About
Our Vision
Set in the unique beauty and hospitality of Napa Valley, Lux Forum is a place for curious people to gather, explore and discuss important contemporary topics, illuminated by the knowledge of the ages, particularly the wisdom born of the historic Christian faith tradition.
Lux Forum curates content and provides experiences around a wide range of interests, from science to the arts, and from technology to economics. We explore how a faith perspective intersects and informs our view on these topics. We seek congruence between the inner life and the outer world.
We are a community of people desiring to live authentically, inspired by the wisdom of faith, as promulgated by the Judeo-Christian tradition, advancing the common good and contributing to human flourishing.
Our Mission
Lux Forum exists to connect intellectually curious people with spiritual ideas.
About Lux Forum
Lux Forum is a non-profit organization that seeks to answer questions about faith, spirituality, emotions, authenticity and beyond. Its goal is to convene, educate and Inspire Individuals from all walks of life by offering public education seminars, conferences, workshops, debates, symposiums, influential leader talks and written educational materials to the public, either free of charge, or for a moderate fee to cover costs. This year, Lux Forum is proud to present our calendar of events. Past presenters include a roster of experts in the areas of enlightenment, authentic relationships, psychiatry, bioethics, international business, and more.
Lux Forum Theatre
Board Members
Celeste White
Celeste is the President and the Chair of the Lux Forum Board of Directors. Celeste was born in San Francisco and has lived most of her life in the Napa Valley. Celeste is an organizational leader who curates speakers, events and stories that provoke inner reflection and through those stories she is also able to inspire gratitude, action and change.
Currently Celeste serves on several other Boards including the Board of Trustees for Westmont College in Santa Barbara. She is the owner and CEO of Horse Rock Olive Oil, an estate grown and small batch olive oil brand. She is also a Co-founder of Stitches Medical, Inc. a privately held healthcare and adaptive clothing company.
Celeste holds degrees in French and in Sociology from Westmont College. She is an avid equestrian who is married to Robert and together they have 4 adult children.
Clare Luce Abbey
Raised and educated on the east coast, Clare moved to San Francisco in 1981 where she worked as a freelance photographer and television producer. Soon after meeting her husband, Cliff, in 1986, they created San Francisco 415 Company, a blue jean and sportswear business that they owned and operated for 15 years. In 1991, they purchased a vineyard property in St Helena and spent 10 years replanting and learning the fine art of viticulture. In 2002 they sold their clothing company, moved full time to St Helena and launched Luce Abbey Estate Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine was well received and eventually earned impressive ratings from Robert Parker. In 2009, a number of years after Cliff's diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer's, they sold their vineyard and label to Vineyard 29.
Clare has served on a number of boards and committees in the Bay area, including the St Helena Hospital Foundation, the San Francisco Fine Arts Museums, Ronald McDonald House, the San Francisco Symphony, University of San Francisco Center for the Pacific Rim and she remains on the board of the Clare Boothe Luce Center for Conservative Women in Washington, DC. She divides her time between St Helena, CA and West Palm Beach, FL.
Robert White
Robert serves as the Secretary of Lux Forum. He believes in looking for the opportunities that an organization can bring to the people of the community he lives in. He tries to see those threads of opportunity and bring them together into a coherent approach to programs and events to maximize the impact for those who attend.
Robert is currently a trauma surgeon at Providence Santa Rosa Memorial hospital, a busy Level II trauma center and he works for both Annadel Heritage Medical Group and Sutter Santa Rosa. Robert was born in Canada and moved to the Napa Valley as a teenager. He lives with his wife Celeste in Napa and he is active on the board of Stitches Medical, Inc., a healthcare and adaptive medical clothing company. Robert also serves on the Board of Directors for Yountville Community Church and has been active on several other corporate and non-profit boards.
Robert holds a B.S. degree from Pacific Union College and attended University of California, Davis for post graduate work. He then attained his Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degree and after completion of a Surgery Residency he became a Fellow in the American College of Surgeons (FACS).
Shaun Cross
Shaun currently serves as a Partner and General Counsel of Lee Hayes, P.C., a nationally recognized intellectual property law firm with 7 offices headquartered in Spokane, Washington (www.leehayes.com). Shaun has practiced Corporate law for 42 years with a specific focus on complex Chapter 11 reorganizations. During the first 30 years of his legal career, Shaun served as lead debtor’s counsel in several of the largest, most complex cases in the history of Eastern Washington. Over the past two decades Shaun has served as the Managing Partner or CEO of the two largest law firms in the Inland Northwest.
Shaun received a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Physics (Phi Beta Kappa) in 1972 from the University of Washington before working as a research engineer in Southern California. It was during this time that Shaun met his wife, Kathy. Shaun received his law degree (Order of the Coif) from the University of Oregon School of Law in 1979. Shaun has served on numerous community boards, including the Spokane Public Facilities District (Chair), Whitworth University, the Spokane Chamber of Commerce (Chair-elect), Spokane Symphony, Spokane Jazz Society and many others. Shaun ran for Congress in 2004 and has an abiding interest in politics and public policy. Shaun was a founding member of his church, Christ the Redeemer, in Spokane. Shaun is currently serving as the founding Chairman/President/CEO of Maddie’s Place, a new clinic in Spokane that treats infants born dependent on drugs (www.maddiesplace.org). Shaun and his wife Kathy have been married for 46 years and have 4 adult children.