Parker Palmer, founder and senior partner of the Center for Courage & Renewal, will be sharing his thoughts on the power of community. Few challenges are more important today than the creation of what Martin Luther King Jr. and others have called “Beloved Community” – a community which truly embraces the diversity of who we are as God’s creation.

Palmer is a world-renowned writer, speaker and activist who focuses on issues in education, community, leadership, spirituality and social change. He has reached millions worldwide through his nine books, including Let Your Life Speak, The Courage to Teach, A Hidden Wholeness, andHealing the Heart of Democracy.

Dr. Palmer holds a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of California at Berkeley, as well as eleven honorary doctorates, two Distinguished Achievement Awards from the National Educational Press Association, and an Award of Excellence from the Associated Church Press. In 2010, Palmer was given the William Rainey Harper Award whose previous recipients include Margaret Mead, Elie Wiesel, and Paolo Freire. In 2011, he was named an Utne Reader Visionary, one of “25 people who are changing your world.”