Breakthrough Summit
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Breakthrough Summit Leadership Council
Dr. Agnes R. Abuom, Member, Religions for Peace, World Council - Click here to read Dr Abuom's sermon.
Ms. Mahnaz Afkhami, Founder and President, Women's Learning Partnership for Rights
Mahnaz
Afkhami has been a leading advocate of women's rights for more than three
decades. She is founder and President of the Women's Learning Partnership
(WLP), an international organization that empowers women by developing and using
culturally and linguistically appropriate curricula to train women (currently
in eighteen countries) to become leaders by seeking and taking on decision
making roles in politics, business, and civil society. She serves on the boards
and steering committees of several international organizations, including the
Global Fund for Women; International League for Human Rights; Women Leaders
Intercultural Forum; Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative;
Women's Rights Division of Human Rights Watch; the World Movement for
Democracy; and the International Museum of Women. She developed the concept and
helped mobilize support for the establishment of the United Nation's Asian and
Pacific Centre for Women and Development (APCWD) and the International Research
and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW). Prior to the
Islamic revolution in Iran,
she taught English literature at the National University of Iran, where she
founded the Association of University Women. She served as Secretary General of
the Women's Organization of Iran (1970-1978), and Minister for Women's Affairs
(1975-1978).
Afkhami has published extensively on women's issues. Her books Women in Exile, Faith and Freedom: Women's Human Rights in the Muslim World, Toward a Compassionate Society, and In the Eye of the Storm: Women in Post-revolutionary Iran are used in colleges and universities in the United States and abroad. The manuals she has co-authored, Leading to Choices: A Leadership Training Handbook for Women ,Claiming Our Rights: A Manual for Women's Human Rights Education in Muslim Societies, and Safe and Secure: Eliminating Violence Against Women and Girls in Muslim Societies have been translated into several languages and are used in countries across the world.
Ms. Maya Ajmera, founder and president, The Global Fund for Children
Ms. Azizah al-Hibri, President, Karamah: Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights
Ms. Farida Ali, President Emeritas, Islamic Heritage Society, Co-President, Religions for Peace
His Excellency Mohamed Ahmed Al Sharif, Secretary General, International Islamic Call Society
Ms. Zainab Al Suwaij, Executive Director, American Islamic Congress (AIC)
Ms. Catherine Chalá Angulo, Director, National Afro-Ecuadorian Pastoral of theEcuadorian Episcopal Conference
His Excellency Kofi Annan, Former Secretary General, United Nations
Ms. Nancy Aossey, President and CEO, International Medical Corps
Dr. Vinu Aram, Director, Shanti Ashram, Vice Moderator, Religions for Peace World Council
Kezevino
Aram
has been serving as Director, Shanti Ashram, since January 2001. The Ashram, founded on the Gandhian vision of
Sarvodaya, was established in1986 in Coimbatore,
India. The Ashram has made significant contributions
in the field of Integrated Rural Development in India through policy and
programmatic inputs, over the past two decades.
As Director of the Ashram, she oversees the organization's programmatic activities. In the past 15 years Vinu, as she is fondly called, has sought many creative ways in furthering the cause of children, through health care and community development initiatives. Her professional training in child health has helped her conceptualize innovative programs for micro-level interventions and research inputs to macro level policies. Her current assignment with Shanti Ashram has allowed her to explore the potential of placing Child Health in the center of rural development initiatives.
Her past professional assignments include overseeing a UNDP Project for Poverty Alleviation in Perur Block with a budget of US $ 333,900 between 2001 -03. She also served as the Chief Consultant for the preparation of Nagaland State Human Development Report in 2003-04. Some of the ongoing programs of the Ashram being overseen by Vinu include, the UNDP Small Grants Program on Mitigation of Carbon dioxide through eco friendly/energy efficient cooking methods which will result in reduction of carbon emission and improve the health of rural women and children; involving Religious leaders in creating awareness amongst the community about HIV/AIDS, extending care and support to Orphans and Vulnerable children affected by HIV/AIDS; a research study on developing indicators for child health & development at the Panchayat level ( Child Friendly Panchayats) & the Extended immunization programme for rural children which has reached out to over 5000 rural children so far.
Active in the academic world, she is a Visiting Professor at PSG Institute of Medical Sciences teaching Social Pediatrics, she co-teaches a course on Community Health at Harvard University's school of public health. Some of the conceptual work she is involved are: Vulnerability Mapping of Rural children for Growth and Development and Developing Curriculum and Learning Opportunities for Medical Students in Child Health.
Vinu's involvement with the World Conference on Religion and Peace started in1989 and she currently serves as co-President and Member of the Executive committee of WCRP/ International which has a membership from over 100 countries.
Dr. Oluwakemi M. Linda Banks, Member, Religions for Peace Latin American and Caribbean Women of Faith Network
Dr.
Oluwakemi M Linda Banks, an Anguillian national, is a Clinical Psychologist, a
Sports Psychologist, a Human Resource Development Consultant, an Educator, a
Communications Specialist, a Motivational Speaker, a Court Certified Mediator
and an Afrocentric Entrepreneur.
Dr. Banks is President of the Caribbean Conference of Churches; Executive Member, World Committee of Religions for Peace Latin America and the Caribbean, Women's Committee and General Committee; Psychological Consultant to the Anglican Commission on the Ministry, Commissioner of Girlguiding Anguilla, Vice President of the Anguilla Mental Health and Physical Disabilities Association, Chairperson of the Caribbean Link of Guiding and President and Chairperson of the Caribbean Federation of Mental Health.
Her most recent honours and awards include: 2006 Pinnacle Award, NCOCA (National Coaltion on Caribbean Affairs) Maryland and 2006 Honouree, ANSARNY- Anguilla Nevis, St Kitts, Annual Reunion, New York.
She is committed to the transformation of people.
Mr. David Beckman, President, Bread for the World
Ms. Carol Bellamy, President and CEO, World Learning
Carol
Bellamy is President /CEO of World Learning, a private, non-profit organization
that promotes international and intercultural understanding through education,
training, exchange and development activities.. Bellamy was the former
Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). The
first former Volunteer to direct the Peace Corps, Ms Bellamy was also a
managing director in the public finance department at Bear Stearns & Co., a
principal at Morgan Stanley, an associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore,
served in the New York State Senate for five years and was the first woman to
be elected to city-wide office in NYC as President of the City Council.
Dr. James L Bernstein, CEO, Noxilizer, Inc.
Ms. Catherine Bertini, senior fellow, Agricultural Development, Gates Foundation
Ms. Kit Bigelow, National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the US
Ms. Alice Hope Birungi, International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS
Dr. Mayra Buvinic, Sector Director for Gender and Development, Poverty Reduction and Economic Management, The World Bank
Mayra
Buvinic is Sector Director for Gender and Development, PREM Network, World
Bank. Between 1996 and 2004 she was
Chief, Social Development Division and Special Advisor on Violence Prevention
at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). Prior to working at the IDB, Ms.
Buvinic was a founding member and President of the International Center
for Research on Women (1978-2004). She is past President of the Association for
Women's Rights in Development (AWID) and member of a number of non-profit
boards, including the International Water Management Institute, Sri Lanka, and the International Institute of
Tropical Agriculture, Nigeria.
A Chilean national, her published works are in the areas of gender, poverty and
development; health and reproductive health; violence prevention; social
inclusion and social cohesion; and project and program evaluations.
Ms. Kathy Calvin, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, United Nations Foundation
Kathy
Bushkin Calvin has been Chief Operating Officer of the United Nations
Foundation since 2003. The foundation
was created in 1998 by entrepreneur and philanthropist Ted Turner's historic
gift to support UN causes. The UN Foundation builds and implements
public-private partnerships to address the world's most pressing problems, and
also works to broaden support for the UN through advocacy and public outreach. The UN Foundation is a public charity. Kathy
previously served as president of the AOL Time Warner Foundation and guided AOL
Time Warner's other philanthropic activities and corporate responsibility
initiatives. She joined America Online
in 1997 as senior vice president and chief communications officer, following a
career in politics, journalism, and public relations.
Sister Simone Campbell, SSS, Executive Director, NETWORK
The Rev. Molly Casteel , women's advocacy associate, Presbyterian Church and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches
Mr. Michael Tatu Castlen, Executive Director, PCI-Media Impact
Ms. Najla Chahda, Director, Caritas Lebanon Migrant Center
The Right Reverend John Bryson Chane, Bishop of Washington, Washington National Cathedral
Sister Joan Chittister, Co-Chair, Global Peace Initiative for Women
Rev. Richard Cizik, Vice President of Governmental Affairs, National Association of Evangelicals
Ms. Amy Coen, President and CEO, Population Action International
Mr. Julius Coles, President, Africare-USA
Mr. Christopher Crane, President and CEO, Opportunity International
Rajmond Dabrowski, Seventh-Day Adventist Church
Mr. Sam Daley-Harris, Director, Microcredit Summit Campaign; President and Founder, RESULTS Educational Fund
Rev. Dr. Mvume Dandala, General Secretary, All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC)
The Rev Dr. Hamilton Mvumelwano Dandala, known as Mvume, is General Secretary of the All
Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) based in Nairobi, Kenya. He is the immediate past Presiding Bishop of
the Methodist Church
in Southern Africa and President of the South
African Council of Churches (an Ecumenical fellowship of Churches), positions
he held simultaneously from 1997 to 2003.
Dandala is known and respected worldwide as a peacemaker, visionary
church leader, and passionate advocate for African social justice, and for his
direct involvement in the liberation struggle of the South African people
through his ministry in South
Africa.
His opinion is regularly solicited by leaders at the highest levels of
government and civil society.
Dandala's involvement in the ecumenical movement began when he was a young man during his studies at the Federal Theological Seminary in Alice, South Africa where he was trained alongside other aspiring clergy from multiple denominations. All students were challenged to see the common ground they shared in their diverse denominational traditions and to embrace the power of that common ground to press for social change. Dandala took the aforementioned challenge of his seminary days to heart, becoming the chairman of the South African Students' Organization (SASO), which played a critical role in the struggle against Apartheid. To this day the influence of his early ecumenical experiences in South Africa is evident in the General Secretary's leadership of the AACC. In his AACC role, Dandala continues to emphasize an African Church world view that believes in the transformational power of the Church's prophetic witness and that shows a deep commitment to social justice for the people of Africa. He also stresses the importance of the Church's role in promoting self-sufficiency both for itself and for people across the African continent.
Rev Dr. Dandala holds a Diploma in Theology from John Wesley College of Federal Theological Seminary in South Africa, a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in Theology degrees from the University of Cambridge. He has also been awarded Honorary Doctoral Degrees by the University of Transkei (South Africa) and the Faculty of Protestant Theology in Cameroon. Dandala is married to Phumzile Dandala. They have two children. Their daughter Gqibelo is a banker and their son Hlomla is a filmmaker.
Mr. Kermal Davis, Administrator of the United Nations Development Program
Ms. Jean Duff, Deputy Director, Center for Global Justice and Reconciliation
Reverend Marcia Dyson, Research Associate and Head of Module: Brazilian Diaspora, Africana Studies Program, University of Pennsylvania
The Reverend
Marcia L. Dyson has been hailed as one of our nation's foremost religious
figures and spiritual writers. Rev. Dyson is a native of Chicago, she served as the first chief of
staff for Operation Push's International Trade Bureau under the leadership of
Rev. Jesse Louis, Sr. She is founder of the Ida B. Wells Initiative, a
program to assist with the education and economic development of women.
Currently, Rev. Dyson is an affiliate of the Center of Social Justice and Policy at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. She is writing a book, "Awakening Eve: Arousing the Political and Social Consciousness of Women".
The world revolves around the exploitation on women. The 19th Century African American writer, Anna Julia Haywood Cooper once wrote, "I am my sister's keeper, should be the response of every man and woman of the race, and this conviction should make petty every selfish, narrow aim in life into a more noble and sacred purpose." I believe this adage and it has directed my soul's work on behalf of women and girls. Until there is equality and quality of life for women and children the world will never be healed of its evil.
Mrs. Marian Wright Edelman, Founder and President, Children's Defense Fund
Dr. Ahmad El Bendary, founder and senior advisor, Islamic Relief
Dr. Claudio Epelman, Member, Latin America and the Caribbean Council of Religious Leaders
Born in the city of Cordoba, Argentina
in 1968. Married to Carina Paluch.
Since 2003, he became part of the World Jewish Congress as its Director for the Latin American Branch, the Latin American Jewish Congress.
During this time, he participatied in different meetings representing the World and the Latin American Jewish Congress in interviews and encounters with different Heads of States. Also, he represented the World Jewish Congress and the Latin American branch in sessions with the United Nations (UN), the American States Organization (OAS) and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
In the inter-religious sphere, he was an observer from the Judaism in the V General Conference of the Latin American Episcopal Council (CELAM) in Aparecida, Brasil. He gathered together with Pope Benedict XVI and other catholic leaders. He is an active promoter of dialogue among Jewish and Muslims in the region.
In 2007, he received the prize of the Argentinian Government for his work in the inter-religious field.
The Latin American Jewish Congress is the federal organization that represents Jewish communities in Latin America and the Caribbean. It works actively as a part of the civil society against antisemitism, discrimination, xenophobia and for the development of people, favouring education, fraternity and the inclusion of minorities. The Latin American Jewish Congress, is an international organization with its headquarter in Buenos Aires, Argentinian Republic.
Ms. Luisa Etede, director, Camino Guinea Ecuatorial
Mrs. Nermin Fahmy, Chairman, Mosaic Foundation
Ms. Ritu Sharma Fox, Founder and President, Women Thrive Worldwide
The Rev. Dirk Ficca, executive director, Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions
Mr. Brian Gallagher, CEO, United Way of America
Ms. Elizabeth Galvin, Board Member, Refugees International
Ms. Ela Gandhi, Trustee, Gandhi Development Trust, South Africa, Honorary President, Religions for Peace
Ms. Kim Gandy, President, National Organization for Women
Dr. Helene Gayle, President and CEO, CARE
Helene
D. Gayle is President and CEO of CARE USA, one of the world's premier
international relief and development organizations. With programs in over 60
countries, CARE helps people in poor communities expand the control they have
over their own lives to advance positive, enduring social change. Women are at
the heart of CARE's community-based efforts to improve education, prevent the
spread of HIV, increase access to water and sanitation, expand economic
opportunity and protect natural resources. CARE advocates for policies that
defend the dignity of all people and promote the eradication of poverty. Dr.
Gayle's accomplishments in public health and dedication to social service make
her ideally suited to lead CARE. She is currently on the boards of the Institute of Medicine and the Council on Foreign
Relations. She worked for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for 20
years in a variety of positions, from staff epidemiologist to director for the National Center for HIV, STD and TB Prevention.
Prior to assuming her current position, she was director of the HIV, TB and
Reproductive Health Program at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Dr. Gayle
received her medical degree from the University
of Pennsylvania and master's in public
health from John Hopkins University,
and is a graduate of Barnard College of Columbia University.
The Reverend Canon Charles Gibbs, Executive Director, United Religions Initiative
For the
past ten years, Charles has served as the founding Executive Director of the
United Religions Initiative, a global interfaith network for world peace active
in 67 countries.
Charles has traveled extensively, working with religious, spiritual and other leaders in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, North and South America and Asia. He has been a featured speaker at many national and international gatherings and has written extensively about interfaith work, including co-authoring, Birth of a Global Community, a book about the birth of the United Religions Initiative.
Charles is an Episcopal priest who brings to his ministry a strong commitment to spiritual transformation and work for peace and justice, and an abiding belief in the sacredness of all life on this planet.
Ms. Shamaya Gilo, Founder, Winds of Change Foundation
Ms. Ann Lynam Goddard, President, Christian Children's Fund
Sister María Victoria Gonzáles de Castejón, Secretary General, International Union of Superiors General, Vatican
Bishop Richard H. Graham, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Synod
Ms. Blu Greenberg, Founding President, Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance
Ms. Phoebe Griswold, Founding Member, Anglican Women's Empowerment
Dr. Caren Grown, economist-in-residence, American University
Ms. Christine Grumm, president & CEO, Women's Funding Network
Ms. Nyaradzai Gumbonzvanda, general secretary, World YWCA
Ms. Geeta Rao Gupta, president, International Center for Research on Women
Mr. Ken Hackett, president, Catholic Relief Services
Ms. Carolyn Hannan, director, Division for the Advancement of Women, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs
The Rt. Rev. Barbara C. Harris, bishop suffragan of Massachusetts (Ret)
Mr. John Hassell, Washington director, UNAIDS-USA
Dr. Dorothy Height, chair & president emerita, National Council of Negro Women
Ms. Judith M. Hertz, co-chair, Commission on Interreligious Affairs, Union for Reform Judaism, Co-President, Religions for Peace
Dr. Helen LaKelly Hunt, founder and president, The Sister Fund
Sr. Mariah Udorah Ifechukwu, Religions for Peace African Women of Faith Network
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