FUJI DECLARATION SYMPOSIUMPARTICIPANT PROFILES
Hiroo Saionji
Hiroo Saionji is President of the Goi Peace Foundation and the World Peace Prayer Society.
He travels the world promoting dialogues and initiatives for peace. Mr. Saionji is the greatgrandson of Prince Kinmochi Saionji, who was twice Prime Minster of Japan during the
Meiji Period. He currently serves as a member of the Japanese National Commission for
UNESCO. In 2007, Mr. Saionji was awarded the Cultural Prize of the Dr. Lin Tsung-i
Foundation of Taiwan, in recognition of his contributions to world peace. In 2010, he
received the Social Education Distinguished Service Award from the Ministry of Education,
Sports, Science and Technology of Japan.

Masami Saionji
Masami Saionji is Chairperson of the Goi Peace Foundation, Byakko Shinko Kai, and theWorld Peace Prayer Society, and an honorary member of the Club of Budapest. She
promotes peace awareness and a new way of life based on our innate infinite creativity
and potential. She has authored over twenty books in Japanese and ten in English andother languages, including The Golden Key to Happiness, You Are the Universe, and Vision
for the 21st Century. In 2008, she and her husband Hiroo were awarded the Philosopher
Saint Shree Dnyaneshwara World Peace Prize in India. She is also the recipient of the 2010
WON Award honoring distinguished women leaders and the 2016 Barbara Fields
Humanitarian Peace Award.

Session 1
Barbara Fields
Dr. Barbara Fields is Executive Director of The Association for Global New Thought. She is
Co-founder and project director of The Gandhi King Seasons for Peace and Nonviolence,
the Synthesis Dialogues I, II, & III with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and omni-local
initiatives for the Harvard-based Abraham Walk Initiative in the Middle East. Formerly, she
served as Program Director for the Parliament of the World's Religions, Society for
Buddhist-Christian Studies, and delegate to the UNESCO Seminar on Religion and Peace.
Awards include: Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters and Religious Science International’s
first Peace Award. She is a contributing author of The Community of Religions; Two
Hundred Visionaries; and Women, Spirituality and Transformative Leadership: Where
Grace Meets Power. www.agnt.org

Stephen Travis Pope
Stephen Travis Pope is an award-winning composer, filmmaker, computer scientist andsocial activist based in Santa Barbara, California. Since the early 1980s, he has developed
multimedia software, and has over 100 technical publications on music theory andcomposition, computer music and artificial intelligence. He has taught and conductedmusic research at Stanford University, the University of California at Berkeley and Santa
Barbara, and elsewhere. Stephen is also a practicing Quaker, a conscientious objection
and counter-recruitment counselor and a seasoned workshop facilitator with the
Alternatives to Violence Project, working for over 10 years in the state and federal prison
systems. www.create.ucsb.edu/~stp/

Linda Francis
Linda Francis is the co-author of The Heart of the Soul: Emotional Awareness, a New YorkTimes bestseller, and The Mind of the Soul: Responsible Choice, both with Gary Zukav. She
is a Doctor of Chiropractic, a registered nurse, and a co-founder with Gary Zukav of theSeat of the Soul Institute, the premier organization dedicated to supporting individuals in
learning about and creating authentic power and spiritual partnerships. She createsprograms, activities, and materials for the Seat of the Soul Institute, and is committed to
introducing authentic power and spiritual partnerships around the world.
www.seatofthesoul.com

Sande Hart
Sande Hart is Director of the Charter for Compassion’s Women and Girls sector, which
strives to elevate opportunities for a greater inclusion of voices and involvement of
women in leadership for global healing and transformation through the transformationallens of compassion. Sande is also Founder and President of S.A.R.A.H. (Spiritual And
Religious Alliance for Hope), a women's interfaith organization birthed after the events of
9-11, and is the Women's Coach for the Compassion Games International, a fun,inspirational, creative and important way to engage community. Sande is also Past
President of the United Religions Initiative North America, the world's largest network ofgrassroots interfaith organizations.
www.sandehart.com
www.charterforcompassion.org/index.php/partners/women-and-girls

Mitsuhei Murata
As a diplomat, Mitsuhei Murata served as Ambassador to Senegal (1989-1992) andAmbassador to Switzerland and Lichtenstein (1996-1999), among other posts. He was
Director General of the Japan Society for Global System and Ethics (2008-2016) and is
Honorary Professor Emeritus at Tokai Gakuen University in Japan, Tianjin University of
Science and Technology in China, and Albert Schweitzer International University. Among
his publications are A Plea for a New Civilization, Nuclear Energy and Japan’s Sickness andJapan Faced with the Dawning of a Historic Crisis. He also published a booklet entitledWarnings for the Current Civilization in Chinese and Japanese in 2006.

Preeta Bansal
Preeta Bansal has worked at the intersection of top-level US government, law, public
policy, academia, and global business. She served President Obama as general counsel andsenior policy advisor in the White House, and previously was Solicitor General of the State
of New York. A graduate of Harvard-Radcliffe College and Harvard Law School, shecurrently is President of Social Emergence Corporation, a not-for-profit entity, and is a
Lecturer at MIT. From 2015-2016, she served by appointment of President Obama as amember and committee chair of the President’s Advisory Committee on Faith-Based andNeighborhood Partnerships, focusing on poverty and inequality in America.

Session 2
Wendy Craig-Purcell
Rev. Wendy Craig-Purcell, Spiritual Leader, Author and Speaker, is the founder of The Unity
Center in San Diego, California. She is the author of Ask Yourself This! Questions to Openthe Heart, Expand the Mind and Awaken the Soul. Ordained in 1980 at age 23, Wendy is aninternationally recognized speaker and co-host of the Synthesis Dialogues convened by His
Holiness, the Dalai Lama. She assisted in the planning of “The Abraham Path” inpartnership with the Harvard Negotiation Project. Her service awards include the Gandhi
Non- Violence Award and induction into the Martin Luther King Jr. Preachers Hall of Fame.
www.wendycraigpurcell.com

Gary Zukav
Gary Zukav is the author of four New York Times bestsellers, including The Seat of the Soul,
which was on the bestseller list for three years, thirty-one times as the Number One
bestseller. His first book, The Dancing Wu Li Masters: An Overview of the New Physics,
won the American Book Award for Science. His books have sold six million copies andbeen translated into thirty languages. Mr. Zukav is a Harvard graduate, a former U.S. Army
Green Beret officer with Vietnam service, a co-founder of the Seat of the Soul Institutewith Linda Francis, and a grandfather.
www.seatofthesoul.com

Raymond A. Moody
Dr. Raymond Moody is a world-renowned scholar and researcher and the leading
authority on the ‘near-death experience’—a phrase he coined in the 1970s. He is a
dynamic lecturer, presenter, and bestselling author of 12 books including Life After Life andReunions, along with numerous articles in academic and professional literature. His newest
book, Glimpses of Eternity, reveals the common events of shared-death experiences. Dr.
Moody also trains medical professionals on matters of grief recovery and dying. He
received the World Humanitarian Award in Denmark in 1988, and was honored at the New
York Film Festival for the movie version of Life After Life.
www.lifeafterlife.com

Joserra González
Joserra González is a generosity entrepreneur, a meditator and an activist for the common
good. He believes the main cause of human suffering lies in the heart, and so in the heartlies its solution—that in awakening a heart of service, we can regenerate ourselves,
societies and nature. He stands for the power of community, consciousness andcelebration as the means and the goals for human betterment and happiness, and hepromotes it all through spaces like Awakin Circles , Karma Kitchen and three-day Head,Heart and Hands retreats, where people explore what it means to be of service with thelenses of inner transformation.

Domen Kočevar
Domen Kočevar studied sociology and theology at the University of Maribor, and iscurrently working on his PhD thesis, “One Humanity”. He is a founder and director of the
Theosophical Library of Alma M. Karlin, which is a place of exploration towards a needed
new paradigm, with writings on all religions, spiritual paths, and approaches to philosophy,
sociology, new science, economy, and community living. He is a bishop in the Liberal
Catholic tradition, with many years of western esoteric schooling. At present he is part of
the team establishing an educational peace institute in Auschwitz-Oswiecim, Poland,oriented towards recognizing the One Humanity and the qualities and values coming fromthat recognition. www.jivatma.si/en

Toku Takahashi
After earning a MD from Kobe University, Dr. Toku Takahashi worked at University ofMichigan as research scientist and at Duke University as professor. He is currently
Professor at Medical College of Wisconsin. His main research interest is integrative
medicine and physiological role of oxytocin. Oxytocin, a neuropeptide produced at the
hypothalamus, plays an important role in regulating social behavior and positive social
interactions among humans. He asserts that oxytocin is key to maintaining ourcommunities healthy and loving. He is the author of several books including Physiology ofLove and Integrative Medicine: Its Role for Our Future Medicine.
https://kenkodojoclinictoku.wordpress.com

Suzue Miuchi
Suzue Miuchi is a Japanese mangaka (cartoonist) and author of the feature-length shōjomanga (comic for young women) Glass Mask (Garasu no Kamen). She was born inNishinomiya, Japan and grew up in Osaka. She won the Kodansha Manga Award (1982) for
Youkihi-den, and the Japan Cartoonists Association Award (1995). Ms. Miuchi began towork on Glass Mask in 1976, and as of 2014, the collected 49 volumes had sold 50 million
copies in Japan, making it the second best-selling shōjo manga ever. The story has been
made into a TV series, as well as a stage production.

Alan Briskin
Dr. Alan Briskin is an award-winning author, artist, and pioneer in the field oforganizational learning. As a consultant for over 30 years, he has helped groups andorganizations apply practical wisdom and a learning orientation to complex issues oforganizational change and transition. He is passionate about creating the conditions forgroups and whole systems to enlarge their capacity for collective wisdom. Dr. Briskin’s
published works include The Power of Collective Wisdom, The Stirring of Soul in the
Workplace, and Daily Miracles: Stories of Humanity and Excellence in Health Care. He has
been a major contributor to the framing and understanding of Collective Wisdom as adiscipline. www.alanbriskin.com

Session 3
Sally Ann Ranney
Sally Ann Ranney has forty years’ experience in the environmental, energy and climatechange fields. She is President/Co-Founder of the American Renewable Energy Institute(AREI), Co-Founder of the Women's Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN) and CEOof Stillwater Preservation, LLC, a wetlands mitigation banking company. Sally serves as a
Patron of Nature for the IUCN and the board of the Climate Accountability Institute. She
has worked with three U.S. Presidents, including President Reagan, who appointed her to
his Commission on American Outdoors. Recognitions include the Horace Albright Award,
the International Conservation Award, Earth Guardians’ Earth Stewardship Award, andAmerican Riviera Woman Entrepreneur of the Year (ARWEY) Award.
www.sallyranney.com

Sesto Giovanni Castagnoli
Sesto Giovanni Castagnoli calls himself an ‘evolutant’ and a world citizen. He has broad
experience as an international entrepreneur, development consultant and spiritual bridgebuilder. He advises companies and individuals and gives lectures and workshops on issuesof Spirituality in Business Life, Natural Economic and Financial Systems, Mutual
Understanding of Cultures and Religions, the Noosphere and other topics related toconsciousness change. He is co-founder and founding president of the World Spirit Forum.
In 2014 he initiated the YES Initiative to reduce youth unemployment globally. In February
2016 Sesto and his wife Gabriele started an unlimited pilgrimage into society after having
given away all their possessions.
www.evolutant.com www.thegreenpilgrims.ch/english

Izumi Masukawa
Dr. Izumi Masukawa acquired a doctorate in nutrition and bio-electronics from Michigan
State University (USA). As director of the American Micro Cluster Lab, she researchedunique methods of water treatment, such as electromagnetic resonance, and participatedin product development of natural medical supplies and cosmetics. In 2001, sheestablished two companies, Tecno AO Asia and Universal Balance. Her fields of study
include bio-polymer science, marine biology, geology, mineralogy, and herbal medicine.
Recently she is interested in the mysteries of sounds, and is exploring the connection
between sound, the universe and human beings. She is the author of several books
including Life Tuning, Water Sound Image, and Water is Intelligent Life.

Wakako Hironaka
Wakako Hironaka is a former Member of the Japanese House of Councilors (upper houseof the legislature), a former Vice Chair of the Democratic Party of Japan, and a former
Minister of the Environment. She has served as Chair of GLOBE Japan, Member of the
Earth Charter Initiative, Chair of the Earth Water and Green Foundation, and Member of
the International Senior Advisory Board of UNESCO, among others. In 1987 she received
an Honorary Doctorate from Brandeis University in the USA. She was also awarded theGrand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun from Emperor Akihito in November 2010.

David Leal Garcia
David Leal is a Spanish facilitator, conflict mediator and professor specialized in conducting
processes of participation and change in organizations, communities and businesses. Since
his early teens he has developed a passion for the history, culture and language of Japan.
He is currently doing a PhD in Sociology, developing tools to boost creativity andmeaningful dialogue in large groups of people, both face to face and online. Throughvocational coaching and dream development workshops, he supports individuals andorganizations in realizing, sharing and expanding their unique gifts to the world, in theconviction that a creative, contribution-oriented life is the gateway to inner and outerpeace.

Session 4
Maki Saionji Kawamura
Maki Saionji Kawamura is Executive Director of the Goi Peace Foundation and VicePresident of Byakko Shinko Kai. Born in Japan, she spent her junior and senior high schooldays in the US and Germany. Maki graduated from Tokai University School of Medicine,and received her clinical training at Mie University Hospital, Suzuka General Hospital andJikei University Hospital pediatrics department. In her current position, Maki is engaged ininternational exchange activities and offers lectures and workshops with a belief that there
is a divine spark in every human being, and that by nurturing a sense of oneness with alllife, we can co-create a peaceful world that respects diverse values.

Shamima Amin
Samima Amin is Chief Operating Officer at Yunus Creative Lab, Inc. Before this, she served
as Chief of Staff of Tuskegee University. Prior to joining Tuskegee, she had over 17 years ofexecutive-level experience covering all aspects of administration. She attended the
University of Dhaka, the University of Florida, Atlanta University and Harvard University,and received an MLIS, as well as educational and leadership training. She was the chief
coordinator of the Opportunity Funding Corporation’s Innovation and Entrepreneurshipconference. Shamima has served on numerous national committees and non-profit
boards. She has been included in Who’s Who in America and International Who’s Who ofProfessional Management.

Sam Beard
The non-profit organization GIFT (Global Investment Foundation for Tomorrow) is thevision of Sam Beard, who has spent over a half century transforming ideas into impact,
through tenacity and grassroots leadership. He has created and implemented programs foreight U.S. presidents, from Richard Nixon to Barack Obama. Among his most noteworthy
accomplishments is the creation of over ten million jobs in low-income communities. The
inspiration for GIFT came out of Beard’s experience in using mindfulness to deal with ahigh stress period in recent years. He was excited at the far-reaching impact it had in
improving all aspects of his life. www.sambeard.org www.sambeardgift.org

Gabriele Castagnoli
Practising Naikan, a Japanese introspective method, inspired Gabriele Castagnoli to bringher life’s journey into accordance with her work. She quit her marketing career in 2004,
and after joining the World Spirit Forum in Switzerland in 2005, she married its co-founder,
Sesto Castagnoli, and organized the event with him until 2009. In 2010 she founded‘oralab—develop mutually’ to pursue her passion for ‘individual and collective
development between the poles of cosmos, man and culture’, working with groups ofindividuals and organizations. She moderates and speaks at conferences, and designs andmoderates cultural events. She writes about ‘her’ topics and the ‘pilgrimage into society’that she and Sesto started in 2016.
www.oralab.ch/english www.thegreenpilgrims.ch/english

Tomoyo Nonaka
Tomoyo Nonaka established the NPO Gaia Initiative in 2007. Presently, she is a committee
member of the Japanese Ministry of Finance and an advisor for the National Institute ofAdvanced Industrial Science and Technology and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.
She has held various positions, including Chairperson of the Japan Photovoltaic Energy
Association, Executive Director and Chairperson of Sanyo Electric Co. Ltd, Director of Asahi
Breweries Ltd, and Chairperson of Nikko Financial Intelligence. From 1979 to 1996 she wasan anchor for TV programs on NHK and TV Tokyo. She has a Masters degree in Journalism,
and is an honorary member of the Club of Budapest and a member of the Club of Rome.

Parag ShahParag Shan, 49, has spent most of his active adult life in leading his family-owned businessunder the banner K. Girdharlal International Pvt. Ltd. This organization is engaged in the
manufacturing of diamonds in India and in distribution at the global level. Mr. Shah is alsoa co-founder of Fountainhead School, in Surat, India, which is affiliated with theInternational Baccalaureate (IB) program. For the last five years, Mr. Shah has been an
active volunteer with ServiceSpace, spending his time volunteering to implement different
projects throughout the year.
www.kgirdharlal.com www.fountainheadschools.org

Session 5
Hafsat Abiola-Costello
Through her nonprofit organization, Kudirat Initiative for Democracy (KIND), Hafsat AbiolaCostello is developing a rising generation of women leaders in Nigeria. From the age of 19,
she has been stirring up activism, fueling movements for democracy, gender equality andwomen’s leadership. Her life’s work is a tribute to her parents, who fought and died fortheir pro-democracy activism. Hafsat was making dangerous trips to areas targeted by
Boko Haram long before the extremist group made headlines. She currently serves as acabinet member and Special Adviser of the Ogun State government. She is also a councilorof the World Future Council and co-chair of the Future Justice Commission.
www.kind.org

Momoyo Ise
Momoyo Ise is the first executive director of the United Nations University (UNU) and
President of the Association of Former International Civil Servants - Japan. After
graduating from Keio University in 1959, she obtained a Master’s degree in sociology at
Syracuse University and a Master’s degree in urban planning at Columbia University. After
working at the United Nations Headquarters covering issues related to economic andsocial development, she was appointed the First Executive Director of the UNU. She thenbecame Director of the Office of Human Resources Management at the UN. She also
served as Executive Director of the Asian Women’s Fund.

Mohammad Ali Bhuiyan
With over 30 years of experience in the corporate, academic, international, and non-profit
sectors, Dr. Mohammad Ali Bhuiyan is a former candidate for US Congress from Georgia's
6th District and an expert in organizing entrepreneurship conferences and business plancompetitions. He came to America from Bangladesh as a graduate student in 1986 to attend
Georgia State University. He received a Ph.D. degree in economics/trade, two MBA
degrees (one from Indian Institute of Management – Bangalore), and advanced leadershiptraining from Harvard and MIT. An outstanding fundraiser and external relationship builder,
Dr. Bhuiyan has been named in Marquis’ Who’s Who in the World and Who’s Who in
America.

Sumiko Iwao
After earning a Ph.D. from Yale University, Dr. Sumiko Iwao taught at the Harvard Graduate
School of Education and was a research associate in Harvard's Laboratory of Human
Development. She is currently Professor Emeritus at Keio University and Tokyo City
University. She has held numerous advisory positions in the Japanese government
including chair of the Gender Equality Council, and since 2008, she has been operating
microfinance projects to help poor women in Tanzania. She founded Sakura Girls
Secondary School, which operates in a Maasai village, providing educational opportunities
to girls from underprivileged backgrounds. Ms. Iwao is the author of The Japanese
Women: Traditional Image and Changing Reality.

Nina Meyerhof
Dr. Nina Meyerhof is President of Children of the Earth, a renowned organization thatawakens young people to their inner leadership. She is co-author of Conscious Education:
The Bridge to Freedom and author of the handbook Pioneering Spiritual Activism. She hasreceived several awards for her work, including the Mother Theresa Award, the Citizens
Department of Peace Award, the International Educators Award, and the Sage Award. Dr.
Meyerhof advocates going beyond cultural, ethnic and religious differences to strive forunity. Presently she is working with colleagues to establish an Institute for Sustainable
Peace in the town of Auschwitz-Oswiecim, Poland. www.coeworld.org

GuestsAmeeta Bansal Martin
Ameeta Bansal Martin, MD, is a pediatric cardiologist and businesswoman in Lincoln,
Nebraska (a city of over 250,000 people). As the only pediatric cardiologist in thecommunity for the past 25 years, she has directly impacted the care of thousands ofbabies and children in the area. She brings mindfulness into her practice and is exploring
ways of introducing circle groups and integrated healing practices among the children inher community.

Mita Shah
Mita Shah, 46, is a designer of ethnic wear, and runs her own designing studio. She is alsoa co-founder of an NGO called Zumbish, which engages, on day to day basis, with underprivileged children of local government schools. The first half of her day is spent withchildren at a school, and second half at her studio. Her sole purpose and drive in runningthe designing studio is to create financial resources to support her NGO. At heart, she has
dedicated her life to serve the under-privileged children of our society.

Akiko Domoto
Akiko Domoto is a former Member of the Japanese House of Councilors and Governor of
Chiba Prefecture. She is President and Coordinator of the Japan Women's Network for
Disaster Risk Reduction. Ms. Domoto began her career in the 1960s as a television
journalist and producer. Following her election to the Upper House of Japan’s Diet in 1989,
she played a pivotal role in the drafting of landmark social legislation and was an active
participant in inter-parliamentary bodies. Since leaving the political sphere, she has
dedicated herself to issues such as the environment, disasters, and women prisoners, withattention to human rights, gender equality, and diversity.

Fujiko Hara
Fujiko Hara has been an interpreter and teacher of interpreting for over twenty-five years.
She is a member of AIIC (International Association of Conference Interpreters). Her work
has included G-7 Economic Summits, InterAction Council meetings of former heads ofstate and government, the World Economic Forum, and top-level conferences andnegotiations worldwide in all major fields. She is the granddaughter of Yukio Ozaki, aformer mayor of Tokyo who presented Japanese flowering cherry trees to Washington,
DC., and she is now a managing director of the Ozaki Yukio Memorial Foundation.

Miyuki Hatoyama
Miyuki Hatoyama is the wife of Yukio Hatoyama, Japan's 93rd Prime Minister. After a briefcareer as an actress in theater and television, she moved to the U.S. and married Mr.
Hatoyama. After ten years, the family returned to Japan, where Miyuki supported herhusband's political career. Her cooking, already enjoyed by so many in the States, began
to gain popularity in Japan, and she authored her own cookbooks. She has since
established herself as a "life composer," or lifestyle consultant. Following the Great East
Japan Earthquake in 2011, she has held lectures called ‘Miyuki-ryu’ to enrich people’s lives
and explore the meaning of being here and now.

Remi Ie
After returning to Japan from Stanford University, Remi Ie started a private consulting firm
focusing on Community Empowerment Design, assisting regional governments andcorporations in Japan and overseas. In 2012, she became Ambassador of Japan for the
GNH Center of the Royal Kingdom of Bhutan commissioned by the Prime Minister of
Bhutan. In 2015, she acquired a Masters Degree from the University of Gastronomic
Sciences in Italy, and after graduation, she was appointed as the Director of Japan for Slow
Food International. She focuses on collaboration between regional governments,
corporations and educational institutions, promoting Japanese food heritage as well assustainable development.

Minako Imada
Minako Imada is a pioneer in the art of etiquette and table setting in Japan. After studying
at a number of national cooking schools and hotels in Europe, she opened the “Salon de
L’Art de la Table de Minako Imada,” covering topics from table settings and etiquette to
baking. She has received numerous awards throughout her career, including the first everaward given by the French government for table setting, and gold medals from Swiss andGerman national patisseries. She is President of the International Table Art Academy
Association. In 2009, her “Salon de Muse Imada Minako” tea room opened at the upscale
Takashimaya department store in Shinjuku, Tokyo.

Keiko Itokazu
Keiko Itokazu is a member the Japanese House of Councilors. Born in Okinawa andraised under U.S. occupation, she started working as a bus tour guide. She waselected as a member of Okinawa Prefectural Assembly in 1992 and served threeconsecutive terms. She was first elected to the House of Councilors in 2004. She
delivered a speech during the United Nations World Conference on Indigenous
Peoples in 2014.

Yoshiko Mitsui
Yoshiko Mitsui is Chairperson of the Special Olympics Nippon Foundation and Chairpersonof the Yamagata Symphony Orchestra. While studying at Kobe City University, she got
married and devoted herself to supporting her family. Since 1994, she has been involved in
the Special Olympics (SO). She has made efforts to establish SO branch offices throughout
Japan, as well as to turn SO Nippon into a public interest incorporated foundation. At thesame time, she has contributed to its global activities as a board member of SO
International. In 2017, the Japanese Para-Sports Association commended her for her
outstanding achievements in support of people with intellectual disabilities.