Eleanor Wiley

As a speech pathologist, Eleanor Wiley learned something amazing! Through helping people with developmental disabilities overcome their impairment and communicate with their surroundings, she realized that being interconnected with the world is one of the most important things in life.

This early experience eventually led her to design The Sacred Wheel of Peace® … A Place to Begin, a prayer bead that promotes unity amongst different cultures. According to Eleanor her intent is clear, “We must all work together in order to move forward in peace and harmony.”

Wheel of Peace

Eleanor’s Sacred Wheels may look ordinary upon first glance, however the bead’s simplistic design is the key to its profoundness. The Wheel’s symbolism can be understood in a number of different ways. This, in turn, represents the diversity of the world in which we live. Eleanor gives an example of a possible meaning, “When using the wheel as a metaphor for one’s own life or the community, it allows you to see what happens when we remove any part of the wheel. When this happens, the wheel becomes unbalanced and falls apart.”

Eleanor has since used these beads in conjunction with numerous peace projects and lectures around the world. Her work towards promoting unity and tranquility can be seen around the necks of people from all walks of life. For more on Eleanor Wiley and The Sacred Wheel of Peace®, read her story in “Women as Healers: Voices of Vibrancy.”

Mary Beth Lamb

Amongst her many professional roles, Mary Beth Lamb is above all a teacher of empathy. As a cross-cultural facilitator, she focuses on how empathy in the workplace can be used to work together more effectively. Mary Beth models this simple, but not so easy, idea of “stepping in someone else’s shoes” in her professional and private life. She comments, “Empathy starts with recognizing the cultural differences that are inherent in all of us. After recognizing, affirming, and applauding this uniqueness, we can collectively move forward as members of the human race.”

In her Women as Healers story, she writes, “…this work is about building fragile boards towards each other in a global suspension bridge of peace.” Mary Beth encourages clients to take the first step of venturing out onto the rickety bridge – often times, moving outside of their comfort zone. She continues, “Facilitating world peace may not be the main reason I’m hired, but it can always be one of the outcomes, if the participants so choose.” She teaches and inspires clients to seek a deeper understanding and to transcend culture, time and geography. As she watches people communicate more effectively across cultures, her rewards are many.

For more on Mary Beth Lamb’s heart-felt story of how empathy impacted and changed her life, be sure to read her story in Women as Healers: Voices of Vibrancy.