Jim Kenney

Jim Kenney has been recognized for decades as a leader in the global movement for intercultural understanding. Working to promote harmony and cooperative action among the world's religious communities, he had a major role in the two largest interreligious gatherings ever held, the 1993 and 1999 Parliaments of the World's Religions in Chicago and Cape Town, respectively. He was global director of the Parliament from 1995 to 2002; and, in 2002, he founded the Interreligious Engagement Project, helping global interreligious communities address critical planetary issues.

Kenney is the co-founder and executive director of Common Ground, an adult educational center offering a wide range of programs on the great cultural, religious, philosophical, and spiritual traditions and their implications for every dimension of human experience. He is also co-founder and co-editor of Interreligious Insight: A Journal of Dialogue and Engagement and, from 1988 to 2009, was consulting editor and a regular contributor to Conscious Choice, an alternative-living magazine based in Chicago.

For over 30 years, Jim has lectured widely on political, social, religious, and cultural issues. Over the past decade, his research and writing have focused on cultural evolution: how human societies adapt -- sometimes dramatically -- to a changing world. His new book Thriving in the Crosscurrent: Clarity and Hope in a Time of Cultural Sea Change (Quest Books, 2010) is the pinnacle of that work. The book is available at bookstores nationwide and from major online booksellers.

For more information, please visit www.seachanges.net.