Karen Jean Zielinski is a member of the Sisters of St. Francis of Sylvania, Ohio. She has lived with multiple sclerosis (MS) since 1975 and sometimes writes for Healthy Living News — a local health magazine — and is regularly published in two national magazines. Her first book, Hope and Help for Living With Illness deals with health and spirituality.
Jeanne Connolly has been a Covenant Companion (or Associate) with the Wheaton Franciscans in Wheaton, Illinois, for more than 22 years, and has served as their director of charism and mission since 2007. Jeanne also offers consulting services and workshops through J.M. Connolly Consulting. Currently, she serves as vice-president of the board of directors for the North American Conference of Associates and Religious (NACAR) and as the president of the Siena Retreat Center board of directors in Racine, Wisconsin.
Janice McLaughlin has been a Maryknoll Sister since 1961, working on the African continent since 1969 in the fields of mass media, adult education and justice and peace. The author of several books, including Ostriches, Dung Beetles and Other Spiritual Masters (Orbis 2009), she has a BA from Marquette University in theology and anthropology and a doctorate from the University of Zimbabwe in religious studies. She was imprisoned in colonial Rhodesia for three weeks and deported by Ian Smith's government for her work with the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace.
Kathleen Kanet is a sister of the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary who has worked as a teacher and administrator in an elementary school and as caseworker and supervisor in a preventative service program for preservation of families. She has co-founded several national and international organizations which promote peace and has been involved in multiple educational activities around the issues of peace and justice.
Tinamarie Stolz is the 2017 summer intern for Sr. Joan Chittister and the Benedictine Sisters of Erie, Pennsylvania. She is a recent graduate of the University of Dayton’s campus ministry graduate assistant program with a master's degree in theological studies and now works as a campus minister. Previously, she completed a year of service as a food pantry manager with Christ the King Service Corps in Detroit and started a women’s ministry in 2012.
The Life panelists are a group of 20 sisters from across the global north and south who respond to questions about the unique, challenging and very specific lives of women religious.
Sr. Barbara Kane is a Dominican Sister of Peace. She serves as her congregation's justice promoter, educating and engaging sisters and associates in such congregational justice priorities as human trafficking, immigration reform, peace and nonviolence, and eco justice. Prior to this ministry, she served as director of the Dominican Learning Center, principal of Dominican Academy, and as a theology teacher at Bishop Watterson High School in Columbus, Ohio.
Rita Joseph is a New Delhi-based journalist who has worked for the nationwide Press Trust of India and as features editor of The Statesman, an English-language daily newspaper in India. She writes for media outlets in India and the United States, including Matters India, a news portal that collaborates with GSR and focuses on religious and social issues.
Elisabeth Auvillain is a French freelance writer who lives in Paris, where she was born and raised. She started her career in London then lived in Austria, Switzerland, Pakistan, Thailand, Hong Kong and Germany before coming back to France. She worked mainly as a correspondent for the French Catholic daily La Croix and for Radio France Internationale.
Tracy L. Barnett is an independent writer, editor and photographer specializing in environmental issues, indigenous rights and sustainable travel. As a bilingual author and journalist, she has written in English and Spanish for a wide range of magazines and newspapers including the Washington Post, BBC, USA Today, National Geographic Traveler en Español, Esquire Latin America, Thomson Reuters and Huffington Post. More details can be found here.