A.T. Ariyaratne is the Founder and President of the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement in Sri Lanka and is active in Sri Lankan politics and community development. A recipient of the Gandhi Peace Prize in 1996, Ariyaratne is known as the Gandhi of Sri Lanka for his work with alternative economic practices, sustainability, human rights, poverty reduction, and education.

Ellen Hodgson Brown is an attorney and author whose astute research skills have led in-depth analyses of current social problems. Her books include Web of Debt, an analysis of the Federal Reserve and the "Money Trust" and Forbidden Health, which traces the suppression of natural health treatments to the same corrupting influences that have captured the money system.

Fred Freundlich teaches at Mondragon Universtiy in Spain. He is a doctoral candidate at the Graduate School of Education, Harvard University, where his dissertation research is a new university initiative affiliated with the Mondragn Cooperative Corporation. Freundlich is a senior principal of Ownership Associates.

James Galbraith is a professor of economics and government at the University of Texas (Austin) and is Chair of Economists for Peace and Security, a global professional network. He is the author of six books, including Created Unequal: The Crisis in American Pay; Balancing Acts: Technology, Finance and the American Future, and his latest, The Predator State. Galbraith graduated magna cum laude from Harvard, received a Ph.D. in economics from Yale, and was a Marshall Scholar at King's College, Cambridge. He served on the staff of the U.S. Congress as Executive Director of the Joint Economic Committee, was a guest scholar at the Brookings Institution, and is currently a professor at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs and the Department of Government at the University of Texas at Austin.

Tom Greco is a community and monetary economist, educator and former college professor at Rochester Institute of Technology. He is a leading authority on cashless exchange systems, monetary history and theory, credit clearning systems, complementary currencies, statistical analysis, and community economic development. He is the author of several books, including Money and Debt: A Solution to the Global Crisis and The End of Money and the Future of Civilization.

Sam Keen  is a noted author, philosopher and expert on propaganda and the roles myths play in our psyches and societies. He holds Ph.D's in philosophy and theology from Harvard and has authored several bestselling books, including Fire in the Belly, Faces of the Enemy, which was also a PSB documentary, and Hymns to an Unknown God. His work on myth was the subject of a 60-minute special with Bill Moyers, Your Mythic Journey with Sam Keen. In addition to being an expert on cultural myths, Keen was a contributing editor at Psychology Today magazine for 20 years.

Andrew Kimbrell is one of the country's leading environmental attorneys. He is Executive Director of the International Center for Technology Assessment and Executive Director of the Center for Food Safety. He is the author of several books and articles on the environment, including The Human Body Shop and The Engineering and Marketing of Life.

David Korten has over 35 years of experience in preeminent business, academic, and international development institutions as well as in contemporary citizen action organizations. Trained in economics, organization theory, and business strategy, he holds M.B.A. and Ph.D degrees from Stanford University Graduate Schools of Business, has taught at Harvard, and served as a regional advisor for USAID. His work in third world countries opened his eyes to the consequences of economic globalization. In his new book, Agenda for a New Economy, Korten outlines alternatives for sustainable and respectful living on planet Earth. He is also the author of When Corporations Rule the World and The Post Corporate World: Life after Capitalism. He is co-founder of the Positive Futures Network and Yes! Magazine.

Mikel Lezamiz is the educational director of the Mondragon Cooperatives Corporation, the world's largest consortium of worker-owned businesses located in the Basque Country of Northern Spain. He helped organize Praxis Peace Institute's 5-day seminar at the MCC headquarters in the fall of 2008. Lezamiz is one of the most knowledgeable sources on the history and current operations of Mondragon's 120 worker-owned businesses.

Jacob Needleman is a professor of philosophy at San Francisco State University and serves as a consultant in the fields of psychology, medical ethics, philanthropy and business. His PBS special, Money and Culture, produced by Bill Moyers, discusses the role of money in our society and its power to shape our culture and souls. His books include Money and the Meaning of Life, The American Soul: Rediscovering the Wisdom of the Founders, and The Heart of Philosophy, and several others.

Stephanie Rearick is founder and Director of the 1300+-member Dane Co.TimeBank in Madison, Wisconsin -- one of the fastest-growing Timebanks in the US -- and serves on the TimeBanks USA Board of Directors. She spent six years with the international environmental organization Greenpeace and served as director of their Madison office. She is also co-owner of Mother Fool's Coffeehouse, which she and her husband have run since 1995. Rearick is also a musician and recording artist.

Vandana Shiva was born in India and is a physicist, environmental activist and author. She is one of the leaders of the International Forum on Globalization and is the founder of the Navdanya Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology (www.navdanya.org) She is the author of many books, including Water Wars: Pollution, Profits, and Privatization, Biopiracy: The Plunder of Nature and Knowledge, Monocultures of the Mind, and The Violence of the Green Revolution. She addressed the World Trade Organization summit in Seattle (1999) as well as the World Economic Forum in Melbourne, Australia (2000). In 1993, Shiva was the recipient of the Right Livelihood Award.

Judy Wicks is the co-founder of the nationwide Business for Local Living Economies (BALLE) and a founder of the Sustainable Business Network of Greater Philadelphia (SBN). She is also president of White Dog Community Enterprises, a non-profit dedicated to building a local food system and living economy in the Philadelphia region. Wicks has won numerous awards, including the James Beard Foundation's Humanitarian of the Year Award (2005) and the Philadelphia Sustainability Life Time Achievement Award (2007). She has appeared on Nightline, MacNeil/Lehrer Newshour, CNN, and many other TV and radio shows.

U.S. Representative Lynn Woolsey (D-CA,Sonoma County District) is in her 9th term as a representative of California's 6th District. Her journey from welfare mom to business owner, Mayor of Petaluma, and now Congresswoman has informed her progressive policies and provided one of the strongest backbones in the U.S. Congress. Woolsey is Co-Chair of the Progressive Caucus and is Chairwoman of the Committee on Education and Labor's Workforce Protections Subcommittee. She is a tireless advocate for peace, education, science, and responsible financial policies. In the most recent energy bill, Woolsey was instrumental in securing over $2 billion in renewable energy research, development, and commercial application. The energy bill included the "Woolsey Green Building Amendment, modeled after a project in her district, which promotes the use of renewal energy in public buildings.