Board of Directors
Dorothea Hendricks, MS Ed, M.Psych, is a psychologist at the Tertiary School in Business Administration (TSiBA) in Cape Town, South Africa. She taught for 24 years at multiple levels and lectured at Rand College in teacher education. As a graduate student at the University of Rochester in NY in the late 1980s, Dorothea helped organize successful divestment campaigns pressuring U.S. corporations and universities to impose sanctions against the former Apartheid government in South Africa. She later served as the National Coordinator of Renew, a nationwide program in South Africa to build community among leaders in the Anglican Church under Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Dorothea has a deep spiritual commitment and longstanding interest in contemplative practices.
Rev. Richard Paine, M.Div, Ed.D. is a philanthropist, psychologist, and ordained United Methodist minister and former Unitarian Universalist minister. He served as parish minister in Ashby Massachusetts for eight years, and later completed his doctorate at Harvard University, with his dissertation on the psychology of men. He co-founded Naos Foundation in 1995, a four year spiritual development program that offered trainings throughout the United States. Richard has taught at the New York Open Center, Esalen Institute, Hollyhock, and Omega Institute. He served on the board of the Threshold Foundation and the Whidbey Institute, and currently serves on the boards of New Stories Foundation and the Boulder Institute.
Chaya Pamula, MBA, is President and CEO of PamTen, Inc., a thriving Information Technology services company operating in three countries. A visionary entrepreneur, Chaya founded SheTek to support women in technology, she also founded Support Organization For Kids In Need (SOFKIN) which creates caring homes for orphans and underprivileged children in India. She serves on the board of two remarkable NGOs in India: Maher which is a leading refuge for underprivileged women and children near Pune, and Lead India 2020 (US Chapter), which seeks to educate 640 million Indian youth in values & leadership by 2020, founded by Dr. Abdul Kalam, former president of India.
Ravi Ravindra, Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus at Dalhousie University in Halifax (Canada) where he held a triple appointment as Professor in the departments of Physics, Comparative Religion, and International Affairs. He was a Member of the Institute of Advanced Study in Princeton, and is the author of more than 20 books on science, religion, and spirituality. He is a leading international authority on science and spirituality, and presents seminars and lectures across the globe. His books include Science and Spirit, The Wisdom of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, a new translation of the Bhagavad Gita, Pilgrim without Boundary, and Science and the Sacred.
Karambu Ringera, Ph.D., is the founder of Tiriji Foundation in Meru, Kenya. She also founded International Peace Initiatives (IPI) – a US and Kenya-based organization that promotes peace and supports efforts to mitigate the effects of war, poverty and discrimination at the grassroots level. She received her PhD in Human Communications from the University of Denver, Colorado, and holds degrees from the University of Nairobi, Natal University in South Africa, and Iliff School of Theology in Denver. Karambu organized organized the highly successful Women’s International Grassroots Peace Congress in Kenya, and she has founded homes for orphans with AIDS. Karambu has won many awards, and in 2007 ran for Kenyan Parliament in North Imenti, and placed sixth out of fifteen all-male candidates.
Rev. Matthew Wright, M.Div. is an ordained Episcopal priest, a Sufi dervish of the Mevlevi Order, and an initiate in the Ramakrishna Order of Vedanta. He is a leading young voice within the emerging field of interspirituality and multiple religious belonging. He currently lives with The Community of the Holy Spirit in Brewster, NY, and is a retreat leader for The Contemplative Society and The Wisdom Way of Knowing.
Bernard Daley Zaleha, J.D., Ph.D., President, is an environmental lawyer who served two terms on the national Board of Directors of the Sierra Club, and one term as its Vice President. He is a recognized eco-theologian and scholar of religion and philosphy, and founding president of the Fund for Christian Ecology. After practicing law for many years he was suddenly fired when his employer learned that he was a Sierra Club activist. The resulting lawsuit received national media coverage, and was eventually settled while on appeal to the Idaho Supreme Court. Bernie has defended numerous environmental activists, and he serves as Vice President of the Constitutional Law Foundation.
William Keepin, Ph.D., see bio here.