Sajid Sandhu

Sajid Sandhu is a Christian Apologist, Development Practitioner, Social Activist, and Politician. He holds a master’s degree in business administration from Philippines and has recently earned a master’s degree in Christian Apologetics at the Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, United States.

Phyllis Curott

Phyllis Curott is a spiritual pioneer. As one of America’s first public Witches, teachers and advocates, she has spent more than 40 years helping Witchcraft become the fastest growing spirituality in America and expanding its reach across the globe. Phyllis is an attorney whose groundbreaking cases secured the legal rights of Witches, including the right to form religious organizations, perform legally binding marriages, perform rituals in public places, have religious holidays off from work, retain custody of children, wear or display symbols of faith, and more. Phyllis received her B.A. in Philosophy from Brown University and her J.D. from New York University Law School.

Phyllis is the founder of the Temple of Ara, America’s first and oldest shamanic Wiccan tradition with a growing Italian and international community. Phyllis is a Trustee and the Program Chair of the Parliament of the World’s Religions, served as its Vice Chair and creator of the historic 2015 Inaugural Women’s Assembly and drafted the Declaration for the Dignity and Human Rights of Women adopted by the 2015 Parliament. She currently serves as the 2023 Program Chair of the PoWR, creator of the historic 2015 Inaugural Women’s Assembly, and one of America’s first public Wiccan Priestesses. She was the Wiccan representative to the Harvard University Religious Pluralism Project’s Consultation on Religious Discrimination and Accommodation, at the Religions for the Earth Conference, is First Officer Emerita of the Covenant of the Goddess, serves on the Advisory Board of Cherry Hill Seminary, the first Pagan seminary, and has taught and spoken at numerous universities, churches, organizations, seminaries and conferences.

After a hiatus from the public limelight and an apprenticeship with Mother Earth, she has published several new books and the Witches Wisdom Tarot and teaches in person and online. She conducts a monthly circle for her Patreon community and is working on her next book on Nature’s divine magic and developing a new teaching protocol to guide people in experiencing that magic and their own.

Sheena Foster

Ms. Sheena Foster is a nonprofit executive, lay leader, and faith-rooted leader based in the Metro Washington, D.C. area. She is a seminarian pursuing a Master of Theological Studies at Hampton University School of Religion, where her scholarship explores the intersection of faith, justice, sustainability and leadership.

Sheena serves on the Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and on the National Council of Churches’ Joint Advocacy and Action Convening Table, where she helps shape ecumenical collaboration around public witness, justice, and civic engagement. For over a decade, she has been deeply engaged in lay leadership within the ELCA and is passionate about public witness, equipping faith communities to engage issues of equity, community wellbeing, and the moral call to serve in the public square.

She is the forthcoming author of Faith-Rooted Business: Integrating Spirituality and Sustainability in the Marketplace, a work that calls entrepreneurs and organizational leaders to align economic practice with spiritual conviction and ecological stewardship.

When she is not writing, leading, or studying, Sheena enjoys playing tennis, collecting vinyl records, traveling, manual photography, cooking Louisiana cuisine inspired by her New Orleans roots, and playing the guzheng. She resides in the Metro D.C. area, where she continues to bridge faith, leadership, and community transformation.

Amelio Collins

Amelio Collins (they/them) is a sophomore at Loyola University Chicago studying Philosophy and English. They are the Literary Committee Chair at their school's literary arts magazine (Diminuendo) and will be the secretary of Philosophy Club for the 2026-2027 year at Loyola. This is their first journal publication and are grateful it is with The Interfaith Observer.

Kehkashan Basu

Kehkashan Basu, M.S.M., MBA is an iconic global influencer, educator, environmentalist, ecofeminist, champion of women and children’s rights, TEDx speaker, Climate Reality Mentor, author, musician, peace and sustainability campaigner. She is the recipient of Canada's Meritorious Service Medal and the International Children’s Peace Prize. A Forbes 30 Under 30 and the first-ever Winner of the Voices Youth Gorbachev-Schultz Legacy Award for her work on nuclear disarmament, Kehkashan is a United Nations Human Rights Champion, a National Geographic Explorer, a UNCCD Land Hero, a UN Habitat Young City Champion, the Regional Organizing Partner for North America for the NGO Major Group and one of Canada's Top 100 Most Powerful Women. Kehkashan is the Founder-President of global social innovation enterprise Green Hope Foundation, that works at a grassroots level in 29 countries, empowering over half a million young people and women, especially those from vulnerable communities, turning Education for Sustainable Development into ground-level action by harnessing clean energy technology for social good. She has spoken at over 500 United Nations and other global fora. She is the Co-President of the World Federalist Movement/Institute for Global Policy, Trustee of the Parliament of the World's Religions, and Co-Lead of UN Women Generation Equality Forum's Action Coalition on Feminist Action for Climate Justice. She is the recipient of several awards that include the Spirit of the United Nations Award, World Literacy Award for Significant Contribution to Literacy by a Young Person, Canada's Global Energy Show Emerging Leader Award, Dubai Supreme Council of Energy's Emirates Energy Award and the Pax Christi Toronto Teacher of Peace Award. Kehkashan was listed as one of the Top 100 SDG Leaders in the world in 2019 and was named the 2019 Innovator of the Year at the HundrEd Innovation Summit for her global work on Sustainability Education. In 2025, she was named as one of the Top 50 Rising Stars in ESG by the Financial Times and Oxford Saïd Business School. Kehkashan holds an MBA from Cornell University and an Honours BA with High Distinction in Environmental Studies from the University of Toronto.

Ann Smith

Ann Smith is Co-Founder and Convener of Green Tent Circle, Co-Convener of Millionth Circle and serves on the Women’s Task Force of the Parliament of the World’s Religions (PoWR). She is past Director of Women’s Ministries of the National Episcopal Church and Global Education Associates, and Co-Chair of National Council of Churches Justice for Women Working Group. Working as UNNGO ECOSOC observer for the Anglican Consultative Council, International Public Policy Institute and Earth Child Institute, she has attended 54 international events. She brings the voices of marginalized women and girls to the PoWR.

Faith Spencer

Faith Spencer is the author of The Oneness Guide for Today: A Book of Insight for Young Women, which provides a new life roadmap for Gen Z based on an interconnected universe and practical tools and techniques to build well-being from within. She is also a certified Happy for No Reason trainer a nonfiction book editor and is pursuing certification as a youth coach. Her book is available anywhere books are sold online, and you can find her at https://www.faithspencer.com.

Nora Khalaf-Elledge, Ph.D.

Nora Khalaf-Elledge is a gender and development practitioner and a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Faith & Civil Society Unit at Goldsmiths, University of London. She specialises in the intersection of religion and gender within international development policy and practice. Since 2008, she has worked with international development organisations including the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), the International Partnership on Religion and Sustainable Development (PaRD), the German Development Agency (GIZ), the Joint Learning Initiative on Faith and Local Communities (JLI), Development Alternatives Inc. (DAI), as well as the gender offices of multiple United Nations (UN) agencies. Nora holds a Ph.D. in Gender, Religion and Development from the University of London, a Master’s in Gender and Development from IDS, and a Bachelor’s in Anthropology and Development from the University of Sussex.

Andrés Martínez-García

My role (at JIL) revolves around promoting collaboration and advancing faith-based initiatives in Latin America and the Caribbean. One key aspect of my work is leading the development of the LAC Regional Learning Hub, bringing together local and regional partners. I facilitate operations, help members identify research topics, support their studies and dialogues, and assist in publishing findings. An equally important part of my work involves building connections with funding partners to ensure the sustainability of the hub. I also represent JLI’s faith-sensitive mental health and psychosocial support work, connecting it to broader regional and global initiatives.

Another area of focus is the Faith and Positive Change for Children initiative, where I collaborate with UNICEF’s regional office and country offices, as well as global partners such as Religions for Peace and Arigatou International. Together, we work to strengthen faith-based contributions to children´s well-being and community resilience in the region.

Amanda Heffernan

Dr. Heffernan is a nurse-midwife, parent, and faculty in the midwifery DNP program at the College of Nursing. Her research interests sit at the intersection of migration and reproductive justice, including the impact of detention on families and the experiences of pregnant migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. She draws on her personal experience with migrant justice activism and asylum accompaniment to write and think about accompaniment as an engaged social justice practice. Her teaching interests primarily focus on supporting midwifery students through the intense and transformative journey of midwifery education.

Angela Weber

Angela Elisabeth Weber was born in the south of Brasil, in Sao Leopoldo-RS, and moved with her family first to São Paulo and then to Rio de Janeiro and finely Bahia. Currently she’s living in Verona, Italy. Weber graduated in social sciences, has a specialization in Third Sector Management, and a master's in development Anthropology. Since the beginning of her professional life, she has been driven toward women’s issues and development. Weber had travelled to many places abroad, mostly to conferences and congresses regarding her interests. In northeast Brasil, Weber has worked with agriculture sustenance communities, presenting their ecotourism project to the World Bank. Currently she’s working with the Green Tent Circles, because she believes that we need a safe space to embrace a non-patriarchal and non-hierarchical social and political structure in order to increase our life perspectives on Mother Earth.

Brandon LaGreca

Brandon LaGreca, LAc, MAcOM, is an integrative medical provider, author of three books on cancer epigenetics, and a stage 4 cancer survivor. He is a committed monk in the Gnostic Celtic Church Monastery (GCCM), a lay monastic order rooted in interfaith contemplative practices. He is currently working toward consecration in the GCCM and pursuing a certificate in interfaith spiritual direction. His interests also include Celtic shamanism and eco-spirituality. He shares his insights on his website, BrandonLaGreca.com.

Muhammad Sohail

Muhammad Sohail is a PhD candidate in the Department of Religious Studies at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. His broader research interests lie at the intersection of religion, sociology, and politics. He employs qualitative and ethnographic techniques to study the interplay of religion, everyday diplomacy, and peace, specifically. Currently, he is undertaking his PhD thesis entitled “Religious Tourism and Peace; A Case Study of Pakistan.” He can be reached at Muhammad.sohail@vuw.ac.nz.

Angeliki Ziaka

Professor Dr. Angeliki Ziaka serves as Programme Executive for Interreligious Dialogue and Cooperation at the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Geneva, a position she assumed in August 2024. In this role, she works to strengthen ties with religious communities, organisations, and institutions worldwide, fostering initiatives that promote peaceful coexistence through interreligious understanding and cooperation. 

Prof. Ziaka is currently on leave from the School of Theology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, where she has been Professor of the Study of Religion and Interreligious Dialogue since 2006. She holds a PhD and a DEA in Religious Studies from the Catholic Faculty of the University of Strasbourg, with additional training at the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies (PISAI) in Rome and at the University of Amman in Jordan. Over her academic career, she has supervised numerous master’s theses and doctoral dissertations. Her publications include several books and scholarly articles in the fields of the Study of Religions and Interreligious Dialogue. 

She has been a fellow at Leiden University and at Columbia University’s Middle East Institute. Since 2024, she has been serving as editor of Current Dialogue, the WCC’s journal on interreligious dialogue, published annually by Wiley on behalf of the WCC as a special issue of The Ecumenical Review. 

Ayushi Upadhyay

Ayushi Upadhyay is a first year student at Seattle University double-majoring in Business Economics and Marketing. She is also in the SPC track of the University Honors program. Ever since she was in middle school, Ayushi has been extremely passionate about using writing as a medium to express her thoughts, and never misses an opportunity to participate in spoken word poetry events, or submitting her work to be published in poetry journals. She comes from East India, and believes being outspoken about her culture and where she grew up helps make for a more open minded, curious, and accepting community around her.

Gabby Prado

Gabby Prado is a student at Seattle University studying Criminal Justice and Political Science. She is incredibly interested in making representation easier for Mexican Immigrants who may struggle to find it within the justice system, as well as in general immigration and border issues, and the way our current politicians radically misrepresent these individuals. In her free time, she loves to read, watch reality TV, hang out with her friends and family, and shop.

Sebrina Somers

Sebrina Somers' career as an environmental health scientist led her to China, and China led her to writing.  While researching the built environments of ethnic minorities in Yunnan and Sichuan Provinces, she began blogging about the unique history and diversity of that region. The Baha'i teachings on justice, equity, and unity have guided her along the way. Now she divides her time between community building work and writing about the richness of the human experience.