Dr. L. Arik Greenberg
President, Board of Directors, Founder
Dr. Arik Greenberg (PhD, President) is the founder of the Institute for Religious Tolerance, Peace and Justice, and is an ardent advocate for interfaith dialogue and collaboration as pathways to world peace. Having studied numerous world religions, he received his Ph.D. in Religious Studies from Claremont Graduate University, specializing in New Testament and Christian Origins, with emphasis on the diversity of belief within early Christianity. He currently serves on the Theology faculty of Loyola Marymount University as Clinical Assistant Professor of Interreligious Dialogue. The founding of the Institute is the culmination of his vision, the realization of his dreams and his life’s work in the years to come.
Contact: arik@instituteforreligioustolerance.org
David M. Bossman, Ph.D.
Board of Directors
David M. Bossman, Ph.D. is former University Provost and Emeritus Professor in Jewish-Christian Studies at Seton Hall University (NJ). Prior to coming to Seton Hall, he served as Professor and Dean of Graduate and Continuing Education at St. Bonaventure University (NY). In 1993 he co-founded The Sister Rose Thering Fund for Education in Jewish-Christian Studies to subsidize educators taking graduate courses in Jewish-Christian Studies at Seton Hall University. Since retirement in 2019 he serves on the Advisory Board of the Charleston SC Interreligious Council and continues as Editor-in-Chief of Biblical Theology Bulletin: A Quarterly Journal of Bible and Culture. He is also a mentor in the Teacher Leadership Program at the College of Charleston. His interest in interreligious studies dates to his graduate studies at St. Louis University where he wrote his doctoral dissertation on Jewish midrash as a means for understanding the writings of St. Paul. He also studied under James A. Sanders at Union Theological Studies in New York, Morton Smith at Columbia University and at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and was a post-graduate fellow at The Ecumenical Institute for Advanced Theological Research in Jerusalem. He is an ordained member of the Franciscan community of Friars Minor.
Mohammed Khan
Board of Directors
Mr. Khan is the founder of Society to Offer Prosperity & Peace (S.T.O.P.P), board member of South Coast Interfaith Council, co-chair of LAPD Muslim Forum, and President of a Consulting Company that focuses on business development strategies. Born in South Africa during the apartheid era, he is involved in economics reform, peace building, and poverty alleviation in Africa, and has 30 years of experience working in youth development, interfaith dialogue and conflict resolution in the US and beyond.
Robin Sanders
Board of Directors
Robin Sanders is an Associate Producer, cameraman and editor for Spectrum/NY1 News. He has produced entertainment and living content as well as hard news and politics for NY1. He has been on assignment all over the world, including Germany, Switzerland, China, Indonesia, Dominican Republic, Haiti, the U.K. and Canada. He has also served as a Co-Producer for PBS's "Out Of Ireland", shooting for many years in Ireland and the Caribbean. Prior to NY1 Robin worked for Audio+Video International and CBS Operations and Engineering. Robin graduated with honors from Ithaca College with a B.S. in TV-R Communications. Mr. Sanders is the son of our Founding Member, Dr. James A. Sanders.
R.I.P. Dr. James A. Sanders
Founding Board Member
We are sad to report the passing of our founding member, Jim Sanders (1927-2020). Dr. James A Sanders (PhD) was an internationally recognized don of the Hebrew Bible and of the Dead Sea Scrolls. He lectured, taught, and preached at colleges, seminaries, churches, and pastors’ schools (Protestant, Catholic and Jewish) around the country. Even after retirement from his illustrious career he continued to teach by invitation at Union Theological Seminary, Yale University Divinity School and the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York.
Dr. Arinder Chadha
Emeritus Board Member, Founding Member
Dr. Arinder Chadha (MD) is a noted activist in interfaith dialogue and Sikh cultural issues. He this is reflected in his active engagement with organisations as diverse as the Fullerton Interfaith Ministerial Association and the Guru Nanak Sikh Temples of the USA, while the mentoring of children enjoys his special attention. This is despite his vocational commitments as a physician and specialist in internal medicine.
Greg Davis
Emeritus Board Member
Greg Davis was awakened as an activist by an event in Columbus, OH called "Meet Your Muslim Neighbor" on Dec. 3, 2016. At this event a speaker described an act of intimidation against his aunt and cousin who were told to "go back to their country" because they were in hijab. This act of intimidation struck Davis as cowardly and unacceptable and so he began searching for ways to publicly counter the forces of hate and intolerance.
Since that time Davis has worked with the Safe Alliance of Interfaith Leaders and the Interfaith Association of Cetnral Ohio to develop an event called the Interfaith March for Peace & Justice. He was honored and delighted to be invited to join the Board of Directors of the Institute for Religious Tolerance, Peace, and Justice and looks forward to partnering with its active members to restore the basic principles of religious liberty and equal justice for all.
Susan Feinstein
Emeritus Board Member
Ms. Feinstein is originally from Long Island, New York, and has resided in New Jersey with her family for many years. She is a board member of the Brooklyn Jewish Children’s Museum, the Block Institute in Brooklyn, and has been on the board of the Sister Rose Thering Fund for Education in Jewish Christian Studies at Seton Hall University for 30 years. She is also a Lifetime member of Hadassah and a member of Congregation Sons of Israel in Manalapan. Ms. Feinstein taught second grade in Hempstead, NY, worked in the Howell, NJ and Monroe Township, NJ education systems, and was President and owner, with her husband Howard, of Cables and Chips, Inc., a computer business based in New York City.
Hon. Harvey Schneider
Emeritus Board Member
The Hon. Harvey Schneider, ret., is a former Los Angeles Superior Court Judge and now does private judging at Alternative Resolution Centers.
R.I.P. Rahuldeep Singh Gill, PhD
Emeritus Board Member
Rahuldeep Singh Gill PhD guides leaders in business and higher education to more inclusive environments for work, collaboration and cross-cultural understanding. A native of the Boston area, he earned his bachelors, with Honors, from the University of Rochester in New York and doctorate from the University of California in Santa Barbara. His expertise is in contemporary global religions; in particular, his academic work explores the interactions between Sikhs, Hindus, and Muslims in modern South Asia. Dr. Gill directs the Center for Equality and Justice at California Lutheran University, where he is also an Assistant Professor of Religion. He has twice been voted the University’s Diversity Professor of the Year and lives in Los Angeles with his family.
Dr. Daniel Smith-Christopher
Emeritus Board Member, Founding Member
Dr. Daniel Smith-Christopher (PhD) is a scholar of Hebrew Bible and a leader in the field of Peace Studies. He is is Professor of Theological Studies and Director of Peace Studies at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. Though a Protestant, he is a Permanent Consultant to the Theological Commission of the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles. In 2003 he addressed a World Council of Churches consultation and the Parliament of World Religions in 2004.
Advisory Board
Dr. SimonMary Aihiokhai
Greg Davis
Betsy Gabriel
Fr. Gianluigi Gugliermetto
China Isler
Melissa Crandall
Director of Operations, Treasurer, Webmaster
Melissa Crandall (MA, CNP), serves as the Institute’s Director of Operations (formerly Director of Communications and Development), its Treasurer, and its Webmaster. She earned her Master of Arts degree in Nonprofit Management from Antioch University Los Angeles, and is a Certified Nonprofit Professional through the Nonprofit Leadership Alliance. Her BA degree is from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Melissa works as the Director of Operations for the Cancer Care Network Foundation in Los Angeles. She has an extensive history of management in consumer products (entertainment and beauty/personal care) and in the nonprofit arts, justice, and health fields.
Contact: melissa@instituteforreligioustolerance.org
Dolly Bush
Secretary
Dolly Bush (MA) is the Institute’s Secretary. She has completed an MAR with an emphasis in New Testament at Claremont Graduate University. She has worked in the non-profit sector in an administrative capacity for time to time since 1998.
Dolly is currently a Document Specialist for Stratum Consulting Partners out of the town of Superior in Colorado.
Contact: secretary@instituteforreligioustolerance.org
Erica Halsey - ReligionMatters Show Video Producer
Vishal Solanki - Videographer and Zoom Tech
