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Baha'i, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jain, Jew, Muslim, Sikh, Subud, Sufi, Taoist, Unitarian Universalist, Zoroastrian

Board of Directors

Saleem Ahmed, PhD

Dr Ahmed is the author of Beyond Veil and Holy War: Islamic Teachings and Muslim Practices with Biblical Comparisons (2002) and spiritual founder of All Believers Network.  His aspiration is to appreciate the beauties of all religions and make Hawaii renowned as the "Inter-Faith Harmony Capital of the World."  His forthcoming book, Koranic Verses on War and Peace, is being reviewed.  He is also founder of Milun (Association for Promoting South Asian Culture) which shares the region’s common cultural heritage with others.  After retiring from the East-West Center in 1995 (where he led its botanical pest control initiative and introduced the neem tree to Hawaii), he currently has a “reincarnated career” as financial planner. 

Dharm P S Bhawuk, PhD

Dr Bhawuk, a citizen of Nepal, is a professor of management and culture and community psychology at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.  His vision – world peace through intercultural understanding – is grounded in his research in cross-cultural management, especially in the area of cross-cultural training, diversity management, and indigenous psychology.  His academic presentation and publication list runs over a hundred, and has written many papers on the psychology of spirituality.  He practices yoga and meditation, and conducts the monthly pooja (service) at the Waahiwa temple on third Sundays for LOTUS, an organization dedicated to South Asian culture and spiritual activities in Honolulu.

Joan Chatfield, MM, PhD

Sister Joan Chatfield is the Executive Director of the Institute for Religion and Social Change. Her activities span numerous interfaith and inter-religious groups and she is a member of the Assembly of the Parliament for the World's Religions and the Executive Committee of the United States Religions for Peace.  From 1999-2003 she was one of the representatives for the Maryknoll Sisters as an NGO with the United Nations in New York.

Reynold Feldman, PhD

Originally from New York City, Dr Feldman has lived and taught at universities in Europe, Asia and the United States, including the East-West Center and the University of Hawaii Manoa.  He has been a regular practitioner of the Subud Spiritual Exercise since 1961.  Born into a Jewish family, he became a Christian in 1967 and is an active Roman Catholic.  He is author of numerous books, including Wisdom: Daily Reflections for a New Era (St. Mary's Press, 2000).  Dr Feldman is currently president of Blue Sky Associates: Catalysts for Educational Change, St. Paul, Minnesota, and executive director of Wisdom Factors International, Honolulu.

Meheroo Jussawalla, PhD

Dr Jussawalla is an Emerita Senior Fellow East-West Center at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. She is the author of fifteen books and many journal articles in the field of economics. She has been a life-long student of religion and studied the Acts of the Apostles for the A Levels of Cambridge University. Dr Jussawala’s festschrift is entitled, Communications and Trade: Articles in Honor of Meheroo Jussawalla (Hampton Press, 1989).  She is the author of On Six Dollars to America: A Tale of Adventure, Courage and Reward (Booksurge, 2006).

Florence Kelley

Ms Kelley is director of the Office of External Relations of the Hawaii Baha'i Community.  A graduate of DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, she was a Baha'i pioneer to Monaco and has served on many Baha'i administrative bodies and committees, including the National Spiritual Assembly in both Hawaii and South Korea.  She is former chair of the Community Council of the Spark Matsunaga Institute for Peace at  the University of Hawaii at Manoa and is involved in various Interfaith activities and international friendship societies.

Gregg Kinkley, PhD, JD

Dr Kinkley is currently serving as a State of Hawaii Deputy Attorney General.  He holds doctorates in Linguistics, with specialties in Sino-Tibetan historical-comparative linguistics, and Law.  Dr Kinkley has been trained as a lay leader by the Union of Conservative Jewish Synagogues, and is currently the chair of the Ritual Committee at Sof Ma’arav, Hawaii's only Conservative Jewish congregation.

Valerie Noor Karima, MA

Ms Noor Karima is Center leader of the Mevlevi Order of America on Oahu and has studied with Sufis from Konya, Istanbul, the US, South America and Sri Lanka, and with Postneshin Jelaluddin Loras of the Mevlevi School (the Whirling Dervishes.)  She is a counselor with background in clinical psychology and leads the Dances of Universal Peace.

Irene Matsumoto, BE

Rev Irene Matsumoto is resident minister of Palolo Kwannon Temple. She attended Ochanomizu Women's University, Tokyo, Japan as a foreign student, holds her Bachelor of Education, University of Hawaii and is a graduate of Tendai Buddhist Training Center. Rev Matsumoto was with the Hawaii Department of Education for 28 years.  She is first vice president of The Interfaith Alliance Hawaii (TIAH), president of Hawaii Conference of Religions for Peace (HCRP) and president-elect of the United Japanese Society of Hawaii.

Harendra Panalal, MSE, PE

Born and raised in Mumbai, Mr Panalal received his BSE and MSE degrees in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan.  He was also enrolled in the MBA program at the University of Chicago.  He works for a mechanical contractor.  He also serves on the Boards of several condominiums.  All of his and his wife’s ancestors for the past hundred years were born and raised as Jains.  He is well versed in Jain literature.

Manjit Reddick

Manjit Reddick was born and reared in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania.  Living among a polyglot community of Africans, Ismailies, Isthnashries, Hindus, Muslims, Jews, Christians and so called "non-believers," and her daily interaction with them at school, fed her curiosity  and need for understanding of their various cultural and faith traditions.  Currently, she conducts monthly Sikh religious services in Honolulu.

M Jan Rumi, MS

Mr Rumi is co-author of Wising Up:  A Youth Guide to Good Living (Wisdom Foundation Publishing, 2005).  He is a prominent business and community leader with over 22 years of diverse advisory, management consulting and industry experience focusing especially on serving the needs of health care.  He is a principal of Consulting Factors International, LLC.

Stephen Randolph Sykes, EOMC, DD

Bishop Stephen is Orthodox Bishop of Hawaii of the Inclusive Orthodox Church and resides in the monastic community of the Eremitic Order of Mount Carmel.  He serves on the board of The Interfaith Alliance Hawai‘i.  He is co-author of Charting Your Goals: Personal Life-Goals Planning (Harper & Row, 1988) and Charting Your Goals Life-Planning Guide for Teens (Dolphin Circle, 2006).  He holds a degree in philosophy from Loyola University of Los Angeles and a Doctor of Divinity degree (honoris causa) from the Apostolic College of the Pacific.  He is also the webmaster for a number of Hawaii-based, non-profit organizations, including Belnet.

Mike Young, MDiv

Reverend Mike Young is minister of the First Unitarian Church of Honolulu.  He has spent 40 years in ministry, all of it working interfaith to turn our common commitments into tangible spiritual growth.  Before moving to Hawaii, Rev Young was Unitarian Universalist Campus Minister at Stanford University and Assistant Minister of the Palo Alto Unitarian Church, served the Unitarian Society of Los Angeles-West and was a Juvenile Probation Officer in a unique Police/Probation Unit that he helped design for Los Angeles County.  Rev Young is a graduate of Andover Newton Theological School and has also been trained in Soto Zen.