COE Presenting a Panel Discussion at the 2015 Parliament of the World's Religions in Salt Lake, October 15th to 19th

Pioneering Spiritual Activism: A Workshop for Emerging Youth Leaders

Part of Multi-Session: Teaching Children about the World's Religions and A Workshop for Emerging Youth Leaders

Nina Meyerhof, Elizabeth Khosravi, Princess Ogechi Ukaga, Jennifer (McCollum) Thornquest, Luc Logan and Jimmy Lama will present the workshop. The workshop will facilitate constructive intercultural dialogue by guiding participants through a series of games and exercises that encourage them to ask what it means to be human, what values we share, and what shared commitments we can make to preserve the things that we value.

Pioneering Spiritual Activism is designed for youth, to help foster the kind of personal reflection and social connection that inspires acts of humanity. The workshop will teach values-driven by developing a base of compassion and a sense of responsibility to act on that compassion when it arises.

This workshop will also help those interested in facilitating youth programs by exemplifying the activities, and offering notes on how to deliver and adapt them.

Click here to view the panel discussion on the event site.

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Panel Participant Bios

Nina Meyerhof, Ed.D, President and Founder of Children of the Earth, is a visionary thought leader recognized for a life of advocating for The co-author of “Conscious Education: The Bridge to Freedom” , and “Pioneering Spiritual Activism”. Nina has received many awards for her work from The Mother Theresa Award to the Citizens Department of Peace Award to The International Educators Award for Peace as well as the State of Vermont passed a Resolution honoring her for her life’s work in PEACE , the Sage Award and one of the 12 identified World Peace Prize recipients. Nina advocates for all people to go beyond cultural, ethnic and religious differences and strive for altruistic ethics. She assembles adults and young people to focus on the potentials of bringing ethical living skills into world consciousness. Her focus is on the realization peace must come from recognizing our interwoven unity.

Elizabeth Khosravi is a senior in high school.  For the last two years, she studied abroad in the foothills of the Himalayas in India. When she saw the affects of the monsoon on the surrounding villages in summer of 2013 which happened to be a month before she started to study in that part of India, it inspired her to get involved and start a project, Two Worlds Coming Together. She has helped surrounding villages’ get back to their daily routine by donating clothing and sponsoring the irrigation system on their fields. In addition, she has worked with an organization that gets children off the streets to the classroom. As a young person herself, Elizabeth plans on encouraging others to get involved with spreading hope and peace to make this world a better place.

Princess Ogechi Ukaga was born into a Royal Nigerian  family. Director of Chidren of the Earth. Founder of African Youth Parliament, A Youth Ambassador of Globalization for The Common Good Initiative . An Architects of the Future with Waldzell Institution, A director of One Peaceful Africa in Children Of The Earth and will be taking 50 youth Refugees from Vermont to the IDP UN 2015,also set up a Peace Central Nigeria for micro-finance and youth empowerment programs. International Shift Network rated Princess as one of the 70+ world’s top peace builders/social change leaders. Will speak at the World Peace Caravan in Jordan 2015.

Jennifer (McCollum) Thornquest’s commitment to peace and interreligious harmony stems from her diverse religious experiences. The contrast between growing up with her father a prominent leader in the Pagan movement and currently a leader in her non-denominational Christian faith community, in rural Idaho, inspires her dedication to provide young people with the empowerment and leadership skills necessary to advance peace in the world today and in the future. She co-organizes an annual event called The Gathering, 48-hours of continuous worship fostering dialogue among Christian churches. To further her journey in social entrepreneurship, Jennifer joined Children of the Earth (COE), an international NGO, as it fosters spirituality in the form of conscious leadership. She is developing as a trainer for COE workshops for youth and will be co-leading trainings in Burlington, VT and Ghana, Africa in the fall of 2015. She is the News Editor for COE. 

Luc Logan’s commitment to peace through social activism and intercultural communication began at an early age when he volunteered at the Jane Goodall Institute in Bujumbura, Burundi and at local community projects in South Caicos, Turks and Caicos. Luc’s experience is both global and local. After completing his MSc in Medical Qigong he studied, worked, trained, and launched entrepreneurial ventures in Beijing and Shanghai, and was a manager of a culinary center in Monterey for at-risk youth. An editor and contributor to the Children of the Earth Handbook, Pioneering Spiritual Activism, he has used that knowledge to create and deliver youth workshops in Kathmandu and Burlington. As a graduate of the New England Culinary Institute, Luc is currently undertaking studies focused on the critical food issues of security, sustainability, and assistance.

Jimmy Lama of Nepal is brought up in Buddhist tradition and educated in a small village school of Helambu. Jimmy has devoted his life in improving education opportunities for children from his hometown and many remote villages of Nepal. He set up Helambu Education and Livelihood Partnership (HELP) that has worked since 2008 with over 40 schools building over 100 classrooms. In the aftermath of Nepal earthquake, Jimmy took leadership in building over 200 temporary learning classrooms in 50 schools enabling more than 7000 school children to return to school just within two months. Jimmy has MA in International Development from Sussex University, UK.