2021 New Thought Walden Awards Podcast Series

Rev. Jerry Troyer talks with Bishop Yvette A. Flunder, who is being honored with the Spirit of Inclusion Award. Bishop Flunder is the Senior Pastor of the City of Refuge United Church of Christ in Oakland, California, and Presiding Bishop of The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries. She shares her lifelong belief of treating people with value and equality. Bishop Flunder works to create a spiritual community that embraces all cultures, faith paths, gender expressions, and sexual orientations.

Bayo Akomolafe, Ph.D., is a widely appreciated speaker, teacher, public intellectual, author, and facilitator who is recognized for his poetic, unconventional, counterintuitive, and indigenous take on global crisis, civic action, and social change. He talks with Rev. Martha Creek about his work and his passions for drawing, singing, writing, designing, speaking, and traveling.

Rev. Jacquie Fernández talks to Bernadette Pleasant, founder and CEO of The Emotional Institute and creator of Femme! (a mind-body wellness program), 400 Years (a somatic-based anti-racism program), and Sacred Grief Ritual. Pleasant channels her personal journeys and radical empathy into transformative, immersive experiences that support and celebrate people of all genders, colors, ages, and sizes, inspiring them to express themselves and become empowered as their own badass selves.

Best-selling author Anita Moorjani shares with Diane Ray the power of empaths in our increasingly harsh world. Moorjani teaches us to embrace our sensitivity and see it as a strength that is a valuable and needed component in today’s world.

Diane Ray talks with Joe Dispenza, D.C., about breaking through our self-perceived limitations and stepping into our greatness. Dispenza believes that it’s possible for us to become more evolved as a species when we are freed from the chains of our own limitations.

Rev. Jerry Troyer, D.D., talks with California-based singer-songwriter, producer, and humanitarian Daniel Nahmod about his work responding to humanitarian crises around the world. They discuss how Nahmod has dealt with the COVID pandemic by presenting more than 180 concerts, extended workshops, morning meditations, Tao lectures, interviews, and special events—all entirely for free as a gift to an uneasy world in crisis.

Marianne Lewis is the music and arts director at the Agape International Spiritual Center with Rev. Michael Beckwith in Beverly Hills, California. Lewis talks with Rev. Julie Moret about her passion for music and her love for the genre of unconditional music.

Karen Drucker intends to make a difference by using her music to open hearts and share a message of hope, acceptance, and love. Drucker shares with Rev. Sheila McKeithen, J.D., her ideas on how music can heal.

Eisha A. Mason believes that we have all that we need within us to create beautiful, meaningful lives that help contribute to the greater good. Mason explains to Rev. Julie Moret that no matter what conditions we are experiencing in life, we can have greater freedom, love, prosperity, and joy. We do not need to be held captive to the past, ignorance, or fear. Mason is a spiritual practitioner of New Thought and ancient wisdom, a student of Buddhist teachings, and trained in spiritual psychology at the University of Santa Monica.

Kelly Fair is the founder and executive director of the Reflections Foundation and the Polished Pebbles Girls Mentoring Program, nonprofit organizations focused on the life-skills enhancement, career readiness, and leadership development of girls and young women. Fair shares with Rev. Sheila McKeithen, J.D., her philosophy on the importance of mentoring and unleashing a girl’s innate greatness so she can live her best life now and in the future.