WJC Jewish Diplomatic Corps
United Against Racism Global Conference

Ronald S. Lauder has served as president of the World Jewish Congress since 2007. An international philanthropist, investor, art collector, and former public servant, Lauder also demonstrates his deep commitment to his Judaism through a wide range of other philanthropic endeavors that reach around the world.

As president of the WJC, Ambassador Lauder meets regularly with heads of state, prime ministers and government representatives to discuss and advance causes of concern to Jews and Jewish communities internationally. He advocates for the importance of supporting Israel, especially in times when the State or its citizens are under attack, and he encourages and aids the development of vibrant Jewish communities around the world.

Ambassador Lauder also serves as Chairman of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Foundation, which supports the preservation of the authentic remains of the former German Nazi concentration and extermination camp. In January 2020, the foundation brought a delegation of more than 100 Auschwitz-Birkenau Survivors and their families to the memorial site to participate in the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the camp.

From 1983 to 1986, he served as United States Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for European and NATO Affairs. In 1986, he was appointed by President Reagan as U.S. Ambassador to Austria. In that role, he built strong diplomatic bonds between the two countries.

Ambassador Lauder’s diplomatic experience in Austria heightened his deep appreciation of, and his commitment to, his Jewish heritage. During that time, he initiated what has become a core personal mission – supporting the revitalization of Jewish life across central and eastern Europe in communities that had been devastated by the Holocaust, and remained suppressed under Communism. In 1987, he established The Ronald S. Lauder Foundation, which now supports Jewish schools, camps and community centers in Austria, Belarus, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Ukraine. Ambassador Lauder’s efforts have facilitated thousands of members of the next generation in connecting with their Jewish heritage.

In 1997, Ambassador Lauder was elected as President of the Jewish National Fund and after a successful 10-year tenure, became Chairman of the Board. From 1999 until 2001, he served as Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

Derrick Johnson serves as President and CEO of the NAACP, a title he has held since October of 2017. President Johnson formerly served as vice chairman of the NAACP National Board of Directors, as well as state president for the Mississippi State Conference NAACP. A longstanding member and leader of the NAACP, Mr. Johnson has helped guide the Association through a period of re-envisioning and reinvigoration.

Under President Johnson’s leadership, the NAACP has undertaken such efforts as the 2018 “Log Out” Facebook Campaign, pressuring Facebook after reports of Russian hackers targeting African Americans, the Jamestown to Jamestown Partnership, marking the 400th year enslaved Africans first touched the shores of America, the 2020 We are Done Dying Campaign, exposing the inequities embedded into the American healthcare system and the country at large, and most recently the victorious 2020 Supreme Court lawsuit NAACP vs. Trump, which prevents Donald Trump’s administration from rescinding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program for millions of young immigrants.

President Johnson also continues to be on the frontlines on some of the most pressing civil rights issues of our time, calling out Virginia Governor Ralph Northam for his use of Blackface, condemning the burning of Black churches in Tennessee and Louisiana, testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee in opposition to Attorney General William Barr’s nomination, and overseeing the NAACP’s vote to impeach President Donald J. Trump at the 110th National Convention in Detroit.

Born in Detroit, Mr. Johnson attended Tougaloo College in Jackson, MS. He then received his JD from the South Texas College of Law in Houston, TX. Mr. Johnson has also furthered his training through fellowships with the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, the George Washington University School of Political Management, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He has served as an annual guest lecturer at Harvard Law School, lending his expertise to Professor Lani Guinier’s course on social movements, and as an adjunct professor at Tougaloo College.

Mr. Johnson is a veteran activist who has dedicated his career to defending the rights and improving the lives of Mississippians. As State President of the NAACP Mississippi State Conference, he led critical campaigns for voting rights and equitable education. He successfully managed two bond referendum campaigns in Jackson, MS that brought $150 million in school building improvements and $65 million towards the construction of a new convention center, respectively. As a regional organizer at the Jackson-based non-profit, Southern Echo, Inc., Mr. Johnson provided legal, technical, and training support for communities across the South.

President Johnson is frequently featured on CNN, MSNBC, CBS, ABC and many others, advocating on behalf of the Black community and all those who are affected by systemic oppression and prejudice.

Daniel Radomski holds over 20 years of experience in Jewish leadership, strategic development and management consultancy in Sweden, United Kingdom, Israel and the United States. Following a corporate career, Daniel Radomski is currently the Head of Strategy & Programs for the World Jewish Congress, and the Executive Director of the WJC Jewish Diplomatic Corps, the WJC’s highly selective flagship leadership development and diplomatic impact program, with over 300 hand-picked professionals in 55 countries. Daniel holds a Bachelor of Science (Econ.) in Economics and History from University College London (UCL), and a Master of Business Administration from Bar Ilan University. He is a trustee of Schechter Manhattan, a private Jewish day-school, and was previously the Chairman of the Zionist Federation of Sweden, as well as a board member of Keren Hayesod-UIA Sweden. Daniel completed his military service in the Nachal combat infantry brigade of the Israel Defense Forces.

Dr. Andrea Bartoli is President of the Sant’Egidio Foundation for Peace and Dialogue, working primarily on peacemaking and genocide prevention. He is a member of the Steering Group of the Global Action Against Mass Atrocity Crimes (GAAMAC), the Global Steering Committee chaired by the United Nations Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, and the UNHCR Multireligious Council of Leaders. 

Dr. Bartoli has been a member of the Community of Sant’Egidio since 1970 and acted as its Representative to the UN and the USG (1992-2018). He previously served as the Convener of the Genocide Prevention Advisory Network (GPANet) and as the Dean of the School of Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University and of the School of Diplomacy at Seton Hall University. He was also the Founding Director of the Center for International Conflict Resolution at Columbia University.  

Dr. Bartoli is a Visiting Fellow at the Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict and Complexity – AC4, Columbia University. He lives in New York City with his wife Paola Piscitelli, his son Pietro and daughter Anna. 

Dr. Mustafa Ceric is considered one of the most influential Muslim leaders of current times. A native to Bosnia-Herzegovina, Dr. Ceric graduated from the Gazi Husrevbeg Madrasa in Sarajevo and received a scholarship to Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt. Following his schooling in Egypt, he returned to Bosnia-Herzegovina, where he became an Imam. In 1981, he accepted the position of Imam at the Islamic Cultural Center (ICC) of Greater Chicago in Northbrook, Illinois and settled in the United States for several years. He learned English and earned a Ph.D. at the University of Chicago in Islamic Studies before renown Muslim scholar Fazlur Rahman. When he completed his studies at the University of Chicago, Dr. Ceric returned in 1986 to his homeland and became a practicing Imam in a learning center in Zagreb, Croatia. In 1991, he accepted the offer to teach at the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization (ISTAC-IIUM), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. While in Malaysia, Dr. Ceric was elected in 1993 in absentia as the Grand Mufti of Bosnia, the Supreme Head of Islamic Community of Bosnia-Herzegovina. He returned in May 1993 to the besieged city of Sarajevo, which lasted from 5 April 1992 to 29 February 1996 (1,425 days). Dr. Ceric assumed the tenure of Grand Mufti of Bosnia and held it for twenty years, the longest tenure of any in the history of this unique spiritual institution in Europe. He also was elected the youngest Grand Mufti of Bosnia. Dr. Ceric led the Islamic Community in Bosnia as the Supreme Head, the Grand Mufti of Bosnia, 1993-2012 in war and in peace making a great impact on domestic as well as international issues regarding truth, justice, peace and reconciliation. 

After leaving the office of the Grand Mufti of Bosnia, Dr. Ceric was visiting professor at the World Islamic Sciences and Education University (WISE), Amman, Jordan 212-214. 

Dr. Ceric is an advocate of cross-cultural engagement as well as a peace activist. In 2003, he received the UNESCO Peace Award together with Cardinal Etchegaray. In 2006, he issued the "Declaration of European Muslims" to the European Union stating that European Muslims are dedicated to the common values of law, tolerance, democracy and human rights, the value of life, faith, freedom, property, and dignity. In 2008, Dr. Ceric led the Muslim delegation of the "A Common Word" initiative to the Vatican, which included a meeting with the Pope. Also in 2008, Dr. Ceric joined the International Religious Advisory Council of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, committing himself to its mission of promoting respect and religious pluralism through discussions on social injustice. 

Dr. Ceric is currently the President of the World Bosniak Congress as well as an active member in many local and international scientific organizations and societies such as: The Inter-religious Council of Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Executive Committee of the European Council of Religious Leaders, International Commission for Peace Research, UNESCO. 

Dr. Ceric is a Special Adviser to Sheikh Abdallah bin Bayyah, President of the Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies. 

He was reelected as at the Honorary President, "Religions for peace" at 10th World Assembly in Lindau Germany, 20-23 August 2019. 

Simin Fahandej is a Representative of the Bahá’í International Community’s United Nations Office in Geneva, having joined the Office in 2011. Her work focuses primarily on human rights, peace and security and migration. Ms. Fahandej has served as a Baha'i International Community delegate to the Commission on the Status of Women, the Commission on Sustainable Development and the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. She has also been involved with the Major Group for Children and Youth, including as editor-in-chief for the 7th Annual Youth Assembly at the UN. Ms. Fahandej has conducted research consultancies for various organizations such as Amnesty International, Nobel Women Initiative and Centre for Defenders of Human Rights. Prior to joining the Bahá’í International Community, Ms. Fahandej worked as a journalist, at various news outlets, including the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). Ms. Fahandej holds a combined Honors degree in Journalism and Political Science from the University of King’s College in Canada and a Master's degree in International Law from SOAS in the United Kingdom.

Miri Eisin served in the Israeli intelligence community and retired from active duty at the rank of full colonel in 2004. Over her twenty-year career in the military, she served as the deputy head of the combat intelligence corps, the personal assistant to the director of Military intelligence and as the intelligence officer in combat units and research departments. 

After retiring from the military Miri served as the Israeli Prime Minister's international media advisor from the second Lebanon war until the end of 2007. 

Over the last ten years Miri has been one of Israel's main presenters, speaking on regional geo-politics and security related issues in the media worldwide. She teaches at the Inter-disciplinary center in Herzliya, and works extensively with the media, student groups and diplomats. Miri is a fellow at the center for international communication at Bar Ilan University, and an associate at the ICT International Institute for Counter-Terrorism. 

Miri holds a BA from Tel Aviv University in Middle Eastern studies and Political Science, an MA from Haifa University in Security studies and is a graduate of the Israeli national defense college. 

Her expertise includes the Israeli intelligence community, security and geopolitics in the Middle East, narratives and media as a dimension of security and warfare, the media in the Middle East perspectives, the Israeli – Palestinian conflict in different perspectives. 

Pamela Malewicz is currently the representative of the City of Buenos Aires in the Public Entity Space for Memory and the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (ex Esma), the coordinator of the Committee to Fight against Human Trafficking of the City of Buenos Aires and representative of the Executive Power of the City in the Local Committee for the Prevention of Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and punishment. 

Between 2011 and 2015 she served as Chief of Staff of the Undersecretariat of Human Rights and Cultural Pluralism and between 2007 and 2011 as Chief of Staff of the General Directorate of Institutional Relations, both positions also in the Buenos Aires Government. 

Before working as Chief of Staff, she worked as an advisor on institutional management and organization issues in the private sector and in civil society organizations such as the Delegation of Argentine Israelite Associations (DAIA) and other institutions. 

As part of her volunteer commitment, she was Secretary and later Vice President of Beth School and has collaborated with many community projects and initiatives. For 4 years she has also been participating as a mentor of Vital Voices and other mentoring and empowerment networks for women and young people. 

She has a degree in Institutional Organization and Management from the National University of General San Martín. 

Katya Gibel Mevorach holds a Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology from Duke University. She received her B.A. and M.A. in African Studies from Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel. Gibel Mevorach is Professor in Anthropology and American Studies at Grinnell College.

Prof. Gibel Mevorach is author, under name, Katya Gibel Azoulay of Black, Jewish and Interracial: It's Not the Color of Your Skin but the Race of Your Kin, and Other Myths of Identity (Duke University Press, 1997). Her articles, review essays and position papers have appeared in journals which iinclude American Anthropologist, American Ethnologist, Biography, Developing World Bioethics, Identities, Cultural Studies, Research in African Literatures, נוגה (Noga: Israeli Feminist Journal), עתון אחר (Iton Aher) and The Jerusalem Post (Israel).

Gibel Mevorach has dual American - Israeli citizenship: the daughter of a Jewish refugee from Nazi Austria and an immigrant from Jamaica, she made Aliya to Israel in 1970 after graduating from The Brearley School (NY) where she lived for 21 years before returning to US to pursue

doctoral studies. She was invited to join Grinnell College in January 1996 and served as Chair of the Africana Studies Concentration from 1996-2000 and in 2003 helped initiate the transition of Africana Studies into an expanded American Studies Concentration, which she chaired between 2004 and 2005 and 2015-19. As an invited speaker at various colleges and universities around the country, she has addressed the topics of issues of identity and social science categories, and "race" racism as well as Antisemitism in the curriculum and academic discourse.

Elizabeth Harris-Sawczenko recently stepped down as the Director of the Council of Christians and Jews, the pre-eminent and most established national interfaith network in the UK. She is currently a Director at the Good Faith Partnership, a faith-based consultancy group. 

Elizabeth is a British Jewish Israeli. During the years of the Oslo Accords she was involved in Track three ‘People to People’ civil society encounters with Palestinian counterparts. She was subsequently a Director of the largest civil and human rights organisation in Israel. Elizabeth is currently a trustee of the Abraham Initiatives UK that promotes shared society for Arab and Jewish citizens of Israel. 

Within her role at CCJ, in 2015 Elizabeth led a national campaign to raise awareness to persecution of Christians in the Middle East, entitled ‘If not now when: A Jewish response to persecution of Christians in the Middle East’ and was presented to Pope Francis in the Vatican for this initiative. In 2018 Elizabeth was invited to a private luncheon with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh, together with 7 other individuals from public life, to acknowledge her contribution to interfaith and community relations in the UK. 

During her time at CCJ, Elizabeth also established a groundbreaking study tour for senior Christian and Jewish leaders to Israel and the Palestinian territories and a bi-annual Rabbi/Clergy conference. 

In her personal life Elizabeth studies Arabic and learns a page of Talmud a day, together with an online interfaith group that she established at the beginning of lockdown in January 2020. She is currently a candidate for the international KAIICID interfaith fellows programme.  

Dr. Robert Stearns is the founder and executive director of Eagles' Wings, a dynamic relational ministry involved in a variety of outreaches and strategic projects around the world. He has ministered in 30 nations around the world and maintains a significant burden for Israel. A powerful communicator, Robert Stearns is the author of five books, and speaks around the country at various churches, conferences, and venues. Robert is also an accomplished recording artist and soloist, with performances in the US, Europe and Israel, including the prestigious Carnegie Hall. He was a guest Soloist of the FDNY 15^th Anniversary 9/11 Memorial Service.

Robert is the visionary of the worldwide prayer initiative, ‘The Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem,” which is observed annually on the first Sunday of October, and has the participation of over 500,000 churches in over 175 nations.

Robert is also the presiding Bishop of the historic Full Gospel Tabernacle in Orchard Park, NY and President of the Israel Christian Nexus (ICN) in Los Angeles, CA. The ICN’s mission is educating Jewish and Christian communities regarding the role of Israel, the Jewish people and our shared Judeo-Christian values.

Susannah Heschel is the Eli M. Black Distinguished Professor and chair of the Jewish Studies Program at Dartmouth College. The author of Abraham Geiger and the Jewish Jesus, The Aryan Jesus: Christian Theologians and the Bible in Nazi Germany, and Jüdischer Islam: Islam und jüdisch-deutsche Selbstbestimmung, she and Umar Ryad have just co-edited, The Muslim Reception of European Orientalism. She has also edited Moral Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity: Essays of Abraham Joshua Heschel. She is currently writing a book, together with Sarah Imhoff, on Jewish Studies and the Woman Question. The recipient of four honorary doctorates, she has held research grants from the Carnegie Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the National Humanities Center, the Guggenheim Foundation, and the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin.

Cornell William Brooks is Hauser Professor of the Practice of Nonprofit Organizations and Professor of the Practice of Public Leadership and Social Justice at the Harvard Kennedy School. He is also Director of The William Monroe Trotter Collaborative for Social Justice at the School’s Center for Public Leadership, and Visiting Professor of the Practice of Prophetic Religion and Public Leadership at Harvard Divinity School.

Brooks was most recently visiting professor of social ethics, law, and justice movements at Boston University’s School of Law and School of Theology. He was a visiting fellow and director of the Campaign and Advocacy Program at the Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics in 2017. Brooks served as the 18th president of the NAACP from 2014 to 2017.

Prior to leading the NAACP, Brooks was president and CEO of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice. He also served as senior counsel and acting director of the Office of Communications Business Opportunities at the Federal Communications Commission, executive director of the Fair Housing Council of Greater Washington, and a trial attorney at both the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and the U.S. Department of Justice. Brooks served as judicial clerk for the Chief Judge Sam J. Ervin, III, on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Brooks holds a J.D. from Yale Law School, a Master of Divinity from Boston University’s School of Theology, and a B.A. from Jackson State University. Brooks is a fourth-generation ordained minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner serves as the Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. He has led the Religious Action Center since 2015. Rabbi Pesner also serves as Senior Vice President of the Union for Reform Judaism, a position to which he was appointed to in 2011. Named one of the most influential rabbis in America by Newsweek magazine, he is an inspirational leader, creative entrepreneur and tireless advocate for social justice.

Rabbi Pesner’s experience as a community organizer guides his pursuit of social justice. He has been a principal architect in transforming the URJ and guiding the Reform Movement to become even more impactful as the largest Jewish denomination in the world. Among other initiatives, he is a founder of the Campaign for Youth Engagement, a bold strategy to mobilize tens of thousands of young people in the Jewish community.

Rabbi Pesner's signature accomplishment has been to encourage Jewish communities in efforts to reach across lines of race, class and faith in campaigns for social justice. In 2006, he founded Just Congregations (now incorporated into the Religious Action Center), which engages countless clergy, professional and volunteer leaders in interfaith efforts for the common good. He has led and supported campaigns for economic justice, marriage equality, human rights and a variety of other causes. He was a primary leader in the successful Massachusetts campaign for health care access that has provided health care coverage to hundreds of thousands and which became a model for reform.

Rabbi Pesner has trained and mentored students on all four campuses of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, and gives speeches in interfaith and secular venues all over the world. He has served as a scholar for the Wexner Foundation, American Jewish World Service, and Combined Jewish Philanthropies, among others. Rabbi Pesner serves as a board member of JOIN for Justice, the Leadership Council on Civil and Human Rights, the National Religious Partnership for the Environment, the New England Center for Children and the World Faiths Development Dialogue.

Ordained at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1997, Rabbi Pesner was a congregational rabbi at Temple Israel in Boston and at Temple Israel in Westport, Conn. A graduate of Wesleyan University and the Bronx High School of Science, Rabbi Pesner is married to Dana S. Gershon, an attorney. They have four daughters: Juliet, Noa, Bobbie and Cate.

Victoria Alvarado is a senior editor and adviser with the U.S. State Department’s International Religious Freedom Office (IRF). Previously, Ms. Alvarado was Deputy Chief of Mission to the U.S. Embassy to the Vatican. She dedicated much of her diplomatic career to religion and foreign policy issues and civilian security. Ms. Alvarado’s Washington assignments included IRF office director, adviser for the Bureau of Conflict Stabilization Operations, director for Central America and Caribbean Affairs at the National Security Council, and Nicaragua desk officer. She also served overseas in Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Iraq, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Indonesia. Ms. Alvarado is the recipient of an award for heroism and a multiple recipient of State Department superior and meritorious honor awards. She is an experienced negotiator with cultural literacy in Latin America and parts of Asia and the Middle East. She has fluent Spanish, a working knowledge of Italian, and some knowledge of Indonesian and Dari. Ms. Alvarado is a graduate of Mills College and the University of Southern California. She holds a War College diploma and Master’s degree in Strategic Security Studies from the National Defense University. Her thesis assessed partnerships between governments and religious leaders to counter violent extremism.

Canon Brian Cox is an ordained Episcopal Priest and a trained professional in conflict resolution who serves as a senior official of a Washington DC based non-governmental organization, and as an adjunct professor in an academic program devoted to faith-based diplomacy. He is a retired pastor. 

He was born in Chicago, Illinois. He received his B.S. in Geological Sciences at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California and his Master of Divinity degree from the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He received a Master of Dispute Resolution degree from Pepperdine University School of Law in Malibu, California. 

He was ordained an Episcopal Priest in 1975. He has served congregations in Southern California and Northern Virginia from 1975 to 2017. He recently retired as Rector of Christ the King Episcopal Church in Santa Barbara, California which he served over 25 years from 1992 to 2017. From 1998 to 2008 he was a leader in the work of Faith-Based Reconciliation on a local, regional and national context in the Episcopal Church. 

His involvement with international affairs began in 1984 when he spent several months in South Africa under the auspices of Africa Enterprise and the Anglican Diocese of Pretoria. In 1985 he founded and became the first U.S. Director of Sharing of Ministries Abroad (SOMA) which was involved in conducting spiritual renewal conferences for leaders of the Anglican Communion in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. In 1990 he founded the European Reconciliation Fellowship which focused on the work of Faith-Based Reconciliation with political and religious leaders in East Central Europe; particularly the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo. It was in East Central Europe that he began to develop the strategic paradigm of Faith-Based Reconciliation which is defined by eight core values and by a deliberative process of constructive joint problem solving. 

In 1996 he founded the Reconciliation Institute in Santa Barbara, California and developed the Faith-Based Reconciliation process as a religious framework for peacemaking in intractable identity-based conflicts. As such, he sought to apply the principles and skills of Faith-Based Reconciliation to his own community which included initiatives concerned with reconciliation among pastors, racial reconciliation, Jewish/Christian reconciliation and civic reconciliation. 

In 1999 he joined a newly formed non-governmental organization called the International Center for Religion and Diplomacy (ICRD) and later became ICRD’s Senior Vice President. The mission of the International Center for Religion and Diplomacy is to address problems of communal identity that exceed the grasp of traditional diplomacy (such as ethnic conflict, tribal warfare and religious hostilities) by effectively combining religious concerns with the practice of international politics. As such, it is committed to Faith-Based Diplomacy. He served as ICRD’s Project Leader for Kashmir and the Middle East. In Kashmir (2000 – 2008) he worked on both the Indian and Pakistani sides of the Line of Control. His groundbreaking work created a public conversation in Kashmir about reconciliation as part of its future; created movement in the stalemate between Kashmiri Muslims and Hindu Pandits; and led to an important bridgebuilding meeting between top Pakistani Kashmiri Muslim leaders and Indian Pandit (Panum Kashmir) leaders in Nepal in 2005. In the Middle East (2005 – present ) he has been or is currently involved with five project tracks: working with the leadership of the Northern Federation of Syria toward the creation of a pluralistic community in the Hassake region consisting of Syriac Christians, Kurds and Arab Bedouins; empowering young Palestinian Christian and Muslim leaders in the West Bank to create a forward looking people movement based on healing, transformation and non-violence; engaging with Israeli, Syriac Christian and Kurdish leaders in creating the Isaiah 19 Project that offers a faith-based alternative to enable enemies to sit together under a different architecture to solve their problems with each other; working with Muslim Brotherhood leaders to create a new role for them in world politics of peacemaking, reconciliation and problem solving; and working with Christian, Yazidi, Shabak and Turkmen leaders of the Nineveh Plains in Iraq to develop a social contract and create a unified movement to return and rebuild the Nineveh Plains after ISIS is defeated. 

In 2001 he joined the faculty of the Straus Institute of Pepperdine University Law School in Malibu, California as an Adjunct Professor. He teaches a specialized course in Faith-Based Diplomacy. 

In 2017, together with John Sandoz, Dana Moldovan and Gabriel Abdalla, he established the Institute for Faith-Based Diplomacy of Washington DC and became its first President. It is designed to identify, train and deploy next generation faith-based peacemakers as well as develop the Muslim Brotherhood Initiative. In 2017, together with Bassam Ishak, he established the Faith-Based Reconciliation Foundation focused on developing the political side of the Isaiah 19 vision. Toward that end he works with the leadership of the Northern Federation of Syria, the leadership of the Nineveh Plains in Iraq and conducts meetings in Cyprus with leaders from Assyria, Israel and Egypt. In 2016, together with Chander Khanna and Iftikhar Bazmi, he established the Faith-Based Reconciliation Trust of India focused on developing a completely indigenous movement of Faith-Based Reconciliation in Kashmir and introducing Faith-Based Reconciliation to Iran. 

He has been a pioneer and practitioner in designing and developing faith-based approaches to intervention in large scale political and religious conflict. Over the course of his work in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East he has developed the strategic paradigm of Faith-Based Reconciliation as a fresh approach to larger scale political conflict, as a religious framework for peacemaking and conflict resolution and as an alternative to religious extremism. Besides his experience in some of the world’s roughest neighborhoods, he has contributed to the scholarly and conceptual development of Faith-Based Reconciliation with journal articles and opinion pieces. In 2007 his book “Faith-Based Reconciliation: A Moral Vision That Transforms People and Societies” was published by Xlibris Publishing. In 2008 he published three versions of the Reconciliation Basic Seminar. In 2011 his book “Faith-Based Reconciliation: A Religious Framework for Peacemaking and Conflict Resolution” was published by Xlibris Publishing. In 2015 his book “Faith-Based Diplomacy: The Work of the Prophets” was published by Xlibris Publishing. Two of his books have been published in Arabic and Romanian. You can visit the website at www.faith-basedreconciliation.com or at www.faith-baseddiplomacy.com. 

He and his wife Ann live in Santa Barbara, California and have two grown and married children, and three grandchildren. 

Father Sebastián Risso is a Catholic priest living in Immaculate Conception parish in San Telmo, Buenos Aires, and is the chaplain in a House for spiritual exercises. Ordained by Cardinal Bergoglio, now Pope Francis in 2006, he has been devoted to interfaith work since he was a seminarian and has attended seminaries of interreligious dialogue in Jerusalem and Berlin. As a priest, he is mostly dedicated to spiritual counseling and leads projects dealing with charity.

Ioni Shalom is the senior rabbi of Bet Hilel community in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was ordained as a rabbi at the Marshall T. Meyer Latin American Rabbinical Seminary in 2012. 

He has a degree in Institutional Organization and Management from the National University of General San Martín and a Technical Analyst / Programmer from the ORT Institute of Technology. 

From 2012 to August 2017, he worked as a rabbi at the BAMI - Marc Chagall community school, in the City of Buenos Aires, in a community integration and development project. He previously served as a seminarian, rabbinical assistant, and community director in different community institutions and schools. 

He is currently a member of the Latin American Jewish Congress, focusing on inter-religious dialogue and a member of the World Jewish Congress’ Jewish Diplomatic Corps. 

Linbert Spencer is the owner/director of Linbert Spencer Consultancy Ltd and co-founder of The Centre for Inclusive Leadership Ltd, Linbert has been helping organisations and individuals to transform themselves for more than 30 years. He is an international consultant specialising in inclusion, leadership, performance management, personal development and coaching. Linbert has facilitated learning and development seminars and workshops in more than 20 countries as well as across the UK.

A former professional actor, international athlete, television presenter and CEO of a national not-for-profit organisation, Linbert has appeared in many television and radio programmes, including two appearances on BBC Television’s Question Time. He is a prolific public speaker, author of The Diversity Pocket Book and How To Build a Multi Ethnic Church, co-authored Introducing the Business of Inclusion with Paul Anderson-Walsh and contributed to a number of other publications.

Tomás Mojo is a lawyer (cum laude) specializing in Penal Law and Taxation. He holds a master's degree in constitutional law and completed post-graduate courses in Argentina and Israel on the Holocaust, equity and non-discrimination, childrens’ rights, and economical, social and cultural rights. He has worked as a researcher at the National Institute against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism (INADI), as a law clerk in the Court of Appeal of Buenos Aires and as a legal advisor for the Federal Revenue Agency of Argentina (AFIP).

Tomás is a professor teaching several subjects including: Children's Rights facing the Holocaust (UBA), Criminology of Genocides, From Auschwitz to ESMA (UBA), Human Rights, (UBA) and Human Rights Law Program (UNLA). He has organized a multimedia library on Holocaust history for the University of Buenos Aires and has organized conferences on the Holocaust, Minority Rights, and Human Rights.

Melody Amal Khali Kabalan is an advisor in business protocol and Islamic Arab culture. Kabalan studied International Relations with a specialization in Conflict Resolution at the University of Maryland, USA. She is a member of the Executive Body of Religions for Peace for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Kabalan founded Afifa.org, an organization that promotes and shares information related to women in the Middle East and Islamic World. She is a co-founder of Diversity Network as well as the Laboratory of Cultural, Religious and Ethnic Diversity of the Human Rights department of the Buenos Aires parliament. As of early 2020, she presides over the Islam Institute for Peace.

Ruth Ouazana, founder of Limoud France, works as an expert in interfaith and intercultural dialogue. She is also representing the Jewish Scouts worldwide as General Secretary of the International Forum of Jewish Scouts. She worked as a lawyer for ten years in France before moving to the U.K., Mexico and Israel. She is very passionate about the connection between Jews and their Jewish identity, as well as their relationship with other communities and faiths. Ruth now lives in Lyon, with her husband and his 4 children, and they have created "The Roots of Tomorrow" (Les Racines de demain), an organization that aims to break down barriers, ignorance and prejudices, in order to fight antisemitism and racism. In 2019 she became a KAICIID fellow.

She joined the Jewish Diplomats in 2011 and is currently the European member of its Steering Committee.

Vladimir was born in Sarajevo and graduated from the Music Academy of Sarajevo and is currently studying at the School of Economics and Business at the University of Sarajevo. Vladimir works at the Jewish cultural-educational and humanitarian society La Benevolencija; as a Social welfare manager. Beyond his professional engagement, Vladimir is active in the Jewish in the following roles at Jewish community of Bosnia and Herzegovina: member of the Presidency (Board of Directors) of the Jewish community of Sarajevo, Vice President and member of the Presidency of Jewish cultural-educational and humanitarian society La Benevolencija;. Vladimir is also active in the peace building processes in Bosnia and Herzegovina, primarily through interfaith dialogue.

Phil Rosenberg is Director of Public Affairs at the Board of Deputies of British Jews. He writes this piece particularly in his capacity as a member of the flagship program of the World Jewish Congress, the WJC Jewish Diplomatic Corps, a worldwide network of Jewish young professionals acting in the fields of diplomacy and public policy.

Previously, she served as Executive Director and Director of International Affairs and Communal Relations for the Institute for Public Affairs, the political action and public policy arm of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America. Past positions she has held include Executive Director of Dor Hemshech, the young leadership division of the World Zionist Organization; Bureau Director for the Consul General of Israel in New York; Assistant to the Executive Director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York; and Liaison Officer for the Permanent Mission of Israel to the United Nations, among others. She has worked with many diverse organizations on international issues such as the Middle East, the United Nations, anti-Semitism, and on community, governmental, and interfaith relations. In 2004 she was appointed by the White House as a United States delegate to the OSCE Berlin Conference on Anti-Semitism.

A graduate of the City University of New York and Yeshiva University, Ms. Ehrenberg has an extensive background in Jewish education and taught advanced Judaic Studies at the Ramaz Upper School and at other educational institutions. She speaks to many groups across the country on a wide variety of issues of importance to the Jewish community and her articles have appeared in Jewish publications.

Claudio Epelman is the Executive Director of the regional branch of the World Jewish Congress, the Latin American Jewish Congress. 

The Latin American Jewish Congress, an active member of the Civil Society, is the umbrella organization advocating for the interests of the Latin American and Caribbean Jewish Communities. Epelman represented these Jewish Communities at high level meetings with heads of states and many other important personalities from the international political field. He has also been invited to participate in several UN, OAS, OSCE and SEGIB sessions. 

Epelman is very committed to interfaith initiatives promoting Jewish and Muslim dialogue, and building bridges with the Catholic community. He is regularly invited to interfaith conferences such as the “Doha Conference of Interfaith Dialogue”, the “International Conference for Interfaith Dialogue” organized by the King of Saudi Arabia and the Muslim World League in Madrid, where he was asked to chair a plenary session; and the “General Conference of the Latin American Episcopal Conference” in Brazil, where he met with Pope Benedict XVI. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Latin American and Caribbean Council of Religious Leaders. 

All this work was recognized in 2007 by the Argentine Government when Epelman was awarded a prize for his work in the inter-faith field. 

Maestría en Comunicación y Derechos Humanos (UNLP – Tesis en producción). Se desempeñó como Coordinador de los foros de Educación, contra el Antisemitismo, Deportes y Juventud del Instituto Nacional contra de la Discriminación y actualmente coordina el área de Diversidad Religiosa (INADI). Es consultor en Gestión de la Diversidad en distintas empresas y organizaciones. También se desempeñó como Coordinador General del Observatorio de discriminación en el fútbol, y responsable de la revisión de estereotipos en manuales escolares como parte del Instituto. Es Asesor en temas de Deportes, Antisemitismo y pasado reciente en distintas organizaciones e instituciones. Ha sido Director de Instituciones y programas varios pertenecientes a la Comunidad judía

Licenciada en Ciencia de la Educación (UBA). Técnica Nacional en Tiempo Libre y Recreación. Especialista en pedagogías de la diversidad. Trabajó coordinando espacios de juegotecas para niños y niñas de distintos barrios de la ciudad de Buenos Aires (Fundación Abrir la Puerta). Coordinó grupos de voluntariados destinado a adolescentes. Fue adscripta en la cátedra Educación II de la carrera de Ciencias de la Educación (UBA). Fue docente de la asignatura Diversidad Cultural en el deporte y los medios de comunicación de la carrera de Periodismo Deportivo (ETER). Se desempeñó como tutora académica de la Pensión del Club Atlético Independiente. Trabajó coordinando equipos de trabajo de educación no formal en distintas instituciones. Capacita en temas vinculados con la creatividad, recursos lúdicos, diversidad, género y didáctica, tanto en instituciones como en organizaciones y agrupaciones. Participa en la gestión y coordinación de talleres y proyectos vinculados a temáticas de género

Prof. Dr. Azza Karam serves as the Secretary-General of Religions for Peace – the largest multi-religious leadership platform with 90 national and 6 regional Interreligious Councils. She also holds a Professorship of Religion and Development at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, in The Netherlands – of which she is a citizen. 

She served as a Senior Advisor on Culture, at the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA); and as Coordinator/Chair of the United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on Religion and Development; where she coordinated engagement with members of a Global Interfaith Network for Population and Development with over 600 faith-based organizations from all regions of the world, representing all religions and interreligious affiliation. She is the Lead Facilitator for the United Nations’ Strategic Learning Exchanges on Religion, Development and Diplomacy, building on a legacy of serving as a trainer cum facilitator of inter-cultural leadership and management in the Arab region as well as Europe and Central Asia. 

Professor Karam has served in different positions in the United Nations since 2004, as well as other intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations since the early 1990s, such as International IDEA, and Religions for Peace. Simultaneously, she lectured in various academic institutions in Europe, in North America (including the United States Military Academy/West Point), Africa and the Middle East. 

Her Ph.D. in 1996, focused on Political Islam, and became her first book in Arabic (her mother tongue) and in English. She has since published widely, and in several languages, on international political dynamics, including democratization, human rights, peace and security, gender, religious engagement and sustainable development. She was born in Egypt, and now lives in the United States. 

Yfat earned an LL.M in International Legal Studies from New York University where she was a Transitional Justice Scholar and an International Law and Human Rights Fellow. She also holds an LL.M (with honors) from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where she also received her L.L.B and a B.A in International Relations, receiving an award for outstanding international law student. Yfat clerked with the International Law Department in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel and interned with the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva. She also spent a year as a fellow with the criminal justice department of the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) in New York and several months with the ICTJ Bogotá office. She previously worked with the Ministry of Justice Unit for Combating Human Trafficking and in several NGO’s. Yfat is a co-founder of ALMA – Association for the Promotion of International Humanitarian Law in Israel. She is an International Law instructor for the American Red Cross and a pro-bono attorney for immigration and asylum cases. She is a member of the New York Bar and the Israeli Bar Association.