To join us this June in celebration of our esteemed honorees, please click here.
Venerable Bhikkhu Paññakara, 2026 JPM Award Honoree
Venerable Bhikkhu Paññakara, Vietnamese-American Buddhist monk and Vice President of the Huong Dao Vipassana Bhavana Center in Fort Worth, Texas, led the 2025-2026 Walk for Peace, a 109-day, 2,300-mile journey by Buddhist monks from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C. to raise awareness of peace, loving-kindness and mindfulness across America and the world.
Commissioner Stanley Richards, 2026 JPM Award Honoree
Stanley Richards was appointed Commissioner of the New York City Department of Correction in February 2026.
Commissioner Richards is a formerly incarcerated man with decades of experience in the criminal justice field. He previously served as president and CEO of The Fortune Society, where he helped individuals successfully return to the community after incarceration and advanced alternatives to incarceration.
Commissioner Richards first joined The Fortune Society in 1991 as a reentry counselor and rose through the nonprofit’s ranks over the course of his career. In recognition of his commitment to supporting individuals impacted by the justice system, Commissioner Richards was named a Champion of Change by the Obama administration.
Prior to his appointment, Commissioner Richards served as First Deputy Commissioner of the New York City Department of Correction, becoming the first formerly incarcerated individual to hold a senior leadership role within the agency. He was also the first formerly incarcerated person appointed to the New York City Board of Correction.
Commissioner Richards earned his A.A. from Medaille College and pursued his B.A./M.P.H. from Hunter College. He was selected as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation fellow in the Developing Leadership Program to Reduce Substance Abuse and completed Columbia University’s Institute for Nonprofit Management Executive Program.
Tickets and Tables Available Here
The James Parks Morton Interfaith Award is named in tribute of The Interfaith Center of New York’s founder the Very Rev. James Parks Morton and recognizes individuals or organizations that exemplify an outstanding commitment to promoting human development and peace — values shared by the world’s great religious traditions.
Past Award Recipients
2025
The Honorable Jonathan Lippman, Former Chief Judge of New York and Chief Just of the New York Court of Appeals
Bryan Stevenson, Founder and Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative
Faith Justice Hero Award:
Dr. Debbie Almontaser
Naji Almontaser
2024
His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros (Lambriniadis) of America, Archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
Judy Collins, Singer, Songwriter, Social Activist
Faith Justice Hero Award:
Gambian Youth Organization
Synagogue Coalition on the Refugee and Immigration Crisis
2023
Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum, Senior Rabbi of Congregation Beit Simchat Torah
Dr. Uma Mysorekar, F.A.C.O.G., President of the Hindu Temple Society of North America
Director Joshua Seftel and the creative team behind the Academy award nominee documentary short Stranger at the Gate
Faith Justice Hero Award:
Imam Omar Niass
Adama Bah
2022
Ruby Bridges, civil rights activist who established the Ruby Bridges Foundation, and recipient of the NAACP Martin Luther King Award (among others)
Amed Khan, human rights advocate, political activist, and philanthropist, founder of Elpida Home and president of Zaka Khan Foundation.
Faith Justice Hero Award:
Dr. Sarah Sayeed
2021
Dr. Diana Eck, Professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Studies at Harvard University and Founder of The Pluralism Project
Congresswoman Grace Meng, U.S. House of Representatives, 6th District of New York, and Sponsor of the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act
Faith Justice Hero Award:
Vijah Ramjattan
Pandit Vyaas Sukul
2020
Anna Deavere Smith, Actress, Playwright, Teacher, and Author.
Marian Wright Edelman, Founder and President Emerita of the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF)
Faith Justice Hero Award:
The Venerable Ming Yu
2019
Dr. Ruth Westheimer, Sex Therapist, Media Personality, and Author
The Most Rev. Michael B. Curry, Presiding Bishop and Primate of The Episcopal Church
Faith Justice Hero Award:
Chaplain Imam Dr. Ahmed Atlig, Imam and Secretary-General of Journalists and Writers Foundation (JWF)
2018
Mary Jane Brock, ICNY’s first board chair in 2002 and vice-chair of the Big Apple Circus 1990-2015
Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations
Ryan Deitsch and Chris Grady, Parkland, Florida student activists
2017
Preet Bharara, former US attorney of the Southern District of New York
Ann Rockefeller Roberts, founder, and president of the Fund of the Four Directions, philanthropist, humanitarian, and best-selling author.
The Community of Sant’Egidio, a Roman Catholic movement of 60,000 lay people based on prayer, solidarity, ecumenicism, and dialogue
2015
Bob Abernethy, Executive Editor, and Host of PBS/Thirteen’s Religion & Ethics Newsweekly
Promise for the Future Award:
James Venturi, Urban Strategist
2014
The Honorable Al Gore, 45th Vice President of the United States, 2007 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
Peter L. Zimroth, Senior Counsel, Arnold & Porter LLP; Director, Center on Civil Justice, NYU Law School
Mrs. Gaetana Enders, Humanitarian
His Holiness Sri Swami Satchidananda (posthumous), Interfaith Visionary; Founder, Integral Yoga International
2013
Rev. Dr. C. T. Vivian, Veteran Civil Rights Activist & Colleague of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Bill Moyers, Host, PBS Bill Moyers Journal
Judith Moyers, CEO, Public Affairs Television
Russell Simmons, Chairman, Foundation for Ethnic Understanding
Sister Pat Farrell, OSF, Vice President, Sisters of St. Francis of Dubuque & Past President, Leadership Conference of Women Religious
2012
Leymah Gbowee, 2011 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
Abigail Disney, Philanthropist and Filmmaker
2011
Wynton Marsalis, Composer and Musician
2010
Philip Glass, Composer and Musician
2009
Thomas Cahill, Author
The Hon. Judith S. Kaye, Chief Judge of the State of New York
2008
Dr. Vartan Gregorian, President of the Carnegie Foundation
Rabbi Awraham Soetendorp, Rabbi of Jewish Community in the Hague and Dutch Interfaith Leader
His Holiness the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje, Spiritual Leader of the Kagyu School of Tibetan Buddhism
2007
Rev. Dr. Joan Brown Campbell, Environmental Human Rights Interfaith Leader
Rev. Kyotaro Deguchi, Japanese and Global Shinto Interfaith Leader
Nicholas D. Kristof, Pulitzer-Prize winning Op-Ed columnist and Global Human Rights Advocate
Steven Rockefeller, Educator and Global Environmentalist; creator of The Earth Charter
Carl Sagan, Posthumous award for pioneering work in astronomy, the environment, and interfaith activities
Paul Winter, Environmental Musician
2006
The Hon. Stephen Breyer, U.S. Supreme Court Justice
Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, Director General of the IAEA AND 2005 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
Richard Gere, Human Rights Activist
Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, and his wife, Daisy Khan, Founders American Society for Muslim Advancement
Her Holiness Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi (Amma), Spiritual Leader and Humanitarian from southern India
2005
No award, instead there was a celebration of The Very Rev. James Parks Morton’s 75th birthday
2004
Santiago and Robertina Calatrava, Spanish Architect and his wife/administrator/lawyer
Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, Actors and Civil Rights Activists
Judge Shirin Ebadi, 2003 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Muslim Judge, Human Rights Activist
Philippe Petit and his partner Kathy O’ Donnell, World Trade Center High Wire Walker
2003
Daniel and Nina Libeskind, Architects and Winners of the Master Plan Design for Ground Zero
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, 1984 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, former Archbishop of Southern Africa
2002
Bill Clinton, 42nd President of the United States of America
Alan Slifka, Interfaith Philanthropist
James Carroll, Author
1997
H. H. the Dalai Lama, 1989 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
Mary Robinson, Former President of Ireland and U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights
Ravi Shankar, Musician and Peace Activist
