Imam Zaid Shakir is amongst the most respected and influential Muslim scholars
in the West. Born in Berkeley, California, the second of seven children he accepted
Islam in 1977 while serving in the United States Air Force. He then obtained
a BA with honors in International Relations at American University in Washington
D.C. and later earned his MA in Political Science at Rutgers University, where
he emerged as an active leader in campus activities, helping to revive the Muslim
Student Association, co-leading a successful South Africa divestment campaign,
and co-founding a local Islamic center, Masjid al-Huda. After a year in Cairo,
Egypt, studying Arabic, he settled in New Haven, Connecticut and continued his
tireless community activism, co-founding Masjid al-Islam, the Tri-State Muslim
Education Initiative, and the Connecticut Muslim Coordinating Committee. As
Imam of Masjid al-Islam from 1988 to 1994 he speared-headed a community renewal
and grassroots anti-drug effort in the local neighborhood, and taught as an
Adjunct Professor of Political Science and Arabic at Southern Connecticut State
University until his departure for Syria to further his studies in the traditional
Islamic Sciences. For seven years in Syria and briefly in Morocco he immersed
himself in an intense study of Arabic, Islamic law, Quranic studies, and Islamic
spirituality with some of the top Muslim scholars of our age. In 2001, he graduated
from Syria's prestigious Abu Noor University and returned to Connecticut to
continue his work with the Muslim community in America. Teaching regularly as
the Imam of Masjid al-Islam, writing numerous articles for various magazines,
journals, and newspapers, and lecturing frequently at many of America’s
largest Muslim conferences and conventions, he soon emerged as one of the most
popular and sought after American Muslim leaders. In 2003, he moved to Hayward,
California with his family to serve as a scholar-in-residence and lecturer at
Zaytuna Institute where he now teaches regular courses on Arabic, Islamic Law,
History, and Islamic Spirituality. He has since lectured at many of the Bay
Area’s top universities, including Stanford and U.C. Berkeley, and is
a frequent speaker at local and national Muslim events. Amongst several works
that he has translated from Arabic into English, his translation of “The
Heirs of the Prophets” was published by Starlatch Press in 2001. In 2005,
he released “Scattered Pictures,” an anthology of diverse essays,
through Zaytuna Institute. He is widely regarded as an articulate voice on Islam
and African-American issues and as a visionary leader in the emergence of an
Islamic community and tradition and that is indigenous to America.
Lynne
Twist
Lynne Twist -- a global activist, fundraiser, speaker, consultant, and author
-- has dedicated her life to global initiatives that serve the best instincts
in all of us. She has raised hundreds of millions of dollars and trained thousands
of fundraisers to be more effective in their work.
Lynne has spent more than three decades working in positions
of leadership with many global initiatives including: ending world hunger, protecting
the world's rainforests, empowering indigenous peoples, improving health, economic,
and political conditions for women and children, advancing the scientific understanding
of human consciousness, creating a sustainable future for all life.
An original staff member of The Hunger Project, an organization
started in 1977 to end world hunger, Lynne served as a leader of this global
initiative for 20 years. During those years she created and managed the worldwide
fundraising operation. As she traveled the world learning how to work in a multitude
of different cultures, Lynne developed profound wisdom about our relationship
to money and the way it governs, dominates, and stresses our lives.
The compelling stories and insights gained from her experiences
inspire Lynne's keynotes and workshops, and are the foundation for her best
selling, award winning book The Soul of Money.
Lynne founded the Soul of Money Institute to express her commitment
to supporting and empowering people in finding peace and sufficiency in their
relationship with money and the money culture.
Lynne and her husband have three adult children and three grandchildren
and live in San Francisco, California.
Awards
"Woman of Distinction"
at the United Nations by the International Health Awareness Network for her
work to end hunger
2005 Humanitarian of the Year
Award from Youth at Risk
Katalysis Foundation's Entrepreneur
of the Year Award
Nautilus Book Award: 2004
Grand Prize for The Soul of Money
New Dimension Broadcaster
Award
Organizations
Lynne Twist and her husband
are co-founders of The Pachamama Alliance, an organization with the two-fold
mission of:
Preserving the Earth's tropical
rainforests by empowering the indigenous people who are its natural custodians.
Contributing to the creation
of a new global vision of equity and sustainability for all.
Lynne is a trustee for the
Fetzer Institute, a foundation whose mission is to foster awareness of the
power of love and forgiveness in the emerging global community.
