The Self-Acceptance Summit: Volume 1: How to Overcome Self-Judgment and Live a Life of Bravery, Compassion, and Authenticity Audiobook

About the Authors

Iyanla Vanzant is an accomplished author and speaker. Her book In the Meantime was a #1 New York Times bestseller and went on to spend twenty weeks on the list. As a nationally recognized speaker, she has sold out venues like New York’s Jacob Javits Center, the Grand Ole Opry, and Atlanta’s Civic Center. She was also a regular contributor to the The Oprah Winfrey Show. Vanzant has received numerous accolades for her work, most notably an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work. The mother of three and grandmother of four, she lives in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Elizabeth Lesser is the cofounder of Omega Institute, the largest adult education center focusing on health, wellness, spirituality, social change, and creativity in the US. She is the author of The Seeker’s Guide: Making Your Life a Spiritual Adventure and Broken Open: How Difficult Times Can Help Us Grow. For more than thirty years she has studied and worked with leading figures in the field of healing—healing self and healing society. Lesser attended Barnard College and San Francisco State University. The mother of three grown sons, she lives in the Hudson Valley with her husband.

Parker J. Palmer holds a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley. He is a founder and senior partner of the Center for Courage and Renewal, senior associate of the American Association for Higher Education, and senior advisor to the Fetzer Institute. In 1998, he was named one of the thirty most influential senior leaders in higher education. He is the author of numerous books, including the bestsellers Let Your Life Speak and A Hidden Wholeness.

Marianne Williamson is an internationally acclaimed lecturer and New York Times bestselling author. She has been a popular guest on a number of television programs, including Oprah, Larry King Live, Good Morning America, and Charlie Rose. Williamson is the founder of Project Angel Food, a meals-on-wheels program that serves homebound people with AIDS in the Los Angeles area. She is a native of Houston, Texas.

Elizabeth Gilbert is an award-winning American writer of both fiction and nonfiction, named one of the most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2008. Her books have been New York Times bestsellers, including the #1 New York Times bestseller list for Committed. Her short story collection, Pilgrims, received the Pushcart Prize and was a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award, and her novel, Stern Men, was a New York Times Notable Book. Her 2002 book, The Last American Man, was a finalist for both the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. She is best known for her memoir Eat, Pray, Love, which has been published in more than thirty languages and was made into a film.

Kristin Neff, PhD, is an Associate Professor in Human Development at the University of Texas and has been researching and studying self-compassion for the past decade. She published the first journal article that explicitly defined and examined self-compassion. She also created the Self-Compassion Scale, which has been translated into over a dozen languages and is currently being used by hundreds of researchers worldwide. She gives lectures on self-compassion worldwide and conducts workshops for those who want to learn more about developing self-compassion, and she is the author of the book Self-Compassion: Stop Beating Yourself Up and Leave Insecurity Behind.

Glennon Doyle is the author of the #1 New York Times bestsellers Love Warrior, Untamed, and Carry On, Warrior. An activist, speaker, and thought leader, she is also the founder and president of Together Rising, an all-women led nonprofit organization that has revolutionized grassroots philanthropy—raising over $20 million for women, families, and children in crisis, with a most frequent donation of just $25. She was named among OWN Network’s SuperSoul 100 inaugural group as one of 100 “awakened leaders who are using their voices and talent to elevate humanity.”

Rick Hanson, PhD, is a neuropsychologist whose books include the highly acclaimed Buddha’s Brain and Just One Thing. Founder of the Wellspring Institute for Neuroscience and Contemplative Wisdom, and affiliate of the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley, he’s taught at Oxford, Stanford, Harvard, and other leading universities. He is a frequent keynote speaker, and his work has been widely featured in the media, including the BBC, NPR, Fox Business, and O Magazine.

Ruth King is an international teacher in the Insight Meditation tradition, a recognized diversity consultant to leaders and organizations, a life coach, and the author of Healing Rage: Women Making Inner Peace Possible. She created the Mindful of Race training program and is the founder of Mindful Members Insight Meditation Community of Charlotte, North Carolina.

Bahni Turpin, winner of numerous AudioFile Earphones Awards and several prestigious Audie Awards for her narrations, was named a “Golden Voice” by AudioFile magazine in 2019. Publishers Weekly magazine named her Narrator of the Year for 2016. She is an ensemble member of the Cornerstone Theater Company in Los Angeles. She has guest starred in many television series, including NYPD Blue, Law & Order, Six Feet Under, Cold Case, What about Brian, and The Comeback. Film credits include Brokedown Palace, Crossroads, and Daughters of the Dust. She is also a member of the recording cast of The Help, which won numerous awards.