THE THIRD POLE

Betty Sue Flowers, PhD, is an international foresight consultant, former Director of the Johnson Presidential Library, and former Professor at UT-Austin, with publications ranging from poetry therapy to sustainability, including two books of poetry and four PBS tie-in books, among them, the best-selling Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth.

 

She has served as a moderator for executive seminars at the Aspen Institute, consultant for NASA, CIA, and the Secretary of the Navy, Public Director of the American Institute of Architects, and editor of scenarios for organizations including Shell Global, the OAS, OECD, Eskom (South Africa), Malaysia, Oman, the World Energy Council, and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.

 

Her publications include the complete edition of Christina Rossetti’s poetry for the Penguin English Poets Series, Presence: Human Purpose and the Field of the Future (co-authored), “The American Dream and the Economic Myth” (Huffington Post), “The Primacy of People in a World of Nations” in The Partnership Principle: New Forms of Governance in the 21st Century, “The Shield of Athena: Archetypal Images and Women as Political Leaders” in Ancient Greece, Modern Psyche, and the co-edited Realistic Hope: Facing Global Challenges. Her most recent book is Scenarios: Using the Future to Shape the Present.

Jody R. Weiss is a social entrepreneur, mass-consumer marketer, fund-raiser and brand expert, with a special focus on the transformation of consciousness through the lens of human rights.  

In her early career, Jody was a sports agent at International Management Group (IMG), representing 45 elite athletes such as Bill Rogers, Rob de Castella, Zola Budd, and Greta Waitz. For Mazda Motors, she signed Jackie Joyner, Flo Jo, Ben Johnson, Evelyn Ashford, Willie Banks, Ingrid Kristensen and other international stars to a multi-national track and field team with 213 athletes from 16 countries competing. At IMG, she learnt how to package an "intellectual property" for greater global engagement and recognition. 

 

2002, she launched PeaceKeeper™ Cause-Metics™ and served as the company’s CEO. PeaceKeeper was one of the first cosmetics companies to offer 75%+ organic ingredients and to give donations to urgent human rights issues globally. PeaceKeeper was sold in 500+ stores, including Henri Bendel, Nordstrom, Fred Segal, ABC Planet & Home, Whole Foods, Wegmans, Sprouts, and many other national and international retailers. 

Bob Thurman—also known as Tenzin Bob Thurman—is a renowned scholar, author, educator, and one of the most influential voices bringing Tibetan Buddhism and contemplative wisdom to the modern West. Ordained in the 1960s by His Holiness the Dalai Lama as the first American Tibetan Buddhist monk, Bob has spent more than five decades translating the depth of Buddhist philosophy into language that is intellectually rigorous, deeply humane, and accessible to contemporary life.

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Named by The New York Times as “the leading American expert on Tibetan Buddhism,” Bob served for over 30 years as the Jey Tsong Khapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University, where generations of students described his classes as transformative and life-changing. A prolific author and charismatic public speaker, his work bridges spirituality, culture, politics, art, science, and activism through the lens of compassion and interdependence.

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In 1987, at the request of the Dalai Lama, Bob co-founded Tibet House US alongside Richard Gere, Philip Glass, and Tenzin Tethong to preserve and promote Tibetan culture. He is also the founder of the American Institute of Buddhist Studies. In 2020, he was awarded India’s prestigious Padma Shri for his contributions to preserving Buddhist heritage. Through his teaching, writing, and activism, Bob continues to inspire a vision of a more compassionate, wise, and interconnected world.