The Rev. Dr. Chloe Breyer
Executive Director
212-870-3532
@cbreyer
Rev. Breyer has served as the Director of the Interfaith Center of New York (ICNY) since 2007. During the past decade and a half, ICNY has developed a pioneering curriculum in civics training for grassroots religious leaders, built multi-faith advocacy coalitions preventing bias crimes, and promoted criminal justice and immigration reform. In education, ICNY regularly leads religious diversity training modules for teachers, social workers, law students, and law enforcement officers. In the years following 9/11, ICNY advocated against unwarranted surveillance of mosques and for the restoration of guidelines that safeguard the civil rights and religious freedom of all New Yorkers. In 2015, Rev. Breyer served as a community adviser to the court-appointed facilitator tasked with finding a remedy for police profiling in the “stop and frisk” lawsuits against the NYPD. More recently, Rev. Breyer was one of the clergy advisors on the transition teams of both the incoming Mayor of New York City and the Manhattan District Attorney. She was included in the 12/05/22 Issue of City & State New York’s inaugural “Faith Power 100” list.
An Episcopal Priest in the Diocese of New York, Breyer has served at Harlem churches for more than two decades, including as Associate Priest at St. Philip’s Church since 2012. In addition to local religious peacemaking work, Rev. Breyer has also participated in interfaith dialogues and humanitarian aid initiatives in Afghanistan and Iran and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She is the author of The Close: A Young Woman’s First Year at Seminary (Basic Books 2000) and her op-eds have appeared in Slate, the NY Daily News, the International New York Times (Herald Tribune) and elsewhere. She received her Ph.D. in Christian Ethics from Union Theological Seminary in 2017 and her doctoral dissertation focused on interfaith activism, Christian peacemaking, and Islamophobia.
Jonill Mayer
Director of Development
212-870-3511
Dedicated to nonprofits fighting for social justice since 2010, Jonill Mayer brings a strong background in strategy and events to her role at the Interfaith Center of New York. A graduate of Cornell University with a master’s degree from Sotheby’s, Jonill’s former background in hospitality and the art world helped shape her work as a nonprofit consultant, during which time she managed, created, and reinvigorated fundraising events for clients like the Anti-Violence Project, OutRight Action International, and the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care. As the first Development Director for the Tyler Clementi Foundation, Jonill helped double the organization’s capacity while expanding their footprint and support nationwide. She is proud to help ICNY protect all New Yorkers from violence, prejudice, and misunderstanding, and looks forward to bringing this work to new audiences.
Hanadi Doleh
Director of Community Partnerships
212-870-3547
Hanadi Doleh has spent her adult life working in and for New York’s Muslim community. She earned a BA in Political Science and MA in International Relations from Brooklyn College, CUNY. Her academic work has informed her understanding of the issues that shape Muslim life in the US and abroad, as well as her social justice activism on behalf of Muslim Americans and other underrepresented communities. Following the completion of her MA, Hanadi worked for seven years at the Park51 Muslim community center in Lower Manhattan. She currently serves as Co-Chair of the NYC Faith Sector Community Preparedness Program with New York Disaster Interfaith Services and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. In 2019, Hanadi was a Community Advisory Board Member at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum for their Contemporary Muslim Fashions Exhibit, which was displayed from February 2020 to July 2021. In June of 2019, she received an honor from New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer for her contributions to the civic life of New York. Also, in December of 2019, Hanadi was honored and recognized by the Muslim Democratic Club of New York for her commitment to empowering Muslim communities and people of color through her organizing and civic engagement. In the summer of 2020, she was elected as Vice President of the Muslim Democratic Club of New York.
Dr. Henry Goldschmidt
Director of Programs
212-870-3514
Henry is a cultural anthropologist, community educator, interfaith organizer, and scholar of religion. In his work at ICNY he develops and facilitates education and social action programs for a range of audiences, including religious and civic leaders, K-12 teachers and students, social workers, attorneys, and the general public. Henry received his Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of California at Santa Cruz in 2000, and taught religious studies and cultural anthropology at Wesleyan University and elsewhere before joining the staff at ICNY in 2010. He is the author of Race and Religion among the Chosen Peoples of Crown Heights, an ethnography of Black-Jewish difference in a contested Brooklyn neighborhood, along with other publications on American religious diversity and religious studies pedagogy. He is a life-long, fanatic New Yorker, and lives in Brooklyn with his wife and children.
Ammar Abdul Rahman
Outreach Coordinator for Asylum Seeker Shelter Program
212-870-3510
Ammar Abdul Rahman is an educator and Imam. He earned his bachelor degree in Psychology and political science with a minor in human rights studies from CUNY Lehman College. He also earned an associate degree is Islamic studies from Ghana where he studies under several Islamic scholars. Ammar taught 3rd grade in public Charter schools in NYC for three years before joining the Interfaith Center of New York. He also teaches Islamic studies and Quran to young Muslims and encourage them to be critical thinkers and civically engaged. Ammar is currently a Deputy Imam at Masjid Al-Haram USA in the Bronx NY. On his free time, Ammar loves to volunteer for community services like feeding the homeless, youth empowerment programs etc. He has organized and led several workshops, lectures and wellness check with the aim of advocating for mental health care within this Muslim community.
Shanaz Deen
Racial Justice Advocacy Fellow
212-870-3512
Shanaz holds a BA from Princeton University and an MA from Union Theological Seminary in Islam and Interreligious Engagement. She has over five years of experience in humanitarian work, interfaith organizing, and migration policy, working for Princeton’s Religion and Forced Migration Initiative, the International Rescue Committee, and UN Women. As a freelance photographer, Shanaz documents social movem
ents, protests, and nuanced expressions of lived religion through documentary and portrait photography. She is eager to use her skills in research and visual storytelling to advocate for a more equitable and compassionate society.
Brennan Brink
Migrant Shelter and Asylee Consultant
605-484-0241
Brennan is a 3rd year M.Div. student at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. Upon matriculating with his M.Div., Brennan intends to continue his work in the non-profit sector to help organizations put community values into action. At ICNY, Brennan helps to strengthen and unify the work of Houses of Worship as they respond to the Asylum Seeker Crisis in New York City. Brennan’s passion for community activism grew in his home state of South Dakota, where he worked on local campaigns to support public education and served as an education intern for a state legislator from the Pine Ridge Reservation. Brennan received a degree in Religion with Distinction from St. Olaf College.
Sajeela Munir
Operations Manager
212-870-3510
Sajeela graduated with a BA in Political Science and Human Rights from Hunter College. She has accumulated 5+ years of experience in human rights, political science, international relations and foreign policy at places like the Sana’a Center for Strategic Studies and Amnesty International USA. Her zeal for service on issues of rights is inspired by her experiences seeking asylum in the United States, and she hopes to utilize these experiences with an aim at palliating thesis encounters and outcomes for communities and individuals in similar situations. She is dedicated to a mission of advancing social change that contributes to a more just, sustainable and peaceful world.
Consultants and Volunteers
Kevin Childress
Online Communications
Kevin Childress is the owner of SocialNet Works, LLC, and a social media coordinator for several faith- and interfaith-based nonprofits organizations. A 30-year resident of Manhattan, Kevin has worked to amplify the voices of religious and civic leaders in every borough of New York City working to address social justice issues such as racial profiling, immigration, and domestic violence. While his academic background is in Comparative Religion, his professional background is in Business, with more than a decade of experience in Information Technology, Public/Media & Donor Relations, Executive Management and Finance.
To contact staff please use the form in this link: https://interfaithcenter.org/contact/. You can also email info@interfaithcenter.org for general inquires.
