Frederica Helmiere is a member of the United Religion Initiative’s Global Staff, serving as the Regional Coordinator of the Multiregion community. She has spent the past fifteen years studying and working at the intersection of religion, social justice, and ecology in the U.S. and abroad, seeking to empower people and organizations to work more effectively for social change and peace. Most recently this work has taken the form of teaching and designing courses for undergraduate and graduate students on religion, power and privilege, and global concerns of social and environmental justice at the University of Washington and Seattle University. Frederica holds two masters degrees from a joint-degree program between the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and the Yale Divinity School, and a BA from Dartmouth College in Religion & Environmental studies. She served as an environmental education volunteer with the Peace Corps in the Philippines, and has lived or traveled in 35 countries. Frederica lives in Seattle where she enjoys backpacking, reading fiction, and introducing her two daughters to the wonders of the natural world.
Sari Heidenreich
Sari Heidenreich is the Regional Coordinator for the United Religions Initiative in North America, where her primary role is to connect and empower the more than 100 URI Cooperation Circles across the U.S. and Canada. Sari has previously worked as a journalist and social media manager.
Rev. Bud Heckman
Rev. Bud Heckman is the convener of the Interfaith Funders Group, as well as an independent consultant in the field of interfaith relations. Rev. Heckman served on the Interreligious Cooperation Task Force for President Obama through the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships. An ordained Christian minister who has long been appointed in the field of interfaith relations, Rev. Heckman has served formerly as: executive director of the International Shinto Foundation, director of outreach and the Mosaic Initiative at El-Hibri Foundation; senior advisor to Religions for Peace USA; executive director of Religions for Peace USA; director for external relations for Religions for Peace International; and chief development officer of Hartford Seminary. He has served in leadership and consulting positions with the Religion Communicators Council and the Religion News Foundation. A frequent speaker and writer on interfaith relations, Rev. Heckman is editor of an award-winning reference book for the field called InterActive Faith: The Essential Interreligious Community-Building Handbook (2008).
Rachel Heath
Rachel Heath lives in Chicago where she works for the Spiritual Life Office and Rockefeller Memorial Chapel at the University of Chicago and serves on the Peace and Justice Committee for the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago. She graduated from Yale in 2011 with a Master of Divinity and a certificate in Religion and the Arts from the Institute of Sacred Music. In 2013 Rachel was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Association for Episcopal Deacons. She is interested in building communities through interfaith dialogue and collective action rooted in social justice.
Nicholas Hayes
Nicholas Hayes is the engagement manager at Criterion Institute. Raised a Liberation Theology Catholic by a Costa Rican mother in the unlikely setting of rural Michigan, Nicholas understands his Christian faith as the source of his lifelong commitment to transforming the economy, caring for Creation, and enabling ordinary people to discover their own power.
Nicholas’s vocation and developing career center on the transformative potential of faith communities for social change. Graduating summa cum laude from Harvard in 2008, Nicholas spent two years as a Fellow with Life Together, the Boston Episcopal Service Corps program. From 2011-2014, he completed an M.Div. at Harvard Divinity School, focusing his studies on social ethics, political theology, and the history of faith-based organizing. Along the way, he began his continuing engagement as a coach and trainer for the Leading Change Network and the Leadership Development Initiative. Through teaching public narrative and community organizing to both grassroots congregations and experienced leaders from across many sectors, he works to further unlock their potential as change agents.
From 2013-2014, Nicholas was Faith Community Partnerships organizer at the New Economy Coalition, a collaborative network of 130 diverse organizations committed to economic systems change. In 2014, he also opened an ordination process in the Episcopal Church. He begins his time as engagement manager with great excitement about Criterion’s work and eagerness to learn from it.
Makala Kozo Hattori
Makala Kozo Hattori is a surfer, filmmaker, writer, college English teacher, world traveler – and a proud father of two sons. Having spent time in India with famous gurus, he came to realize that many everyday people, places, and things could be just as powerful as meeting self-realized masters. In July 2015, he was diagnosed with colorectal cancer, which put him on a path of reconnecting with his Hawaiian roots. “I am learning to be thankful for all the miracles that occur everyday,” he says. He remains an active volunteer with ServiceSpace, and blogs about his journey at Everydaygurus.com.
Syed M. Hassan
Syed M. Hassan is the public affairs specialist at Islamic Relief USA, a nonprofit humanitarian and advocacy organization that fights poverty, hunger, and homelessness, among other social ills in more than 40 nations around the world. He has been with the organization since 2017. A former reporter, Mr. Hassan's goal for the organization is to show Muslims and the organization in a positive and productive light. In addition to disaster relief, Mr. Hassan has worked to help the organization gain notice in other areas related to humanitarian aid and social justice. They include food security, gender justice, clean water, and greater focus on helping vulnerable populations. Mr. Hassan's interests include current events, religious studies, and watching baseball and football. His favorite teams are the New York Mets and the Chicago Bears.
Husnaa Hashim
Husnaa Hashim is the 2017-2018 Youth Poet Laureate of Philadelphia. She is an 18 year old dual-enrolled senior at Mastery Charter School Shoemaker Campus and the Community College of Philadelphia. Husnaa has competed with the Philly Youth Poetry Movement, performed at various conferences and festivals, and received numerous Scholastic Art and Writing Awards including a National American Voices Medal awarded at Carnegie Hall. Husnaa’s work can be found in RookieMag, KidSpirit Online, the Kenyon Young Writers Anthology, the Voices of the East Coast Anthology, and APIARY 9, among others. She enjoys making flower crowns and spending time with her cat, Maya (Angelou) Luna.
E.A. (Elizabeth) Harvey
E.A. (Elizabeth) Harvey is the communications manager and news editor at Elizabethtown College. She has worked in the Office of Marketing and Communications since 2008, after more than two decades as a newspaper feature writer. She holds a bachelor's degree in corporate communication from Elizabethtown College.
Barbara Hartford
Barbara Hartford’s career in nonprofit management has taken her to The Hunger Project, San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral, and the Institute of Noetic Sciences. In 1997 she joined the staff of United Religions Initiative. At URI she has managed the start-up areas of Operations and Financial Management, Human Resources, and Communications/PR. She is now the director of Peacebuilding Initiatives and is focused on launching the Traveling Peace Academy to deliver trainings throughout the URI network. She produced the URI Interfaith Peacebuilding Guide, a confluence of the principles of URI with pioneering conflict transformation and appreciative methodologies, co-authored with interfaith peace activists including Mohammed Abu-Nimer and Cynthia Sampson. Another highlight was creating a two-year URI pilot program in Moral Imagination, taught by John Paul Lederach for community activist peacebuilders from Uganda, Ethiopia, India, and the Philippines. Barbara also serves as photo editor for URI’s website and Communications.
Sande Hart
Sande Hart is the founder and president of SARAH (Spiritual And Religious Alliance for Hope), public speaker, and activist. She serves on the boards of SARAH, I Am Jerusalem, One Global Family Foundation, and The Religious Diversity Institute. Active in United Religions Initiative, she currently chairs the URI-North American Leadership Council.
Sande is the mother of two, wife, and active community builder. When it came time for her kids to fulfill community service hours, they were being encouraged to “go through the motions” of someone else's project, rather than learn how to be philanthropic, creative, and effective. With lots experience chairing community events (and learning from expensive mistakes) she wanted to empower her kids with the tools and skills that took her nearly 20 years to “learn the hard way.” The result is her book Make A Difference 101, Community Service – A Practical Step-by-Step Guide for Kids (2008), available at Amazon.
Ian Harris
Ian Harris’s career straddles the worlds of journalism and the church.
Born in Christchurch, he grew up in a Methodist parsonage, and gained an honours degree in English at Auckland University.
Since then he has headed the English Department at Satya Wacana Christian University in Salatiga, Central Java, Indonesia, edited The New Zealand Methodist, been assistant editor of the Auckland Star, served as Director of Communication for the Presbyterian Church in New Zealand, and was for 12 years editorial writer on the Dominion.
In 1990, he was instrumental in founding the Ephesus Group in Wellington whose purpose is to explore new ways of understanding and expressing Christian faith in the increasingly secular world of New Zealand in the new millennium. In 1993, he became the first chairperson of the New Zealand Sea of Faith Network’s steering committee.
Harris’s prime interest is in re-imagining the Christian way in a secular society, as reflected in his book Creating God, Re-Creating Christ (St Andrew’s Trust for the Study of Religion and Society, 1999), and in his newspaper columns: Honest to God in the Dominion and Dominion Post (2001-09), Honest to God (later renamed Faith and Reason) in the Otago Daily Times, and again Honest to God in the New Zealand Methodist monthly Touchstone.
Grove Harris
Grove Harris consults, speaks, and writes about religious diversity in America and the interfaith movement. Most recently she served as the program director for the Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions, orchestrating over 600 programs for the Parliament held in Melbourne, Australia, December 3-9, 2009. She has presented at the American Academy of Religion, Brandeis University, Harvard University, Union Theological Seminary, the North American Interfaith Network, and the Global Youth Leadership Institute. As a Peace Commissioner, she represented the City of Cambridge, Massachusetts, at the International Association of Peace Messenger Cities in Krusevac, Serbia. Grove was the managing director for the Pluralism Project at Harvard University, and earned her Masters in Divinity from Harvard. She is a writer and sought-after speaker in the areas of Paganism and young adult interfaith engagement. She is a North American Interfaith Network trustee, co-chairing its Board Development Committee.
Krithika Harish
Krithika Harish, is the Associate Director of Global Programs for Network Development at the United Religions Initiative and was previoiusly the Young Leaders Program Coordinator there. She is passionate about youth leadership and empowerment, building inclusive communities, and facilitating dialogue between disparate groups. Krithika has experience delivering leadership trainings and workshops internationally in both English and Spanish. Her motto is to think global and to act local. She loves San Francisco.
Rob Hankinson
Rob Hankinson was ordained to the ministry of the United Church of Canada in May 1973. He was Minister of Garneau United Church, Edmonton, (1980 - 2008); Associate Minister of Robertson Wesley United Church, Edmonton, (1977 - 1980); and Minister of the Lac La Biche United Church Pastoral Charge (1973 - 1977). He has been active in ecumenical and interfaith activities since attending Canada’s first ecumenical seminary, The Atlantic School of Theology, Halifax, Nova Scotia (1970 -1973).
From 2008-2012, Rob was Chaplain at the Ashbourne, Garneau United Church’s Assisted Living facility here in Edmonton and an on call Chaplain at the University of Alberta Hospital. He continues to serve as an on call Chaplain with the City of Edmonton. In 2008 Rob was appointed Secretary of the North American Interfaith Network (NAIN), and in 2012 Rob was elected Chair of NAIN.
During his ministry in Alberta Rob has been involved with the following ecumenical and interfaith organizations: the Edmonton and District Council of Churches (1980-2000, with two terms as President); the 7th National Institute on Ecumenism (1992); the Interchurch Interfaith Committee of Edmonton Presbytery (1986- present); Chair of the Interchurch Interfaith Committee of Alberta and Northwest Conference, and member of the national ICIF Committee of the General Council of the United Church of Canada in the 1980’s; Chair of the Ecumenical Chaplaincy Board, University of Alberta (1980-1983); Chair of the Alberta Church Consultation Committee (1982-85); and a founding member of the Edmonton Interfaith Centre for Education and Action(1995). He served as an alternate delegate for the United Church of Canada and three years as a Vice-President (1997-2000) on the Governing Board of the Canadian Council of Churches. In 1985, Rob was a member of the first Canada- USSR ecumenical study tour. In 2003 he was conferred the degree of Doctor of Divinity (Honoris Causa) by St. Stephen’s College. In 2005 he was awarded the Alberta Centennial Medal for community service. In 2009, he was named Minister Emeritus of Garneau United Church.
Rob taught “Introduction to Hebrew Scriptures” at St. Stephen’s College, University of Alberta (1985-1991). He participated in the United Church’s Western Field Based Diaconal Ministry programme through teaching introductory Ethics courses and offering seminars on Prophetic Literature and Hebrew Scriptures (1990-1993).
Rob has an ongoing commitment to interchurch and interfaith efforts, and continues to offer support for programmes and activities seeking social justice. He was appointed Executive Director of the Edmonton Committee for a Parliament of the World’s Religions in August 2013.
Born and raised in Nova Scotia and P.E.I., a graduate of Dalhousie University and the Atlantic School of Theology, Rob has lived in Alberta since 1973. Rob’s partner (of 45 years) is Dr. Mary Norton, Art Therapist, and Expressive Arts Facilitator.
Gail Hambleton
Gail Hambleton has worked for decades in various International NGOs. Her passion for peace is rooted in her difficult experiences of war and its aftermath in Zimbabwe, Kenya, and Rwanda. Gail was instrumental in the establishment of the humanitarian aid organization Women for Women in Rwanda, in 1997. Currently she is the director of Interfaith Partnerships for the Global Peace Foundation (GPF). Ms. Hambleton is also the national director of the Interfaith Alliance to Abolish Human Trafficking, Safe Haven Campaign, which is a project of GPF-USA.
Katy Hall
Katy Hall is the Managing Features editor of the Huffington Post, where she previously led the politics and entertainment pages and the iPad magazine. She is a graduate of Princeton University and received her masters in journalism from Columbia University. Her work has been published in the New York Observer, New York Times, People and Times of Trenton. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Alena Hall
Alena Hall is a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill graduate who works on the Huffington Post’s editorial initiative The Third Metric. She earned her master’s degree in magazine journalism from New York University and helps people rediscover their health as a personal trainer. A runner, yogi and health enthusiast, she enjoys searching for new ways to live a little more mindfully each day.
Ambassador Mussie Hailu
Ambassador Mussie Hailu is a peace activist working at national, regional and international levels for peace, reconciliation, interfaith harmony, disarmament, the Golden Rule, world citizenship, right human relationships, and international cooperation. He identifies himself as a Citizen of the World, strongly believes in the interdependence of human beings, and celebrates cultural diversity. He sees the differences in race, ethnicities, religions, politics, and nationalities as important elements of the one and indivisible humanity. Mussie, building on Scarboro Mission’s Golden Rule poster, is circulating tens of thousands of an African version of the poster. He has served African and global organizations, including United Nations agencies, and he is a founding member of United Religions Initiative. Currently he serves as regional director of URI for Africa and representative of URI at the Economic Commission for Africa and African Union.
Iftekhar Hai
Iftekhar A. Hai, one of ten children in a Muslim family, was born in an ‘untouchable’ community near Mumbai during British rule. He spent 11 years in a Catholic school, graduated from Podar College, a center of Hindu revivalism, and was able to come to the United States for graduate work, where his American mentoring came from his Jewish landlady, who became a close friend. After 25 years in the business community, he dedicated himself to interfaith education and became a leader of leaders. For three decades he has given hundreds of lectures and workshops in school, congregations, and conferences around the world. He was a founding member of United Muslims of America in 1983 and directs its Interfaith Alliance. He has been a trustee of United Religions Initiative, the San Francisco Interfaith Council, and the Interfaith Center at the Presidio. A columnist for the San Mateo Times, Iftekhar is a nationally recognized Muslim leader championing interfaith peace.