Advisory Council

Barry Cooke

Gene Fraser

Donald Grayston
Donald Grayston, PhD, is an Anglican priest, spiritual director, retreat leader, author and pilgrimage leader. He is the former director of the Institute for the Humanities at SFU, former president of the International Thomas Merton Society, former director of the Pacific Jubilee Program in Spiritual Formation and Spiritual Direction, and former chair of Building Bridges Vancouver. Currently he is studying salsa with Ronald Martinez, and sings in the Local Vocals community choir, led by Anna Baignoche. He is deeply concerned about the deterioration of our society and our planet; but, as Charles Dickens once said, “cheerfulness keeps breaking through.”

David Mivasair
Rabbi David Mivasair, spiritual leader of Vancouver’s Ahavat Olam Synagogue, was one of the founders of the InterSpiritual Centre.  He is a 1991 graduate of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and was ordained by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi.  David has lived several years in Israel and Japan and has been in Vancouver since 1995.  He is motivated by the Biblical teachings “Seek peace and pursue it” and “Justice, justice shall you pursue”.  He appreciates the deep functional commonality among all religions and believes that the only way we can see the whole picture is to learn to see through each others’ eyes.

Nancy Mortifee
Nancy Mortifee is an educator, author, and publisher. The founding executive director of Goldie Hawn’s Bright Light Foundation, Nancy designed the researched-based Mindfulness Education (M.E.) program, now used in many elementary schools throughout North America.

She has a private practice facilitating women’s Mindfulness and Intimacy training groups and has been an active presenter throughout BC and the US.

Nancy’s passion for interspiritual music and art led her to co-found the Westcoast Sacred Arts Society in 1999 and to produce Canada’s first Sacred World Music Festival for five years, followed by the highly celebrated musical tribute to His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama at the Orpheum Theatre. Nancy is a director of the Somerset Foundation, supporting social innovation and service and the chair of Seva Canada Society, whose mission it is to restore sight and prevent blindness in the developing world.

www.mortifeetraining.com ; www.seva.ca; www.somersetfoundation.org

 

Ryan Punambolum

Kim Wright