Grove Harris is an eco-justice and religious diversity educator and advocate who brings diverse grassroots perspectives to an international agenda. She currently serves as Representative to the United Nations for the Temple of Understanding, where she has developed justice initiatives related to food sovereignty, human right to water, interfaith education, and women's initiatives in the context of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals for 2030.
Grove was Consulting Producer for the short film Roots of Change: Women, Food Sovereignty, and Eco-Justice (2016), in which she is featured along with other speakers on women's initiatives and food justice. Her past positions include Program Director for the 2009 Parliament of the World's Religions and Managing Director for the Pluralism Project at Harvard University. Her Master of Divinity degree from Harvard Divinity School (1996) incorporated studies of organizational development and business management into the study of religion and ethics.
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Grove Harris is an eco-justice and religious diversity educator and advocate who brings diverse grassroots perspectives to an international agenda. She currently serves as Representative to the United Nations for the Temple of Understanding, where she has developed justice initiatives related to food sovereignty, human right to water, interfaith education, and women's initiatives in the context of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals for 2030.
Grove was Consulting Producer for the short film Roots of Change: Women, Food Sovereignty, and Eco-Justice (2016), in which she is featured along with other speakers on women's initiatives and food justice. Previously, she was the Program Director for the Parliament of the World's Religions, orchestrating over 600 programs for the Parliament held in Melbourne, Australia, December 3-9, 2009.
She regularly speaks and moderates sessions at the United Nations, including parallel and side events for the Commission on the Status of Women. Grove has also recently presented at the American Academy of Religion, the 2015 Parliament of the World's Religions in Salt Lake City, the United Nations in the Sustainable Development Goals process, and the UN Rio + 20 conference in Rio De Janeiro. As a Peace Commissioner, she represented the City of Cambridge at the International Association of Peace Messenger Cities in Krusevac, Serbia and on a delegation to Bethlehem, Palestine. She is a past Regional Coordinator for NEMAAR, the New England Maritimes Region of the American Academy of Religion.
Grove served as the Managing Director for the Pluralism Project at Harvard University through January, 2007. This award-winning project documents the religious diversity of America and offers resources for educators. After joining the Project in 1994, she managed the extensive growth of the Project, dramatically increasing capacity, productivity, and outreach. Her work included building a network of researchers, receiving international visitors, public speaking, writing, and editing. Areas of research included religious diversity in the workplace and the interfaith movement. She is currently an affiliate of the Pluralism Project.
Grove blogs on the Huffington Post. Her other publications include "The Charge of the Goddess: Teachings about Desire and Its End, and Their Limitations" in Pagan Consent Culture, the section on Paganism for the 2002 CD-Rom On Common Ground: World Religions in America, "Healing in Feminist Wicca" in Religion and Healing in America, "Pagan Involvement in the Interfaith Movement: Exclusions, Dualities, and Contributions" in Crosscurrents, and "Youth and the Pluralism Project" in Building the Interfaith Youth Movement: Beyond Dialogue to Action. She is a certified permaculture designer, and her current book project focuses on sustainability, food, embodiment, and the Goddess.
Her teaching experience includes undergraduate religious studies at the University of Massachusetts/Boston, at the Global Youth Leadership Institute, and at a variety of adult religious retreats, as well as leading a Maidens' group for teenage girls. She has led consensus training workshops in Germany and England. Her community activism has served causes including environmental concerns, peace activism, urban open space, economic development for women, and religious freedom.
Grove's background is in Race, Gender and Class studies. She earned her B.A. in Women's Studies, Business, and Religion from the University of Massachusetts (1992). Her Master of Divinity degree from Harvard Divinity School (1996) incorporated studies of organizational development and business management into the study of religion and ethics. She is a Wiccan Priestess and has led public rituals for groups ranging in size from 20 to 300. She served as a Chaplain at MCI-Framingham and as a Peace Commissioner for the City of Cambridge.