Author Biographies
Rev. Cynthia Brix, Ph.D. (hon) is co-founder of Gender Equity and Reconciliation International. An ordained interfaith minister with a background in women’s issues and racial diversity, she co-organized seven international conferences on interspirituality, including two on women’s spiritual leadership across diverse religious and indigenous traditions. Cynthia holds an honorary doctorate from the California Institute of Integral Studies, M.A. in wellness and gerontology, M.Div., and is certified in Grof Breathwork. She is an Evolutionary Leader, and co-author of Divine Duality: The Power of Reconciliation between Women and Men, and Women Healing Women: A Model of Hope for Oppressed Women Everywhere.
William Keepin, Ph.D. is co-founder of Gender Equity and Reconciliation International, and Satyana Institute. A mathematical physicist with training in contemplative spirituality and transpersonal psychology, his research on global warming and sustainable energy influenced international environmental policy. He has published widely on environmental science, quantum physics, ecology, archetypal cosmology, comparative mysticism, divine feminine theology, and principles of social change leadership. He is an Evolutionary Leader, a Findhorn Foundation Fellow, and Board member of the Grof Legacy Project. His previous books include Divine Duality, Song of the Earth, and Belonging to God: Spirituality, Science, and a Universal Path of Divine Love.
Karambu Ringera, Ph.D. is a Senior GERI Trainer and GERI Coordinator for Kenya and East Africa since 2006. She founded International Peace Initiatives and the Tiriji Foundation based in Meru, Kenya, which empowers orphans, women living with HIV/AIDS, survivors of violence, and other vulnerable community members via education, advocacy, and leadership development. Several Tiriji orphans have grown up to become leaders in their communities. Karambu has received many awards, including the 2022 Kenya National Diversity and Inclusion Awards & Recognition (DIAR). She earned her Ph.D. in Intercultural Communication from the University of Denver, and M.A. in theology from Iliff School
of Theology.
Garrett Evans, B.S. is International Program Officer and Trainer for GERI, where he has worked full time since 2017. He has contributed greatly to developing the GERI infrastructure, programs, research, marketing, and was instrumental in developing GERI online programs and training. He received his degree in conflict resolution from Portland State University. Garrett began intensive practice in the Zen Buddhist tradition in 2011. Through GERI, he feels called to combine his love for the world’s contemplative spiritual traditions with healing and reconciliation work.
Desireé English, B.A. is a Senior Trainer and GERI Directorof Training in Africa, and is Chair of the Board of GenderWorks, GERI’s affliate in South Africa. Desireé has conducted GERI programs in South Africa, Kenya, India, Egypt, and the United States. She has over 20 years’ experience facilitating healing and empowerment of women and youth in communities. She is a Trauma Release Exercises (TRE) Certification Trainer, Integrative Trauma Healing Practitioner, and independent learning and development consultant.
William Diplock, M. Soc. Sc. (Couns) is a Senior GERI Trainer and Program Coordinator for GERI, in Brisbane, Australia. William is a counselor in private practice with 30+ years of experience in individual, couples and family therapy and clinical supervision. He also has ten years of experience in men’s work, and serves as a teaching Elder in Men’s Rites of Passage in Australia. William received his M. Soc. Sc. in Counselling from Queensland University of Technology, completed a four-year training in Spiritual Direction at St. Francis Theological College, and holds an Advanced Diploma of Integrated Somatic Psychotherapy.
Esther Diplock, M. Couns. is a Senior GERI Trainer and Program Coordinator for GERI, in Brisbane, Australia. Esther is an individual and couples’ therapist in private practice, and an educator and supervisor, specializing in Body Psychotherapy and trauma-informed practice. Esther holds a B. Occ. Thy. in Occupational Therapy from University of Queensland and an M. Couns. from Christian Heritage College. She is a Kundalini Yoga teacher, and holds an Advanced Diploma of Integrated Somatic Psychotherapy from the Institute of Body Psychotherapy.
Lucille Meyer, Ed.D. is a GERI Trainer in Cape Town, South Africa. She is Chief Executive Officer of Chrysalis Academy, an award-winning residential academy that graduates 620 young adults each year who complete an intensive curriculum of skills development and holistic education. Lucille has integrated GERI into the Chrysalis curriculum. In 2017, she received a Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Youth Development. She is also a Certified Trauma Release Exercises Provider and Yoga Therapy teacher. She received her Ed.D. from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology.
Silvia Araya, Psy.D. is a GERI Trainer and the GERI Latin America Lead. She received her degree in clinical psychology from Universidad Fidélitas in Costa Rica, and practices as a Clinical Trauma Professional, specializing in anxiety and panic attacks. She is a certified practitioner of Family Constellations and a Trauma Informed Yoga Teacher. Silvia is author of three books including Trust and Live without Panic, and her new book entitled, Is This What I REALLY Want?: How to Go Beyond Trauma into the Relationship You Deserve.
Myra Kinds is a GERI Trainer and the Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and Intersectionalities Project Lead for GERI. She is a licensed American Baptist Minister to Youth at the Peoples Baptist Church in Boston, and a recognized leader in underserved communities, specializing in addiction and recovery, mental health, and domestic violence. She holds numerous training certificates in Mental Health First Aid, Recovery Coach, and Trauma First Responder. Myra facilitates diversity training for Microsoft, collaborates with the Black Ministerial Alliance, and consults with numerous faith-based groups around women in ministry, youth, human trafficking, and gender-based violence.
Jorge Rico, M.A. is a GERI Trainer based in Providence, Rhode Island, and co-leads the GERI Latin America project, as well as the GERI corporate training program. Originally from Bolivia, he has 25+ years of experience in Human Resources in the USA and Latin America. Jorge has extensive experience with leadership and employee development programs, and developed and led numerous Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) initiatives in corporations, while championing gender equity throughout his professional career. He holds degrees from Boston College and Cambridge College, and leads the Men’s Ministry at Concordia Center for Spiritual Living in R.I.
Samantha van Schalkwyk, Ph.D. is Research Manager and Deputy Director of the Centre for the Study of the Afterlife of Violence and the Reparative Quest (AVReQ) at Stellenbosh University, South Africa. Her research focuses on repercussions of gender violence in post-Apartheid South Africa, and transforming harmful patriarchal narratives that underpin such violence; addressing patriarchal trauma; and the psycho-social aspects of violated women’s agency. She and Professor Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela conducted a longitudinal research study on the GERI process. Her latest book is Narrative Landscapes of Female Sexuality in Africa: Collective Stories of Trauma and Transition (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018).
Ansar Anwar, B.A. is a GERI Facilitator and Program Coordinator for GERI in India, where he organizes and delivers GERI programs to youth and young adults in India. Based in Bangalore, Ansar is Manager of Strategic Initiatives at Dream a Dream, a youth training organization where he has 15 years of experience training and mentoring young people. Earlier Ansar managed ten learning centers for holistic development of young people, and training facilitators at Makkala Jagriti. He executed a research project on rehabilitation of minority communities, and presented the report to a judge on the Supreme Court of India.
Rev. Louis (“Laurie”) Gaum, M.Th., M.A. is a GERI Trainer and activist theologian focusing on gender and sexual diversity freedom. An ordained minister in the Dutch Reformed Church of South Africa, he co-led a 17-year struggle that culminated in winning a landmark court case against the church, which helped establish it as an open and affirming denomination. In 2022 he received an award from the Andrew Murray Prize Fund, citing his leadership as “a facilitator in “Gender Equity & Reconciliation” and human sexuality … [to] guide churches and congregations on creating a safe and healing space between ‘straight’ and ‘queer’ believers.”
Harin Jeong, M.A. is a GERI Facilitator and lead coordinator for GERI in South Korea, based in Seoul. She is the CEO of the Center for Courage and Renewal Psychology Counseling, and is a counselor focusing on sexual and gender-based violence survivors, and supporting LGBTIQA+ clients. Harin earned her degrees from Ewha Womans University and Duksung Women’s University. She has experience in organizational development and is a certified sociocracy coach, and is a consultant on issues of gender equality and con#ict management. Harin is establishing GERI Korea as a non-profit organization.
Jabu Mashinini, B.A. (Hon) is Trainer for GERI and GenderWorks. He is Executive Coach at Leadership Pathways based in Gauteng province, South Africa, and a leading consultant in diversity training, counseling, peace studies, and the Alternatives to Violence Project. He conducts Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) trainings in corporations, and for the United Nations Human Rights Council, and the UN Charity Organization. Jabu teaches DEI courses at the University of Cape Town, and has served in several countries as a Lead Facilitator of the Nelson Mandela International Dialogues.
Tristan Johannes is a GERI Trainer and the LGBTQ+ Project Lead, and serves on the Board of GenderWorks, GERI’s affiliate in South Africa. He trained youth for over ten years, and served as an administrator and trainer at Chrysalis Academy. He holds an Advanced Diploma in Adult and Community Education Training from the University of Cape Town, and is an ordained minister in the Pentecostal Church of Africa, and a certified Integral Yoga and Mindfulness Teacher. Tristan was selected for the ‘Leading for Humanity’ program of the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation in 2023.
Michele Breene, M.A. is a GERI Facilitator with over 25-years experience in leadership development, team building, and executive coaching in the UK, USA, and globally, in corporate and non-profit sectors. Michele has designed courses and led workshops in seven African countries (including Kenya where her family lived for 40 years), as well as in India and China. She is a mentor, facilitator, coach, and spiritual director in leadership development relating to spiritual formation, mentoring and gender equity. She received her M.A. in Education from the University of London.
Julien Devereux, Ph.D. is a Senior GERI Trainer based in Dallas, and has served GERI domestically and internationally in multiple capacities since 2002. He is former Chair of the ManKind Project (MKP-USA), a men’s organization that has trained tens of thousands of men in emotional maturity, personal accountability, spiritual awareness, and relational skills. Julien holds a Ph.D. in Transformative Studies from the California Institute of Integral Studies, and is a certified facilitator of Integrative Breathwork. He is a licensed clinical social worker (LCW) with 30+ years of clinical and managerial experience, including extensive background in the criminal justice system.