Interactive Session – MeToo to WeTogether: Transforming Gender Injustice into Beloved Community
This interactive session introduces the Gender Equity and Reconciliation International (GERI) process and provides an experiential taste of this methodology that was endorsed by Archbishop Desmond Tutu in 2013. Developed over 30 years across six continents, the GERI process applies principles of Truth and Reconciliation to gender and sexual injustice and builds trust and compassionate communication through interactive activities and group process. Together, women, men, and people of all genders and sexual orientations can jointly confront sensitive and often taboo issues relating to gender and sexuality—without shame and blame—and collaborate skillfully to reach a place of newfound respect, trust, and even mutual reverence. You are warmly invited to join this experiential introduction to the GERI process and discover its auspicious potential for transforming gender injustice and establishing “beloved community.” Facilitated by: William Keepin and Rev. Cynthia Brix, GERI’s co-founders; Alka Arora, Associate Professor of Women, Gender, Spirituality, and Social Justice at CIIS; and Jorge Rico, co-leader of GERI’s Latin America Project and its corporate training program.
San Pablo Room, Residence Inn
April 6th | 3:00 pm to 4:15 pm
Panelists
Alka Arora
Associate Professor of Women, Gender, Spirituality, and Social Justice
California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS)
Alka Arora, Ph.D, an Associate Professor of Women, Gender, Spirituality, and Social Justice at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), developed an educational framework called “Integral Feminist Pedagogy” that weaves together feminist, ecological, embodied, and contemplative paradigms. She has published numerous articles and serves as an educational consultant, leadership coach, and certified facilitator of Gender Equity and Reconciliation International workshops. Alka was featured in the documentary film Women’s Spirituality in Higher Education.
Jorge Rico
Trainer
Gender Equity and Reconciliation International
Jorge Rico, M.A. a Gender Equity and Reconciliation International (GERI) Trainer based in Providence, Rhode Island, co-leads the GERI Latin America Project and the GERI corporate training program, and also leads the Men’s Ministry at Concordia Center for Spiritual Living in R.I. Originally from Bolivia, he has 25+ years’ experience in Human Resources in the USA and Latin America, including developing numerous Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) initiatives in corporations.
Cynthia Brix
Co-Founder
Gender Equity and Reconciliation International
Rev. Cynthia Brix, Ph.D. (hon), is co-founder of Gender Equity and Reconciliation International (GERI), which has organized over 300 trainings in 14 countries for healing and reconciliation between women and men and people of all genders. An ordained interfaith minister, Cynthia co-leads retreats on interfaith spirituality and co-convened seven international conferences on “inter-spirituality.” She is co-author of three books with William Keepin, including: Women Healing Women: A Model of Hope for Oppressed Women Everywhere, and, most recently, the collection: Gender Equity and Reconciliation: Thirty Years of Healing the Most Ancient Wound in the Human Family.
William Keepin
Co-Founder
Gender Equity and Reconciliation International (GERI)
William Keepin, Ph.D., co-founder of Gender Equity and Reconciliation International (GERI), a one-time a whistleblower in nuclear science policy, is a mathematical physicist whose research on efficient renewable energy strategies for abating global warming influenced international environmental policy. He has published widely on scientific and spiritual topics and co-convened seven international conferences to foster collaboration between religions and science. Will is also the author of five books, including: Song of the Earth: A Synthesis of Scientific and Spiritual Worldviews, and co-author, most recently of the collection: Gender Equity and Reconciliation: Thirty Years of Healing the Most Ancient Wound in the Human Family.
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