Ashley Judd is well known for dexterously starring in both box office hits and for turning in unforgettable performances in fine independent films. From her debut in Sundance Film Festival grand jury prize winner, Ruby In Paradise, to Where the Heart Is , Simon Burch, Helen, De-Lovely and Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, her films tell very personal stories-- which is exactly what Judd does when she is not making movies. But the stories she tells are not about being a Golden Globe and Emmy-nominated actress or about making People magazine's “50 Most Beautiful People” list three times.

Ashley Judd is a feminist and social justice humanitarian. She has been working internationally, with NGO’S, grass roots organizations, governments, and supranational bodies since 2004. Presently, she serves as Global Goodwill Ambassador for UNFPA, is the Global Ambassador for Population Services International, and also for Polaris Project. She serves on the Advisory Boards of International Center for Research on Women, Apne Aap Worldwide, and Demand Abolition. She is Chairperson of the Women’s Media Center Speech Project: Curbing Abuse, Expanding Freedom. She has also served as a board member for Population Services International (PSI) and as Global Ambassador for YouthAIDS.

She is a graduate of the University of Kentucky, and in 2010, earned a Master of Public Administration (MPA) from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Her paper, Gender Violence, Law and Social Justice won the Dean’s Scholar Award at Harvard Law School.

Ms. Judd speaks on behalf of those who cannot speak for themselves.

Former pastor and New York Times bestselling author Nadia Bolz-Weber has been called “a pastor for America’s outsiders” (BBC). Bolz-Weber is the first to attest that she doesn’t look like most people’s idea of a pastor, but the community of faith she founded in Denver, Colorado—House for All Sinners and Saints—is a haven for a diverse community seeking affirmation and acceptance. In her books and talks, Bolz-Weber makes the deeply felt argument that honesty and human connection are key to creating and sustaining community. In the New York Times bestselling memoir Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner & Saint, Bolz-Weber “takes readers on the engaging and accessible journey” (Booklist) from her roots as a hard-drinking standup comic to an ordained Lutheran pastor. Bolz-Weber continues to explore the intersections of faith and humanity in her most recent memoir, Accidental Saints: Finding God in All the Wrong People. In her most recent book, the New York Times bestselling Shameless: A Sexual Reformation, Bolz-Weber reclaims the conversation around sexuality, shame, and desire for a new generation of believers. As bestselling author Glennon Doyle praised “Shameless is a triumph. Nadia Bolz-Weber returns to readers the gift toxic religion and consumer culture stole: the gift of sexuality.” Bolz-Weber has been featured in The New Yorker, The Washington Post, NPR’s Morning Edition, Fresh Air, More, and on CNN and the BBC World Service. She speaks on spirituality and faith; friendship and community; life purpose and activism; self-care, shame, and the body; recovery and self-awareness; sex and intimacy; health and wellness; and leadership and authority.

Jennifer Pastiloff travels the world with her workshop “On Being Human,” a unique hybrid of yoga related movement, writing, sharing out loud, letting the snot fly, and the occasional dance party. Cheryl Strayed, author of Wild, calls Pastiloff “a conduit of awakenings.” She has been featured on Good Morning America, New York Magazine, Health Magazine, CBS News and more for her distinct style of teaching, which she has taught to thousands of women in sold-out workshops all over the world.

Pastiloff’s inspirational memoir, On Being Human: A Memoir of Waking Up, Living Real and Listening Hard, recounts how years of waitressing taught her to seek out unexpected beauty; how deafness taught her to listen fiercely; how being vulnerable allowed her to find love; and how imperfections can lead to a life full of wild happiness.

Centered on the touchstone stories told in her popular workshops, On Being Human is the story of how a starved person grew into the exuberant woman she was meant to be all along by battling the demons within and winning. Pastiloff did not intend to become a yoga teacher, but when she was given the opportunity to host her own retreats, she left her thirteen-year waitressing job and said “yes,” despite crippling fears of her inexperience and her own potential. After years of feeling depressed, anxious, and hopeless, in a life that seemed to have no escape, she healed her own heart by caring for others. She has learned to fiercely listen despite being nearly deaf, to banish shame attached to a body mass index, and to rebuild a family after the debilitating loss of her father when she was eight. Through her journey, Pastiloff conveys the experience most of us are missing in our lives: being heard and being told, “I got you.”

Pastiloff has created a massive online following from her personal essays and teachings. She is also the founder of the online magazine The Manifest-Station. Pastiloff leads annual retreats to Italy and France and is a regular guest speaker at Canyon Ranch and Miraval Resorts. She also leads Writing and The Body workshops with author Lidia Yuknavitch, offering scholarships through The Aleksander Fund to women who have lost a child.

When she is not traveling she is based in Los Angeles with her husband and son and a cup of coffee. She is also the creator of @nobullshitmotherhood and @gPowerYouAreEnough on Instagram.

Her motto to live by is “don’t be an asshole”. She evens owns the URL.

PHOTO CREDIT: KT Chick