UDWC Boards and Committees

Board of Directors:

LauraSa Pele Lafoia Ava (Tesimale): Committee Chair for Peace Sundays. Committee Co-Chair for Finances. Committee Advisor for Governance, and Strategic Planning. Advisor for Interfaith Ministry. Founder of One Global Family Alliances, and International Councils, Circles & Congress of Women-Youth

LauraSa Pele Lafoia Ava is the Executive Producer & Director of One Global Family’s Call To Action Broadcast Series ~ “SACRED ACTIVISM: Peace Sundays RevoLution.” LauraSa served as the Chair and Producer for Peace Sunday 2020, … — Read More —

Michael P. Brinsley: Committee Chair for Websites & Social Media. Committee Advisor for Governance, Finances, Strategic Planning, and Peace Sundays

Michael loves optimizing technical systems since my early college days back in 1981. I love staying up with computers, networks, websites, security, and technology-related matters… Valuable insights have been acquired in working within several industries and business categories, such as Doctor/Medical/Health, Hospitality/Hotels, Insurance, Home/Small Businesses, … — Read More —

Roslyn Scheuerman: Committee Co-Chair for Finances. Committee Advisor for Governance, Strategic Planning, and Peace Sundays

Roslyn is a lifelong visionary and cognitive social therapist, committed to creating the end of world hunger, war, and environmental degradation. Her primary focus is to bridge the gap between science and spirituality and unleash humanity’s potential to create a world that works for everyone. Roslyn has served as a project, event media, and progressive political campaign coordinator, fundraiser, grand writer, presentation leader, non-profit manager, and community organizer for numerous emerging global, social, environmental, and political issues. Roslyn was employed as a social worker in the field of homelessness and employment … — Read More —

Rev. Dr. Tahdi Blackstone: Committee Co-Chair for Governance, and Strategic Planning

Born in China in the midst of WWII into the 4th generation of a very active missionary family where her father was a chaplain of the Flying Tigers, and her great grandfather (WEB) was called The Gentile Father of Zionism for helping establish the state of Israel in 1948. After returning to the U.S. at 12, Tahdi’s early life was in fundamentalist Christian boarding schools and a variety of church experiences. After a few years as a stewardess, actress, model, and singer, she discovered her love of working with children and spent 20 years in the Juvenile court system with battered, molested, and abused children and their families. Tahdi received her master’s and doctorate in Spirituality from Matthew Fox’s program where she encountered the Institute of Noetic Sciences founded b … — Read More —

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Rev. Cliff Ishigaki: Committee Co-Chair for Interfaith Ministry. Committee Advisor for Governance

Cliff was ordained as a UDC Minister in 1995. As a graduate of Chapman University and the University of San Francisco, his degrees in Counseling and Family therapy led him to pursue a specialty in trauma and addiction recovery work. During the Vietnam war, he served as a Captain in the US Marine Corps, first as a platoon commander and then as Company Commander in 1969. His combat encounters led to a diagnosis of PTSD which led him to study of psychology and spirituality. He served as the Director of … — Read More —

Clan Mother Alda Glover: Committee Advisor for Governance, Strategic Planning, and Peace Sundays

Alda Glover is a Producer of One Global Family’s Call To Action Broadcast Series ~ “SACRED ACTIVISM: Peace Sundays RevoLution.” She is also a Board Member for both One Global Family Foundation & Alliances, as well as Unity and Diversity World Council. Born in Newton MA, USA, Alda C. Glover’s ancestry is African of nations unknown, and Passamaquoddy and Mashpee in the northeast of North America. After a 16-year career as a technical writer, Alda left the corporate world to study traditional Asian healing arts and experienced Qi as a physical awareness rather … — Read More —

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Chief Daniel Ramos: Committee Co-Chair for Governance. Committee Advisor for Strategic Planning, and Peace Sundays

Daniel Ramos is a Producer of One Global Family’s Call To Action Broadcast Series ~ “SACRED ACTIVISM: Peace Sundays RevoLution.” He is also a Board Member for both One Global Family Foundation & Alliances, as well as Unity and Diversity World Council. Marcario Daniel ‘Cuauhltli Atoatzin’ (Eagle that Speaks) Ramos, is the Chief Spiritual Elder of the Choctaw Muskogee Yamassee Nation. He is Grandfather Uncle of the prophecy of “Warriors of the Rainbow” Tribe of the 4 Directions … — Read More —

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Emeritus Board:

Late Rev. Leland Stewart: Founder, Past President, and Former Central Coordinator:
Late Rev. Elizabeth Stewart: Co-Founder and Past Secretary:

Unity and Diversity World Council (UDWC) is a cooperating body of individuals, groups, and networks, dedicated to cultivating a culture of peace with justice, and to building a sustainable future based on universal ethical and spiritual principles. UDWC is a non-profit, tax-exempt California corporation. It was formed during the United Nations International Cooperation Year … — Read More —

Rev. Dr. Mary Mann: Former Chair, Former Chief Financial Officer, and Treasurer

Unity and Diversity Ongoing Vision by Dr. Mary Mann: So what is this vision really? It is much more than harmony among all religions and spiritual groups. It is humankind’s ultimate endeavor to envision the greatest work of art ever created. It is the vision of the transcendent harmony of the universe consciously chosen by human beings as they joyfully embrace their divine gift and their responsibility as custodians of the planet. In the words of David Harris, it is the understanding that We are all unavoidably one with Source, the Supreme Creative Life Force of all Creation, and we must act on that … (Going Forward Together)

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Rev. Dr. Thomas Hedberg: Former Member Unity and Diversity World Council Board of Directors, Advisor, Supporter

A former Roman Catholic Priest, Thomas is a psychotherapist, spiritual director, and co-founder of the Center for Sacred Psychology in West Los Angeles. He is a founding member of the Southern California Chapter of the Parliament of the World’s Religions. All Paths Divinity School Advisor quotes: “Dr. Thomas Hedberg holds a Masters of Divinity from the Pontifical College Josephinum, a Catholic Seminary. He went on to gain a Masters degree in psychology from Loyola Marymount University, and a Doctoral degree from Sierra University. He is a member of the Spiritual Directors International and ” … — Read More —

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Late David Harris: Advisor and Supporter…the founder of the Mandala Society, has become fundamental to the future and vision of the Unity and Diversity Council. He has been creating with the organization for over 50 years including establishing it at The University of California San Diego. But since Leland’s passing, his role, input, and ideas, have filled the organization with hope, prosperity, and ideals, of creating a more sustainable world in which we live. David is behind the first-ever Holistic Health Conferences with a Medical school and the First National Holistic Education Conference and in 1968 the first Developing Personal Potential program evolved to focus on the Unity-and-Diversity Council being a paramount gift to the Non-Organization O.U.R. Holistic Renaissance Evolving … — Read More —Rev. Andre Graham: Former Vice President
Rev. Albert Duffy: Former Assistant Treasurer
Jane Devine: Attorney and Accountant

Advisory Board:

Rev. Stephen L. Fiske: Committee Co-Chair for Peace Sundays. Founder/Director for Jerusalem Prayer Project

Stephen Fiske is a Co-Producer for 3rd Sundays of One Global Family’s Call To Action Broadcasts ~ “SACRED ACTIVISM: Peace Sundays RevoLution”. He is also an Advisory Board Member of Unity and Diversity World Council and One Global Family Foundation & Alliances. Stephen serves as the Co-Chair and Executive Producer for Peace Sunday 2020. Stephen is the founder and executive director/producer … — Read More —

Rev. Dr. Linda Groff: Committee Co-Chair for Interfaith Celebration of Light, Committee Advisor for Interfaith Ministry

Linda Groff is Director, Global Options & Evolutionary Futures Consulting, and Emeritus Professor, California State University, Dominguez Hills, where she taught for over 40 years. She gives talks/workshops, classes, and consulting—with over 85 articles published–on global/evolutionary futures; peace/nonviolence; intercultural/interfaith dialogue; and spiritual/consciousness topics. Linda is a past … — Read More —

Rev. Nathan Michon: Committee Co-Chair for Interfaith Ministry

Nathan is a bit of a global citizen, having lived in seven countries and in multiple places in the US. Besides being a minister with UDWC, he is also ordained as a priest within the Shingon Buddhist tradition (A Japanese branch of Esoteric Buddhism.) He received his MA in comparative religion, MDiv in Buddhist chaplaincy, and Ph.D. in History and Culture of Religions. He also received a certificate in advanced peace and conflict studies at European Peace University. He worked briefly for peace-related NGOs in Romania and Thailand. He also worked as an editor for a small Buddhist publishing company. He is the editor of A Thousand Hands: Caring for Your Buddhist Community, among other works. — Read More —

Ruth Broyde-Sharone: Committee Advisor for Strategic Planning, and Arts & Music Committee

Ruth is Honored internationally for her interfaith activism and leadership, filmmaker/journalist Ruth Broyde Sharone is the creator of INTERFAITH: The Musical (interfaiththemusical.com). She pioneered ground-breaking interfaith pilgrimages to the Middle East in the 90s and served as Co-Chair of the Southern California Parliament of the World’s Religions for 10 years. Her documentary, “God and Allah Need to Talk”, and her interfaith memoir, “MINEFIELDS & MIRACLES”, have received multiple awards. Ruth is … — Read More —

Uran Snyder: Committee Advisor for Strategic Planning, and Peace Sundays

Uran was born in Tokyo Japan. She studied English at The Interpreter Training School, French at the Institute of Franco-Japone, Spanish at the Monastery of Las Adoratrices in Tokyo, and spent several years in Europe at the University of Madrid and the University of Grenoble in France. She holds both a Bachelor’s and a Master’s of Fine Arts from California State University, Long Beach. Uran is a visual artist and has exhibited her large-scale drawings, paintings, and installations in California. Uran is a Peace … — Read More —

Robert Corsini: Committee Advisor for Peace Sundays. Co-Founder for Jerusalem Prayer Project

Robert serves as the Director, Producer, and Editor for Peace Sunday 2020. Robert is also the owner of Videocratic Media Inc. and has 30 years of experience producing and directing documentary content for features, specials, and a wide range of entertainment projects. Beginning in the 90s, Corsini worked his way up in the news entertainment production world as a PA on a travel show and later as an Associate Producer on multiple seasons of the ‘Infinite Voyage’ science documentary … — Read More —

Simran Kaur Khalsa: Committee Advisor for Peace Sundays, and Marketing & Graphics

Simran serves as our graphic artist to support the Website, Social Media & Marketing teams for Peace Sundays. Simran is an Advisory Board member for Unity and Diversity World Council (UDWC 2.0), and also as such for two of its Affiliate DBA’s known as One Global Family Foundation & Alliances (OGFF&A), and the global Councils of Interfaith & Indigenous Women-Youth (CIIWY). Born in Los Angeles, Simran Kaur spent her formative years in France, returning to the United States at age 21. In addition … — Read More —

Patrick Horn: Committee Co-Chair for OGFA’s Call to Sacred Activism, and Environmental Stewardship

Patrick is a Co-Producer for 4th Sundays of One Global Family’s Call To Action Broadcasts ~ “SACRED ACTIVISM: Peace Sundays RevoLution”. He is also an Advisory Board Member for One Global Family Foundation & Alliances and serves on the Committee for Environmental Stewardship of Unity and Diversity World Council. Patrick is an alumni fellow of the USC Institute for Digital Civic Culture and Manager of the World-Teacher Project (aka “Network for Religion, Media, and Civic Life”), an … — Read More —

Honorary World Council:

Hector Aristizabal — Lecturer/activist, Hispanic community
Dr. Kenneth Beatty — Leader, United Religions Initiative Cooperation Circle
Dr. Robert Bonnell — former President, Theosophical Society of Long Beach
Hum and Rose Bui, M.D.’s — Leaders of Cao Dai Faith and interfaith work
Rev. Jan Chase — Minister, Unity Church of Pomona; Leader, Inland Valley Interfaith
Bhante Chao Chu — Head monk, Rosemead Buddhist Monastery
Dr. Laurel Clark — Leader, School of Metaphysics; Co-developer, Peace Dome
Rev. Prof. Theodore Clarke — Pasadena City College; Religious Science Minister
Rev. Albert Cohen, former Executive Director, Southern California Ecumenical Council
John Falchi — Educator; former member of UDC Executive Board
Rev. Tasnim Fernandez — Sufi Order; Teacher, Dances of Universal Peace
Dr. Jefferson Tasleem Ghauri — Founding President, International Association of Religious Freedom, Pakistan
Alanna Hartsok — Co-director, Earth Rights Institute
Kay Lindahl — Author, Sacred Art of Listening; Leader, North American Interfaith Network
Irving Sarnoff — Co-founder, Friends of the United Nations; peace activist
F. Richard Schneider, Ph.D. — Founder, Institute of Global Education
Alan Seaman — Teacher, meditator; former UDC Executive Board member
Jim Stewart — former Director, Earth Day Los Angeles
Rebecca Tobias — Member, Global Council, United Religions Initiative
Rev. Jeffrey Utter — So. Calif. contact, Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions
Rene Wadlow — Editor/Publisher, “Global Perspectives” Magazine
Sharif Abdullah — Founder, Commonway Institute; Author, Creating a World That Works for All
Mehnaz-Mona Afridi, Ph.D. — Muslim scholar; active in Muslim-Jewish dialogue
Andrew Beath — Founder, Earthways; Author, Consciousness in Action
Mobed Zarir Bhandara — Zoroastrian high priest; editor, Zoroastrian scriptures
Swami Brahmavidyananda — Monk, author, member of Vedanta Society
Sister Gita — Director, Brahma Kumaris Raja Yoga Center Los Angeles
Jonathan Granoff — Global Security Institute; active with United Nations
Mussie Hailu — Representative, Association of World Citizens, Ethiopia
Rabbi Benjamin Herson — Emeritus, Malibu Jewish Center and Synagogue
MSS Shakti Parwha Kaur Khalsa — Mother of 3HO Organization; Sikh Dharma
Huston Smith, Ph.D. — Author, World’s Religions and other books on religion
Ali Wassil, Ph.D., LL.D. — Co-founder for UDC: author, lecturer

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