MASC/MASS 2016: Speakers - Rev. Liz Walker

Liz Walker is a minister, award winning journalist and activist for community healing and cross cultural and interfaith dialogue. Hers is a powerful voice of healing and hope. She is in demand as a keynote speaker around the world.

Reverend Walker is currently Pastor of Roxbury Presbyterian Church, a dynamic faith community with a 130 plus year history of making a difference in one of Boston's most challenging neighborhoods. RPC under Reverend Walker's leadership is home to the Cory Johnson Trauma Project, an innovative program that addresses the epidemic of post-traumatic stress in a low income African American community too often overrun by violence. The Trauma Education Project works to increase community awareness of PTSD as well as improving access to mental health services, and empowering community members with the skills to cope with and respond to PTSD.

Reverend Walker's calling as a minister is the latest and highest reach of a life journey which includes 11 years of humanitarian work in one of Africa's most troubled countries and 21 years as Boston's first African American Television News Anchor on WBZ TV.

In the summer of 2001, Reverend Walker traveled to Sudan as a reporter on a fact-finding mission on the controversial slave trade there. It was a life changing experience. Sudan is the scene of the worst human rights atrocities in the world. So outraged by what she witnessed in the sub Saharan, Reverend Walker co-founded the humanitarian organization "My Sister's Keeper" which focuses on economic and educational initiatives for Sudanese women and girls. In 2007 "My Sister's Keeper" built a Girls' school in the village of Akon, Sudan, the first of its kind in that region. On the first day of school, 1000 girls enrolled. Despite persistent violent conflicts and political upheaval in the region, the school continues to operate today.

While in Sudan, Reverend Walker facilitated healing conversations among women from competing tribes and ethnicities in war torn regions that have never known peace. She helped found the Sisterhood for Peace Initiative which supports the growth of a network of diverse Sudanese women committed to collaborating across race, religion, ethnicity and geography to promote peace and justice.

Reverend Walker shot her own video and produced a number of television reports about Sudan and a documentary called "A Glory from the God" which profiles the work of " My Sister's Keeper". Her 31-year television news career resulted in two Emmy's and an Edward R. Murrow Award for excellence in her field.

A graduate of Harvard Divinity School, Reverend Walker has long been actively involved in many community service organizations and projects. She helped found the Jane Doe Safety Fund, a multi-million dollar statewide anti-violence initiative that works on policy and supports domestic abuse shelters and safe houses around the Commonwealth.

Reverend Walker is a member of the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization and serves on the Board for the New England Chapter of the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund. She has also served on the Board of Trustees for Andover Newton Theological Seminary, the Tufts Health Foundation and Board of Overseers for Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. She has been awarded honorary degrees from numerous institutions including University of Massachusetts in Dartmouth, Boston College, Simmons College, Salem State University and Bridgewater State University.

Liz Walker's is one of the world's most healing voices. From her poignant words after the Boston Marathon Bombing to her Sunday sermons at RPC, her daily radio show on WROL 950AM, to her inspirational and motivational speeches before audiences around the globe, Liz Walker offers vitally important instruction on hopeful living in challenging times.

For more information visit www.lizwalker.tv