.” She bridges the gap between East and West, promoting cultural and religious diversity in print, on television and radio. An outspoken advocate for gender equality and an activist for women's rights, she has received numerous awards for her work to build bridges of understanding. She is a recipient of the City of Toronto’s Constance Hamilton Award and is the first South Asian woman to narrate a CBC documentary, “Passionate Eye.” Travelling extensively, Raza brings a fresh global perspective to her mandate “there is unity in diversity.” She has spoken at places of worship, the private sector, the Canadian Justice Department, school boards, and government institutions. She has also been invited to speak at universities in the United States and Canada, including Harvard and Columbia.
Paul Brandeis Raushenbush
Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush is the senior religion editor for the Huffington Post. From 2003-2011, Raushenbush was the associate dean of Religious Life and the Chapel at Princeton University. He was the president of the Association of College and University Religious Affairs (ACURA) from 2009-20011. An ordained American Baptist minister, Rev. Raushenbush speaks and preaches at colleges, churches, and institutes around the country including The Chautauqua Institute, the Center for American Progress, the New America Foundation, and the Aspen Institute. Raushenbush is regularly invited to offer commentary on issues of religion and society on national television and radio. His current focus is on the interplay between religion and the internet. His first book, Teen Spirit: One World, Many Faiths (2004) was released in the Fall of 2004. He is the editor of the 100th Anniversary edition of Walter Rauschenbusch's book, Christianity and the Social Crisis – In the 21st Century(HarperOne). He was the co-director of the Program on Religion, Diplomacy and International Relations at The Liechtenstein Institute on Self Determination at Princeton University.
Shashank Rao
Shashank Rao is a Master’s of Divinity student at the University of Chicago, working on topics at the intersection of Hindu theology and literature. He is passionate about progressive Hindu community work, and in his spare time, enjoys making curry pastes from scratch. He is also a board member of the Sadhana Coalition of Progressive Hindus, where he helps facilitate the Liberation Theology Reading Group.
Michael Ramos
Michael Ramos serves as the Executive Director of the Church Council of Greater Seattle. Work to accompany immigrants, address homelessness and lack of affordable housing, and create a culture of peace while confronting violence and hate are central to the Church Council’s mission. The interweaving of spirituality and social, racial and economic justice has been a lifelong passion of his stemming from his first peacemaking efforts in New York City more than three decades ago. He holds a Master of Divinity from Seattle University and is married with two adult daughters.
Saphira Rameshfar
Saphira Rameshfar is a member of the Bahá'í Community of New York City. She facilitates a gathering that welcomes people from all faiths and backgrounds, called Reflections on the Life of the Spirit, the purpose of which is to nurture a spirit of common purpose in the community, and to arise to serve the best interests of society together.
Anantanand Rambachan
Anantanand Rambachan is Professor of Religion, Philosophy and Asian Studies at Saint Olaf College, Minnesota, USA, where he has been teaching since 1985. He received his Ph.D and M.A. (Distinction) degrees from the Department of Theology and Religious Studies, University of Leeds, in the United Kingdom. He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad.
Among his books are, Accomplishing the Accomplished (1991), Gitamrtam: The Essential Teachings of the Bhagavadgita (1993), The Limits of Scripture (1994), The Hindu Vision (1996), The Advaita Worldview: God, World and Humanity (2006), and A Hindu Theology of Liberation (2014). His writings include a series of commentaries on the Ramayana (2006). The British Broadcasting Corporation transmitted a series of 25 lectures by Prof. Rambachan around the world.
Prof. Rambachan has been involved in the field of interreligious relations and dialogue for over twenty-five years, as a Hindu participant and analyst. He is active in the dialogue programs of the World Council of Churches, and was a Hindu guest and participant in the last four General Assemblies of the World Council of Churches. He is also a regular participant in the consultations of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue at the Vatican and an educator on interfaith issues in Minnesota.
Prof. Rambachan is an advisor to the Pluralism Project (Harvard University), a member of the International Advisory Council for the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, and a member of the Theological Education Committee of the American Academy of Religion.
Prof. Rambachan has traveled and lectured in many part of the world and teaches regularly at several Hindu temples in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. He resides with his family in Apple Valley, Minnesota.
Swami Ramananda
Swami Ramananda, the president of the Integral Yoga Institute in San Francisco and a greatly respected senior teacher in the Integral Yoga tradition. He has been practicing Yoga for more than 35 years. Ramananda offers practical methods of integrating the timeless teachings and practices of yoga into daily life, and transforming the painful aspects of human experience into steps toward realizing our full potential.
He leads beginner, intermediate, and advanced level yoga teacher training programs in San Francisco and offers a variety of programs in many locations in the U. S., Europe, and South America. Ramananda trains teachers to bring Yoga into corporate, hospital and medical settings and has taught mind/body wellness programs in many locations. He is a founding board member of the Yoga Alliance, a national registry that supports and promotes yoga teachers as professionals. His warmth, wisdom, and sense of humor have endeared him to many.