Interfaith Civic Leadership Academy
2023 – 2024 Fellows
Click here to learn about our senior fellows, from previous ICLA cohorts.
Adama Bah is an immigrant rights advocate, and the founder of the Afrikana community center in Harlem, which helps connect asylum seekers with vital services. She has been at the forefront of NYC’s current migrant crisis, welcoming and supporting the newest New Yorkers at Port Authority. Adama came to the United States in 1990, at the age of two. She grew up in the States and attended public schools. Then, at the age of sixteen, her whole world changed. Law enforcement raided her apartment and handcuffed her, along with her father. She was detained and told she was “illegal.” Her father was deported. Adama was allowed to stay in the United States, but she was forced to drop out of school and support her family. Now Adama tells her own story in order to call attention to the plight of others like her.
Alveena Bakhshi is an American Sikh and a descendant of Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh faith. She is also a Buddhist practitioner and an active member of Buddhist Global Relief. Since an early age, Alveena has advocated for underprivileged and at-risk youth, working with the Navjivni School of Special Education, Youth About Business, Greater Life Newark, and Dream for Kids DC, to name a few. Child Soldiers International published her poetical homage “Shot to Make Look Good,” in advocacy. With a Master of Public Administration from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), Alveena has a career in financial services and has mentored start-ups for the SIPA Dean’s Public Policy Challenge Grant. Throughout her life, Alveena has drawn inspiration from her family, which regardless of their circumstances has sought to serve others. She assisted Thapar University to form their first endowment to pay for STEM education, in honor of their founder and her grandfather. She is a proud mom to Ish-Gruheet, who also lives and works in New York City.
Reverend Dr. Charles Butler serves as Pastor of Mt. Calvary Baptist Church in Harlem, where he provides spiritual guidance, physical and emotional wellness workshops, and other programs for the community. He has also served as Vice President of Harlem Congregations for Community Improvement, Inc. (HCCI) for over 20 years. At HCCI, he works for housing and economic justice by developing and facilitating workshops in homebuyer education, financial literacy, small business development, and other areas. Rev. Butler is also actively involved in community engagement and empowerment, for example by organizing and facilitating the annual “Community Day of Unity: Harlem Revive” – a social, emotional, physical, financial, and spiritual health revival. He hosts a local cable television program called “Illumination,” and has produced a short film entitled “Beneath the Radar,” exploring the high maternal morbidity rate among African American women in NYC. Rev. Butler is married to Carol Butler, and they have two sons Charles R. and Clement J. Butler.
John Choe is a founding member of the People of Color Worship and Reflection Group, and serves as Trustee of the New York Yearly Meeting in the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). John helped establish the Flushing Interfaith Council, where he is currently Board President, to bring together the most religiously diverse community in the United States in mutual support and solidarity. As Executive Director of the Greater Flushing Chamber of Commerce, John works to expand opportunities for immigrant entrepreneurs and advocates on behalf of our community. John previously served in the Office of the New York City Comptroller, the City Council, the Department of Finance, the Rent Guidelines Board, and the Corporation for Supportive Housing. John graduated with a Masters in Public Policy from the University of Chicago and a Bachelors in History from the State University of New York at Binghamton.
Pandita Pratima Kushmani S. Doobay is an Indo-Guyanese musician and a human rights and social justice advocate, who was born and raised in Brooklyn. She was the resident Priestess and Community Liaison for Sadhana: Coalition of Progressive Hindus, and is the founder of Shridevi Arts, a community organizing platform and caravan temple. In 2018 she organized MataJi Chowki, a semi-annual forum of veneration dedicated to the nine forms of the Goddess through singing of bhajans (religious high-powered songs), messages of inclusion, empowerment, and community togetherness. The inaugural edition of MataJi Chowki was a historic convening in an Indo-Caribbean Hindu temple to focus on social justice issues, which included addressing gender-based violence and uplifting LGBTQ+ issues in the Caribbean diaspora. Pratima’s vision is to create spaces within our local communities for self-care, empowerment, community bonding, creative expression, and standing firmly in our power.
Minister Arelis M. Figueroa is a pastor, educator, substance abuse counselor, activist, and community organizer. Originally from the Dominican Republic, she has worked with marginalized communities in New York City for more than thirty years. She is the lead Pastor and Co-Founder of La Iglesia del Pueblo, a community founded in the tradition of Freedom Church of the Poor, with the support of the Kairos Center for Religions, Rights and Social Justice. La Iglesia del Pueblo began meeting in 2020, and in 2022 entered into a partnership with the Presbyterian Church USA. Currently, La Iglesia is welcoming and ministering to new immigrants, supporting them in their daily struggle to build a better future for themselves and their families. Arelis is also a member and former Tri-Chair of the NY Coordinating Committee of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for A Moral Revival, a member of the Kairos Center Preachers and Teachers Bureau, a long-time member of Riverside Church, and member in discernment with the Metropolitan Association of The United Church of Christ. She holds an M.Div from Union Theological Seminary.
Minister Jon Giacobbe serves as a Clergy Liaison in his Roman Catholic parish in Lower Manhattan, which includes Old St. Patrick’s Basilica and Shrine Church of the Most Precious Blood. Deeply engaged in his community, Jon is a dedicated former member of his Community Board, and shows his commitment to public service by serving as an NYPD Community Partner appointed by the Chief of Police. He was recently honored with the title of Honorary Battalion Chief by the FDNY commissioner in recognition of his contributions. Additionally, Jon is the President of the Mulberry Street Block Association. Jon’s involvement also extends to the nonprofit sector, as he holds board positions at Fencing in the Schools and Grit and Grind. In his professional life, Jon serves as an Administrative Staff Analyst / Project Manager in the Office of the Chief Operating Officer at the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). He is also a driven entrepreneur, and a finance professional with a six-year tenure at both Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan.
Adam Graubart is a fourth-year rabbinical student at Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion. He also serves as the Cooperberg-Rittmaster Rabbinical Intern at Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, the world’s largest LGBTQ synagogue in Manhattan. In his current role, Adam serves congregants of diverse identities through pastoral counseling, conversion mentorship, service leadership, young professional engagement, and education about Jewish texts and contemporary topics. He believes that all people deserve to exist in dignity and peace as they uncover what it means to lead a fulfilling, contributive life and connect with others on parallel journeys. In particular, Adam is passionate about tenant rights and housing justice. He organizes with Crown Heights Tenant Union and Tirdof’s Bayit Campaign, standing in solidarity with fellow New Yorkers and advocating for city and state policy agendas amidst the affordable housing and homelessness crisis. Upon ordination as a Reform rabbi, he aims to bolster a congregation as a place of insight, a rejuvenating sanctuary, and an incubator for transformational change.
Gregori Lindsey is an avid believer in the ministry of empowerment. At the core of his belief lies an unyielding faith in G-D. Over the span of more than 40 years he has served in most church capacities, but his ultimate desire has grown beyond the four walls, towards advocating and demanding justice where there is injustice and offering support to the disenfranchised. For example, in August 2023 he took four Senegalese migrants who were sleeping on the ground at the Roosevelt Hotel into his small studio apartment, and created a “bible” of sorts with references and resources to link them to municipal benefits and local African communities. It was a true leap of faith – without a plan – but such community service empowers the recipients to build, rebuild, and in some cases rebuild again. In his professional life, Gregory is a travel advisor in the corporate and entertainment sectors, working with HBO, Red Bull, BET, and others. In the ICLA, he hopes to marry the knowledge of policy procedure and application with “boots on the ground” advocacy towards the goal of changing lives and communities.
Reverend James Lynch is the former President and current Vice President of the Buddhist Council of New York, an umbrella organization representing the diverse Buddhist communities of the New York Tri-State area. He is a Dharma Teacher authorized by the lay Buddhist organization Rissho Kosei Kai, serving as an official representative for their outside affairs in the New York area, as well as an official Rissho Kosei Kai representative to the United Nations. In addition, he has helped organize the Heiwa Peace Foundation, a think tank for peace whose primary work is done in the United States and Asia on behalf of its founder, the Venerable Dr. T.K. Nakagaki. He also sits on the board of Religions for Peace USA, which is the largest interfaith peace organization in America, and was recently appointed as a Trustee to the prestigious international Parliament of World Religions. In his professional life, he is a tenured professor and chairman of the Business Management Department in the Koppelman School of Business located at Brooklyn College, where he teaches Workplace Happiness and Spirituality.
Imam Adnan Rokadia is the Founder and Executive Director of Nafahat, a nonprofit organization dedicated to building community centered around spiritual practice. He also serves as the imam of Moslem Mosque Inc., the oldest continually operating mosque in New York, where he leads congregants in prayer and supports them in life-cycle rituals. Adnan has previously served as a Muslim chaplain at Stony Brook University, where he helped students navigate their faith on campus through education and spiritual counseling. He now continues his college chaplaincy work at Pratt Institute, where he serves their growing Muslim student community. In his professional life, Adnan has also worked within local state government, Muslim nonprofit organizations, and the nonprofit tech industry.
Adam Rosenberg is a co-founder and trustee of Kehillat Harlem, the first new Harlem synagogue in a century. Aspiring to enlightenment and a better path, wandering, wondering, hoping, and helping to sing a new song have always been Adam’s ways. Grandchild of survivors of pogroms and war, his history includes refugee to a land of opportunity, inspired by ideals, the highest and lowest, with streets paved with gold, too often ill-gotten. As a Columbia University undergraduate, what seemed like common sense, honesty, decency, charity, and justice is now commemorated by the National Register of Historic Places, and in an LGBTQ+ civil rights manuscripts collection. Embodying multiple identities is a spirit in which Adam finds breath, walking with and between a variety of communities: the heart of darkest Wall Street, film and tv, tech, and music, in Jerusalem and New York. This time and place now aches more openly than ever for the values which inspire him and lead him to ICLA inherited from his other namesakes: Abraham and Moses.
Reverend Mira Sawlani-Joyner is a daughter of immigrants, a pastor, a preacher, an educator, and a public theologian. She currently serves as Minister of Justice, Advocacy, and Change at the Riverside Church. Mira received her M.Div degree from Wesley Theological Seminary. During her time in seminary, Mira served as the Associate Pastor of Spiritual Formation at Peace Fellowship Church where she worked in partnership with congregants, community organizers, and activists to end gun violence in Washington, DC. Mira has also served on the launch team of Resurrection City, a Queer and Black-led church plant, as the former Community Pastor at Forefront Church NYC, and most recently as the Minister for Spiritual Development and Care at Middle Collegiate Church. Mira finds strength in her sense of community, leading a learning cohort with the Faith and Justice Network and engaging with fellow members of the Progressive Asian American Christians network. Mira’s unique background as a “third culture kid” of Philippine and Indian heritage in Hong Kong informs her decolonized approach to justice and advocacy.
Harpreet Singh Wahan is the Founding President and Director of the Flushing Interfaith Council, an initiative of concerned interfaith leaders to build bonds amongst different faiths and communities in Queens. A Sikh by faith, Harpreet is a member of the Sikh Center of NY in Flushing and Sikh Cultural Society of NY in Richmond Hills, and voluntarily acts as coordinator of all the Gurudwara managements in the East Coast. He was nominated by Mayor Adams as a member of the Asian Affairs Council, and was a Unity Grant recipient from previous Mayor Bloomberg. Harpreet is also an active member of Community Board 7, a former member of the Community Education Council of District 25Q, and an elected member of the Democratic Party County Committee of NY. By profession, he is an Assistant Manager in the IT department of Columbia University. He holds dual Masters from Columbia University, a Masters in Public Administration and an MS in Applied Data Analytics. He lives with his wife and two beautiful daughters in Queens, where he has lived for the last 31+ years.
Dr. Yousra Yusuf is a public health researcher whose work is grounded in the structural and social determinants of health, focusing on immigrant health, mental health, and reproductive health. She also serves in various capacities at nonprofit organizations working with Asian and South Asian communities in New York and internationally. Dr. Yusuf’s work is motivated by a commitment to advance health and gender equity in racial and religious minoritized groups in the U.S. through deep, meaningful collaborations. She is an interdisciplinary scholar with expertise in community-engaged research and mixed methods research using a life course perspective addressing health priorities in historically marginalized communities. She completed her MPH at the SUNY Downstate School of Public Health with a specialization in Epidemiology and a research focus in maternal health, and her PhD in reproductive and maternal health with a certificate in health communications at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.