Dean Elias is a professor at Saint Mary’s College. He teaches, coaches doctoral students, engages in scholarship and research. His vocation was shaped by participating in the War on Poverty; he approaches education as a strategy for social transformation. He has taught in seven universities, served in leadership positions in four.

Marti Spiegelman, MFA is a consultant and founder of Awakening Value™. She trains leaders and innovators in applying the core principles of consciousness. The unique quality of her work stems from her 40+ years of business experience woven with her knowledge of science and initiations in the indigenous technologies of consciousness.

Melissa Schwartz Ph.D., is Meridian's Vice President of Academic Affairs and the Director of the Center for Transformative Learning. She is a Clinical Psychologist and Marriage and Family Therapist, a member of the California Psychological Association’s Continuing Education Review Committee, and is a peer reviewer for the APA journal, Psychology of Women Quarterly. Her interests include the psychology of women, adult development, and qualitative research.

Jacob Needleman is Professor of Philosophy, Emeritus, at San Francisco State University. He was educated in philosophy at Harvard and Yale and was also Professor of Religious Studies at the Sorbonne, Paris. Among his books are: Money and the Meaning of Life, The American Soul , Why Can't We Be Good? and What is God? His forthcoming book is An Unknown World: Notes on the Meaning of the Earth. Website: www.jacobneedleman.com.

Daria Halprin: dancer, poet, teacher, and author, is among the leading pioneers in the field of movement/dance and expressive arts education and therapy. She co-founded the Tamapla Institute. Her writings include The Expressive Body in Life Art and Therapy; Body Ensouled, Enacted and Entranced.

Marcia Jaffe is founder and president of Bali Institute for Global Renewal, a global center based in Ubud, Bali, Indonesia offering transformative learning through cultural immersion, indigenous experiences, deep dialogue and service learning and has been featured in articles and media on the topic of Bali Institute and global learning opportunities. www.baliinstitute.org

Knud Illeris Professor Emeritus of Lifelong Learning in Denmark. He has worked on learning research and theory since 1968 and is an Honorable Adjunct Professor at Teachers College, member of International Adult Education Hall of Fame, author of The Three Dimensions of Learning, Adult Education and Adult Learning, How We Learn, and Fundamentals of Workplace Learning - published in 13 languages, including Chinese.

Jason Meek is CEO of The iDeal World, a collaborative learning and creative problem-solving firm focused on complex emerging challenges. He facilitates negotiations, multi-sector partnerships, and peace and change initiatives using awareness-based approaches that engage participants developmentally while bridging distinct ways of knowing. A scholar practitioner, he serves as adjunct professor at Berkeley Law and UC Hastings Law schools.

Ariana Green is a second-year student at Berkeley Law. Prior to law school, Ariana was a journalist in Puerto Rico, New York, London, and New England and was a regular freelancer for the New York Times. A graduate of Brown University, she was a Fulbright Scholar in London and a Gates Scholar at the University of Cambridge.

Elayne E. Greenberg is Director of the Hugh L. Carey Center for Dispute Resolution at St. John’s University School of Law, where students are taught both the values and skills of dispute resolution. Professor Greenberg is also a mediator and conflict management consultant who has developed innovative programs, educated, trained, written and lectured internationally on the subject of dispute resolution.

Robin Wellford Slocum is a professor of law at Chapman University School of Law. Her vision for our legal system is one in which lawyers serve as transformative problem-solvers and peacemakers, and her teaching and scholarship focus on the importance of mindfulness and emotional intelligence to the practice of law.

Molly Rowen Leach is a catalyst and dialogue host who has invested decades exploring the criminal justice system and the fast-rising Restorative and Unitive Justice movement—both from the inside and outside. Molly is passionate about providing platforms for poignant dialogue, education and action to occur in co-creating systemic change. www.malirowanpresents.com

Edward W. Taylor is a Professor of Adult Education at Penn State University-Harrisburg. In the area of transformative learning, Edwards’s work has been writing literature reviews about the empirical research of Transformative Learning and some recent research in Kenya involving farmer-field schools. Edward recently co-edited the Handbook of Transformative Learning: Theory, Research and Practice (May, 2012) with Patricia Cranton.

Terry Patten hosts the popular online teleseminar series Beyond Awakening: The Future of Spiritual Practice. He teaches the acclaimed 8-session course, Integral Spiritual Practice. He co-authored, with Ken Wilber, the bestselling book Integral Life Practice, and his forthcoming book is The Integral Revolution. His web sites include http://integralspiritualpractice.com and http://theispcommunity.com.

Alexis Kokkos studied Sociology of Education in Greece and France. He has been a Member of the founding scientific team for the Institute for Popular Education in Greece as well as the Hellenic Open University. He is a Professor of Adult Education at the Hellenic Open University and Chair of Hellenic Adult Education Association.

Elizabeth Kasl, Ph.D. has fostered collaborative learning through scholarly work, curriculum development, and pedagogical practice. She helped create the doctoral program in Transformative Learning at the California Institute of Integral Studies. Her chapter, authored with Lyle Yorks, in the upcoming Handbook of Transformative Learning is about presentational knowing.

David Hodgson weaves together and nurtures ecosystems of people and organizations engaged in creating meaningful and profound change. He is a co-founder of EdgeLab, an agency focused on preparing organizations to meet the challenges of the 21st century, an advisor to Shareable magazine, and a fellow of the International Futures Forum.

Beatrice Benne, Ph.D., is the founder of Soma Integral Consulting — a firm dedicated to facilitating the resolution of adaptive challenges by transforming and designing purposeful and conscious organizations, while focusing on the well-being of social and environmental ecosystems. Her expertise includes adaptive strategy, transformative change and leadership capacity development. www.soma-integral.com

Elizabeth Pearce Dolan - a change agent in overlapping areas of large-scale efforts, people development, and operational excellence - works with teams who will deliver the work being changed. She fosters team integration and optimization – all members in, heard, engaged. Results achieved through learning. Colorado-based CenterEdge, LLC, is her consulting firm.

Louise Hansell is an independent consultant specializing in helping leaders transform their worlds. She creates opportunities for leaders and teams to let go of limiting patterns and breakthrough to the next level of their potential. She provides coaching and experiential based workshops, linking behavior, mindsets and performance and potential. She is affiliated with Mobius Executive Leadership.

Anthony Hodgson F.R.S.A. Anthony is the founder of Decision Integrity Limited, a research company pioneering ways to facilitate better decisions through application of holistic thinking, systems mapping, cybernetics, transformative innovation and the values of sustainability. He is author of the recent book Ready for Anything: Designing Resilience for a Transforming World. http://www.triarchypress.com/pages/Ready-for-Anything.htm

Dr. Elizabeth (“Libby”) Tisdell is Professor of Adult Education at Penn State University – Harrisburg. Her research and publications have been in the areas of spirituality and culture in adult education as it relates to transformative learning for diversity. She is the author of Exploring Spirituality and Culture in Adult and Higher Education, and the co-editor of Adult Education and the Pursuit of Wisdom.

Robert Sardello, Ph.D., is co-founder and co-director of The School of Spiritual Psychology, which began in 1992. He has written Facing the World with Soul, Love and the Soul, Love and the World, Freeing the Soul from Fear, The Power of Soul: Living the Twelve Virtues, Silence, Steps on the Stone Path: Working with Crystals and Minerals as Spiritual Practice, and Acts of the Heart.

Douglas Cohen is a Societal Educator, Social Architect, and specialist in bringing forth leadership intelligence in human communities and institutional systems. Since 2001, the integration of numerous practices and disciplines has led to Doug becoming a sustainability catalyst who works with organizations and communities to envision and pursue their flourishing futures.

Marina Illich is a Columbia and Oxford University trained educator and leadership coach. She is a partner at Global Reach Leadership, and co-founded Broad Ventures Leadership, a women's leadership development initiative.

Artist, educator Lucia Vinograd has Chaired Visual Art Departments at three private high schools. She is a radical educator focused on developing a new understanding of the conceptual breadth of art education. She began her career as a professional artist graduating from Art Center College of Design. Based in Los Angeles, CA much of her work was for the entertainment industry with some commission from the Getty Museum.

Vernice Solimar, PhD, is director of the Leadership for Sustainable Change certificate, chair of the Integral Psychology M.A. program, and core faculty in the College of Graduate and Professional Studies at John F. Kennedy University in Pleasant Hill, CA. Her main interest is in Transformative Education in service of personal, social, and global transformation.