Ray is a keynote presenter and workshop facilitator, as well as, a fire station captain in the Oakland (CA) Fire Department.  Prior to joining the fire services, he was a combat paramedic with a Special Forces (Green Berets) Group in Vietnam and Panama.  Upon his return, he completed a bachelor’s degree (with honors) in Conservation of Natural Resources at the University of California, Berkeley.

Ray has volunteered extensively in community projects, many of which he inspired and organized.  He is the recipient of numerous awards and honors for heroism, community volunteerism, human rights work and filmmaking.  Ray recently received the Kiwanis Club Firefighter of the Year Award for Community Service.  His actions during the 1991 Oakland-Berkeley Hills Fire was featured in an ABC Movie of the Week which he publicly protested for perpetuating racial and gender stereotypes.

As a recipient of a Kellogg National Fellowship he traveled throughout the world interviewing ambassadors to survivors of Hiroshima, including four trips to El Salvador.  These trips resulted in bringing several children from El Salvador to the United States for surgery and working with three Salvadorian orphanages.  This experience inspired him to produce a video documentary in an effort to halt U.S. military aid to that country.  The video, “Unheard Voices,” focused on the women and children of El Salvador and was screened on the Senate side of Capitol Hill in March 1990.  “Unheard Voices” was distributed throughout the U.S., and eventually garnered several best film awards (e.g. Hiroshima International Film & Video Festival) and aired on local PBS stations.

During the summer of 1991 Ray ran across the United States as a member of The Star Spangled Banner Relay Team carrying a replica of the flag that flew over Fort McHenry to raise funds for a memorial to Francis Scott Key and the Star Spangled Banner. The memorial is now located at the foot of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Washington, D.C.

In 1992, Ray co-produced a video “Violence in America: Interviews” for The California Wellness Foundation.  His story appears in the recently released book “Stone Soup for the World” along with stories about Martin Luther King, Jr., the Dalai Lama, Jimmy Carter, Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, Paul Neuman, Peace Corps, Teach for America and many others.  General Colin Powell wrote the introduction to the book.

Ray was in India and Nepal (Sept./Oct. 2000) where he was filming for a documentary, “Return to Kham,” about the master thangka painter, Jamyung Singhe . This past year he was  working on two other documentaries in Mongolia and Indonesia. The theme for one of the documentaries is about street children and those heroes/heroines who provide for them.  

After returning from Mongolia September 4, 2001, Ray went to New York City on September 19. The pictures of “Ground Zero” on this web site are from that visit.  

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KEY NOTE ADDRESSES (partial list)

· 4th Annual Americorps Statewide Training in Los Angeles (August, 1997)

· Igniting Purpose and Spirit in Work /Presenter (September, 1997)

· Intuition (From the Art of Inner Knowing to the Skills of the Business World) Conference ( Berkeley,CA; September, 1997)

· The Rockefeller Brother’s Fund Fellowship Program (New York; November, 1997)

· California Wellness Foundation Violence Prevention Initiative Conference (Los Angeles, CA; Dec.,97)

· California Association of Peer Programs/14th Annual Peer Helping Conference (Santa Clara, CA; March, 1998)

· Ceres Partnership for Healthy Children (Modesto, CA; March, 1998)

· American Society on Aging/Workshop presenter (San Francisco, CA; March, 1998)

· Unity Church of Marin (Larkspur, CA; April, 1998)

· 1998 Maternal and Childcare Conference/Leading the Opening and Closing rituals

(San Diego, CA; May, 1998)

· California Agricultural Leadership Program/”Where Clarity is Revealed”(Cal Poly,Pomona; June 1998)

· Center for Ethical Leaders/Citizen Leaders Institute Transition Retreat/ ”Qualities for Making a Difference” (Seattle WA; June, 1998)

· Institute for Education and Community Leadership (IECL)/“Personal Vision * Shared Vision” (Albuquerque and surrounding areas, New Mexico, July 29 through August 3, 1998)

· Fund for Social Entrepreneurs/ “Shift Happens” (Washington D.C./Berkeley, CA; August, 1998)

· Marin Unity/”How Than Shall We Live?” (Gala & fund raiser for a new church; Larkspur, CA; October, 1998)

· Music & Poetry performance (Interfaith Chapel; Presidio San Francisco, CA; March 1999) to benefit Roots of Peace Alameda County Office of Education/”Qualities for Making a Difference”/May, 1999 California Agricultural Leadership Program/”Qualities for Making a Difference (Cal Poly, Pomona; June, 1999) · “What Can We Do To Prevent the Littleton Tragedy from Happening in Our Communities” (A Public Forum; Martha ‘s Vineyard, MA; July, 1999)

· “Reflections & Renewal: Awakening the Wisdom Within”/opening session (Eureka Communities Leadership Fellowship Program; Stinson Beach, CA; May 15, 2000)

· California Agricultural Leadership Program/”Where Clarity is Revealed”/Cal Poly, Pomona; June, 2000

· Million Mom March Youth Leadership Deveopment Program/Green Gulch Zen Center/June 16 & 17, 2000; consultant & principal presenter

· Million Mom March Youth Leadership Training/San Francisco, CA/July 7 & 8, 2000; consultant & program development

· Million Mom March Youth Advisory Board Leadership Training/Westminster Retreat Center, Alamo, CA/August 14-16, 2000/lead presenter

· Million Mom March Conference/Denver, CO/Sept. 15 & 16, 2000/Opening & Closing Ceremonies presenter

· Park City Leadership Program/Park City, Utah/Sept. 25, 2000/”Changing Face of Leadership”

· Center for Ethical Leadership/Wenachee, WA/October 17, 2000/”The Poetry of Leaderhip” @ Confluence 2000 Working for the Common Good: Uniting to End Poverty

· Violence Prevention Initiative Conference/Sacramento, CA/Nov. 30-Dec. 2, 2000/Opening & Closing Rituals

· The Commonwealth Club of California/San Francisco/April 18, 2001/”Stories of Survival: Street Children of India, Nepal, Mongolia and the Philippines

· Converging Perspectives on Service and Learning (Fourth Annual Continuums of Service Conference)/Berkeley, CA/April 25, 2001/Opening Ritual Presenter

· May 16 – Interview the Dalai Lama

· May 24 EPA- Keynote for Asian Pacific Islander month “What I learned from interviewing Mother Theresa and His Holiness the Dalai Lama

· June 3 IHP Opening for IHP International Fellows @ Chaminade Conference Center, Santa Cruz, CA

· California Agricultural Leadership Program/”Where Clarity is Revealed”/Cal Poly Pomona, June 5, 2001

· June 18 IHP Leadership presentation for International Leadership Fellows @ UCSF; San Francisco, CA

 

CURRENT AND PAST BOARD MEMBERSHIPS (Available upon request)