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"True peace is not merely the absence of tension: it is the presence of justice."
– Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Speakers

Marian Wright Edelman

Marian Wright Edelman is a lifelong advocate for disadvantaged Americans and is the Founder and President of the Children's Defense Fund (CDF). Under her leadership, CDF has become the nation's strongest voice for children and families.

Mrs. Edelman graduated from Spelman College and Yale Law School. In the mid–60s, she was the first black woman admitted to the Mississippi Bar and directed the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund office in Jackson, Mississippi.

She moved to Washington, D.C. in 1968 to become counsel for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Poor People's Campaign.

Mrs. Edelman founded the Washington Research Project, a public interest law firm and the parent body of the Children's Defense Fund. She began CDF in 1973. She served as the Director of the Center for Law and Education at Harvard University for two years.

Mrs. Edelman served on the Board of Trustees of Spelman College and chaired the Board from 1976 to 1987. She was the first woman elected by alumni as a member of the Yale University Corporation on which she served from 1971 to 1977.

She has received over one hundred honorary degrees and many awards including the Albert Schweitzer Humanitarian Prize, the Heinz Award, and a MacArthur Foundation Prize Fellowship.

In 2000, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award, and the Robert F. Kennedy Lifetime Achievement Award for her writings.

She is a board member of the Robin Hood Foundation, the Association to Benefit Children, and City Lights School and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the American Philosophical Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.

Marian Wright Edelman is married to Peter Edelman, a Professor at Georgetown Law School. They have three sons, Joshua, Jonah, and Ezra, two granddaughters, Ellika and Zoe, and two grandsons Elijah and Levi.

The Reverend Dr. Clifton Kirkpatrick

Stated Clerk of the General Assembly
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, is the Stated Clerk (chief ecclesiastical officer) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). He is also the President of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches. He served previously as Director of the Worldwide Ministries Division, where he led the Presbyterian Church's ministries in the United States and in over 80 other nations in the areas of evangelism, education, health, world service, and development.

Kirkpatrick serves on the governing boards of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., the World Council of Churches, and the Council of Presidents, United States Chapter of the World Conference on Religion and Peace.

Mrs. Mercedes Roman

GNRC Coordinator - Latin America and the Caribbean

Mercedes Roman is an Ecuadorian sociologist who has dedicated her work and life to women and children's rights. Currently she works from Ecuador as the Latin American Coordinator for the Global Network of Religions for Children (GNRC) and the UN Representative for Defence for Children International (DCI). She has a broad academic background with studies in anthropology, philosophy and sociology of religion (Central and Catholic Universities, Ecuador; and Louvain La Neuve, Belgium). She has worked with the ecumenical organization Church and Society in Latin America (Ecuador), The Theological Center (Catholic University of Talca, Chile), the Intercontinental Center in Louvain La Neuve (Belgium), the Ecumenical Commission on Human Rights (Ecuador), Defense for Children International, DCI (Ecuador and USA), and the Pastoral do Menor (Paraiba, Brazil). Ms. Roman founded the DCI Section in Ecuador and was its first President and CEO, then represented DCI at the UN for six years. She is fluent in Spanish, English, French and Portuguese. She and her husband Thomas Bamat have been Maryknoll Lay Missioners since 1982, and have three children. Ms. Roman has been involved with the GNRC since the early planning phases before the First Forum where she served as the Chairperson for the Group on Education. In developing the GNRC in Latin America, she has involved both Catholic and Protestant organizations, as well person and groups from other religions focusing on violence and poverty.

More information on the role of GNRC regional coordinators is available here.