NJ Institute for Emerging Leaders

The 2023 edition of NJIEL was privileged to feature as faculty such renowned academics, thought leaders, and practitioners as the following:

Plenary Faculty 

M. Ali Chaudry, PhD

Dr. M. Ali Chaudry is an Adjunct Professor of Economics at the Raritan Valley Community College, having also taught at both Seton Hall and Rutgers Universities.  For over 16 years, Dr Chaudry has taught a course on Islam and Muslims at Rutgers University, and is co-author of Islam & Muslims with Dr. Robert D. Crane.  Dr. Chaudry, who is co-founder of the NJ Interfaith Coalition, co-founder of the Islamic Societies of Central Jersey, Jam e-Masjid Islamic Center Boonton and Basking Ridge, member of the NJ OHSP Interfaith Advisory Council, is one of the most visible interfaith leaders in the State of New Jersey. 

 

Dr. Chaudry, who grew up in Pakistan, has served as Mayor and Town Council Member for Bernards Township, NJ and is the President of the Branchburg Rotary Foundation.  Dr. Chaudry holds a Ph.D in Economics from Tufts University and a Master’s in the same discipline from the London School of Economics. Dr. Chaudry previously worked in corporate America (with AT&T) for three decades in various capacities including as Chief Economist, Strategic Planning and Finance 

Image courtesy: The Berket Fund

Pardeep Singh Kaleka

Pardeep Singh Kaleka is an Adjunct Professor of Peace Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and co-Director of Not in Our Town, an anti-hate project of The Working Group, an Oakland-based non-profit organization. 

 

A former officer of the Milwaukee Police Department, Pardeep has practiced as a counselor, psychotherapist, and de-radicalization specialist. He is co-founder of Serve2Unite, an organization that works with children, families, and communities in peacemaking. Between 2019 and late 2022, he was the Executive Director of the Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee.     

 

Pardeep is also the co-author of The Gifts of Our Wounds and an award-winning columnist with the Milwaukee Independent.

Image courtesy: The Milwaukee Independent

Arno Michaelis

Arno Michaelis is a filmmaker with over 12 years worth of experience, a writer (author of My Life after Hate and co-author of The Gift of Our Wounds), and a public speaker. A former white supremacist, his keynotes and workshops seek to leverage the noble qualities of compassion, curiosity, and kindness in engaging all humans and build foundations for diversity appreciation and cultural agility.   

Arno is the co-founder of Serve2Unite, an organization that works with children, families, and communities in peacemaking. Through this organization, he has developed and run student education and outreach programs for over 50 public and private schools since 2012. 

 

Arno is an information technology consultant/professional trained by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC).  

Image courtesy: PennState Independent

Aminta Kilawan-Narine, Esq.

Aminta Kilawan-Narine is a Senior Legislative Counsel for the New York City legislature where she has drafted and negotiated legislation on areas including women’s rights, poverty, housing, homelessness, and child welfare since 2014.   

 

Aminta holds a Juris Doctor from the Fordham Law School and a Bachelor’s in Political Science from Fordham College. She is co-founder of Sadhana: Coalition of Progressive Hindus, a non-profit committed to promoting social justice through the central values of the Hindu faith. A prominent voice in New York interfaith activism, Aminta has both led workshops on feminism and faith and organized rights fora for immigrants.  

 

She is passionate about civic engagement and political awareness and has written about these topics in the West Indian, a local newspaper, in the past. A contributor to the Brown Girl Magazine, she and her work have also featured in many media outlets including the New York Times, the Huffington Post, the New York Law Journal and CBS. 

Rev. Dr. Tanya Linn Bennett

Rev. Dr. Tanya Linn Bennett is an Associate Professor in the Practice of Public Theology and Vocation and the Associate Dean for Vocation and Formation at Drew Theological School. Rev. Bennett has served as University Chaplain at Drew for more than a decade.

An ordained elder in the United Methodist Church (UMC), Rev. Bennett is active in worship design and leadership nationally. Rev. Bennett’s research interests include emerging adults and religion, urban community organizing and advocacy, liturgy for non-traditional worshipping communities and feminist approaches to public theology.

Rev. Bennett is an alumna of Drew Theological School and Allegheny College.

Monica Madera

Monica Madera is the Coordinator of Diversity Programming at Drew’s Student Engagement Office. Passionate about diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), higher education administration, and equitable education for students from all backgrounds, Monica has worked for nearly two years at Drew. Prior to Drew, she was in service delivery, mainly in the food and beverage industry. 

 

Monica’s undergraduate and graduate degrees come from Rutgers University and William Paterson University of New Jersey respectively. At Rutgers, she was an Americorps Member and played various roles including teaching assistant, student recruiter, and youth mentor.  

Donald Proby

Donald Proby is a leadership consultant of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEI&B) at Proby & Partners LLC, a firm specialized in peace-building and consolidation in homes, businesses, and communities using DEI&B approaches. He was a mediation lead trainer and an executive consultant with Community Boards, San Francisco and with Courageous Leadership LLC respectively for many years. 

 

Donald is a doctoral scholar in educational leadership with a focus on cross cultural conflict transformation. He was a Russell Berrie Visiting Professor at Drew between 2021 and 2022 and served as faculty of DEI&B at the Coro Northern California in the past.    

 

Donald has been a mediator, educator, and restorative justice practitioner since 1980 and contributed to arenas including government, social services, non-profit leadership, and health.  

David Thaler

David Thaler is the Chief International Affairs Officer at Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) where he has mediated disputes in the areas of collective bargaining, grievances based on violations of collective bargaining agreements, and equal employment opportunity from 2005 through 2018. His roles have also included training labor management partners in mediation and conflict management and designing, administering, and delivering US technical assistance programs for developing countries. He was the recipient of the FMCS Director’s Award in 2021.

 

David is also an Adjunct Professor of Mediation and Conflict Management at Drew’s Caspersen School of Graduate Studies. He was awarded the 2018 Thomas H. Kean Graduate Teaching/Mentoring Award at the Drew. 

Tamara Meyer, NMT

Tamara Meyer, Author, Therapist, Lecturer, and Media Consultant, is a child of German Jewish Holocaust survivors. For the past two decades she has been exploring her family legacy. She showcases the stories of survivors, organizing conferences and monthly dinners for second generation survivors, and using that legacy as a vehicle for change. As a participant in dialogue groups in Berlin that include former Nazis, Holocaust survivors and their descendants, Tamara has experienced first-hand both the extraordinary challenge and reward of engaging with those who at another time would have been her most dangerous enemies.

Image courtesy: https://www.tamarameyer.com/

Avi Smolen

Avi Smolen is an experienced project manager at the intersection of human rights and philanthropy. Avi works at the Open Society Foundations as a Project Officer leading the implementation of a suite of workforce initiatives to improve the employee experience and better advance organizational goals. He previously supported the Foundation’s grantmaking initiatives expanding access to health interventions for marginalized groups. Earlier, he worked as Communications Manager for Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice, a domestic social justice organization.

Avi’s Jewish commitment to social justice and love of community inspires him in both his professional life and in his interfaith involvement. He is a longtime member of IA’s Emerging Leaders Speakers Bureau and has also served as lead facilitator of the New York Interfaith Public Health Roundtable.

Avi has an MPA in International Policy and Development from the NYU Wagner School and graduated summa cum laude from Rutgers University with a BA in Political Science.

He lives in Maplewood, NJ with his partner and their two young children.

Rev. Samuel Arroyo, PhD

Rev. Samuel Arroyo, PhD is an ordained elder of the United Methodist Church (UMC). Since the fall of 2022, he has worked as Director of Resourcing in Greater New Jersey (NJ) Conference of the UMC. He formerly served as Pastor at UMC Crosswicks and Ellisdale, NJ and as Public Education and Outreach Coordinator with the Salvation and Social Justice, NJ. Rev. Arroyo has taught as Adjunct Professor in several universities, including Drew.

Outside church, Rev. Arroyo spends time in activism and community engagement. He has actively advocated especially for racial justice in New Jersey communities and high schools in recent years.

Rev. Arroyo is a product of the Inter American University of Puerto Rico, Princeton Theological School, and the Universidad of Puerto Rico.

Jonathan Golden, PhD

Jonathan Golden is Director of the Center on Religion, Culture, and Conflict (CRCC) at Drew University. CRCC is an interdisciplinary center focused on global peacebuilding and interfaith leadership. 

Jonathan has been teaching at Drew since 2000.  Honored with the Thomas Kean Scholar/Mentor Award, Jonathan specializes in Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding, Comparative Religion, Anthropology, Middle East, and Forced Migration. Jonathan convenes Drew’s program in Conflict Resolution and Leadership and is a leader in Drew Action Scholars, an innovative program focused on immersive learning.  He also runs the Drew Institute on Religion and Conflict Transformation, which brings together young, emerging leaders of different faiths from around the world for seminars on leadership, peacebuilding, and conflict resolution.

Jonathan has a Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. from Brandeis University.  Jonathan is author of two books and numerous scholarly articles, and is co-author of the forthcoming Religion in the Classroom.  He is currently writing Turning Point, a book based on interviews with ex-combatants and victims of conflict that become peace activists. Among others, Jonathan serves on the board of the Peace Islands Institute and sits on the Interfaith Advisory Council for the NJ Dept of Homeland Security and Preparedness.