Emily was born and raised in Wisconsin and focused on sociology and women’s & gender studies in her undergraduate studies at St. Norbert College in De Pere, WI. Growing up in the Lutheran church led Emily to work at Lutheran outdoor youth camps in the Midwest and then to move to San Francisco, CA for Lutheran Volunteer Corps. She went on to work as a campus minister/chaplain in University Ministry at the University of San Francisco for six years (engaging her Catholic roots there as well) and has worked in various positions with youth and young adults since. Emily earned an M.A. in Higher Education and Student Affairs from the University of San Francisco in San Francisco CA, an M.Div. from Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley, CA, and now endorsement and ordination in Interfaith Chaplaincy through The Chaplaincy Institute. For the past three years Emily has worked as a student at Stanford Health Care in psychiatry, oncology, ICUs, and CPE student mentorship and is now a hospital & hospice chaplain in the Bay Area. Emily looks forward to the upcoming chapters in life, to include time with family and friends, keeping up with her Godchildren, traveling, justice initiatives, movies, and retreats.

Chaplain Laura Salazar-Hopps, MDiv, BCC, graduated from Harvard Divinity School in 2012. She currently serves at Memorial Hermann in Houston, where she is the lead for Code Lilac, one of the largest peer-to-peer psychological first aid programs in the U.S. Before beginning with Code Lilac, Laura served for five years as a Palliative Care Chaplain. Her experiences as a frontline chaplain during the pandemic led her to seek to deeper engagement in work around post traumatic growth and transformation. Before coming to healthcare chaplaincy, she was active in nonprofit work in Central America, where she partnered with grassroots leaders to support ecological and women’s health initiatives. She honors her spiritual roots that include Quaker, Episcopal, Liberation Theology, Buddhist, and Earth-based traditions. Laura is deeply grateful to her family, colleagues, Council peers, spiritual ancestors of many lineages, and the ChI community, for their steadfast support and blessing on this journey.

Tara Bedeau, J.D., MAR, is the Founder & Principal of The Alchemical Workshop. It supports people seeking to engage LIFE with intention, skillful wisdom and conscious awareness – from a place of love & truth and not fear. As a Speaker, Author, Coach, Consultant and Educator, she mentors and guides people in identifying what is most life giving, in support of their wholeness and goal attainment.

Ms. Bedeau draws on three decades of collective experience and education as an Attorney, Executive Director & Organizational Leader; Life, Wisdom & Executive Coach; Chaplain & Spiritual Director; and Fellow Seeker, specializing in the integration of Spiritual Care & Psychology; Equity, Inclusion & Belonging; US Employment Law; Leadership & Organizational Development and Change Management. As a Mystic, Shaman and Priestess, Ms. Bedeau has travelled and lived throughout the globe, learning and honing her craft. Collectively, clients served include emotionally intelligent seekers, leaders, culture shifters and change agents.

As on most journeys of self and spiritual discovery, I have been surprised. I have sat with mystery, joy, grief, encountered risk, loyal companions, troubling doubt, and precious teachers. There were times when the only thing I could do was walk away. Mercifully, I could come back decades later to find the path and the courage to begin again, recognizing that all the while I was not alone in my life, but held in the embrace of the Divine. This passage of time is both a fierce foe and a loving friend. All of this is a portion of my journey that brought me to ChI and to this moment.

Reaching down, drawing up, and listening, may we all find our strength, wisdom and love from within, without and around us. For now, my path is running concurrently with the world of plant medicine and facilitation and I am deeply grateful and humbled to be in this place, at this time.

My life is a testament to the ways in which Life and Spirit can surprise us if we are open to them. I have completed a 35-year career in higher education, teaching at an extremely diverse community college in California. Once I completed my doctorate in Philosophy and Religion with an emphasis in Women’s Spirituality at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, I breathed a sigh of relief and felt satisfied. And then I began to discern a calling to ministry, but I could not believe I was getting it right. Eventually, a circuitous path led me to The Chaplaincy Institute and interfaith ministry, both of which appeared in my path despite my not knowing about them before. Here I found a training and structure that recognized and honored the way I had lived my life and which is helping me forge a path forward.