- Charles Burack, Ph.D.
- Li Chan, Ph.D.
- Jane DeCuir
- Fr. Jayson Landeza
- Rabinnical Pastor Shoshana Phoenixx
- Shaikha Shakina Reinhertz
- Rev. Rebecca Senoglu
- Anam Thubten Rinpoche
Charles Burack, Ph.D.
Charles Michael Burack, Ph.D. (ChI Adjunct Faculty) is Chair of the Department of Liberal Arts and Director of the B.A. Psychology Program at John F. Kennedy University, where he specializes in interdisciplinary studies in psychology, spirituality, and literature. He has also taught integrative approaches to sacred literature, Jewish mysticism, creative writing, creative power at work, and working visioning at St. Mary’s College, UC Berkeley, and California Institute of Integral Studies. Dr. Burack is a widely published writer-poet, award-winning scholar, and author of two books and dozens of essays, poems, prayers, stories, and meditations. He is also a spiritual counselor, interfaith chaplain, and career/creativity coach. He holds a Ph.D. in English from UC Berkeley and an M.A. in Human Development from the University of Chicago. A graduate of the Spiritual Directors Institute (Mercy Center) and a former rabbinical student, he is a volunteer interfaith chaplain at Kaiser Permanente Hospital and is active in interfaith education, arts, and counseling.
Li Chan, Ph.D.
Li Chan, Ph.D. is the Buddhist chaplain at San Francisco Juvenile Hall, where he teaches a weekly class, “Anger Control Using Meditation.” He also teaches “Stress Control Using Meditation” classes at the San Francisco County Jail and the Sheriff’s Department substance abuse program. Once a year, he travels to Thailand for a month-long retreat to practice meditation for 8 – 12 hours a day. For his “day job,” Professor Chan holds a faculty position in the Graduate School of Education, University of California, Berkeley, teaching courses on school district financial management. Previously he was the Chief Financial Officer of St. Mary’s College in Moraga, California, and Chief Technology Officer at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco.
Jane DeCuir
Jane DeCuir, a performance artist, musician and visual artist, has taught traditional crafts, singing, drumming and movement in various schools since 1993. She is a Metis (mixed blood ancestry) of Native American (Cherokee, Lakota), European and African heritage. She has studied Native American drumming and singing with Richard Dobson, movement and dance with Olivia Corson and Luisah Teish, improv theater with Ruth Zaporah, and voice with Judy Davis. She has also performed in the cross-cultural groups Adesha, Tampat, and Drumfire.
Fr. Jayson Landeza
Fr. Jayson Landeza, ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1987, has served in parish assignments throughout the Diocese of Oakland. For ten years he has been the pastor of St. Columba Catholic Church in Oakland, the largest predominately African-American Catholic parish in the East Bay. He also serves as a chaplain for the Oakland Police Department, the Oakland Fire Department, the Berkeley Fire Department and the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department, as well as on the Emergency Clergy Response Team for San Francisco International Airport. He works with a support group called Family and Friends of Murder Victims (Oakland chapter), and he is a member of NIA (Network for Interfaith Action), Mayor Ron Dellums' committee of religious / interfaith advisors. He represents the Catholic priests of California, Nevada and Hawaii to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and is on the Board of Directors of several organizations, including the National Catholic Reporter Publishing Company and two affordable senior housing corporations.
Rabbinical Pastor Shoshana Phoenixx
Rabbinical Pastor Shoshana Phoenixx, ChI Adjunct Faculty, is a longtime hospital and hospice chaplain and an active member and leader in the Jewish community. Currently she is the Director of Older Adult and Volunteer Programs for Jewish Community Center of the East Bay. A graduate of Chochmat HaLev's Immersion in Jewish Spiritual Leadership program, she is the author of The Phoenixx Hagaddah. Shoshana uses poetry, storytelling, art, crafts, music and American Sign Language in her work to teach community and college-based courses, including courses on grief, mourning and healing from a Jewish perspective, spiritual care for hospitalized patients and terminally ill patients of all faiths, and spiritual assessment strategies for healthcare professionals.
Shaikha Shakina Reinhertz
Shaikha Shakina Reinhertz, author of Women Called to the Path of Rumi, has been a student of Sufism for thirty years and is initiated as a teacher in the Mevlevi Order of America and the Sufi Order International. She has taught at universities and spiritual communities, sharing the mystical path of the dervish through stories, zikr, and Sufi practices.
Her professional experience includes over twenty years of experience in education and social service work, with an emphasis on women's issues. She has been a guest presenter on Sufism at Colgate University, City College of San Francisco, Rochester University, and Wisdom University. The heart of her practice is Sacred Dance; her teachers have included T.Y. Pang, Chitresh Das, Ann Halprin, and Mevlevi Postneshin Jelaluddin Loras. Currently she teaches the Whirling practice at Grace North Church and is part of the adjunct faculty of the Chaplaincy Institute. In 2008 she taught "Founding Islam: Her Story" at Starr King School for the Ministry, a division of the Graduate Theological Union.
Rev. Rebecca Senoglu
Rev. Rebecca Senoglu was ordained by The Chaplaincy Institute in May 2002, and has also completed a certificate program in Children’s Spirituality at First Steps in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Rebecca works as the Cancer Support Program Coordinator at Enloe Cancer Center in Chico, California, where she has developed programs like the “Telling Our Stories” writing workshops, the VIVA! support program for kids living with loved ones who have cancer, and the Enloe Cranes Project community healing arts and outreach project. She is also a volunteer chaplain for the Spiritual Care Team at Enloe Hospice, Treasurer of the Chico Area Interfaith Council, and in 2007-2008 was the Project Manager for the Hmong Community Wellness Project. She performs meaningful weddings and memorials for those who do not have a pastor, and she is employed by Chico funeral homes and by As You Like It Wedding Ceremonies as an officiant.
Anam Thubten Rinpoche
Anam Thubten Rinpoche was born in Tibet. At a young age he entered into training in the Vajrayana Buddhist tradition. A Buddhist scholar and writer, he currently teaches and leads mediation retreats. He is the main Dharma teacher for the Dharmata Foundation. His first book translated into English is No Self, No Problem.