Highlights from this session:

• The colonial structure of the gender binary, how it harms us all, and how it limits our conception of love
• Transphobia and the history of scapegoating as a way of unfairly outsourcing grief to strangers
• How community, vulnerability, and mutual aid contribute to healing and make life worth living

ALOK (they/them) is an internationally acclaimed author, poet, comedian, and public speaker. As a mixed-media artist, their work explores themes of trauma, belonging, and the human condition. They are the creator of #DeGenderFashion: an initiative to degender fashion and beauty industries. In recognition of their work, they have been honored as the inaugural LGBTQ Scholar in Residence at the University of Pennsylvania and awarded a GLAAD Media Award and Stonewall Foundation Visionary Award.

Highlights from this session:

• How epigenetics explain the transmission of intergenerational trauma, and how it can be changed through awareness.
• The need to borrow, with permission, the nutrition provided by wisdom traditions around the world
• An energy-raising exercise for sparking beautiful renewal

Rabbi Tirzah Firestone, PhD, is an author, Jungian psychotherapist, leader in the international Jewish Renewal Movement, and a renowned Jewish scholar and teacher. Widely known for her groundbreaking work on Kabbalah, depth psychology, intergenerational trauma healing, and the re-integration of the feminine wisdom tradition within Judaism, Rabbi Tirzah lectures and teaches internationally about spiritual and ancient wisdom practices that are honed to assist us at this critical time in world history. She is the author of the award-winning book, Wounds into Wisdom: Healing Intergenerational Jewish Trauma.

Highlights from this session:

• How people and organizations working on the “front lines” of trauma can resource themselves and avoid burnout
• The importance of having access to trusted information, and how to provide that access
• How to build resilience in the most vulnerable and marginalized communities

As Chief Executive Officer of Mercy Corps, Tjada leads a global team of more than 5,600 humanitarians, who provide immediate relief and help communities forge new paths to prosperity in the face of disaster, poverty, and the impacts of climate change, reaching 37 million people in more than 40 countries. Tjada served as Chief Operating Officer of CARE, and spent more than a decade working to end world hunger in roles with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the U.S. government. She also served as the Deputy Coordinator of Development for Feed the Future, the U.S. government’s global hunger and food security initiative, and the Assistant to the Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Bureau for Food Security in Washington, D.C.

Highlights from this session:

• How the structures of trauma and power impede systemic change and transformation
• The need for emotional expression and maturity in navigating political conflicts
• Bringing personal experiences and shared humanity into high-level conflict mediation

Barbro Svedberg is a dedicated advocate for peace and mediation. She brings extensive experience from roles including deputy director at the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and policy specialist at the Swedish International Development Agency. She is currently a specialist and senior advisor at the Folke Bernadette Academy. 

Highlights from this session:

• How the toxic cultures of individualism and patriarchy distort our relationship with nature
• Adult coping mechanisms that originated in childhood and how they become automatic
• How to stay in the field of relationship when you are triggered

Terry has been a practicing family therapist for more than thirty years, and his work has been featured on many major news outlets and TV shows and in numerous academic publications. His most recent book Us: Getting Past You & Me to Build a More Loving Relationship is a New York Times Bestseller. Terry founded the Relational Life Institute (RLI,) which is dedicated to teaching the general public how to live relational lives and to teaching mental health professionals the practice of Relational Life Therapy.

Highlights from this session:

• Teaching imprisoned people to challenge the beliefs they grew up with in order to enact change
• How the GRIP program facilitates trauma healing by creating safe spaces for sharing pain and taking accountability
• The importance of intervention programs in prison

Bernard Moss is an emotional intelligence facilitator, peacemaker, and expert in violence prevention, mindfulness, and emotional Intelligence. Bernard was one of the first to graduate from the GRIP program at San Quentin. Afterwards, he went on to facilitate three groups. He was granted parole after 28 years and currently facilitates at San Quentin, SATF Cocoran, CCWF Chowchilla, and Mule Creek State Prison.

Fleet Maull, PhD is an author, meditation teacher, executive coach, seminar leader, and social entrepreneur who works at the intersection of personal and social transformation. He developed the Radical Responsibility empowerment model that uniquely integrates personal and collective responsibility. Dr. Maull is a renowned growth mindset teacher who delivers his training programs and seminars around the world both in-person and online through Heart Mind Institute. Dr. Maull developed the Neuro-Somatic Mindfulness (NSM)® practice model, a deeply embodied, neuroscience, and trauma-informed approach to mindfulness and awareness meditation practices that facilitate self-healing, self-regulation, and awakening.