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 CareConscious.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.

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.

James Spiegel serves on EnlightenNext’s Board of Directors as the Chair of the Finance Committee. For over twenty-five years, Spiegel held finance administration positions at Grandcor, Inc.—a parent holding company for several for-profit and not-for-profit companies based in Dayton, Ohio—retiring from the position of Chief Financial Officer in 1999. He went on to serve as treasurer, CFO, and Board member for the Dayton nonprofit, Tree of Life. Spiegel holds a master’s degree in health care administration from the University of Iowa and is a Certified Public Accountant. He also served as CFO at St. Mary’s Hospital in Racine, Wisconsin, from 1968 to 1971 and prior to that was an auditor with the Milwaukee CPA firm, Peat, Marwick and Mitchell. Spiegel has chaired EnlightenNext’s Finance Committee since 2006.

Felix Wittwer is a practicing solicitor in Zurich, specializing in finance and project management for corporate and real estate law. Wittwer studied at the University of Zurich and received his law degree from the High Court of Zurich. In addition to his corporate work, he also has a private law practice. Wittwer has been active in politics in Switzerland for twenty years and held various public offices during that time, including mayor of Niederweningen (a suburb of Zurich) for sixteen years. He sits on the board of directors and executive committees of several Swiss nonprofit organizations working in health, education, and the arts. He is also a founding member of the EnlightenNext Zurich Center and is currently working closely with the EnlightenNext Frankfurt Center in development and fundraising.