Melody Moezzi is an Iranian-American Muslim author, attorney, activist, and visiting professor of creative nonfiction at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Kirkus calls her latest book, The Rumi Prescription: How an Ancient Mystic Poet Changed My Modern Manic Life, “a heartening narrative of family, transformation, and courage” that “could shatter a variety of prejudices and stereotypes.”

Susan Katz Miller is both an interfaith child and an interfaith parent. She is the author of Being Both: Embracing Two Religions in One Interfaith Family. A former Newsweek reporter, her work has been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and dozens of other publications. She has appeared on the Today Show, CBS, PBS, NPR, at the Parliament of the Worlds Religions, Wild Goose Festival, Unitarian Universalist General Assembly, Harvard Divinity School, Union Theological Seminary, and at colleges, churches, and synagogues across the country. The Interfaith Family Journal, is her new interactive book designed to help all families figure out their own best pathway. Susan is a former Board Chair of the Interfaith Families Project of Greater Washington DC. She is founder of two facebook groups, the Network of Interfaith Family Groups, and People of Interfaith Family Heritage.

Swami Padmanabha is a writer, monk, speaker, and a renowned practitioner of the ancient mystic tradition of Bhakti Yoga in America and Europe. Born in Argentina to a Catholic family, at age 19 Swami began a priestly, monastic life through an in-depth exploration of Hindu Devotional Vedanta (also called bhakti). This tradition would eventually become Swami’s spiritual path for life and at age 28, he officially accepted the order of sannyasa, which involves being actively engaged in the world without becoming attached to it. Swami Padmanabha continues to develop Spanish and English academic projects related to philosophy, psychology, art, and social awareness through his articles, podcast, video lectures, retreats, and social media. He is currently working on his first book, which attempts to explain the gap between atheism and theism in contemporary language.

Ray Buckley is an author and illustrator of Lakota, Tlingit, and Scots descent and interim Director of the Center for Native American Spirituality and Christian Study. Ray has served as the Director of the Native People’s Communication Office (UMCom) and Director of Connectional Ministries for the Alaska Missionary Conference. As a lecturer on Native American studies, Ray has taught America and the world, including in Nigeria and Ghana. His stories, poetry, and art have appeared in numerous journals, periodicals, books, and museums.

Born 57 years ago in Berlin, West Germany, Barbara lived overseas until the age of 16, when her father’s last military tour brought the family to Ft. Gordon, GA. Barbara received her BBA from Augusta University in Augusta, GA, before moving to North Carolina where she has lived since. During her 15-year career as a retail manager with a national retail chain, Barbara received her MBA from Meredith College, in Raleigh, NC and became co-founder of a not for profit organization whose mission it is to search for innovative ways to achieve socio-economic equalities in communities through holistic and entrepreneurship based education, to include education in “21 st Century Jobs” technology and the STEM Model. Currently, Barbara is the President/CEO of CommunityWorx (formerly the PTA Thrift Shop, Inc.), a 68- year old organization, whose mission it is to enrich lives by building collaborative partnerships and transforming charitable donations into educational and community investments. She is also active in both the communities in which she lives and works, by serving on several boards and volunteering her time to causes close to her heart, which include workforce and economic development; access to health care; issues of equity, diversity and inclusion, as well as other issues in the social justice space. Barbara considers herself a “life-long student” of all things holistic and spiritual, with emphasis on how those concepts influence one’s activism. She is fluent in German, a yoga enthusiast, and includes in her spiritual practice daily meditation and annual silent retreats.

Sajdah Nubee is a practitioner of the Islamic tradition and was born and raised into the faith. She was raised in Durham, NC and belongs to the local Muslim community there, but now currently serves as a Board Member of a Mosque and Islamic Outreach Center in east Raleigh, NC called INK Institute. She is currently completing her last year at Hartford Seminary as a candidate for a Masters in Islamic Studies and Christian/Muslim relations. She holds an MBA from North Carolina State University and a BA in Communication Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has worked in pharmaceutical research for the past 14 years and currently works in clinical operations management at a biotech company.

The Rev. Lisa Yebuah is a graduate of Duke Divinity School and Wofford College. A South Carolina native, Rev. Yebuah is an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church and the Lead Pastor of Southeast Raleigh Table, a campus of Edenton Street United Methodist Church. Rev. Yebuah is a Lululemon Ambassador and self-described “spiritual ninja.” Rev. Yebuah invites you to follow her on Instagram.

Dr. Charles Bretan a life-long practitioner and student of Judaism and the co-founder and co-host of the A Jew and a Gentile podcast. He holds a doctoral degree in education from Nova Southeastern University and is a professor at Guilford Tech Community College. Dr. Bretan has taught across curricula for decades, including courses on English composition, business, education, scuba diving, and life-saving. A teacher of middle-schoolers, high-schoolers, undergraduate and graduate students, Dr. Bretan’s brings his love of education to his spirituality and his classroom.

Dr. Heather Sanderson has been a practicing Buddhist for over a decade. She is a member of the Kadampa Center sanga in Raleigh, N.C., and holds a doctor degree in kinesiology from University of North Carolina at Greensboro. An assistant professor of Exercise & Sports Science in the Department of Nutrition, Health and Human Performance at Meredith College, Dr. Sanderson took her Buddhist refuge vows in 2017 and became Dejune Llamo.