Inspiring Stories for Uncertain Times
The Guibord Center is partnering with IslamiCity, a global Muslim e-community, to bring together people with rich spiritual backgrounds and diverse perspectives to share inspiring stories amid these challenging times. We hope this virtual collaboration will serve as a model of spiritual and interreligious engagement and mutual enrichment that unites our communities in faith and hope for a better world.
Introduction
Rabbi Neil’s Story
Tasneem’s Story
Rev. Kathy’s Story
Tahil’s Story
Tasneem Noor
Tasneem Noor is Program Co-Director for NewGround: A Muslim-Jewish Partnership For Change. Raised in Pakistan, India, and Dubai, she is an Interfaith Minister in Residence with the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, an award-winning author, and founder of Noor...
Rev. Kathy Cooper-Ledesma
The Rev. Kathy Cooper-Ledesma has served as Senior Pastor of Hollywood United Methodist Church since 2006. She has been a committed leader in national interfaith bridge-building, as well as homelessness and poverty efforts in Hollywood and Los Angeles. Storyteller,...
Rabbi Neil Comess-Daniels
Rabbi Neil Comess Daniels is rabbi emeritus of Temple Beth Shir Shalom in Santa Monica and a Guibord Center Advisor. He brings his passionate expression of Judaism, strong sense of social justice, and commitment to interfaith and interracial relations to the pulpit....
Tahil Sharma
An interfaith activist, Tahil Sharma was born to a Hindu father and a Sikh mother. Following the Oak Creek, WI shooting at a Sikh temple in 2012, Tahil became involved in efforts for interfaith literacy and social justice. He has done this work professionally for the...
Navigating Grief
Introduction
The Stories
The Conversation
Rev. Angie Buchanan
Rev. Angie Buchanan, an Advisor to The Guibord Center, is a Founder and the Spiritual Director of Earth Traditions, a Pagan church. She also founded Gaia’s Womb, an interfaith spirituality group that has been producing women's spiritual retreats for over 20 years. A...
Umar A. Hakim Dey
A native of Compton, California, Umar A. Hakim Dey is Executive Director of ILM (Intellect Love Mercy) Foundation. He is responsible for facilitating ILM Foundation’s programming and its social-preneurial vision for social change. These programs, including...
Kaveri Singh
Kaveri Singh is a Los Angeles-based artist who has worked with leading designers from around the world. Her work adorns historic estates such as the Greer Mansion, the Brody House, and the LA Conservancy’s Dominguez Wilshire restoration. Kaveri grew up in India...
Dr. Daniel E. Walker
Dr. Daniel E. Walker is an internationally recognized scholar, filmmaker and public speaker working in the fields of history, film and religion, among others. The founding director of the University of Southern California Digital Library’s Gospel Music History...
Acknowledging Anger
Introduction
The Stories
The Conversations
Dr. Beth Ribet
Dr. Beth Ribet is the director and cofounder of Repair, a nonprofit that engages in research, education, and advocacy regarding health challenges, health disparities and disabilities resulting from systemic violence, exploitation and inequity. A lecturer in gender...
Jennifer Ortiz
Jennifer Ortiz is a teacher and writer whose work and spiritual practice are informed by principles of equity, justice, and the power of the personal narrative. A homebred Angelena, at age 17 she moved to Oakland, California, to attend Mills College. “Attending an...
Bishop John H. Taylor
The Right Reverend 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...
Imam Jihad Turk
Imam 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...
Exploring Fear
Introduction
Aziza’s Story
Sura’s Story
Terry’s Story
The Conversation
Aziza Hasan
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...
Terry Opalek
Terry Opalek is a student, teacher, writer and presenter of metaphysical and spiritual truths. His spiritual pilgrimage began at age 15 and continues evolving to this day. Terry takes his hard-won life lessons and spiritual development to others through workshops,...
Introduction
The Stories
The Conversations
Rev. Jaimie Crumley
Rev. Jaimie Crumley is a black feminist intellectual historian who is currently a PhD student in the Department of Gender Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. Her work focuses on the lives and theological visions of free African American Christian...
Hana Doueiri
Hana Doueiri is currently a high school senior in San Bernardino, CA. She has been involved in speech and debate for many years and has competed at multiple regional, state and national levels. Her speech on religious intolerance and the importance of protecting...
Christine Stark
Christine Stark is an award-winning writer, researcher, visual artist, and international speaker with Anishinaabe and Cherokee ancestry. Her cultural and spiritual roots infuse her creative, nonfiction, and academic writing, much of which focuses on Native women,...
Duncan Ryūken Williams, PhD
In addition to serving as Professor of Religion and East Asian Languages and Cultures at USC, Duncan Ryūken Williams, PhD is director of the USC Shinso Ito Center for Japanese Religions and Culture. Formerly chair of USC’s School of Religion, he earlier held the...
Introduction
The Stories
The Conversations
Kandee Lewis
Kandee Rochelle Lewis is the award-winning Executive Director of the Positive Results Corporation (PRC). Her spiritual belief in Father/Mother God, Mother Earth and our ancestors, and her lifelong sense of being greatly blessed, have allowed Kandee in turn to share...
Dany Doueiri, PhD
Born in the Congo, Dany Doueiri, PhD grew up in Lebanon. He pursued his college education in the United States, completing his doctorate in Islamic studies at UCLA in 1996. He is a professor of Arabic and Islamic studies and an executive board member of the Center for...
Andrea Hodos
After five years as program co-director at NewGround: A Muslim-Jewish Partnership for Change, Andrea Hodos recently became associate director. She co-facilitates NewGround’s MAJIC high school leadership council as well as its Professional Fellowship. Andrea has...
Tim Phillips
Tim Phillips co-founded Animal Defenders International (ADI) together with Jan Creamer. With offices in Los Angeles, London, Lima, and Bogota, ADI also built the 455-acre Wildlife Sanctuary in South Africa for rescued lions and tigers. For almost 40 years,Tim has...