Usaama al-Azami

Usaama al-Azami read his BA in Arabic and Islamic Studies at Oxford University, and his MA and PhD in Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University. He came to Islamic studies after a gap year studying Arabic and Islamic studies convinced him to turn down an offer to study medicine at Imperial College London. During his undergraduate career, he also pursued Islamic studies in seminarial contexts alongside his academic studies, covering much of what would be studied in the advanced years of an Indian madrasa curriculum. He has travelled extensively throughout the Middle East, living for five years in the region. He is also an enthusiastic teacher who is very eager to support the formation of research scholars.

Born and raised in the U.K., he began seriously studying Islam in 2002. He has studied with Muslim scholars and theologians in seminary contexts in the Middle East and Europe. His teachers have included Shaykh Mohammad Akram Nadwi, Professor Yahya Michot, Professor Tariq Ramadan, and Shaykh Muhammad Yaqoubi. He was a founding member of the Oxford University Muslim-Jewish dialogue group, MuJewz, and is a regular participant in Princeton’s Muslim-Christian dialogue. He maintains an occasional blog on The Huffington Post focusing on topics relating to religion.

Marites Guingona Africa

In 1998, Marites Guingona Africa was inspired by the United Religions Initiative vision of a better world where people of diverse cultures and beliefs could come together to a common ground to engage in various forms of dialogue in the spirit of mutual respect, understanding and cooperation. In 2000, she and her interfaith friends established the Peacemakers’ Circle Foundation, Inc. in Metro Manila and engaged in the endeavor of building respectful relationships among peoples of diverse cultures and beliefs through various forms of dialogue. They were one of the many founding URI cooperation circles during its Charter signing in June 2000. In 2003, our Peacemakers’ Circle CC began to reach out to grassroots communities in Metro Manila where Muslims and Christians lived together as neighbors. Today, their peace and relationship-building work has deepened and expanded to include training Muslim, Christian and indigenous leaders from the conflict-affected communities in the war-torn southern Philippine region of Mindanao.

Andrew Aghapour

Andrew Aghapour is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Religious Studies at UNC Chapel Hill, where he is finishing a dissertation about religion and the brain. He will begin work this summer as the Science and Religion Consulting Scholar for the Smithsonian. With Michael Schulson, Andrew co-founded and co-produces the Cubit, an initiative of Religion Dispatches that examines the intersections of science, religion, technology, and ethics. Andrew can be contacted at andrewaghapour@gmail.com.

Nimai Agarwal

Nimai Agarwal is from Maryland and has been practicing Vaishnavism, a monotheistic tradition within Hinduism, since his childhood.

Chandru Acharya

Chandru Acharya, was raised in India and now lives with his wife Smita and their two teenagers in Canton. He is president of Imetris Corporation, an IT consulting and services company based in Saline, Michigan. Chandru is also a yoga instructor and soccer coach. He teaches Hindu history, heritage and culture at Canton’s Hindu Temple Balgokumal and is regularly invited to speak about Hinduism in nearby schools and colleges. An interfaith activist, he participates in a local Interfaith Community Outreach Group and is a board member of the Interfaith Leadership Council of Detroit and the South Asian American Voices for Impact.

Liliana Aceves

Liliana Aceves was born in Caracas, Venezuela. Her father was Mexican, and she inherited the love for Mexico from him. She is the oldest of 7. She moved to México when she was ten years old, after living for five years in Birmingham, Michigan, and has not left Mexico ever since. She recieved a degree in tourism from the Autonoma University of Guadalajara and later became a licensed tour guide for Mexico. Her years in tourism have given her the opportunity to share her love and passion for her country, showing people from all over the world the wonderful diversity and culture her country offers.

Liliana is married to Luis Barragan, and they have started a company that is dedicated  to the practice and diffusion of the Holistic Thinking, based on the premise that the human being is an inseparable whole: Body-Mind-Spirit. Her travels continue throughout Mexico, but include not only a beautiful country, but also a deeper understanding of ancient wisdom and how we can use it to better ourselves and the world we live in. She recently published Facing the Mirror (2004), a book about her spiritual journey, how our free will is sacred, and we each have the responsibility to guide our own destiny.

Mohammed Abu-Nimer

Mohammed Abu-Nimer is a Senior Advisor to KAICIID and a professor at the School of International Service at American University. ​At the International Peace and Conflict Resolution program he served as Director of the Peacebuilding and Development Institute (1999-2013). He has conducted interreligious conflict resolution training and interfaith dialogue workshops in conflict areas around the world, including Palestine, Israel, Egypt, Chad, Niger, Iraq (Kurdistan),  Philippines (Mindanao), and Sri Lanka. He also founded Salam Institute for Peace and Justice, an organization that focuses on capacity building, civic education, and intrafaith and interfaith dialogue. In addition to his numerous articles and books, Dr. Abu-Nimer is the co-founder and co-editor of the Journal of Peacebuilding and Development.  

Mustafa Abdel-Halim

Mustafa Abdel-Halim is a London-based broadcast journalist and lecturer at the University of Westminster.

Jim Wiggins

Jim Wiggins, Ph.D., joined Syracuse University’s Department of Religion after completing his graduate work in 1963. He served on virtually all departmental committees, including director of graduate studies in religion (1975-80), and was elected by his colleagues as chair of the Department for five four-year terms (1980-2000). His academic field is Western religion and culture, with interests in the history of Christianity and Christian thought, religious/cultural diversity, death and dying, interpretive theory, mysticism, and narrative and religion. His book Religion as Story appeared in 1975; he is co-author of Foundations of Christianity (1972), Christianity: A Cultural Approach (1987), and In Praise of Religious Diversity (1996). From 1983 until 1992 he served as executive director of the American Academy of Religion. From 2002 until 2010 he was executive director of InterFaith Works of Central New York, a multi-purpose agency with a staff of two dozen. Jim is a trustee of North American Interfaith Network. 

Lawrence Lerner

Lawrence Lerner is a Wiccan priest, venture capitalist and President of Pagan Pride in Western Washington State. An active member of the Washington state business community, Lawrence is passionate about promoting economic development by investing in and nurturing new businesses. Lawrence is active in the interfaith and social justice communities. He’s a requested speaker across a wide range of topics and was asked to speak at this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos.