Ally Hawkins

Ally Hawkins

Ally Hawkins, Co-facilitator, My Work To Do

Ally Hawkins was born and raised in the American South. There, she spent the majority of her life in what she considers radical evangelical fundamentalist religious spaces, steeped in both white supremacy and Christian Nationalism. She homeschooled her four children for 10 years while teaching fundamentalist classical, religious and Bible classes.

In 2020, Ally began a journey to deconstruct her faith and the deep indoctrination of white supremacy and patriarchal culture. She currently participates in and co-facilitates My Work To Do, an anti-racism affinity group founded by Suzanne Edwards-Acton. Ally is also a Denver area leader for the Colorado Poor People’s Campaign and serves the Denver Public Schools, as well as the local unhoused community. Ally considers herself an open-hearted wanderer, learning to pay attention, tell the truth, and reimagine flourishing for all.

Storyteller, Inspiring Stories: How Do We Stop Perpetuating Racism?

Suzanne Edwards-Acton

Suzanne Edwards-Acton

Suzanne Edwards-Acton, Founder, My Work To Do

Suzanne Edwards-Acton is the founder of MyWorkToDo.com, a program designed as a space for white people to build stamina for conversations on race. Co-chair of the Program Group on Black Ministry for the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, she is the immediate past Vice President of the H. Belfield Hannibal Chapter of the Union of Black Episcopalians.

Suzanne holds a BA from the University of California, San Diego and a master’s degree from Loyola Marymount University. She has spent the greater part of her career in education, having been a teacher and principal. Currently, she is Director of Equity Initiatives for the Center for Collaborative Education’s Community Partnerships for Teacher Pipeline. From 2011-2017, Suzanne served as Director of the Jubilee Consortium Episcopal Urban Intern Program (now Jubilee Year Los Angeles). This role combined nonprofit management with her skills in facilitating spiritual formation, which she developed while acquiring a master’s degree in Pastoral Ministry from Seminary of the Southwest.

Suzanne hosts the podcast #WeekByWeekBeads::Anglican Prayer Beads. She also facilitates #TwoFriendsTalking::Conversations on race, a Facebook community. Her program #InCreaseTheFold hosts folding (origami) events as a contemplative practice. Suzanne is passionate about racial equity and loves walking the labyrinth and collaging. She avidly follows the re-established North Star publication (originally begun by Frederick Douglass) and the Breakdown Podcast. A clergy spouse, she is mother to two young adult sons.

Guest Moderator, Inspiring Stories: How Do We Stop Perpetuating Racism?

John Philip Newell

John Philip Newell

John Philip Newell (born 1953) is a Celtic teacher and author of spirituality who calls the modern world to reawaken to the sacredness of the earth and every living being.

Canadian by birth and also a citizen of Scotland, he resides with his family in Edinburgh and works on both sides of the Atlantic. In 2016 he began the School of Earth and Soul, originally called the School of Celtic Consciousness. He teaches regularly in the United States and Canada, as well as leading international pilgrimage weeks on Iona in the Western Isles of Scotland.

Newell earned his PhD from the University of Edinburgh. He has authored over 15 books, including A New Ancient Harmony, Sounds of the Eternal, and The Rebirthing of God. His latest major publication is Sacred Earth, Sacred Soul: Celtic Wisdom for Reawakening to What Our Souls Know and Healing the World.

Newell speaks of himself as “a wandering teacher” following the ancient path of many lone teachers before him in the Celtic world. These “wandering Scots” (known as scotus vagans) sought after the well-being of the world. He has been described as having “the heart of a Celtic bard and the mind of a Celtic scholar,” combining in his teachings the poetic and intellectual, the head and heart, and spiritual awareness as well as political and ecological concern. His writings have been translated into seven languages. 

In 2020 Newell relinquished his ordination as a minister of the Church of Scotland as no longer reflecting the heart of his belief in the sacredness of the earth and every human being. However, he continues to see himself as “a grateful son of the Christian household” seeking to be in relationship with the wisdom of humanity’s other great spiritual traditions.

Sedona Jacobson

Sedona Jacobson

“Ya’aat’eeh” is Sedona Jacobson’s greeting as the 21-year-old student introduces herself. She is pursuing her bachelor’s degree in agriculture science at Diné College, the first tribally controlled and accredited collegiate institution in the U.S. Sedona resides in Fort Defiance, Arizona, about eight miles from the capital of the Navajo Nation Reservation.

But having grown up in College Station, Texas, she was thrown into culture shock that turned her world upside down. Things only turned back upright when she was finally able to trust and let God show her just how beautiful her homeland and tradition are – and have always been.

Storyteller, Inspiring Stories: How Survivors of Racism are Healing

Kandake Ameena Siddique

Kandake Ameena Siddique

​Kandake Ameena Siddique is a Muslim American who is committed to criminal penal reform, equity in education and community relations. She is the Finance Manager at the Association of Legal Administrators in Chicago and a board member of the Learn Charter School Network, serving over 4,000 students across 10 Chicago area campuses and one new campus in Washington, DC.

Kandake is also the co-founder of Together We Must, a grassroots social organization, and the Board Secretary for the Islamic Urban Community Center in Chicago. She partners with her husband, Al Ameen, in several dawah initiatives including the Solution Series: Al Ameen, The Incarcerated Imam. She also volunteers for several criminal justice task forces and advocates for numerous individuals who are currently incarcerated.

Storyteller, Inspiring Stories: How Survivors of Racism are Healing