Andrew Cohen is a spiritual teacher, cultural critic, revolutionary idealist, founder of the nonprofit organization EnlightenNext, and editor in chief of its flagship publication, EnlightenNext magazine. A visionary thinker, Cohen is widely recognized for his original contribution to the emerging field of evolutionary spirituality. Through his talks, retreats, publications, and ongoing dialogues with leading philosophers, mystics, and activists, he has become a defining voice in an international alliance of individuals and organizations that are committed to the transformation of human consciousness and culture. His speaking engagements have included keynote addresses and presentations for the Integral Leadership in Action Conference, the LOHAS International Conference, the Association of Global New Thought, the Australian Institute for Management, IBM Management Group (Amsterdam), the International Conference on the Frontiers of Yoga and Consciousness Research (India), John F. Kennedy University, Naropa University (Boulder, Colorado), New York University, Novozymes Corporation (Denmark), and the 2004 Parliament of the World’s Religions, among others. Cohen also participates in Deepak Chopra’s Alliance for a New Humanity. He was invited to write a “Memo to Barak Obama” by Tikkun Magazine (published January–February 2009) along with fifty other thought leaders, including Deepak Chopra, Michael Beckwith, Robert Thurman, Matthew Fox, and Riane Eisler. Cohen is author of Living Enlightenment, Embracing Heaven and Earth and Enlightenment Is a Secret. He is currently writing a new book due for release in spring 2010.

Charles Chavarria serves on EnlightenNext’s Board of Directors, and is the Chair of the Board’s Strategic Planning Committee. Chavarria is a practicing attorney specializing in corporate and business law and President of Chavarria & Partners Inc., a Houston-based international investment and development advisory firm that specializes in corporate mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, leveraged buyouts, strategic alliances and project development. Chavarria holds professional degrees from the United States Naval Academy, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Houston Bar Association, and the University of Houston Law Center.  He is a former commissioned military officer, and currently a member of the State Bar of Texas, the Houston Bar Association, the Association for Corporate Growth, and the Houston World Affairs Council. Chavarria also serves on the Board of Directors of several corporate entities.

Amy Edelstein is Executive Assistant to Andrew Cohen, Secretary of EnlightenNext’s Board of Directors, and a director of EnlightenNext’s Global Council. Edelstein has been a dedicated practitioner of Evolutionary Enlightenment since 1986 and has worked closely with Cohen in numerous capacities. Over recent years, she has contributed in key ways to the creation of dynamic governance and organizational systems for EnlightenNext that reflect the values and principles of Evolutionary Enlightenment. As one of the senior editors for EnlightenNext magazine for five years, Edelstein authored numerous pieces on the great wisdom traditions and their relevance in today’s world, interviewing contemporary spiritual leaders including the Dalai Lama, Ammachi, Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, and Brother Wayne Teasedale. Edelstein most recently served as part of the senior management team as Communications Director and is currently working with Cohen on his forthcoming book on Evolutionary Enlightenment, She lives in Lenox, Massachusetts, and is the founder of an award-winning online copywriting business, Ascent Copywriting.

David Gold serves on EnlightenNext’s Board of Directors as Chair of the Development Committee. A trial lawyer for fifteen years, Gold was the founding partner of Gold, Khourey, and Turak, a West Virginia law firm focusing on civil and criminal litigation. During his legal career, Gold also studied with West Virginia Zen teacher Richard Rose, and wrote about his experiences with Rose and the legal profession in his first book, After the Absolute. Gold went on to cofound Raleigh Group International, a software company that was eventually sold to BMC. He is founder and principal of several other businesses in North Carolina, including Strategic800 and SmartLegalMarketing.com, which provide marketing advice and service to trial attorneys, and Elderpaths.com, a resource website for caregivers of the elderly. He has taught at major universities including Florida Atlantic University and the University of Pittsburgh, has lectured to student and professional groups around the country, has hosted weekly radio and television shows, and in 1996 produced the award-winning documentary film The Prison Sutras.

Melissa Hoffman is the founder and president of the nonprofit Living Future Foundation and director of Teal Farm in Huntington, Vermont. Inspired by her work with EnlightenNext, Hoffman established Living Future and Teal Farm to promote visionary approaches to philanthropy and ecological innovation that are creatively challenging and globally relevant. Teal Farm is a utopian development in the mountains of Vermont that reflects Hoffman’s passion for the design of transformative infrastructure that can inspire a new vision for the future. It spans a 1,300-acre complex that integrates a multi-source renewable energy system, the largest permaculture orchard in the country, and green architecture. It was designed to host the next wave of innovation that will confront complex physical realities with our highest creative abilities. Prior to her work with Teal Farm, Melissa was an assistant editor for the Christian Science Monitor, and she also cofounded an organic farm and apprenticeship program in Vermont. In her ten-year association with EnlightenNext, Hoffman has also been a staff editor for EnlightenNext magazine.

Chris Parish is Managing Director of the EnlightenNext Center in London. He also serves on EnlightenNext’s Board of Directors and is Vice Chair of the EnlightenNext Global Council. A serious spiritual practitioner for over thirty-five years, Parish has been studying Evolutionary Enlightenment with Andrew Cohen since 1986. As Cohen’s most senior practitioner and teacher of Evolutionary Enlightenment, Parish has played a key role throughout the history of EnlightenNext. As cofounder of the EnlightenNext London Center in 1992, he has guided the evolution of individuals and groups throughout the UK. He has also directed EnlightenNext centers in Holland, Germany, and Australia.

Parish has contributed significantly to the development of the practice of Evolutionary Enlightenment. Working closely with Cohen, Parish has done pioneering work developing Enlightened Communication, a unique art and science of dialogue beyond ego that is based on the principles of Evolutionary Enlightenment. He has also traveled extensively, delivering workshops on Evolutionary Enlightenment around the world, and has been invited to speak at numerous centers and conferences, including: Winchester University (England); Tiere du Ciel (France); Tetra (Belgium); National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation (USA); Whole System Change (USA); and integral conferences such as the Frankfurt Autumn Academy. As a contributing editor to EnlightenNext magazine, Parish has published interviews with contemporary spiritual teachers, including Ramesh Balsekar, Douglas Harding, and the Shankaracharya of Sringeri. Prior to his work with EnlightenNext, Parish was a practicing homeopath and pioneered an innovative approach for treating acute illnesses in homeopathic clinics.

Calvin Phipps is EnlightenNext’s Chief Executive Officer and is committed to creating a world-class organization based on the principles of Evolutionary Enlightenment. During his eighteen years with EnlightenNext, Phipps has held various roles, including Director of Operations, Marketing Director, and Director of Membership Services. In 2006, Phipps spearheaded the initiative to rebrand the organization, long-established as a spiritual and educational nonprofit, as EnlightenNext. It was also under his guidance that EnlightenNext launched the first membership program that significantly broadened the base of active participants in the organization’s activities. Since Phipps assumed the role of CEO in 2007, EnlightenNext has clarified and articulated its organizational mission and has unified its programs and initiatives to align with its core mission. Phipps is currently shepherding EnlightenNext into a new phase of sustainability. Additionally, he serves in the capacity of global CEO and sits on EnlightenNext’s Global Council, a governance body whose function is to unify EnlightenNext activities around the world. Prior to his work with EnlightenNext, Phipps was trained and worked as a network engineer in the information technology industry and also spent many years in sales and finance.

Carter Phipps is Executive Editor of EnlightenNext magazine and has been a leading pioneer in EnlightenNext’s work in cultural evolution for over eighteen years. Phipps’s areas of expertise range from politics to science and technology to metaphysics and the history of evolutionary theory. He regularly presents his work, and that of the magazine, at conferences and leadership gatherings, and he is a member of the Evolutionary Leaders Forum, convened at the Chopra Foundation in 2008. Phipps has spoken at the by-invitation-only Assembly of Leaders that preceded the 2004 Parliament of the World’s Religions, at the 2008 Edinburgh Festival of Spirituality and Peace, at numerous institutes for higher education, and at conferences sponsored by Praxis Peace Institute, Wisdom University, and Integral Institute. Phipps has also been interviewed on the BBC’s Reporting Religion and New Dimensions radio, Deepak Chopra’s Wellness Radio, and is featured in The Shift, a soon-to-be-released documentary, alongside global spiritual leaders and activists. Phipps is currently working on his first book, to be called “Evolutionaries: The People, Passions, and Perspectives that are Shaping a New Synthesis of Science and Spirit”, to be published by Harper Perennial in spring 2011.

Bob Voss, Ph.D., is Chief Operating Officer and a member of the Board of Directors for EnlightenNext. A practitioner of Evolutionary Enlightenment for over twenty years, Voss has worked closely with EnlightenNext founder and spiritual teacher Andrew Cohen to help cultivate and develop a growing global movement of “evolutionaries”—individuals interested in creating a true revolution in culture. He has also worked with the organization in various capacities since it was incorporated in 1988. Formally trained as an ecologist, Voss earned his Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts. His extensive training in systems ecology has found a new form of expression at EnlightenNext in his work facilitating the creation of an integrated organization that reflects the principles of Evolutionary Enlightenment. Under Voss’s guidance, EnlightenNext reestablished its Board of Directors, implemented a strong supporting infrastructure, and created a new management structure to provide a solid foundation for the organization’s development. Prior to working with EnlightenNext, Voss worked for fifteen years as a software consultant and trainer and coauthored several bestselling software books for Que Publications.