Speakers
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Benjamin BowlerUNITY EARTH, Executive DirectorBen is the Executive Director of UNITY EARTH, a global network empowering solutions for unity, purpose and peace.
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Mr Surender Singh KandhariGuru Nanak Darbar Gurudwara Dubai, Chairman
Mr. Kandhari was born in 1948 in India.
In 1976, Mr. Kandhari came to Dubai to grow the family business and formed the Al Dobowi Group. The group today is the leading management services provider in the UAE and has grown to have over 2000 employees and have a significant presence in Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Ghana, Europe, and Canada.He is also the Chairman of the Guru Nanak Darbar, Sikh Temple, Dubai – the First Sikh Gurudwara in the UAE; to name a few of his activities.
He has attended the G20 Interfaith Summit held in the Gold Coast Australia in 2014 and in Malaysia in 2015 as a delegate of the UAE Government to promote Interfaith Harmony & Tolerance. -
Ms Audrey Kitagawa International Academy for Multicultural Cooperation (IAMC), Founder and President
Ms Audrey KitagawaInternational Academy for Multicultural Cooperation (IAMC), Founder and President
Audrey E. Kitagawa, J.D., is the President/Founder of the International Academy for Multicultural Cooperation, the President of the Light of Awareness International Spiritual Family, the Chair of the Anti-Racism Initiative and Co-Chair of the Gender Equality Working Group of the G20 Interfaith Forum, and the former Advisor to the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Children and Armed Conflict at the United Nations.
She is a United Nations Representative for the United Religions Initiative, an Ambassador of Religions for Peace International, and Chair Emerita of the NGO Committee on Spirituality, Values and Global Concerns, A Committee of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations. She has been enstooled into the royal family as the Nekoso Hemaa, (i.e. Queen Mother of Development), of Ajiyamanti in Ghana, West Africa, and has a school which she helped to build named after her in her African name, the Nana Ode Anyankobea Junior Secondary School.
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Mussie HailuURI Representative at the UN (Africa office) and the African Union, Former Ambassador
Ambassador Mussie Hailu is a peacebuilder who is working at national, regional, and international levels for peace, reconciliation, interfaith harmony, disarmament, the Golden Rule, world citizenship, right human relationships, and international cooperation for the preservation of the environment. He considers himself a Citizen of the World, believing strongly in the inter-dependence of human beings. He celebrates cultural diversity, seeing the differences in race, ethnicities, religions, politics, and nationalities as important elements of the one and indivisible humanity. He has served many national and international organizations, including the United Nations. Mussie also served as Diplomat in the rank of Ambassador and Special Envoy of the President of Burundi. Currently, he serves as URI Director of Global Partnerships, URI Representative at the United Nations and the African Union, and URI-Africa Regional Director. He is a founding member of URI.
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Salman ChishtyChishty Foundation, Founder and President
Syed Salman Chishty hails from the Chishty Sufi family of Ajmer Sharif, the Gaddi-Nashin (hereditary custodians) of the 11th century Sufi shrine of Hazrat Khawaja Moinuddin Hassan Chishty. His work involves the research of Sufi traditions and their interaction with global cultures and traditions. He is a regular participant at international conferences on interfaith dialogue and has represented the Chishty Sufi Order in the Middle East, Asia, the United States and the United Kingdom. A founding member of the Chishty Foundation, he has served as its director for the last five years. He has also written several articles on Sufism and spiritual understanding for various national and international publications. Chishty also has an interest in photographing the ‘sacred’ and captured his Sufi journeys across the globe. His work has been exhibited at various events and exhibitions.
Dubai Convergence: World Cultures Unite in Calling for Genuine Transformation – Unity Earth
The Dubai Convergence represents a “unity in diversity” of many organizations coming together from different faith traditions, spiritual perspectives, nations, ethnicities, and disciplines all united in a common purpose and for a common cause.
This combined “double session” offers an integration of many aspects at the intersection of faith, spirituality, climate crisis, gender, activism, governance, the arts and intergenerational equity.
With a focus on integral ecology and the root interconnectedness of reality, these combined panels bring together indigenous wisdom, faith traditions, evolutionary spiritual perspective as well as deeper mystical insights that help us reimagine the current global ecological crises and reframe the narrative around solutions, equity, hope, justice and survival.