The Center For Women, Faith & Leadership
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CWFL Advisory Support

CWFL Advisory Council

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The Center for Women, Faith & Leadership Advisory Council is a body of prominent leaders from diverse sectors dedicated to supporting the vision and mission of IGE’s Center for Women, Faith & Leadership (CWFL) and its corresponding programs. Council members play a valuable role in the substance and sustainability of the Center, serving as advocates and advisors on issues relevant to women of faith and religious women’s leadership, especially their engagement and influence in under-represented sectors, in real-time. 
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As a global initiative, Council members represent a diverse array of cultures, geographic locations, ethnic and religious backgrounds, political perspectives and professional competencies. Individuals invited to serve as CWFL Advisory Council members typically include leaders from the public, non-profit and private sectors that have demonstrated personal distinction, leadership, and a commitment to building the capacity of women of faith in order to ensure that these women, with full agency as equal citizens, are equipped and empowered to serve as leaders and agents of change-across vocations and locations; and, on the world’s most pressing socio-economic and geo-political challenges and conflicts. Click here to read more.

MARINA
BARNETT

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Senior Program Coordinator,
​U.S. Energy Association​

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PALWASHA L. KAKAR

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Senior Program Officer,
​U.S. Institute of Peace


SR. ROSEMARIE
NASSIF

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Director,
Catholic Sisters Initiative


Asma Uddin

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Director of Strategy, Center for Islam and Religious Freedom

KATHARINE 
​BIGELOW

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Former Director of External Affairs, National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'í​


SUHAIL
​KHAN

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Director of External Affairs, 
Microsoft

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JAMES
​PATTON

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Executive Vice President, ICRD


Judith Williams

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Assistant Director, International Affairs and Trade, Government Accountability Office

JENNIFER S. BRYSON​

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Director of Operations & Development,
​Center for Islam & Religious Freedom


MARYANN  LOVE

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Associate Professor of International Relations,
​Catholic University


LOSANG
RABGEY

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Co-founder & Executive Director,
​Machik


Meredith Stricker
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Executive Director at The Soufan Center 



ERIN
CLIFFORD

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Director of People Development, International Justice Mission


KATHERINE MARSHALL

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Senior Fellow, Berkeley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs


MARYUM
SAIFEE

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Office of Global Women's Issues, U.S. Department of State


CASSANDRA LAWRENCE

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​Project and Communications Associate at Shoulder to Shoulder Campaign

CHAD BARTLETT

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Filmmaker, Documentary Photographer and Designer​


RIMA NASHASHIBI

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Managing Partner, 
Nashashibi International Consultants, LLC


JUDY MALANA

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Deputy Chaplain of the U.S. Coast Guard


COURTNEY ROBERTS

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Program Officer, Institute for Global Engagement

Kara
​Lemma

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 Program Officer at the
  Conrad N. Hilton
  Foundation


Featured Thought-Leadership by CWFL Advisory Council Member, Katherine Marshall

​"Interfaith Journeys: An Exploration of History, Ideas and Future Directions"

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Interfaith initiatives reflect many social and religious ideals, but they respond above all to the cruel violence, tensions, and polarization of our times. Interfaith efforts seek immediate action to confront threats and they address root causes of tensions, especially those that touch on religious beliefs and practices. They work to realize the potential richness of plural societies and to breathe life into human rights. Interfaith work seeks strength in shared values and goals and explores ways to bridge deep social and political divides. 

This project explored the complex landscape of initiatives that involve interfaith, multifaith, intrafaith, and other purposeful efforts involving dialogue and action with a religious inspiration. The initiatives are bewildering in their diversity and in their response to forces of change. The report thus introduces a complex field and takes stock of institutions, successes, and challenges. It offers a map of the history, intellectual foundations, and major features and actors involved in interfaith work. And it sets out, and solicits, ideas on priority areas for future action. Download PDF here.

    Want to Connect with or Invite a Council Member to Speak at Your Event? Contact Us!

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CWFL Program Team

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Kristen Lundquist

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Program Director, The Center for Faith, Women and Leadership

Kristen Lundquist is the Program Director for the Center for Women, Faith & Leadership (CWFL) at the Institute for Global Engagement. In this position, Kristen engages and advises on issues at the intersection of religion, gender, and security within IGE broadly; and manages practical programming for the Center, including the Religion, Gender, and Identity Initiative, and the CWFL Fellowship Program. Prior to her tenure at IGE, Kristen served as a consultant to numerous women's NGOs in the U.S. and the Middle East, for program management, research and analysis, development, and communications.  Kristen holds an M.A. in World History from Eastern Illinois University, a B.A. in Ancient History, and a B.A. in Biblical Studies with a focus on Near East Languages from Northwestern College. With the view of aiding women of faith affected by PTSD as a result of violent conflict and war, Kristen is pursuing an M.A. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Messiah College. She has served as a Pastoral Counselor for Church of the Advent in Washington, D.C., and currently serves as a psychotherapist at The Women’s Center in Vienna, VA. Taking her passion for women’s trauma healing into the local community, Kristen has also helped form Church of the Advent's shepherding / lay counseling ministry in Washington D.C.; she has designed and facilitated a community-based “Prayer & Movement” yoga therapy; and, she has served on the Washington, D.C. Advisory Board of Amani Ya Juu, a women’s stitching, empowerment, and peace-building project based in East Africa.

Margaret J. Weber, Ph.D.

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Senior Fellow and Chair of the CWFL Advisory Council

Prior to joining IGE, Dr. Weber served as Dean and Professor, Graduate School of Education and Psychology (GSEP), at Pepperdine University. Dr. Weber developed global programs, including an international leadership course in the Organizational Leadership doctoral program, the Global Leadership Internship in the Social Entrepreneurship and Change master's program, and Aliento, the Latino(a) Center for Mental Health which incorporates therapy in Spanish speaking countries. She led student groups on educational/immersion trips to India with a focus on Corporate Social Responsibility; to Kenya to partner with NGO's for responding to teen addiction in the urban slums; and to Ethiopia to partner with a faith based group serving in the government projects to educate youg children.
Caring about issues of diversity, especially gender and racial/ethnic diversity, Dr. Weber initiated several projects at Pepperdine University, along with increasing the diversity of the student body, the staff and the faculty. She founded the Women and Leadership: Work-Life Balance Project which sponsors research on identity, relational style, motivation, and adaptive style. ​

Afeefa Syeed

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Senior Fellow and CWFL Advisory Council Member

For the past 25 years, Afeefa Syeed, a cultural anthropologist, has designed and implemented initiatives and training to address engaging traditional and religious leaders and institutions, human rights, radicalization, socio-political identity, and social entrepreneurship, among other emerging issues. Her work includes religion and development, gender inclusion, countering extremism and integrating cultural context into development and diplomacy.
Afeefa,  who most recently served as Senior Advisor at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), is presently a Scholar Consultant for the Carter Center, and Research Associate with Cambridge University’s Institute on Religion & International Studies. She has advised the White House, National Security Council, Department of State, UN Democracy Fund, World Bank and various in-country government and non-governmental institutions on the same issues for communities in Europe, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Central Asia, and Middle East and North Africa.  She is a member of various interfaith, social service and advocacy organizations in the US.

CWFL Consultants

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 Catherine Cosman
Senior Policy Analyst
U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom
 

Anne Moisan
Professor/ Chair
National Defense University – Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies
 
Anita Friedt
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Arms Control
U.S. Department of State


Jeanette Cajide
Co-founder and Project Management
Dialexa

Juliet Vedral
U.S. / Canada Press Secretary
The ONE Campaign


Shannon Toronto
Former Executive Director
Philanthropy Roundtable


Judy Malana
​Deputy Director of Chaplain Corps Force Structure for Manpower, Personnel, Training & Education
Pentagon

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Camille Alick
Media/Marketing Consultant
Alick Communications
 

Helen Sterk, Ph.D.
Department Head and Professor
Western Kentucky University Department of Communications
 
Samantha Chiu
Research Analyst
D3 Systems
 
Dr. Jennifer Bryson
Director
Zephyr Institute
 
Dr. Julie Shimer
Board Member
Institute for Global Engagement (IGE)
Director
Halyard Health Inc.
Director
Netgear Inc.
Director/Chairman of the Board
EarthLink Holdings Corp.
 
Kit Bigelow
Former Director of External Affairs
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'í

Cassandra Lawrence
Program Coordinator
International Higher Education Interfaith Leadership Forum at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs

Suhail Khan
Director of External Affairs
Microsoft
 
Dr. Dennis Hoover
Vice President for Research and Publications
Institute for Global Engagement
 

Holta Trandafili
Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist
World Vision
 
Marina Barnett
Eurasia Program Office
Institute for Global Engagement
 

Brittany Noetzel
Small Business Marketing Consultant
Empowered Women International
 
Tamara Park
Documentary Film Artist
 
Meredith Stricker
Executive Director
The Soufan Center
 
Chad Barlett
Freelance Filmaker, Documentary Photographer & Designer

Allison Shapira
CEO & Founder
Global Public Speaking LLC


 CWFL Graduate Fellows & Interns

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Caroline White
Emma Callister Walmsley
Jacqueline Mullen
Matthew Jones
Naseim Omeish
Gillian Johnston
Sarah Barney
Ashlyn Tennyson
Samuel Adelson
Sumaira Khalid
Katherine Kaiser
Alex Leo
MinMin Shi
​Soni Rusagara

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  • About
  • Fellowships
    • Hybrid Fellowship
    • Distance Learning Fellowship
  • Free Toolkit
  • Suggested Resources
  • Advisory Support
  • Meditations
  • Get Involved / Donate