• Epifania Amoo-Adare - Ghana
• Laura Balbuena - Peru
• Priscilla de Wet - KhoeSan, South Africa
• Anastasia de Vries - KhoeSan, South Africa
• Angela Dolmetsch - Colombia
• Zillah Eisenstein - USA
• Sokari Ekine - Nigeria
• Gudrun Frank-Wissman - Germany
• Malika Grasshoff - Kabyle, Algeria
• Helen Hye-Sook Hwang - Korea/USA
• Vidya Jain - India
• Linda M. Johnston - USA
• Kaarina Kailo - Finland
• Rauna Kuokkanen - Sami, Finland/Canada
• Rozena Maart - SA, Canada
• Haneen Maikey - Palestine
• Prachi Murarka - India/USA
• Barbara Alice Mann - Iroquois, USA
• Layli Maparyan - USA, Liberia
• Madeleine Memb - Cameroon
• Pramada Menon - India
• Valentina Pakyntein - Khasi, India
• Leena Parmar - India
• Ena Pena - Peru
• Rodney Plimpton
• Alejandra Sarda - Argentina / Netherlands
• Sobonfu Some - Burkina Faso
• Ursula Oswald Spring - Mexico
• Suzanne Stevens - USA
• Monica Tabengwa - Botswana
• Carlotta Tyler - USA
• Annine van der Meer - Netherlands
• Maria Eugenia Vilareal - Mexico / Guatemala
• Yvonne Vinson - USA

Dr Epifania Amoo-Adare conducts academic and policy-based research in support of ROTA's mission to provide quality basic education, engage youth as leaders, and conduct advocacy within the Middle East and Asia. She is a social science researcher, educator and writer with over 25 years experience working in places like Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ghana, Qatar, the UK, and the USA. Dr. Amoo-Adare has a Ph.D. in Education from UCLA and is also a RIBA part II qualified architect with diverse and transdisciplinary interests in areas such as 'Third World' Feminisms, Cultural Studies, Migration Studies, International Educational Development, Urban Studies, Critical Pedagogy, and Critical Spatial Literacy.

PhD candidate in Political Science from the New School for Social Research of New York. She holds a MA in Political Science from the same university and a BA in Philosophy from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (PUCP). Ms Balbuena is a researcher and consultant on gender issues, having published articles and given keynote addresses on the subject in different countries. She is currently a professor at the Political Science Department at PUCP and director of Peru Programs at the Institute for Study Abroad, Butler University. Ms Balbuena has also taught at the sociological department of Ramapo College and has been a Minority Scholar in Residence at the Political Science department of the Illinois State University at Normal. Ms Balbuena is Secretary General of the Latin American Peace Research Association and a member of the Board of the International Peace Research Association Foundation and of the Executive Council of the Peru Section of the Latin American Studies Association.

Anastasia de Vries grew up in Ravensmead, Cape Town, the place that anchors her in her journey through life. She is currently employed by Media24 as book editor and journalist at the Sunday newspaper Rapport. A collection of her stories which have their roots in Ravensmead appeared last year with the title "Baie melk en twie sykers". Anastasia is fascinated by the "untold story", the stories of those, especially women, who do not make the headlines, but from whose quiet wisdom and unconditional giving of the self we grow into the humans we are meant to be.

Zillah Eisenstein is Professor of Politics at Ithaca College in New York. Throughout her career her books have tracked the rise of neoliberalism both within the U.S. and across the globe. She has documented the demise of liberal democracy and scrutinised the growth of imperial and militarist globalisation. She has also critically written about the attack on affirmative action in the U.S., the masculinist bias of law, the crisis of breast cancer and AIDS, the racism of patriarchy and the patriarchal structuring of race. Her most recent books include Sexual Decoys, Gender, Race and War in Imperial Democracy.
For more, see: www.ithaca.edu/zillah.

Vidya Jain is a Professor of Political Science and Director, Centre for Gandhian Studies, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur (INDIA)
She is APPRA (Asia Pacific Peace Research Association) Deputy-Secretary-General and also a member of the Non-Violence Commission & Global Poltical Economic Commission of IPRA. She is at the Indian Council Of Gandhian Studies and on the advisory committees of many centres for Gandhian studies, centres of women's studies and centres for social exclusion. A widely travelled scholar, she has published 50 publications and made presentations at many international forums. Her area of research are Gandhian studies, peace and non-violence and gender studies.

Linda M. Johnston is the Executive Director of the Siegel Institute at Kennesaw State University in Atlanta, Georgia. Her research interests include sports-related violence, ethics, bullying, racial and ethnic conflict, and health-related conflict. She has received grants from the Southern Poverty Law Center and the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as a Fellowship from Hands Along the Nile. She has done work in Ukraine, Republic of Georgia, Barbados, Nigeria, Egypt, and in the U.S. Dr. Johnston is the President of the International Peace Research Association Foundation and is on the Board of Hands Along the Nile.

Kaarina Kailo, Ph.D. is a peace, women's issues and environmental activist of long standing. She has worked as a women's studies professor and in related positions in both Canada and Finland (interim principal of Simone de Beauvoir Institute in Canada, l997) and was nominated European Chair of the International Order of the Helen Caldicott Prize for Women in l999. She is a municipal politician and an adamant promoter of the gift economy, indigenous peoples' rights and solidarity work. She has published numerous books and articles on topics ranging from peace, culture of violence, honor crimes, ecofeminism, gift economy and imaginary, northern women's culture and literature, Sami people and ecomythology. She also creates political patchwork art on Finnish and Finno-Ugric goddesses.

Rauna Kuokkanen is Assistant Professor of Political Science and Aboriginal Studies at the University of Toronto where she teaches Indigenous politics and law in Canada, global Indigenous movements and globalization. She is the author of Reshaping the University: Responsibility, Indigenous Epistemes and the Logic of the Gift (UBC Press, 2007) and Boaris dego eana: Eamiálbmogiid diehtu, filosofiijat ja dutkan (As Old as the Earth: Indigenous Knowledge, Philosophies and Research, 2009) and editor of the anthology on contemporary Sami literature Juoga mii geasuha (2001). Her current research, funded by the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, is a comparative study of indigenous women in the intersection of self-determination, human rights and structures of violence. She is Sami from Northern Finland.

Based in Jerusalem, Haneen Maikey is a thirty-two-year-old Palestinian queer activist. In late 2001, Haneen worked as the Palestinian Project Co-ordinator for Jerusalem Open House, which began her involvement in the Palestinian queer community and instigated a long process of self-discovery and community development. This period, which began as merely a service-oriented project under the umbrella of a Jewish-Israeli organisation, grew into alQaws for Sexual & Gender Diversity in Palestinian Society - independent, grassroots, politically active LGBTQ organization working within Israel and the Palestinian occupied territories. Since 2008, Haneen has been the director of alQaws. Haneen has a first degree in Social Work - specialised in Community organizing - and MA degree in NGOs and Community Organizations Management, both from Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Website: www.alqaws.org

Barbara Alice Mann, an Ohio Bear Clan Seneca, is a Ph.D. scholar and Assistant Professor in the Honors College at the University of Toledo, in Toledo, Ohio, USA. She has authored nine books, the latest of which is The Tainted Gift (2009), on the deliberate spread of disease to Natives by settlers as a land-clearing tactic. She is currently working on an international project examining historical massacres around the world. Her internationally famous Iroquoian Women: The Gantowisas is in its third printing. Two other internationally known books include George Washington's War on Native America (2005, 2007), Daughters of Mother Earth (2006, as Make a Beautiful Way, 2008). Her "'Where Are Your Women?' Missing in Action" (2006) has been anthologised.

Layli Maparyan, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Women's Studies at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. She is the author of two books, The Womanist Reader (2006) and The Womanist Idea (forthcoming). Her passion is spiritual activism and the transformation of social/ecological movement praxis through the incorporation of spiritual practices, methods, and understandings. She is currently working with the University of Liberia to assist with the development of its inaugural Gender Studies Program. Beyond Liberia, her travels in Africa include South Africa, Ghana, and Uganda.

Madeleine Memb was born in Cameroon on 14 July 1957. Memb has been a journalist at Cameroon Radio Television since 1992, focused on women's issues. Since 2006 she coordinates a project aimed at eradicating Female Genital Mutilation in Cameroon. She is also involved in peace building and human security related activities, through TV educative and sensitisation programmes. She lives permanently in Yaoundé, the capital of Cameroon.

Valentina Pakyntein is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at North Eastern Hill University, Shillong, India, for the past 15 years. She researches her people, the Matrilineal Khasi of Meghalaya, and a number of her insightful articles relating to the Khasi Society has been published.

Professor Leena Parmar is former head Department of Sociology, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, India. She did her M.A. from Rajasthan University, securing First Position in order of merit. Her doctoral thesis is on Military Sociology (first Ph.D. in the country in Military Sociology). Professor Parmar has presented research papers at several international seminars. Professor Leena Parmar has done research on various social aspects of Indian Army. She has been awarded AMBASSADOR FOR PEACE by Universal Peace Federation and "YOU INSPIRE US" award from Women's Peace-power Foundation, Inc. Florida, USA, for her research. Professor Leena Parmar has written 6 books and more than 50 articles.

Rodney Plimpton has more than 30 years of hands-on experience in management consulting, senior team facilitation, and human resources with both Fortune 500 clients, and smaller firms. He holds an MBA from the Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth, with High Distinction, and a Ph.D. from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. He is certified as a Senior Human Resource Professional by the Society for Human Resources Management, and has been a member of the Organization Development Network since 1971. He is currently on the Boards of The Household Goods recycling Ministry in Acton, MA, and The Camden Yacht Club.

Alejandra Sardá-Chandiramani is a sexual rights activist from Argentina trapped in the body of a grantmaker living in the Netherlands. An activist since the early 90s, she coordinated the Latin American and Caribbean Programme of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC); represented the Sexual Rights Initiative in lobbying for sexual rights at the UN Human Rights Council; and was among those drafting the Inter-American Convention on Sexual Rights and Reproductive Rights, a civil society initiative that is currently being negotiated in the Inter-American human rights system. Since 2010, she is the Senior Programme Officer for Women’s Funds in Mama Cash.

Sobonfu Somé is a respected author, lecturer, activist and one of the foremost voices in African spirituality. She travels the world on a healing mission, sharing the rich spiritual life and culture of her native land Burkina Faso, West Africa. She is the author of The Spirit of Intimacy, Welcoming Spirit Home, Falling Out of Grace and the CD set Women's Wisdom from the Heart of Africa. Visit Sobonfu.com or Wisdomspringinc.org.

Mother, Daughter, Sister, Grandmother, Life Partner,Teacher, Group Home Director, Corporate Executive, International Business Consultant, and Founder of Hope Springs Institute. Her passion is to be a student in her own spiritual healing and to support others on this path. She is a seeker and practitioner of body, mind, and spirit practices that open and heal. For Suzanne, utilizing the land and tending to the body is fundamental to the process of spiritual healing.

Carlotta Tyler, M.S.O.D., Associate Certified Coach (ACC) from the International Coaching Federation has conducted a successful coaching and consulting practice on five continents for three decades. Carlotta’s career has taken her from community development to corporate boardrooms, from parenting to politics, from Boston to Bangkok. A pioneer in developmental coaching, she crafted the Continuous Improvement Career Coaching© Model. She is also an alumna of UNH, American University and National Training Institute in Washington, DC and the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School. She is certified in Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), is a Gender Reconciliation Trainer, a Reiki Master and trained in RYSE® at the Polarity Institute.

Dr Annine E. G. van der Meer, historian of religion and PhD in theology. She received her Doctorate in 1989 under Professor Dr. Gilles Quispel, who acquainted her with Sophia, the wife of God in gnosticism. She has done a post doctorate research on Sophia and the female side of God in Judaism and Christianity. She has travelled widely to retrace the track of the hidden Mother in her images and symbols. She gives regular talks, lectures and courses. She is founder and president of Academie PanSophia, which is a knowledge centre for matriarchy and oneness awareness. For more, see AcademiePanSophia.nl.

Maria Eugenia Vilareal is a sociologist with over 15 years of experience in Mexico and Central America in three areas: Human Rights, Peace Education and Child Protection and human security. She has published 15 books about sexual exploitation and the trafficking of children, several articles for specialist publications and video films.

Yvonne Miller Vinson, Co-Founding Director of The Mindful Community Institute has worked with diverse communities during the past quarter-century to enhance and create educational and learning environments for people. Educated at San Jose State University, Yvonne has a strong foundation of professional experiences in marketing, educational programming and as an events logistics specialist for educational/arts institutions, government, business and community organizations. She worked many years with the Women’s Research and Resource Center at Spelman College on transnational women and gender studies programs in the US, South America and South Africa. Each experience has been a step on Yvonne’s path of service: enhancing community circles.