Greta Thunberg, 17, is a Swedish climate activist who started a school strike in front of the Swedish parliament in August 2018. Her solo protest has inspired school strikes for climate action all over the world since then. More than seven million people attended global school strikes in September 2019. Greta has addressed decision-makers at UN climate summits in New York, Poland and Madrid, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, and in several national parliaments. In 2019 Time Magazine selected her as Person of the Year. Alongside being an activist, Greta is currently attending high school in Stockholm, Sweden.
Melissa holds the Distinguished Chair in Contemplative Neuroscience, an endowed position at the Center for Healthy Minds and is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the UW–Madison School of Medicine and Public Health. Her research is focused on understanding the underlying biology of mind-brain-body interactions through which stress, emotion, and the immune system interact. She uses a wide range of brain imaging and biomolecular tools in her work. Contemplative interventions are an important aspect of this work, where the neural processing of stress and emotion are examined as modifiable targets for treatment of chronic inflammation. In more recent work, Melissa has begun to address questions related to the impact of inflammation in the body on brain health and long-term cognitive function.
DJ Drez’s music has been moving bodies for more than two decades. His sound is an organic blend of mystical hip-hop, reggae roots and Indian raga that has been known to instigate an ecstatic dance party one instant, and soothe a group into a meditative savasana the next. If you’re a fan of Drez, you’ve undoubtedly noticed the mysterious, seductive voice of Marti Nikko gracing dozens of the albums, tracks and remixes he’s released over his prolific career. Nikko’s innate spark illuminates. Her soul-soaked vocals dance and play in the spaces impeccably arranged by DJ Drez, highlighting a natural chemistry developed and enhanced through years of performing, living and loving together. The result is a beautiful, eclectic collection of music made for all sacred movement and moods. In addition to making music, Marti & Drez teach yoga in the Bay Area where she and Drez live and love their 16-year-old son and 3-year-old baby girl.
Jasmine is a graduate student in the Cognitive Neuroscience Lab at Northwestern University. She earned her BS in Neuroscience from University of Illinois at Chicago, where she studied sleep and circadian rhythms. Jasmine enjoys exploring the mind through both her research and creative passions, such as writing and making music. She is most interested in how humans connect and relate to one another, and the factors that facilitate or interfere with such behaviors. She approaches her research with a creative eye and is driven to design projects that observe behavior in as naturalistic a setting as possible. Jasmine believes that through both art and science we more deeply understand ourselves, engage with the world authentically, and bring positive change to our communities.
Dr. Vandana Shiva is trained as a Physicist and did her Ph.D. on the subject “Hidden Variables and Non-locality in Quantum Theory” from the University of Western Ontario in Canada. She later shifted to interdisciplinary research in science, technology and environmental policy, which she carried out at the Indian Institute of Science and the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore. In 1982, she founded an independent institute, the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology in Dehra Dun dedicated to high quality and independent research to address the most significant ecological and social issues of our times, in close partnership with local communities and social movements. In 1991, she founded Navdanya, a national movement to protect the diversity and integrity of living resources, especially native seed, the promotion of organic farming and fair trade. In 2004 she started Bija Vidyapeeth, an international college for sustainable living in Doon Valley in collaboration with Schumacher College, U.K.
Dr. Shiva combines the sharp intellectual enquiry with courageous activism.Time Magazine identified Dr. Shiva as an environmental “hero” in 2003 and Asia Week has called her one of the five most powerful communicators of Asia. Forbes magazine in November 2010 has identified Dr. Vandana Shiva as one of the top Seven most Powerful Women on the Globe.
Dr. Shiva has received honorary Doctorates from University of Paris, University of Western Ontario, University of Oslo and Connecticut College, University of Guelph. Among her many awards are the Alternative Nobel Prize (Right Livelihood Award, 1993), Order of the Golden Ark, Global 500 Award of UN and Earth Day International Award. Lennon ONO grant for peace award by Yoko Ono in 2009, Sydney Peace Prize in 2010, Doshi Bridgebuilder Award, Calgary Peace Prize and Thomas Merton Award in the year 2011,the Fukuoka Award and The Prism of Reason Award in 2012, the Grifone d’Argento prize 2016 and The MIDORI Prize for Biodiversity 2016, Veerangana Award 2018, The Sanctuary Wildlife Award 2018 and International Environment Summit Award 2018.
Grant Jones (he/him) is a contemplative, musician, researcher, and activist. He is a co-founder of The Black Lotus Collective, a meditation community that centers the healing and liberation of individuals with historically marginalized identities (i.e. Black, Brown, Queer Folks, Folks with Disabilities). He is also a 3rd Year Clinical Psychology PhD candidate at Harvard University. His research and life work centers around developing and implementing contemplative and liberatory tools for underserved populations. His music is rooted in Black soul, R&B, and alternative music traditions. He loves his family, his friends, nature, travel, moving his body, and good food.
