In October 2016, Biff Barnard joined URI as its Director of Institutional Advancement, after serving as a member of URI’s Senior Advisory Council since 2003. Biff was appointed URI’s Acting Executive Director on September 2, 2021, and remained in the position for 11 months, and on August 1, 2022, he resumed his position as the Director of Institutional Advancement. On January 1, 2023, he assumed the role of Senior Advisor, supporting the Executive Director and the Global Program's team.
Prior to 2016, he was Managing Partner of Barnard/Montague Capital Advisors; Managing Director of Caltius Mezzanine; Senior Vice President of Allied Capital; and Chairman and CEO of Heller First Capital. Biff served as Chairman of the Advisory Council of the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank, as President of the San Francisco Chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth, and as a Director of ACG-Global. He served on the San Francisco East Bay Advisory Board of Heritage Bank of Commerce. Biff received a B.A. from Stanford University. He lives in Walnut Creek, California, with his wife, Connie.
Founder and President Emeritus of URI; Former Episcopal Bishop of California
William E. Swing is the Founder and President Emeritus of the United Religions Initiative. Bishop Swing had the original vision of URI in 1993 in response to an invitation from the United Nations, which asked him to host an interfaith service honoring the 50th anniversary of the signing of the UN Charter. Bishop Swing, along with 50 others, shaped the URI purpose (to promote enduring, daily interfaith cooperation, to end religiously motivated violence and to create cultures of peace, justice, and healing for the Earth and all living beings). URI is currently the largest interfaith grassroot organization.
Bishop Swing Bishop Swing served as the 7th Episcopal Bishop of California from 1980 until his retirement in 2006. In that capacity, he was a national and international leader in response to the AIDS crisis, co-founded Episcopal Community Services to address San Francisco’s homeless problem, and co-founded Community Bank of the Bay to support local businesses and the economy.
He is married to Mary Taylor Swing and has two children and three grandchildren.
Books by Bishop Swing: A Bishop's Quest: Founding a United Religions and The Sacred and the Silly: A Bishop's Playful and Eventful Life. Both books are available on Amazon.com; the proceeds of book sales will benefit URI.
Pamela Banks joined URI in March 2011 originally as a Fiscal Consultant tasked with completing the annual audit, and then transitioning to the finance department. In July 2011, she accepted the position of Director of Finance and Administration. In 2000, as corporate finance was going through various changes, Pamela discovered non-profit service was a better fit for her skill set and was personally more rewarding. Her background includes 20 years of accounting experience, with the last 10 years being exclusively in not-for-profit service. She has directed not-for-profit finance in social service programs in Alameda, San Francisco and San Mateo Counties.
Diana Conan serves as URI Director of Development and Outreach collaborating on the strategic direction and overall activities of the development department, managing key events for URI such as the Circles of Light gala and the Leadership Face-to-Face meetings, and overseeing the Communication department's external strategies. Diana serves as the staff liaison for the URI Foundation. Diana joined URI in 2013 as its Annual Fund and Events Manager, and was promoted to Associate Director of Development, then Director of Development. Diana was born and raised in France and earned her BA degree from Barnard College in New York City, USA. Diana currently lives between San Francisco and Mount Shasta, and enjoys learning about diverse religious traditions and cooking various cuisines.
Maria Crespo serves as the Director of Member Support (both for Cooperation Circles (CCs) and Individual Members) from her office in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She is also the URI Impact Assessment Project Manager. She maintains communication with CCs around the world, manages the CC approval process and is the staff liaison for the CC Approval Committee. Maria moderates URI’s listservs, assists with URI's social media activities, and oversees data collection for URI’s CCs. Prior to this, she served as the Regional Coordinator for Latin America for five years. Maria originally became involved with URI in 1997 when she was appointed as a Trustee in the Interim Global Council. By profession, she is a bilingual school teacher. She is very involved in the Roman Catholic Church. Maria is married and has five children.
Lejla Hasandedic-Dapo is a psychologist, psychotherapist, lecturer, activist, peacebuilder, and volunteer from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Currently, she is doing her Ph.D. in psychology at Ankara Yildirim Beyazit University, in Turkey. She was URI Youth Ambassador and, since 2013, she has been working as United Religions Initiative (URI) Europe CC Liaison Officer. Also, she is the co-founder of Youth for Peace, an organization that positioned itself as one of the most prominent youth-led organizations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, working in the field of peacebuilding. As she is very passionate about peacebuilding and interfaith work, she became a non-violent communication trainer, Learning to Live Together trainer, PPA and KAICIID fellow. In March 2022, Lejla joined the URI Global Staff team as the Individual Membership Coordinator.
Other Job Titles: URI Representative at the UN (Africa office) and the African Union, Former Ambassador
Ambassador Mussie Hailu is a peacebuilder who is working at national, regional, and international levels for peace, reconciliation, interfaith harmony, disarmament, the Golden Rule, world citizenship, right human relationships, and international cooperation for the preservation of the environment. He considers himself a Citizen of the World, believing strongly in the inter-dependence of human beings. He celebrates cultural diversity, seeing the differences in race, ethnicities, religions, politics, and nationalities as important elements of the one and indivisible humanity. He has served many national and international organizations, including the United Nations. Mussie also served as Diplomat in the rank of Ambassador and Special Envoy of the President of Burundi. Currently, he serves as URI Director of Global Partnerships, URI Representative at the United Nations and the African Union, and URI-Africa Regional Director. He is a founding member of URI.
Aida Iranzadeh studied Finance and Accounting in Malaysia and Business Administration at the University of Chicago Illinois. She worked several years as an accountant in the international tourism industry prior to moving to the US to further her education. She joined the URI as a Senior Accountant in December 2021 and is very excited to have the opportunity to contribute to a company whose core values are very well aligned with hers and to make a positive impact. She is fluent in Farsi, loves mountains, and enjoys painting, biking, and skiing. She had her first oil color exhibition in Oakland in 2016 and is currently working towards her passion for collage, abstract, and acrylic colors. Aida is a Bay Area resident and lives with her husband and 11 years old toy poodle.
Emerson James (they/them) calls Northern Utah home. They have a BS in Environmental Stewardship from McPherson College and an MS in English with an emphasis in Creative Nonfiction from Utah State University. While at McPherson College, they were introduced to the Church of the Brethren and the denomination’s deep commitment to pacifism and nonviolence. Since, they have been called to the particular role of faith-based action in movements towards social and environmental justice. They currently serve as a part-time lay leader for Cache Valley Unitarian Universalists in the role of Director of Ministry and Religious Education. They are certified by the Sati Center for Buddhist Studies as an eco-chaplain.
Sally Mahé, Senior Advisor and founding staff person of URI, has held senior staff positions for over 20 years. Sally formerly served as URI Director of Organizational Development and Director of Global Programs, working primarily with regional staff across the world. As Senior Advisor, Sally supports the Communications Team, is on-call for consultation, and makes core URI values, practices, and organizational wisdom available to the URI global community.
Sally co-authored The Birth of a Global Community in 2003 and A Greater Democracy Day by Day. Sally holds Master's degrees from Harvard and the General Episcopal Seminary, New York. She lives in the Bay Area with her children and grandchildren nearby.
Since 2016, Sarah Oliver has been the URI Youth Coordinator for the Southern African region, working to strengthen the voices of young people across the regional URI network. In this role, she has led interfaith and leadership skills training programs with youth from Cooperation Circles across South Africa, Malawi, and Mozambique. She developed the Girls Not Brides Campaign with URI Youth Ambassadors in these areas. As an experienced facilitator, Sarah runs interfaith youth programs for high school learners with the Cape Town Interfaith Initiative in partnership with GOAL (Giving Opportunity to Aspiring Leaders), both Cooperation Circles of URI. Within these programs, Sarah strives to create spaces of trust, dialogue, and learning across religious and cultural divides. In July 2019, Sarah took on the role of URI Global Youth Coordinator, expanding her work to connect, support, and inspire youth engagement globally in URI’s network.
Akidi Sharon Regina is a communications specialist with over 4 years of experience in the non-profit sector. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Communication from Makerere University. Akidi specializes in communications for development, creative storytelling, advocacy, promoting and maintaining organization image, branding, and multimedia production. She is enthusiastic about using her skills to tell people’s stories of change, peacebuilding, youth empowerment, and the well-being of children. Akidi joined URI Global staff team in March 2022 as a Communications Officer. She looks forward to sharing her experience, and contribution to global URI’s mission. Akidi enjoys good conversations, photography, traveling, and learning about new cultures. She lives in Kampala, Uganda.
Anthony Sciarabba joined the URI staff as Development Associate in August 2021. Working with the Development, Global Programs, and UN/Partnership teams, Anthony focuses on researching and implementing strategies to raise and manage funds from institutional donors including foundations, UN and government agencies, and corporations to support global, regional, and local programs. Anthony has extensive experience in proposal writing, contract management with a focus on research methodology, grant and technical writing, bids (government and private), statistics, analytics, and client relations. He has extensive project management, training, and collaborative abilities with over 16 years of academic research, writing and data analytics and 13 years of successful and award-winning grant and technical proposal writing experience. Anthony and his family live on Long Island, New York.
Alice Swett has spent most of her career applauding, mentoring, and training youth and adults working for positive social change. Prior to joining URI, Alice managed the City of Boulder, Colorado’s Youth Opportunities Program/YOAB for 16 years. She also served as a Trustee of the Community Foundation Serving Boulder County. In 2013 Alice was grateful to be named a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar, which enabled her to receive a Master’s Degree in Peace Education from the University for Peace in Costa Rica. She spent time in the Democratic Republic of the Congo with Theatre et Réconciliation, using participatory theater as a tool for community transformation. She loves vegetarian food, intercultural exchanges of all types, ragtime piano, and being outdoors.
Raised in the Midwest, Lauren Van Ham's professional life began as a performing artist in NYC before attending interfaith seminary in California. After ordination (1999), Lauren served as chaplain in both healthcare and corporate settings, and seminary Dean at The Chaplaincy Institute. Her passion for spirituality, art and Earth's teachings construct her focus in eco-ministry, grief & loss, and sacred activism. She is a guest writer for “Progressing Spirit,” an online publication exploring theology, spirituality and public events. She holds degrees from Carnegie Mellon University and Naropa University. Lauren is a spiritual director and serves as guest faculty for several schools in the Bay Area.
Other Job Titles: URI Representative at the UN (Africa office) and the African Union, Former Ambassador
Ambassador Mussie Hailu is a peacebuilder who is working at national, regional, and international levels for peace, reconciliation, interfaith harmony, disarmament, the Golden Rule, world citizenship, right human relationships, and international cooperation for the preservation of the environment. He considers himself a Citizen of the World, believing strongly in the inter-dependence of human beings. He celebrates cultural diversity, seeing the differences in race, ethnicities, religions, politics, and nationalities as important elements of the one and indivisible humanity. He has served many national and international organizations, including the United Nations. Mussie also served as Diplomat in the rank of Ambassador and Special Envoy of the President of Burundi. Currently, he serves as URI Director of Global Partnerships, URI Representative at the United Nations and the African Union, and URI-Africa Regional Director. He is a founding member of URI.
Emmanuel Ande Ivorgba, PhD, serves as West Africa Regional Coordinator for United Religions Initiative (URI). Emmanuel Ande Ivorgba holds a PhD in Philosophy and Religion, specializing in Comparative Religion. He is the recipient of several awards, including the 2014 Unsung Heroes of Compassion Award, in San Francisco, CA, USA. Dr. Ivorgba is Co-Producer of the 2012 Award-Winning Documentary titled: “Dialogue in Nigeria: Muslims and Christians Creating their Future Together”. Dr. Emmanuel Ande Ivorgba has previously served as Resource Person, Trainer and Facilitator at the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations- Education First Summer School, in Tarrytown, New York, USA, where he led Special Sessions on Interfaith Dialogue Models and Discussions Circles.
Nyasha Mukaratirwa is originally from Zimbabwe and currently resides in South Africa. Prior to joining URI, she has worked in the corporate and NGO sectors within Southern Africa. She holds a Bachelor of Business Studies, Master of Commerce Strategic Management, and Digital Marketing diploma. Nyasha is passionate about advocating for peace, justice, and improving the livelihoods of grassroots people. She has a unique mixture of trade qualifications, work experience, and the desire to deliver excellence in whatever role she assumes within the space. Nyasha is a proud mother of one, and in her spare time she enjoys spending time with her son, reading, and travelling. She looks forward to adding value to URI and working well with the team.
Despina is a social scientist with a Master’s in Peace and Conflict Studies. She coordinates the work of over 70 grassroots interfaith organizations doing different social action in the Great Lakes countries of Africa. Despina is a community organizer, trainer, and mentor in organizational development and peace work. Growing up on a continent that sometimes fuses strong customs with religion to deter the full participation of women, Despina has a passion for addressing issues that support women and girls to achieve their full potential. She has widely traveled, which has helped her conceive many “out of the box” solutions which have changed lives. She is also a contributor to different literature in the areas of interfaith, gender, environment and peacebuilding work.
National India Team Coordinator and Regional Coordinator for URI-Asia: India, East Zone
Biswadeb holds a BA degree in Accounting. He was raised in a family with strong spiritual values and commitment. Since 1996, he has been involved in community organizing and serves in a leadership role with Ektaan Cooperation Circle. Biswadeb is an accomplished musician and songwriter, dedicated to using music as a medium for awakening inner consciousness, building bridges of respect across social barriers, and uniting life on earth.
Regional Coordinator for URI-Asia: India, South Zone
Dr. Abraham Karickam is a former Principal of Mar Thoma College, Tiruvalla, Kerala (affiliated to Mahatma Gandhi University), where he worked for 28 years in the Department of English. He holds PhDs in English and also in Inter-Religious studies. Dr, Abraham is a Graduate of Bossey Ecumenical Institute (affiliated to Geneva Universty) and has attended several summer institutes in Peace Studies at the Eastern Mennonite University, United States. He is the coordinator for the URI South India --Sri Lanka Zone and Secretary General for the URI Asia Region. Abraham has authored fifteen books and edited a number of books and journals. His important works are “The Concept of Salvation in the Upanishads, the Bible and the Qur’An” and the interfaith novel “Super Souls Revisited”. He also organises the International Conferences on Holy Books at regular intervals in different parts of the world. He represented Mar Thoma Church and URI in three General Assemblies of the World Council of Churches (Canberra, 1991, Harare, 1998 and Port Allegre, 2005). He has been a fellow traveller of Taize Community, France from his student days. He has been engaged in interfaith dialogue for more than thirty years.
Karimah holds a MA degree in Economics. She also received a MA degree in Islamic Studies at the University of Bonn, Germany. She currently works for the IT Department of German Agro Action (development NGO) in Bonn. She has been the Europe Regional Coordinator since 2003 and is a member of the European Executive Committee (EEC) of URI Europe. She also holds the following positions: Vice-President of the German Muslim- League Bonn, Inc.; founding member of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany; member of the Council of the Sufi-order "Tariqah As-Safinah"; Vice- President of the Christian-Islamic Society (URI Europe),; member of the planning team for "Standing Conference of Jews, Christians and Muslims in Europe”; member of the advisory board and adviser for Islamic questions for the ESWTR Deutschland; and DMLBonn's delegate to the Muslim Council, Bonn.
Regional Coordinator for URI-Latin America and the Caribbean
Enoé is an Anthropologist and Ph.D. in Social Sciences, a professor at the Central University of Venezuela. She focused her research on the holistic paradigm of science. She has coordinated educational programs on inner peace, developing brain potential and exploring our capacity as a human race to live together in harmony. She is also founder and member of Circle of Cooperation of Dialogue and Coordinator of Father Luis Dolan Chair. Since June 2000, Enoé has been leading the Circle of Cooperation for Dialogue and the Luis Dolan Chair, as its academic body at the university, bringing together representatives of different spiritual traditions toward the promotion of interreligious and intercultural dialogue. She was the co-founder in México (1996) of the Inter-American Council on Indian Spirituality (CISEI) and was the Chair during the triennium 2007-2010. Among her publications, one of the most known is “Understanding Networks” (1999).
Regional Coordinator for URI-Middle East and North Africa
Mamoun Ahmad holds a Master’s degree in International Business. He has been a dedicated social worker since the early 90s. His lifetime mission of promoting intercultural and inter-religious understanding was crystalized in 1993 when he co-founded the Friends of Foreigners club at the University of Jordan. After graduation in 1995, Mamoun continued his mission and social work under several entities, including The Conversation Club at American Language Centre in Amman, University of Jordan Alumni Club, Save the Children, Seeds of Peace, and Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EUROMED). In January 2003, Mamoun established "Quested Peace" as a non-profit group aimed at promoting intercultural understanding and interfaith cooperation as well as engaging youth in community service activities. A year later, Quested Peace joined URI as a Cooperation Circle.
Samira Fatma Baručija is from Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and works as the Regional Coordinator for the URI Multiregion. She is an activist, trying to facilitate dialog, interfaith work, and reinforce the importance of living together for the sake of peace and security. Most of her work nowadays is focused on peacebuilding and creating cultures of peace. For the most of her nine-year-long experience in civil society, Samira has been an educator trying to use the platform of non-formal education to raise awareness, motivate and empower individuals and groups, reinforcing their role in the change they want to see. The work that Samira is doing locally is done through a youth led, youth founded organization called Youth for Peace. She is also a part of the UNDP’s Global Youth Programme as one of 16 young people from around the world, working toward fulfilling the UN’s 2030 agenda. Since 2014, Samira has been a Youth Leader for the United Religions Initiative. Samira loves traveling and cooking.
Tahil Sharma is an interfaith activist based in Los Angeles who was born to a Hindu father and a Sikh mother. Following the Oak Creek, WI shooting of a Sikh temple in 2012, Tahil became involved in efforts for interfaith literacy and social justice and has been doing this work professionally for the past seven years. Tahil serves as one of three Interfaith Ministers in Residence for the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles and as the Los Angeles Coordinator for Sadhana: A Coalition of Progressive Hindus. Tahil also serves various organizations in different capacities to educate, engage, and serve various communities that promote interfaith cooperation and ethical pluralism and social and productive norms in society including the Interfaith Youth Core, the Parliament of the World’s Religions, The Guibord Center, and The Interreligious Council of Southern California. Tahil previously worked as the Faith Outreach Manager for Brave New Films, a social justice documentary organization based in Los Angeles that empowers communities and teaches civic participation through new media, facilitation, and strategies for action. He is also a contributing author to books including Co-Human Harmony: Using Our Shared Humanity To Bridge Divides, Hindu Approaches to Spiritual Care: Chaplaincy in Theory and Practice, and Acting on Faith: Stories of Courage, Activism, and Hope Across Religions.
Director of Pakigdait, Philippines, a URI Cooperation Circle, and URI-Philippines Country Coordinator
Mr. Musa Mohamad Sanguila, fondly called Mowkong, was born in war-torn Lanao del Norte, Mindanao, Philippines. For over 15 years, he served as Founding Director of Pakigdait, a grassroots interfaith peacebuilding civil society organization in Mindanao. He is currently one of the founding conveners of the Philippine Center for Islam and Democracy, and regularly participates in the think-tank circle that discusses mitigation and reconciliation of religiously-motivated violence in Mindanao. A former consultant of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, he passionately pursues peace talks with the Government of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front as the voice of local civil society organizations that are members of the monitoring team. He chairs the PAMANA-LANAW, a province-wide multi-stakeholder convergence that implements community-based projects and infrastructures in conflict-affected villages in Lanao areas, and jointly acts as Lead Convener of Bantay Kalilintad (Peace Watch), a civil society oversight body on the implementation of the Internal Peace and Security Plan of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
Regional Coordinator for URI-Southeast Asia and the Pacific - West Zone
Sothearat is a Cambodian with more than ten years of experience in the social development sector in Cambodia. He is a Clinical Psychologist and an EMDR (Eyes Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) practitioner, trained internationally in "Psycho- traumatology and EMDR." He is an independent facilitator, in the area of organization development. Sothearat has facilitated a great many other seminars and retreats focusing on relationship building and communication skills for various organizations. He was well recognized for using a ‘Whole Person Learning and Creative Process’ methodology, which is the foundation for behaviour change interventions. Sothearat has an extended experience in design leadership development programs for women, youth, and senior NGOs managers. His background and experience in psychotherapy and supervision/coaching for senior NGO managers give him an extra "edge", and an ability to quickly assess the strengths of an individual or organization, as well as an ability to recognize and heal the negative leadership habits and systemic dynamics that can hold an organization hostage. Additionally, Sothearat provides counseling for people with mental distress, and training in psychological health-related topics to organizations working with children and women, orphanages and shelters. Sothearat is a founder and managing director of Centre for Leadership Enrichment (CLE): www.cle-org.com. Additionally, Sothearat support three non-governmental organizations by volunteering to be a board member (BoD- board of director) for those organizations.
Other Job Titles: URI Representative at the UN (Africa office) and the African Union, Former Ambassador
Ambassador Mussie Hailu is a peacebuilder who is working at national, regional, and international levels for peace, reconciliation, interfaith harmony, disarmament, the Golden Rule, world citizenship, right human relationships, and international cooperation for the preservation of the environment. He considers himself a Citizen of the World, believing strongly in the inter-dependence of human beings. He celebrates cultural diversity, seeing the differences in race, ethnicities, religions, politics, and nationalities as important elements of the one and indivisible humanity. He has served many national and international organizations, including the United Nations. Mussie also served as Diplomat in the rank of Ambassador and Special Envoy of the President of Burundi. Currently, he serves as URI Director of Global Partnerships, URI Representative at the United Nations and the African Union, and URI-Africa Regional Director. He is a founding member of URI.
