Plenary Speakers

Sherri Mitchell

Sherri was born and raised on the Penobscot Indian reservation (Penawahpskek). She speaks and teaches around the world on issues of Indigenous rights, environmental justice, and spiritual change. Her broad base of knowledge allows her to synthesize many subjects into a cohesive whole, weaving together a multitude of complex issues and articulating them in a way that both satisfies the mind and heals the heart. Sherri received her Juris Doctorate and a certificate in Indigenous People’s Law and Policy from the University of Arizona’s James E. Rogers College of Law. She is an alumna of the American Indian Ambassador program, and the Udall Native American Congressional Internship program.

Sherri is the Founding Director of the Land Peace Foundation, an organization dedicated to the global protection of Indigenous land and water rights and the preservation of the Indigenous way of life. Prior to forming the Land Peace Foundation, Sherri served as a law clerk to the Solicitor of the United States Department of Interior; as an Associate with Fredericks, Peebles and Morgan Law Firm; as a civil rights educator for the Maine Attorney General’s Office, and; as the Staff Attorney for the Native American Unit of Pine Tree Legal.

Alka Arora

Alka Arora, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the Women's Spirituality program at CIIS. Her primary area of scholarship is feminist spiritual activism, and she brings this perspective to all her teaching, research, and service. Her courses bring an intersectional feminist analysis to an array of topics, including liberatory pedagogy, women’s leadership, and vegan ecofeminism. Dr. Arora also facilitates transformative workshops with Gender Equity and Reconciliation International (GERI), a nonprofit organization headquartered in the Seattle area. She is passionate about people of all genders coming together to create a post-patriarchal, ecologically just world.

Rev. Ladale Benson

Rev. Ladale Benson is a progressive ordained Baptist minister who is pursuing ordination with the United Church of Christ. He engages the perspectives of marginalized bodies and life for his theological development and praxis. He is the full-time hospital chaplain at Mint Hill Medical Center in Mint Hill North Carolina, adjunct professor, and Ph.D. student at California Institute of Integral Studies in the Women's Spirituality department. Rev. Benson possess a B.A in Liberal Studies/Religion from Greensboro College, Master of Divinity from Hood Theological Seminary, and Master of Theology from Duke University Divinity School. He enjoys spending time with his family, reading, writing, and traveling internationally.

Lucia Birnbaum

Lucia Chiavola Birnbaum, Ph.D., is a feminist cultural historian whose books and classes emphasize the african origins of all humans . african legacy on migration paths to all continents, from 70,000 BCE to the present, conveying values of caring and sharing, justice with compassion, equality, and transformation. These themes are underlined in her book, Dark mother. African origins and godmothers (San Jose, New York, Shanghai, iUniverse, 2001), whose Italian edition was entitled La Madre O-Scura by Mediterranea Media, 2005, and whose Cameroun, Guadalupe, Paris, international and French edition, 2007 was entitled, La Mere Noire. In 2008 she was given an award for her commitment and research by the Menaibuc international conference in Paris, "Grande Protectrice des Nations Negres".

Eahr Joan

Eahr Joan is the CIIS reference librarian and author of Re-Genesis Encyclopedia. Eahr's subject specialties include archaeo-mythology archivist and labyrinth learning. Women Spirituality was a home-coming for Re-Genesis Encyclopedia: Synthesis of the Spiritual Dark Mother-Line, Integral Research, Labyrinth Learning, and Eco-Thealogy. This 2000 page encyclopedia, along with extensive slide collections, are Eahr's life-time donations to the program and to CIIS, as well as the larger global community. Eahr says, "The women's spirituality program gave rise to a practice of spiritual activism that is deep-rooted in eco-thealogy tethered to the ebb and flow of the seasons. Student years also fostered a cross-disclipinary dedication and determination that CIIS library would always provide unique one-to-one reference service for all CIIS programs."

Eri Johnson

Eri Guajardo Johnson is a bi-racial, Midwest-born- birth doula, wellness coach, community organizer, and host of The Birth Bruja Podcast. Drawing upon her dynamic breadth of experience supporting survivors of sexual assault, studying indigenous Mexican and Indian healing modalities, and obtaining her masters in Women, Gender, Spirituality, & Social Justice from CIIS- she approaches birthwork as a mechanism for individual and collective liberation. The Birth Bruja Podcast is a manifestation of Eri's passion for birthwork as a spiritual, liberational, & decolonizing practice. Listen now on Soundcloud, Itunes, Youtube & KPFA's podcast site, Area 941. Join the conversation on Instagram and Facebook @BirthBruja.

Starhawk

Starhawk is an author, activist, permaculture designer and teacher, and a prominent voice in modern earth-based spirituality and ecofeminism. She is the author or co-author of thirteen books, including The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess and the ecotopian novel The Fifth Sacred Thing, and its sequel City of Refuge. Her most recent non-fiction book is The Empowerment Manual: A Guide for Collaborative Groups, on group dynamics, power, conflict and communications. Starhawk founded Earth Activist Training, teaching permaculture design grounded in spirituality and with a focus on activism. She travels internationally, lecturing and teaching on earth-based spirituality, the tools of ritual, and the skills of activism.

Genevieve Vaughan

I was born in Corpus Christi, Texas in 1939 to a wealthy family. My father was a lawyer and so was my mother's father who made money in the oil and gas business. I inherited part of that money and since 1980 have tried to use it for social change towards women's values. Having spent the major part of the money in this endeavor I am now in the process of divesting from the environmental pollution business. I went to Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania and later attended graduate school at the University of Texas where I met and married a visiting Italian philosophy professor, Ferruccio Rossi-Landi. I moved to Milano with him in 1963 and then to Rome in 1968. In Italy I first developed a progressive political consciousness and then after my divorce in 1978, my feminist consciousness was raised. I joined a group of international feminists from the FAO which was located near my house in Rome. I also participated in the Italian feminist movement, and attended courses at a Feminist University, the Virginia Woolf Cultural Center.

Keynote Speaker