Into the Stratosphere with Dr. Bishop and Friends: Global Reconciliation

Writer, researcher, professor, youth advocate, Nietzschean, and surf monk, Dr. Elizabeth Bishop is the author of two books, Becoming Activist (2015) and Embodying Theory (2018). She lives in Brooklyn with her dog, Messy.

Writer and community organizer Diana K. Pinacho holds a bachelor’s degree in communication from National Autonomous University of Mexico (Mexico City). Her professional career has been focused mainly in journalism and marketing. She is an avid writer; when she isn’t writing professionally, she writes poetry and essays on her blog, Sofá de Letras. Since self-recognizing as an Afro-Mexican woman, she has been a part of various organizations which focus on the recognition and advancement of Black populations in Mexico. She is a member of Huella Negra and Red de Mujeres Afrodescendientes de la Ciudad de México, organizations which actively stand against racism in Mexico.

Founder and CEO of the International Surf Therapy Organization (ISTO)—a nonprofit she co-founded in 2017 in Cape Town, South Africa—Kris Primacio utilizes her Psychology Degree as a highly skilled, compassionate, empathetic, and solutions-oriented professional. She applies her genuine love for the sport of surfing and proven knowledge of the therapeutic benefits of the ocean to help advance exposure and research on surf therapy as a health intervention.

Professor and community organizer Henry Beltrán Pérez has over 8 years of experience as a peacemaker in Colombia. He works on Indigenous education, climate change issues, and prevention of child recruitment with underserved communities, as well as mechanisms of participation for the 2016 Columbian Peace Agreements.

An innovator in the learning and development fields, Mohit Mukherjee has nearly two decades of experience with professionals from around the world in the areas of social innovation, positive leadership, and organizational wellbeing. In 2006, he founded the Center for Executive education at University for Peace in Costa Rica, established by the United Nations. Mukherjee’s background includes management consulting, working with global nonprofits with a focus on sustainable development, leading private-public partnerships, and starting a profitable education enterprise. He is committed to youth entrepreneurship and recently authored a handbook for social innovators.

Educator and researcher Dr. Maritza Lozano is committed to the design of environments that support equitable learning for ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse youth. She combines participatory design perspectives to examine systemic educational injustice, and to disrupt and reimagine educational systems. A Xicana first-generation daughter of immigrants educated within Los Angeles schools, she is currently an Assistant Professor in the Educational Leadership Department at California State University Fullerton, where she supports school leaders to challenge hierarchical systems of education. She has worked within public school communities across the US for nearly 25 years and holds a PhD in Education from UCLA.