Board of Directors

Abigail Abrash Walton serves as faculty in Antioch’s Department of Environmental Studies, where she directs the ES Masters of Science program and Advocacy master’s degree concentration. Under her leadership, the New England campus developed and advanced its own climate action plan, including significant reductions in electricity usage through low-/no-cost behavior change strategies. Previously, she served as program director for the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights and New Hampshire Citizens Alliance and as a Visiting Fellow at Harvard Law School’s Human Rights Program.

Abigail chaired the City of Keene’s Planning Board (2011-2014) and served on the Steering Committee for the City’s Master Plan. Her leadership contributed to the city’s adoption of a Hillside Protection Ordinance and Surface Water Protection Ordinance. She has been a commentator for The Washington Post, The New York Times, National Public Radio, “Democracy Now!” and the PBS NewsHour, among other media outlets. Dr. Abrash Walton earned a PhD in Leadership and Change from Antioch University, a M.Sc. in Political Theory from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania.

Jerry Bedford is a skilled fundraiser and communicator, who has devoted his life to lifting people out of hunger and poverty and empowering them toward self-reliance.  Trained in agriculture, business and philosophy, he worked two years as a youth organizer in East Africa before becoming chief fundraiser for Heifer International in 1966.  He subsequently established the Heifer International Foundation to build an endowment to support Heifer’s work.  Heifer’s annual income grew from $300,000  in 1966 to $115 million today and foundation assets from zero to $105 million.   While working at Heifer, in the 1980’s Bedford founded the Arkansas Rice Depot, a statewide food bank, that supported 300 food pantries and initiated the food backpack program for hungry school kids that has now spread throughout the US and to several foreign countries. Other boards on which Bedford served many years are:   Fonkoze, a micro-credit program in Haiti serving primarily women with education, credit, banking and insurance services with 1000 employees and 45 offices throughout the country; the Good Shepherd Retirement Center in Little Rock, an ecumenical facility providing all levels of care for 400 retirees from all economic levels; and the Morris Foundation, a private foundation supporting hundreds of non-profits, mostly in Arkansas, focused on education, the arts, and social services.

John Buchanan received his Masters degree in humanistic/transpersonal psychology from West Georgia College, and his doctorate from the Graduate Institute of the Liberal Arts at Emory University. He has been trained and certified as a Holotropic Breathwork practitioner by Stan and Christina Grof.  Currently, he is writing a book based upon his continuing interests in process philosophy and transpersonal psychology. Dr. Buchanan also serves as president of the Helios Foundation.

Send correspondence to: John Buchanan, 2631 Northern Road, #900, Appleton, WI 54914; or to oddjohn@aol.com.

Philip Clayton is the president of the Institute for Ecological Civilization. As a visionary thinker, Philip leads EcoCiv in expanding and deepening its mission at the intersections of environment and humanity. With several decades of experience in university-based research, teaching, and lecturing, Philip is involved in the conceptual development of all EcoCiv’s projects and ensures mission fit. In particular, he helps project leaders think about intersectional societal changes relevant for their particular projects. Philip holds the PhD from Yale University; has held guest professorships at Harvard, University of Cambridge, and University of Munich; and is the author or editor of several dozen books and some 300 articles on science, ethics, and religion.

John B. Cobb, Jr. is an American theologian, philosopher, and environmentalist known for his work across multiple disciplines and sectors of society. Author of more than 50 books, his work For the Common Good: Redirecting the Economy Toward Community, Environment, and a Sustainable Future, co-authored with Herman Daly, won the Grawemeyer Award for Ideas Improving World Order. In 2014, Cobb was elected to the prestigious Academy of Arts and Sciences.

John Fahey serves as the Chairperson of The Cobb Institute and as an Adjunct Philosophy Instructor at The University of La Verne. He is a graduate of the Starr-King School for Ministry, a member school of the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley California and also studied philosophy and religion as an undergraduate student at Colgate University. John has held a number of counseling and leadership positions in a variety of nonprofit organizations, including Unitarian Universalist Congregations and various counseling centers. John is also a retired technology industry sales executive where he led sales and marketing teams for a number of technology companies managing fortune 100 companies. John has a passion for education and is a partner and President of Reading Ways, a company designed to ensure high-quality literacy instruction in all content areas for a school system. Reading Ways believes that all students should leave secondary school able to use reading and writing to participate effectively in society in a variety of roles, be it as a private individual, citizen, or employee. John and his wife Cyndy live in Claremont California and are the proud parents of four adult children.

Louis Kim is a Vice President in HP’s 3D printing division in San Diego. A graduate of Brown University and Yale University, Louis speaks and writes on leadership, ethics, innovation and productivity. He is also actively involved as a coach and consultant in the nonprofit sector, having been a co-founder of a non-profit. He currently serves on the boards of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture at the Yale Divinity School and the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology, and has been actively advising EcoCiv on core growth strategies and international water projects.

Steven Knapp is President and CEO at Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh. Upon assuming his post in February 2020, one of his primary objectives has been to create a culture of collaboration between the museum’s unique mix of offerings, which include the Carnegie Museums of Art and Natural History, Carnegie Science Center, and The Andy Warhol Museum. Another of his primary objectives is to advance diversity and inclusion efforts at the museums, both from an internal and external perspective.

Dr. Knapp is President Emeritus and a former University Professor of English at the George Washington University. A specialist in English Romanticism, literary theory, and the relation of literature to philosophy and religion, Dr. Knapp taught at the University of California, Berkeley before serving as dean of arts and sciences and then provost of the Johns Hopkins University. During his two tenure as GW president (2007-2017), his priorities included enhancing the university’s partnerships with neighboring institutions, expanding the scope of its research, strengthening its worldwide community of alumni, enlarging its students’ opportunities for public service, and leading its transformation into a model of urban sustainability.

The author of three books and numerous articles, he earned his bachelor’s degree at Yale University and his master’s and doctoral degrees at Cornell University.

Jeremy Lent is an author and speaker whose work investigates the underlying causes of our civilization’s existential crisis and explores pathways toward a life-affirming future. His award-winning books, The Patterning Instinct: A Cultural History of Humanity’s Search for Meaning, and The Web of Meaning: Integrating Science and Traditional Wisdom to Find Our Place in the Universe, trace the historical underpinnings and flaws of the dominant worldview, and offer a foundation for an integrative worldview that could lead humanity to a flourishing future. He has written extensively about the vision of, and pathways toward, an ecological civilization and is the founder of the Deep Transformation Network.

Sandra Waddock is Galligan Chair of Strategy, Carroll School Scholar of Corporate Responsibility, and Professor of Management at Boston College’s Carroll School of Management.  She has published over 170 papers and chapters and 15 books and received multiple lifetime achievement awards. Her newest book is Transforming towards Life-Centered Economies (Business Expert Press, 2020).  Current research interests include transformational system change, memes and narrative, flourishing life, intellectual shamanism, management education, and wisdom, among others.