Tanya Sadagopan

Tanya Sadagopan

Rev. Dr. Tanya Sadagopan

Rev. Dr. Tanya Sadagopan is an ordained United Church of Christ minister currently serving in Concord, New Hampshire. She has served in churches in Southern Wisconsin and the greater Chicago area. Her commitments include inclusive ministries that focus on Open & Affirming covenants, Immigrant Welcoming initiatives, and Racial Justice seeking programs. From bringing youth groups to Buddhist Centers, partnering with the local Islamic Dawa Center, and conducting immersive experiences in Hindu Temples for clergy, she navigates multicultural and religious spaces with ease. 

In 2004 she created and hosted one of the first Interfaith Habitat for Humanity Building Projects nationwide located in Northwest Indiana bringing together Hindus, Christians, Jews, Muslims and Buddhists to worship and build a home for a deserving family. She was active in Eboo Patel’s Interfaith Youth Core (now known as Interfaith America) as a Community Leader from Chicago. In 2014 she served in Chicago as the Director of the Urban Ministry Congress on Economic Justice. In her 16 years of ministry, she has served in rural, urban, and suburban settings seeking innovative ways to bring renewal to congregations focusing on local resources and creating community partnerships.  

A mom, a minister, and an educator, she cares deeply for people and strives to bring healing to communities. A storyteller grounded in Hebrew/Christian scriptures, she writes and speaks on matters of justice, multicultural interfaith experiences, and immigrant issues relevant to people of faith and our times. Her first book From Outlaw to In-Law: How Multicultural Interfaith Couples Can Become Agents for Social Change is due from Wipf & Stock later this year. 

Storyteller, Inspiring Stories: Raising Kids in Interfaith Families

Moderator, Inspiring Stories: Interfaith Family Life Across Three Generations

Speaker: Take Heart Now Series

Michelle Mekky

Michelle Mekky

Michelle Mekky is an award-winning broadcast journalist and public relations executive and a passionate advocate for interfaith issues.   The daughter of immigrants from Poland and Ireland, she is married to an Egyptian Muslim.  Michelle was raised in a very observant Jewish family, attending a private Jewish school in her elementary years and learning fluent Hebrew.

While working for the Israeli Tourist Office in Chicago as Director of Public Relations, Michelle met her now-husband who came into the office to sell a new computer system. Her husband was born in the US but was raised most of his childhood in Cairo as a practicing Muslim.

They are now married for almost 23 years and have two kids aged 20 and 18, whom they raised to honor both of their religions from a cultural perspective, with a high level of respect and compromise. Michelle often jokes that her kids are the future peacemakers of our world. 

Storyteller, Inspiring Stories: Raising Kids in Interfaith Families

Lisa Patriquin

Lisa Patriquin

Lisa Patriquin is The Guibord Center’s Program Director for Youth and Young Adults.  She forms partnerships with schools and educators to increase religious and interfaith literacy, and promote open discourse about religion and spirituality as an aspect of identity. Programs include bringing speakers for classes, facilitating workshops for educators on Integrating Spirituality in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and collaborating with teachers to create customized curricula and special events for elementary and secondary students.  Lisa met the Rev. Dr. Gwynne Guibord (founder of The Guibord Center) in 2006 when she was invited to represent the Synod of Southern California and Hawaii (PCUSA) for the Christian-Muslim Consultative Group, and later served in the same role upon the formation of The Guibord Center’s Advisory Council.

Lisa is a lifelong Presbyterian and an ordained Ruling Elder.  She has been a professional Christian educator since 2004 and has been active in education and mission at several churches in Southern California and Colombia.  

She started her interfaith journey as a child with close family friends who were Jewish and expanded her interfaith friendships in college.  In 1986, at the height of tensions between the US and Iran, she married an Iranian who grew up in the Shia Muslim tradition. They have one son, who decided at age twelve to be baptized in the Presbyterian church. 

Prior to her career as a Christian and interfaith educator, Lisa worked for 18 years in English as a Second Language.  She holds a PhD in Higher Education (University of Southern California), a Masters in Latin American Studies (UCLA), and a Bachelors in Linguistics  (Macalester College).

Matthew Hom

Matthew Hom

Matthew Hon grew up in a Chinese and Ashkenazi Jewish family in Cerritos, California. After studying history and music at the University of California, Irvine, he earned a master’s degree in Jewish studies at New York University. Matthew has since pursued a career in social justice organizing, currently as a Faith-Rooted Organizer with CLUE Justice. Previously, he worked with the California Democratic Party and Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) on electoral campaigns and census outreach. He has volunteered in leadership roles with Bend the Arc and Never Again Action. 

A Hebrew school teacher at Temple Isaiah, Matthew is a member of the Boyle Heights Chavurah. He also serves on the Grant Advisory Committee of the Jews of Color Initiative. Matthew feels called by his faith and identity to help build a multiracial democracy in Los Angeles in solidarity with workers, immigrants, and our diverse communities.

Storyteller, Inspiring Stories: Interfaith Family Choices

Reverend Margaret Anne Ernst

Reverend Margaret Anne Ernst

Reverend Margaret Ernst

Reverend Margaret Anne Ernst is a passionate writer, community builder, and organizer; she has worked alongside faith communities to fight for racial, economic, and immigrant justice since 2013. Organizations she has worked with include Faith in Action and Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ). Since 2016, Rev. Margaret has contributed to the anti-racist podcast The Word is Resistance, a project of SURJ Faith. She is currently a program manager with Faith Matters Network, where she leads learning journeys for changemakers and guides internal organizational reflection. She loves to sing and laugh.

Storyteller, Inspiring Stories: Moving Toward Anti-racism