Religions for Peace

 Dr. William F. Vendley

 NEW YORK HEADQUARTERS

William F. Vendley, Secretary General
DR. WILLIAM F. VENDLEY has served as Secretary General of Religions for Peace since 1994. He is a member of its World Council, which is composed of outstanding international religious leaders. He also serves as the organization’s chief executive officer, overseeing the international secretariat in Asia, Africa, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.

Dr. Vendley coordinates the international activities and projects of Religions for Peace’s Interreligious Councils in more than seventy states around the world. He works in areas engaged in armed conflict to mobilize and equip religious communities to mediate and mitigate violent conflict and build a climate of peace.

In Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sierra Leone, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Liberia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and many other countries, Dr. Vendley has led negotiations that have helped to prevent conflicts from developing, mediate peace among warring parties and rebuild societies in the aftermath of violence.

Under his leadership, Religions for Peace and its local affiliates engaged religious communities in collaborative work to assist orphans of HIV/AIDS in Africa.

Dr. Vendley was a participant in His Majesty King Abdullah’s historic inter-religious meeting in Madrid, Spain in 2008 and has been requested by the Muslim World League to serve on its Follow-up Committee. Dr. Vendley advises the White House through President Barack Obama’s Interreligious Dialogue and Cooperation Task Force.

Dr. Vendley is a theologian and has served as a professor and dean in graduate schools of theology. He lectures frequently in academic, United Nations and NGO fora.

He has been awarded numerous prizes for religion and human rights, and serves on the boards of a number of organizations ranging from the fine arts to those committed to peace building.

He holds a doctorate in systematic theology from Fordham University and a master’s degree in religious studies from the Maryknoll School of Theology.

 Mr. Stein Villumstad

Stein Villumstad, Deputy Secretary General
Mr. Villumstad has extensive and distinguished experience in international development, conflict transformation, and human rights. He served as regional representative for Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) in Eastern Africa, where he oversaw development activities in ten countries and managed five regional sub-offices. Previously, he held the position of assistant general secretary of Norwegian Church Aid managing the Department for Policy and Human Rights.

Mr. Villumstad brings history of partnership with religious communities, many of whom he has worked with in conflict and post-conflict situations. He has been a close partner with the religious leaders in Sierra Leone and Ethiopia-Eritrea in their conflict transformation efforts. In 1995, Mr. Villumstad became the first co-chair of the Action by Churches Together (ACT International) Executive Committee, charged with coordinating church based emergency relief for more than one hundred organizations worldwide. Until 2006, he was a member of the World Council of Churches’ (WCC) Commission on International Affairs. His writing includes the book, Reconstruction of Africa: Perspectives from Within and Without (2005), and a number of articles in periodicals and newspapers. In addition to his bachelors of education, Mr. Villumstad holds a masters of international administration from the School for International Training in Vermont, where his thesis focused on policy considerations for non-governmental organizations involved in humanitarian assistance during conflict and complex emergencies.

Rev. Kyoichi Sugino, Assistant Secretary General
Rev. Sugino serves as Assistant Secretary General at Religions for Peace, co-ordinating regional offices in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East, and its affiliated Inter-religious Councils (IRCs) in more than seventy countries. Rev. Sugino has been directly engaged in multi-religious diplomacy and track-II negotiations in Iraq, Sri Lanka, and other conflict zones. After graduating in 1991 from Gakurin Seminary in Tokyo and receiving ordination as a Dharma Teacher in Rissho Kosei-kai, a major Japanese Buddhist denomination, Rev. Sugino served as Policy Research Officer at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva. Holding a master’s degree in international law and international human rights law from the University of Wisconsin, Rev. Sugino’s published work on humanitarian and peace-building issues includes The "'Non-Political and Humanitarian’ Clause in UNHCR’s Statute," Refugee Survey Quarterly, Volume 17, Number 1 (UNHCR/Oxford University Press, 1998) and "Building Peace in Iraq: Inter-religious Council of Iraq," Vol. 4, (United Nations Journal, 2004). 

The Rev. Donald "Bud" Heckman, Director for External Relations
An ordained Christian minister from the West Ohio Conference of The United Methodist Church, Rev. Heckman has served formerly as: Chief Development Officer of Hartford Seminary, Secretary General of Religions for Peace USA, Executive Secretary in the Mission Volunteers unit of the General Board of Global Ministries, and Program Administrator for the World Congress of Philosophy.

A summa cum laude graduate of Ohio University, Rev. Heckman has graduate degrees from the University of Chicago Divinity School and Boston University’s Division of Religion and Theological Studies, as well as additional education from several other schools and centers. He has served rural, urban, and suburban churches in Illinois, Ohio, Massachusetts, New York, and Connecticut.

A frequent speaker and writer on interfaith relations, Rev. Heckman is editor of a new reference book for the field called InterActive Faith: The Essential Interreligious Community-Building Handbook (SkyLight Paths, 2008).

Rosalee Laws, Constituent Relationship Manager
Ms. Rosalee Laws is a poet, online media specialist, blogger, photographer and has been involved with multi-religious peace efforts for a number of years.  She is Author of Out Of Winter (September, 2007). Prior to joining Religions For Peace, Rosalee has as served  as Production Manager and Project Coordinator for Talkpoint Media, Marketing Specialist and Special Assignment Coordinator for the Associated Press, and Head of the Department of Surveillance for Count On Us.  She has most recently served as an Ambassador for the Parliament of the World's Religions and has helped Monks Without Borders in implementing their Online Peace Ambassador Program. She lives in Manhattan. 

Lisa Locke, Director of Institutional Support
Ms. Locke is responsible for managing and supporting resource mobilization efforts at Religions for Peace. With more than sixteen years of experience in non-profit management and fundraising, she has extensive experience in proposal development, strategic partnerships at the regional and international levels and public-private partnerships. She also conducted program evaluations on international humanitarian aid projects. Ms. Locke is currently engaged in leadership and governance issues, strategic planning, resource allocation and human resource decisions. Her overseas work assignments include Turkey and India. She has a bachelor’s degree in international affairs from The George Washington University and is completing a master’s degree in organizational change management at the New School University.

Jacqueline Moturi Ogega, Director of the Women’s Mobilization Program
Ms. Ogega is the Director of the Women’s Program at the World Conference of Religions for Peace. Prior to joining Religions for Peace-International in New York, Ms. Ogega served as the African Women’s Project Director at Religions for Peace in Africa where she established the African Women of Faith Network, a fundamental infrastructure for building multi-religious cooperation for action in Africa. Ms. Ogega has extensive experience and skills in gender, peace-building and development programming. She has worked to mobilize financial and human resources to tap on the global resource of women as agents for transformation. Ms. Ogega worked previously in various positions as a lecturer in Gender and Development Studies at the University of Nairobi in Kenya, National Coordinator of the Gender and Development Program of Caritas Kenya, and as a graduate teacher. Ms. Ogega’s field experience blends well with her academic qualifications and interests; she holds a masters degree as well as a post-graduate diploma in gender and development, both from the University of Nairobi Kenya. She earned her bachelor's degree in education from Kenyatta University in Kenya. Ms. Ogega has international specialized training in peace-building and conflict transformation from the School for International Training (SIT) in Vermont, USA and from the Austrian Study Center for Peace and Conflict Resolution (ASPR).

Paul Sherbow, Senior Researcher
Mr. Sherbow has studied several world religions, specializing in Hinduism. He was senior Sanskrit editor for translations published by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust in the 1970s, and his articles have been included in recent publications from Columbia University Press, Oxford University Press, and the Journal of Vaisnava Studies. He holds a bachelor's degree in Middle Eastern studies from Columbia University.

Deepika Singh, Director of Program Coordination
Ms. Deepika Singh is the Director of Program Coordination at Religions for Peace, where she directs overall program strategy and related implementation and monitoring. Ms. Singh has more than ten years of professional experience in international affairs and development, including service in USAID-funded programs in Nepal and consultancies with UNDP, UNICEF, and other international NGOs. She holds a master's degree in public administration from Pace University (New York, USA), a master's degree in arts from Dhaka University (Dhaka, Bangladesh) and a bachelor's degree, with honors, from St. Bede’s College (Simla, India).

Ms. Sheharbano Ali, Special Projects and Administrative Officer
Ms. Darlene Garcia, Junior Accountant
Ms. Luisa Hernandez, Director of Finance, Administration and Human Resources
Ms. Valerie Nash, Chief of Staff
Ms. Janet Phillips, NPI Project Coordinator
Ms. Allison Pytlak, Disarmament Program Coordinator
Ms. Katerina Ragoussi, Associate Director for Youth and Network Coordination
Ms. Gloria DeCamps , Office Administrator and Human Resources Assistant
Mr. Daniel Calder, Youth Network Associate
Ms. Nina Kalandadze, Web Media Manager and Online Communications Associate
Ms. Chantel Rodriguez, Contract Accountant

Ms. Anna Keller, Communications Intern
Ms. Julietta Lopez, Online Communications/Institutional Support Intern 
Ms. Rosina Pohlmann, External Relations Intern
Ms.Hiba Khan, Women’s Mobilization Program Intern
Ms. Niba Khan, Women’s Mobilization Program Intern
Ms. Manuela Sentore, Programs Intern

RELIGIONS FOR PEACE AFRICA (NAIROBI, KENYA)

Dr. Mustafa Ali, Director & Secretary General, African Council of Religious Leaders
Mr. Bernard Okok-Obuoga, Director of Programs Coordination and Communication
Mr. Joel Oloo, NPI Project Officer
Mr. Geofrey Angira, Finance and Administration Manager
Ms. Emma Kang’ethe, African Women’s Program Mobilization Director
Mr. Mohamed Noor, Program Officer Conflict Transformation
Ms. Florence Omtokoh, Executive Secretary in the Office of the Secretary General
Ms. Mercy Karimi, Finance and Accounts Assistant
Ms. Hellen C. Kibowen, Administrative Assistant
Ms. Martha Mukulu, Intern, Conflict Transformation
Ms. Nyambura Gichuki, Youth Coordinator
Ms. Christine Chacha, Office Assistant
Mr. Antony Mulele, Office Gardener

RELIGIONS FOR PEACE WEST AFRICA REGIONAL OFFICE (MONROVIA, LIBERIA)

Rev. William Tolbert, III, Coordinator
Ms. Adama Aba Jawandoh, Finance & Admin Officer
Mr. Melvin Davies, Office Assistant
 

RELIGIONS FOR PEACE LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN (LIMA, PERU)

Mr. Elias Szczytnicki, Director & General Secretary of the Latin American and Caribbean Council of Religious Leaders (LACCRL)

Rev. Eduardo Chinchilla, Program Officer