You may have heard Matthews's story. A criminal steals a safe containing evidence of sexual violence against children, and has to confront a moral dilemma. Does he admit to stealing the safe and go to prison, so a violent offender faces justice and can’t hurt more children, or does he ignore what he’s just seen so he can be a free man?
Elissa Altman is an award-winning author of literary memoir, essay, and food narrative, who writes from the place where sustenance, the power of the human spirit, and the promise of renewal converge.
Kathlyn Hendricks, Ph.D., BC-DMT*, is an evolutionary catalyst, contextual disruptor and freelance mentor who has been a pioneer in the field of body intelligence and conscious loving for fifty years. She describes her purpose: “I feel through to the heart with laser-love and evoke essence through deep play.” Katie is the co-author of twelve books, including the best-selling Conscious Loving, At The Speed of Life and Conscious Loving Ever After: How to Create Thriving Relationship at Midlife and Beyond.
Marvin Mutch spent 41 years behind the walls of San Quentin state prison for a 7-yea to life sentence for a murder committed in union city, California. The only problem is Marvin didn't murder anyone.
Chris Koch doesn’t let limitations or obstacles stand in his way. Despite being born without arms and legs, Koch grew up like any other small-town kid — playing road hockey, causing mischief at school, and helping out on his family farm. Neither he or his family treated his disability like a tragedy, and instead used it to fuel his dreams. Today, Koch is a motivational speaker who inspires his audiences to continually challenge themselves and build the life they dream of.
After earning his Ph.D. in counseling psychology from Stanford, Gay served as professor of Counseling Psychology at the University of Colorado for 21 years.
Briggs, a retired California Highway Patrol sergeant, spent many years patrolling the Golden Gate Bridge. While on patrol, he encountered numerous individuals clinging to life by a thread – individuals who had lost hope and could see no way out of their current situation - ready to jump off the bridge to what they assumed was a sudden death and end of their pain and hopelessness.
Aarti Sequeira is probably best known as a mainstay on the Food Network after being the underdog winner of the sixth season of Food Network star. We love her for her incredible spirit.
Marianne Williamson is a bestselling author, political activist and spiritual thought leader.
Maggie created the BlinkNow Foundation to sustain, grow, and support Kopila Valley Children’s Home and School in Nepal, and to serve as a vehicle to share her ideas with young people, especially children in the U.S. Maggie believes that in the blink of an eye, we can all make a difference. At age 19, Maggie used her life savings to build a home for orphaned children in war-ravaged Nepal. Today, she is mom to over 50 children. In 2010, she opened a school for the region’s most impoverished children. The school now serves 400 students and is rated top in the region. Maggie was named 2015 CNN Hero of the Year. She was honored by the Dalai Lama as an Unsung Hero of Compassion in 2014.
Reggie Watts is an internationally renowned vocal artist/ beatboxer/ musician/ comedian who wows audiences with his live performances which are 100% improvised.
Jeremy Courtney is founder and CEO of Preemptive Love, a global organization providing relief, jobs, and community to end war. For the past 15 years, Jeremy has served families on the frontlines of the world’s biggest crises—the rise of ISIS in Iraq, civil war in Syria, and the refugee crisis on the US-Mexico border.
Michael Gungor is a Grammy-nominated musician and composer who lives in Los Angeles, California. His musical projects are Weiwu, Gungor, and On Earth. He also hosts two podcasts—“The Liturgists Podcast” and “Loving THIS”, and is the author of the book “THIS: Becoming Free.”
Peter Rollins is an author, philosopher, storyteller, producer and public speaker who has gained an international reputation for overturning traditional notions of religion and forming “churches” that preach the Good News that we can’t be satisfied, that life is difficult, and that we don’t know the secret.
At 19, while in his sophomore year of college, BJ was electrocuted and subsequently became a triple amputee. Undaunted, BJ returned to Princeton to study art history and eventually decided to focus on medicine, which ultimately led him into palliative care.
Shoshana Berger is the editorial director at IDEO and coauthor of the book A Beginners Guide To The End. Shoshana got her start as a writer for a magazine called Bikini (no jokes) for whom she interviewed Jeff Buckley and Allen Ginsberg.
Stephen Mitchell is an author and translator best known for his bestselling adaptions of the Tao Te Ching, Gilgamesh, the Illiad, Bhagavadgita, Book of Job, and collaborations with his wife Byron Katie. He was educated at Yale and De-educated through his intensive zen practice.
David Sheff is the author of Beautiful Boy: A Father’s Journey Through His Son’s Addiction, a number-one New York Times bestseller. The book was based on his article, “My Addicted Son,” which appeared in the New York Times Magazine and won a special award from the American Psychological Association for “outstanding contribution to the understanding of addiction.” Beautiful Boy, published in a dozen language, was named the year’s Best Nonfiction Book by Entertainment Weekly, an Amazon “Best Books of 2008,” and it won first place in the Barnes and Noble Discover Award in nonfiction.
Mark Wolynn is the director of the Family Constellation Institute in San Francisco. He is a leading expert in the field of inherited family trauma. His book It Didn't Start With You: How Inherited Family Trauma Shapes Who We Are and How to End the Cycle(published by Viking/Penguin) is the winner of the 2016 Nautilus Book Award in psychology, and has been translated into 18 languages. His articles have appeared in Psychology Today, Mind Body Green, MariaShriver.com, Elephant Journal and Psych Central, and his poetry has been published in The New Yorker.
