Nonviolence Works!
2021 Speaker Roster
Khenpo Pema Wangdak is a world-renowned monk and activist. Khenpo became a monk at the age of seven. In 1982, he was sent by His Holiness Sakya Trizin to teach in New York City where he founded the Vikramasila Foundation in 1989 to support educational initiatives both in the United States and abroad. He is the creator of a form of Tibetan Braille known as Bur Yig and has received the title of Khenpo from His Holiness Sakya Trizin in 2007 along with being awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 2009, the first Tibetan to receive this honor.
To learn more about Khenpo, visit: www.vikramasila.org
Steve Bhaerman is a world-renowned author, humorist, and workshop leader. He has spent the past 33 years performing on the global stage as Swami Beyondananda, the "Cosmic Comic”. Rightfully referred to as a genius, Steve has been able to make people laugh while sharing potent wisdom and ideas. Before he became Swami, Steve made a great impact on a number of communities including opening up an alternative high school in Washington DC, teaching history at Wayne State University, and co-founding a magazine in Michigan.
For more information on Steve, visit: www.wakeuplaughing.com
Assemblymember Marcela Mitaynes represents Red Hook, Sunset Park and northern Bay Ridge.
Marcela migrated to New York City from Peru as a child with her family and was raised in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. She is now raising her own family in that same vibrant, beautiful community.
Marcela attended elementary school at P.S. 169 in Sunset Park. Her daughter went on to go to the same elementary school and Marcela served as president of the PTA at P.S. 169. She has also proven to be an active member of her community as a member of Community Board 7 for 10 years.
Bill Leicht, the President of Urban Visions Inc. where he researches and develops nonviolence, is a dedicated aikidoist who has adapted physical (somatic) nonviolence from martial arts to the verbal techniques of Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP). He works with gangs, schools, nonviolence-based and other community organizations in the USA and abroad. Bill also co-founded "Peace Dojos, Intl." (Aiki Extensions, Inc.) to integrate martial arts groups into the nonviolence movement.
To learn more about Bill’s work, visit: http://urbanvisions.us/
Juliana Cesano, became a member of the Theosophical Society in her native Argentina and has also been on staff at the international headquarters of the TS in Adyar, Chennai, India. She has presented internationally, written for Theosophical journals, and is currently the manager of the Quest Book Shop.
William F. Pepper Esq. is a human rights attorney and author. As a friend of Martin Luther King Jr. and attorney to the King family following Martin’s assassination, Bill is one of the world’s greatest truth-seekers. He has dedicated his career to finding the truth behind America’s most tragic events including the MLK assassination, and the assasination of JFK.
To learn more about Bill and his quest for the truth, visit: https://williampepper.com/
George Lakey is an Author, activist, college professor, trainer/consultant. Recently retired from Swarthmore College where he was Eugene M. Lang Visiting Professor for Issues in Social Change. Created and managed the Global Nonviolent Action Database research project (nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu. Also held teaching posts at Haverford College and the University of Pennsylvania. Has led over 1500 social change workshops on five continents. In 2010 was named “Peace Educator of the Year”. Each of his ten books has been about change and how to get it, including Viking Economics (Melville House, 2016) and his most recent, How We Win: A Guide to Nonviolent Direct Action Campaigning (MelvilleHouse, 2018).
Kathy Kelly has been an anti-war activist for decades. The epitome of bravery, Kathy has traveled to war zones and lived alongside ordinary people in Afghanistan, Iraq, Gaza, Lebanon, Bosnia and Nicaragua. She and her companions in Voices for Creative Nonviolence believe the U.S. should end all U.S. military and economic warfare and pay reparations for suffering already caused by U.S. wars. Yet, Kathy has gone far beyond just belief. Always willing to act on those beliefs, Kathy defied economic sanctions by bringing medicines to children and families in Iraq and even traveled to Iraq 27 times where she and her companions lived in Baghdad throughout the 2003 “Shock and Awe” bombing.
To stay up to date on Kathy’s latest battle for human rights, visit: https://twitter.com/voiceinwild
Alexa Avilés is a New York education and affordable Housing activist, and a City Council candidate for District 38, South Brooklyn. Endorsed by Democratic Socialists of America, Alexa is a fierce organizer for fully funded public schools, housing for all, and workers’ rights. Never backing down from a challenge, Alexa is working hard to ensure education is affordable, District 38 gets proper investment, and much more. In June of 2021, she won the Democratic Party primary for City Council district 38.
To follow Alexa’s path to city council, visit: https://www.alexaforcouncil.com/
Dr Edward Tick has spent nearly 50 years (and counting) working to heal the invisible wounds of war and violent trauma. As an American psychotherapist, author, poet and international pilgrimage guide, Dr. Tick has trained thousands of military men and women on true healing. He is the author of: Sacred Mountain Vol. 1: Encounters with the Vietnam Beas and many more.
To learn more about Dr. Tick, visit: http://www.edwardtick.com/
Yuki Eric Michels
Yuki is a New Yorker, a community and political organizer, and a dedicated Zen Buddhist. He is deeply passionate about the intersection of Buddhist study and practice with radical political education and organizing. His sangha is the Zen Studies Society, and his organizing spaces include the Democratic Socialists of America and the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival.
To check out and join Yūki’s Critical Buddhist Study meetings, visit: https://tinyurl.com/CriticalBuddhistStudy
Rabbi Michael Feinberg
Rabbi Michael Feinberg is the Executive Director of The Greater New York Labor-Religion Coalition. The Coalition educates and engages the interfaith religious community on issues of worker rights and economic justice. A diverse, multi-ethnic organization with members in all five boroughs, its primary goal is to build a sustainable, long-term alliance between faith community and labor movement in New York City while collaborating with local unions that are organizing low-wage and immigrant workers. The Coalition advocates for and works directly with the working poor to support their efforts to empower themselves and better their conditions.
At Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL), Sarah Freeman-Woolpert is the Advocacy Teams Manager, responsible for deepening a network of hundreds of Quakers and friends lobbying to build congressional champions for peace and justice. Since 2018, Sarah has trained and organized FCNL’s grassroots network, and has contributed to the broader base-building work of the Strategic Advocacy Team. Sarah has trained hundreds of people to lobby, strengthened FCNL’s intersectional approach to grassroots advocacy, and mobilized new constituencies to take action with FCNL. Sarah is a writer and Associate Editor at WagingNonviolence.org.