John Ishvaradas Abdallah
Sufi

John Ishvaradas Abdallah (meaning “servant of God” in Jewish, Christian, Hindu and Muslim traditions) is the preferred pen name of Syed Riyaz Mahdi. A speaker and writer and an independent activist Sufi, he is the author of A Sufi’s Ruminations On One World Under God. In addition, he is Founder and Executive Director of World Without Borders Interfaith Sufi Ashram, which is based on and draws inspiration from the book.

“Sufi John” is passionately involved in interfaith dialogue, conversation and movement promoting a theology of love, peace and freedom through active nonviolence. He currently serves on the boards of the Christian-Muslim Consultative Group, Southern California Committee for a Parliament of World’s Religions, South Coast Interfaith Council, and Muslims for Progressive Values Los Angeles chapter.

Cindi Moar Alvitre
Indigenous

Cindi Moar Alvitre has dedicated her life to the preservation and protection of California Indian culture. She has been a cultural and environmental educator for over three decades and currently is a PhD candidate in UCLA’s Department of World Arts and Culture and lecturer at California State University, Long Beach.

A descendant of the Tongva, the original inhabitants of Los Angeles and Orange Counties and the Southern Channel Islands, Cindi served as the first female chair of the Gabrieleno/Tongva Tribal Council. She is a task force member for the State of California and California Indian Heritage Center, and a board member of the California Council for the Humanities.

Laura Lafoia Ava-Tesimale

Indigenous

Founder and President, One Global Family Foundation

Laura Lafoia Ava-Tesimale is a Pacific American businesswoman, humanitarian, community organizer, and interfaith peace activist. Since 2001, Laura has been CEO of Ava Consulting & Management. She also is Founder and President of One Global Family Foundation, which partners with organizations locally and globally to serve underprivileged and disabled children and families, homeless communities, and refugees. Currently, Laura also serves as Director of the Pacific Region for GiveLight Foundation; a Global Ambassador for the Free Wheelchair Mission; and on several interfaith council boards.

Samia Bano
Muslim

Samia Bano is the Happiness Expert and author of the book Make Change Fun And Easy: How to Create Inner Peace to World Peace In 3 Simple Steps. Her expertise is grounded in her academic training and hard-won life wisdom. A childhood sexual abuse survivor, Samia began her quest for inner peace and positive change at just 8 years old. After more than 20 years of struggle, she successfully eliminated suffering from her life and learned how to take control of her happiness. Now she is on a mission to help others do the same.

As someone who is recognizably Muslim, Samia must deal with Islamophobia on an ongoing basis. After 9/11, this motivated her to become engaged in interfaith dialogue and community building. She is active in several interfaith organizations, including NewGround: A Muslim-Jewish Partnership for Change. There, she also served as a Muslim dialogue facilitator for several years.

In 2020, Samia was selected to serve on the Culver City Equity and Human Relations Advisory Committee (EHRAC). In this role, she recommends programs, policies, and activities that promote positive human relations and equitable outcomes and opportunities in all aspects of community life.

Maneck Bhujwala
Zarathushti (Zoroastrian)

Maneck Bhujwala is a speaker, writer and representative of the Zoroastrian community. A volunteer priest to Parsi and Iranian communities, he speaks at schools, on radio and television, and at Zoroastrian and interfaith conferences.

Maneck has co-founded Zoroastrian associations in Southern and Northern California and is also active in the interfaith community. He serves on the boards of the South Coast Interfaith Council, the North American Interfaith Network, and World Zoroastrian Organization, and Co-Chair of the Federation of Zoroastrian Associations of North America’s Interfaith Activities and Research/Preservation committees. Previously, he was a Stanford University Associated Religions board member and president of the Greater Huntington Beach Interfaith Council. Born in India, Maneck holds an MS in electrical engineering, an MBA, and a master’s in Interfaith Action.

Rev. Angie Buchanan
Pagan

Rev. Angie Buchanan is a founder and the spiritual director of Earth Traditions, a Pagan church, and of Gaia’s Womb, an interfaith spirituality group that has produced women’s spiritual retreats for over 20 years. A certified death midwife, she developed and teaches a certification course that provides hands-on, intensive training for compassionate end-of-life care and information on ecologically sensitive funerals (www.deathmidwife.org). She currently serves as the pagan student spiritual advisor at the University of Chicago.

Rev. Angie has been involved with numerous organizations that promote interfaith dialog and peace. In addition, she is a longtime activist for religious freedom, women’s rights, and First Amendment protections. In 2014, she was inducted into the Martin Luther King Jr., International College of Ministers and Laity, at Morehouse College.

Venerable Bhante Chao Chu
Buddhist

Bhante Chao Chu is Abbot of Rosemead Buddhist Monastery and president of the Los Angeles Buddhist Union (LABU). Born in Sri Lanka, he was ordained in the Buddhist monastic order in 1964, graduating from the Buddhist College in 1970. Since coming to the United States in 1981, Bhante Chao Chu has been involved in numerous Los Angeles interfaith and inter-Buddhist activities. He has served as president of the Center for Buddhist Development, executive committee member of the World Fellowship of Buddhists and World Buddhist Sangha Council, and vice president of the Buddhist Sangha Council of Southern California. In addition, he founded the Bosath Children’s Education Foundation, which offers computer and English learning to underserved children .

Bhante Chao Chu received a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from California State University Los Angeles and a master’s degree in Buddhist studies from the University of Kelaniya. Fluent in Mandarin, he lectures extensively throughout Asia.

Steven Charleston
Indigenous, Christian

Steven Charleston is currently Visiting Professor of Native American Theology at the Saint Paul School of Theology, Oklahoma City University. He previously served in the Episcopal Church as Bishop of Alaska, President and Dean of Episcopal Divinity School, and National Director for Native American Ministries.

A citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, Steven comes from a family with a long history of Native American community service. Following in the footsteps of his great-grandfather and grandfather, ordained pastors who preached in their native language throughout the state, Steven was ordained on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation at Wakpala, South Dakota. He is an internationally known author and advocate for indigenous people’s rights, spiritual renewal and reconciliation, and environmental justice.
https://redmoonpublications.com/red-moon-publications-author-charleston.html

Sister Joan Chittister, OSB
Christian

Joan Chittister is a Benedictine sister, an internationally known speaker and spiritual leader and an award-winning author of over 40 books. She is founder and executive director of Benetvision, a center for contemporary spirituality in Erie, PA.

Sister Joan currently serves as co-chair of the Global Peace Initiative of Women, a partner organization of the UN. The recipient of numerous awards for her work for justice, peace and equality, especially for women in the Church and in society, and 12 honorary degrees from US colleges and universities.

Sister Joan received her master’s degree from the University of Notre Dame and her doctorate from Penn State University in Speech Communications Theory.

Rabbi Neil Comess-Daniels
Jewish

Neil Comess-Daniels retired as rabbi of Temple Beth Shir Shalom in 2020. For almost 40 years, he brought a passionate expression of Judaism and strong sense of social justice to the temple. With his congregation, Rabbi Neil facilitated Jewish community and spiritual discovery, working toward Tikkun Olam – “healing the world.”

A founding member of Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE), he has chaired the Martin Luther King, Jr. Westside Coalition and the Interfaith Holocaust Service. With his musical and writing talent, Rabbi Neil communicates the Jewish tradition’s riches and composes for people of all spiritualities. He recently released an album for children, “On This Day and All the Time,” and published “I Miss You,” a book of poems, prayers, songs and guidance for adults helping grieving children. A graduate of UCLA, he was ordained in 1979 at the Hebrew Union College.

Sura Das
Hindu

Sura Das represented the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) and was fervently active in the interfaith community. He served as Vice President of Culver City Interfaith and the Interreligious Council of Southern California. He was also involved with the Hindu-Episcopal Dialogues and Southern California Committee for a Parliament of the World’s Religions (SCCPWR). Sura was a head priest of ISKCON and worked in management for Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, the Society’s publishing house.

In 1999, he started the Temple Bhajan Band, which introduced the public to kirtan music and ancient Vedic chanting at yoga studios, houses of worship, and festivals nationwide. As an ISKCON member since 1973, Sura served as temple president in Missouri for nine years and international president of the publishing house in Los Angeles for seven years.

Dr. Diana Eck
Founder and Director, Pluralism Project at Harvard University

Dr. Diana L. Eck is Professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Studies and Frederic Wertham Professor of Law and Psychiatry in Society at Harvard University. She founded and directs the Pluralism Project, which documents the growing presence of Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Pagan, Sikh, Jain, and Zoroastrian communities in the US. The project grew out of her 1991 class “World Religions in New England” – a result of her interest in America’s changing religious landscape as seen in Harvard students.

Dr. Eck serves on the Committee on the Study of Religion in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. A member of the Department of Sanskrit and Indian Studies and the Faculty of Divinity, she is also Master of Lowell House, an undergraduate residence. Among many honors, Dr. Eck has served on a State Department Advisory Committee on Religious Freedom Abroad, received the National Humanities Medal from President Clinton, and received the National Endowment for the Humanities for her work on American religious pluralism. She holds an MA in South Asian history from the University of London and a PhD in comparative religion from Harvard University.

Aziza Hasan
Muslim
Executive Director, NewGround: A Muslim Jewish Partnership For Change

Aziza Hasan, named an influencer by the Chronicle of Philanthropy, is the executive director of NewGround: A Muslim Jewish Partnership For Change. She has extensive experience in program management and coalition building. An experienced mediator and conflict transformation practitioner, she has co-facilitated with multiple groups.

Aziza’s work has been featured on Ozy, Yahoo News, MSN, Public Radio’s “Speaking of Faith” with Krista Tippett, the United States Institute for Peace, Arabic Radio and Television, and the LA Times. Her two years of AmeriCorps service gave her hands-on experience in community organizing and group problem-solving. She earned the “President’s Volunteer Service Award” in 2006 under President George W. Bush.

Aziza served on President Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships from 2015 to 2016, and the Executive Service Corps recognized her with the “Megan G. Cooper Leadership Award” in 2017. Aziza currently serves on Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Interfaith Advisory Council and is a commissioner of Los Angeles City Civil and Human Rights Commission.

Jennifer Jessum
Founder and Artistic Director, Flying Limbs Productions

Jennifer Jessum, MFA, is Founder and Artistic Director of Flying Limbs Inc., Productions. An award-winning director, choreographer, producer and cinematographer, she has held numerous commissions, presented and taught throughout the U.S. and abroad. Jennifer’s two award-winning feature documentaries, Holy Man: The USA vs. Douglas White, narrated by Martin Sheen, and Finding God in the City of Angels, have received critical acclaim.

A founding member of the Off Center Dance Collective, she has performed with choreographers nationally. Teaching credits include Princeton, New York University, City University of New York Queens College, and the Pacific Northwest Ballet. Jennifer holds an MFA in film production from USC and an MFA in dance from New York University.

His Grace Bishop Demetrios (Kantzavelos) of Mokissos
Greek Orthodox

Since March 2018, Bishop Demetrios of Mokissos has been serving as an auxiliary bishop in the Greek Orthodox Church of Archbishop Demetrios of America. He previously served as assistant and deacon to the bishop, as associate pastor of Annunciation Cathedral of Chicago, and Chancellor of the Metropolis of Chicago. A Chicago native, Bishop Demetrios was ordained to the Diaconate in 1989 and to the priesthood in 1992. In 2006, the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople unanimously elected him as Bishop of Mokissos, to serve as an auxiliary bishop of the Holy Archdiocese of America.

His numerous ecumenical and interfaith commitments involve areas of social justice, advocacy and interfaith relations. In 1992, Bishop Demetrios established the Bishop’s Task Force on AIDS, the first formal Orthodox Christian response to the pandemic in the western hemisphere. A board member and two-term president of the Illinois Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, he has advocated extensively against capital punishment and for individual death row inmates.

Dr. Antonios Kireopoulos

Orthodox Christian

Dr. Antonios Kireopoulos is Associate General Secretary at the National Council of Churches USA, where, as director of both Faith & Order and Interreligious Relations & Collaboration, he is responsible for theological dialogue among both ecumenical and interfaith partners.  This includes intra-Christian dialogue, as well as Jewish-Christian, Muslim-Christian, Buddhist-Christian, Hindu-Christian, and Sikh-Christian dialogue.  An Orthodox Christian theologian, he previously directed, and continues to contribute to, the Council’s work in international affairs and its advocacy on US foreign policy issues.  

Formerly, Dr. Kireopoulos was the Executive Director of Religions for Peace – USA, where he promoted interfaith collaboration to address common domestic social concerns.  Before that he was Special Assistant to the Archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, in the area of external affairs, and Assistant to the Chancellor of the Orthodox Church in America, in communications.  

Among his affiliations, Dr. Kireopoulos is on the executive committee of Shoulder-to-Shoulder, an organization dedicated to fighting Islamophobia in the US, and Churches for Middle East Peace, and he has served as chair of United to End Genocide and as a founding board member of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture.   He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and its Religious Advisory Committee, as well as a member of the American Academy of Religion and the Orthodox Theological Society in America.  He formerly served as a member of both the US State Department’s Advisory Committee on Religious Freedom Abroad and its Religion and Foreign Policy Working Group, and as president of the United Nations NGO Committee on Freedom of Religion or Belief.

Dr. Kireopoulos holds degrees from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, Thunderbird School of Global Management, St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, and Fordham University.  He is a published author, guest lecturer, and media spokesperson on issues in theology, social justice, and religion and the public square.  He has particular expertise in the areas of religious freedom and genocide. 

B.K. Sister Gita Patel
Brahma Kumaris

Sister Gita Patel is the lead coordinator of Brahma Kumaris Meditation Center in Los Angeles and travels extensively to promote the work of Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University. Having been exposed to spiritual truths from an early age, Sister Gita found her calling and decided to focus on what mattered most in life – the development of her soul journey.

For the past 37 years, she has studied the gentle art of Raja Yoga meditation and continues to promote a peaceful, natural and satvic vegetarian lifestyle. Many of Sister Gita’s thoughts are inspired by Brahma Kumaris teachings.

Sister Gita feels fortunate to have a blend of both Eastern and Western cultures. Born in Tanzania, East Africa, she earned her bachelor’s degree in India, has worked in London and has lived in various parts of the world. She travels regularly to India.

Rajshree Patel
Executive Director, Art of Living Foundation

Rajshree Patel is executive director of the Art of Living Foundation (AOLF) in Los Angeles and South America. A nonprofit educational and humanitarian organization founded in 1981 by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, AOLF is guided by his philosophy: “Unless we have a stress-free mind and a violence-free society, we cannot achieve world peace.”

One of the first AOLF instructors, Rajshree has traveled extensively for the past 25 years, speaking to hundreds of thousands of people about faith, human values, purpose and fulfillment. She popularized the Art of Living course and Sudarshan Kriya (a breathing technique that calms and energizes the body, mind and emotions) in over 35 countries and has trained hundreds of instructors. Prior to joining AOLF, Rajshree worked as a prosecutor for the federal government and the Los Angeles district attorney’s office.

Dr. Joseph Prabhu
Author; Professor of Philosophy and Religion, California State University, Los Angeles

Dr. Joseph Prabhu was Professor of Philosophy and Religion at California State University, Los Angeles. A scholar and interfaith activist, he served on the Advisory Board of the Toda Institute for Peace Research, associated with Soka Gakkai International. He was the co-chair of the Southern California Committee for a Parliament of the World’s Religions (SCCPWR) and a member of the American Academy of Religions Special Advisory Committee.

In addition, Dr. Prabhu served on a panel advising the UN High Commission for Human Rights and International Security Forum. He lectured and taught at more than 50 universities worldwide. His many awards include CSULA’s Outstanding Professor Award and the Soka Gakkai USA Lifetime Achievement Award.

Dr. Prabhu authored and edited numerous books, most recently Raimon Panikkar as a Modern Spiritual Master. 

Marium F. Mohiuddin
Muslim

Marium F. Mohiuddin is Regional Communications Director for the American Red Cross Los Angeles Region. In this role, she works on disaster response, biomed relations and preparedness.

Marium has worked in communications for 25 years. She has been a newspaper features editor, editor in chief and managing editor at magazines, and owner of a consulting business. Her nonprofit work includes serving with the American Heart Association and Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC). She holds an MBA in nonprofit management from American Jewish University and a bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M University.

Active in the interfaith scene, Marium serves on four boards and has volunteered with Meals on Wheels and Big Brothers Big Sisters. She has spoken widely on interfaith relations and civic engagement, appearing in media including CNN, NPR, and The Hollywood Reporter.

Nayaswami Narayan
Hindu

Together with his wife, Nayaswami Dharmadevi, Narayan serves as a Spiritual Director of Ananda Los Angeles. This community is one of nine worldwide dedicated to the teachings of the great yogi-saint, Paramhansa Yogananda. As a NYC businessman, Narayan discovered Yogananda’s autobiography, which inspired him to learn kriya yoga and explore spiritual community. An ordained minister, Narayan has also served at Ananda as a meditation teacher, yoga instructor, and publishing manager. He co-founded Ananda Virtual Community–an interactive, online community with classes on yoga, meditation, and spiritual living.

Swami Sarvadevananda
Hindu

Swami Sarvadevananda has been a monk of the worldwide Ramakrishna Order of India since 1965. This monastic organization is dedicated to the teaching of Vedanta and humanity’s worship of God, and respects all religions as paths leading to the truth.

Swami promotes this message of harmony through spiritual ministry, social service and interfaith dialogue. After completing monastic training, he served for 20 years at the Saradapitha education and technical training institute, Kolkata, imparting Vedantic spiritual values to high school and university students. As head of the Ramakrishna Mission at Sikra, West Bengal, Swami served underprivileged and homeless residents. In 1993, he joined the Vedanta Society of Southern California as minister. Swami represents the Society on the Inter-Religious Council of Southern California and Hindu-Catholic Dialogue of Los Angeles. He also travels widely, promoting the Vedantic way of life and encouraging the formation of new Vedanta centers.

Tahil Sharma
Hindu and Sikh

Tahil Sharma is an interfaith activist who was born to a Hindu father and a Sikh mother. He is the North American Coordinator for the United Religions Initiative, the world’s largest grassroots interfaith network, and a Guibord Center Advisor. Tahil also serves with a range of other organizations promoting interfaith cooperation and pluralism.

Suhag Shukla
Hindu

Suhag Shukla, Esq., is Managing Director, Legal Counsel and a co-founder of the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) in Washington, DC. As Managing Director, Suhag builds strategic inter- and intra-faith relations. In her Legal Counsel role, she provides analysis on key issues such as separation of church and state, equal protection, religious discrimination and immigration reform.

Suhag also focuses on improving public portrayals of Hinduism, such as in school textbooks. She is a board member of the Nirvana Center, a Bhutanese resettlement center, and the YWCA of Minneapolis. A member of the Council on Foreign Relations Religious Advisory Committee, she is also involved with Chinmaya Mission. Suhag holds a BA in religion and a JD from the University of Florida.

Bishop Mary Ann Swenson
Christian

Bishop Mary Ann McDonald Swenson is a retired bishop of the United Methodist Church (UMC). Having recently completed a 9-year term as vice moderator for the central committee of the World Council of Churches, Bishop Swenson has served as ecumenical officer for the United Methodist Council of Bishops (2012-2016), bishop of the California Pacific Conference and supervisor of the Western Jurisdiction Korean Mission (2000-2012), and bishop of Yellowstone and Rocky Mountain Conferences (1992-2000).  During those years she served as president of the church’s Board of Discipleship (1996-2000), president of the General Council on Finance and Administration (2004-2008), and president of the General Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Relationships (2009-2012).

In her retirement, she has served on the board of Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice and the advisory council for the Guibord Center.  Currently, she is President of the International Foundation for Ewha Women’s University in Seoul, Korea. She is also a board member of the Ecumenical Trust.

Born in Arkansas and educated in Mississippi with a BA from Millsaps College (1969) (which also awarded her an honorary doctorate years later) and D.Min. from the School of Theology at Claremont, California (1975), she served as a pastor in the Pacific Northwest Conference of the United Methodist Church for 25 years before being elected bishop in 1992.

         She and her husband Jeff were married for 53 years.  He died in 2021.  In their retirement years, they worshiped at Hollywood United Methodist Church where Bishop Swenson serves as bishop in residence.    She has led the church with passion toward becoming a more inclusive community, filled with grace, compassion, and justice, growing in more perfect love of God and neighbor.

Bishop John Harvey Taylor
Christian

The Rt. Rev. John Harvey Taylor began ministry as seventh bishop of the six-county Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles on Dec. 1, 2017. He invites the diocese’s 65,000 parishioners, 400 clergy, 130 congregations, 30 schools, and affiliated social-service agencies to join him in the mission of “feeding hungry hearts.” Previously, Bishop Taylor had served since 2004 as vicar of St. John Chrysostom Church and School in Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.

Chief of staff to former President Richard M. Nixon from 1984 to 1990, he was thereafter executive director of the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, Calif. He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of California, San Diego, and a master of divinity from the Claremont School of Theology and Bloy House. He is a graduate of Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts.

A lifelong Episcopalian, Bishop Taylor was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1954, the son of journalists. He married Kathleen Hannigan O’Connor in 2002. They reside in Pasadena, and their family includes four adult children and two grandchildren.

Chaplain Brenda Threatt
Christian

Chaplain Brenda (B.J.) Threatt is an ordained elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Mentored and employed by the Rev. Dr. Cecil L. “Chip” Murray at First AME Church, Los Angeles, she now serves at Bryant Temple AME Church and as a chaplain at Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Base. Chaplain Threatt previously worked for Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa as the South Los Angeles Director and Veterans Outreach Coordinator and is known for her community organizing skills and public speaking. She earned a BA degree from California State University and an MDiv from San Francisco Theological Seminary.

Jihad Turk
Muslim

Jihad Turk is the founding president of Bayan Islamic Graduate School in Claremont, California, and a nationally known leader and public speaker. Previously, Jihad served for many years as Religious Director of the Islamic Center of Southern California, the oldest and largest mosque in the Los Angeles area.

Born to a Palestinian Muslim father and an American Christian mother, Jihad spent his college years exploring his Islamic roots. He studied at the Islamic University of Madinah, Saudi Arabia, and the University of Tehran, earning his BA in history and Arabic at the University of California, Berkeley. In addition, Jihad holds an MA in Arabic and Islamic law and jurisprudence from the University of Texas, Austin. Currently earning his doctorate, he is focusing on Islamic law with an emphasis on usul al-fiqh (jurisprudence) and theology.

Venerable Miao Hsi
Buddhist

A nun with the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Order, Venerable Miao Hsi serves as Editor-in-Chief of the English pages of the Merit Times (America) daily newspaper. For several years, she also has been director of both the Fo Guang Shan International Translation Center and Buddha’s Light Publishing in America.

Venerable Miao Hsi is responsible for translating the works of Venerable Master Hsing Yun into English. She has completed seven volumes of the series Between Ignorance and Enlightenment, and the two volumes of Dharma Words.

At the time of her presentations, she was a director of Fo Guang Shan Hsi Lai Temple in Hacienda Heights, California. In charge of cultural and educational activities, interfaith work, and community outreach, she also planned and served as a teacher of the temple’s Buddhism classes.