Who is Who in Interreligious Dialogue
The KAICIID Who is Who in Interreligious Dialogue is an online directory of individuals active and expert in the field of IRD including religious leaders, policymakers, heads of international organizations, teachers, trainers and activists. Search the directory to connect with experts and specialists from every region engaged in a wide variety of initiatives.
MSGR. Khaled Boutros Akasheh
Bureau Chief for Islam, Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue
Monsignor Akasheh was born in Karak, Jordan, on 15 December 1954. After study in the elementary school of the parish in his native city, he entered the Seminary of the Latin Patriarcate of Jerusalem at Beit Jala, Palestine, in 1966, where he completed his preparatory and secondary studies. He was or...
Dr. Vinya Ariyaratne
General Secretary, Lanka Jathika Sarvodaya Shramadana Sangamaya
Vinya Ariyaratne, M.D., is general secretary of the Sri Lankan Sarvodaya Shramadana Sangamaya, an NGO founded on the inspiration of the social teachings of the Buddha by his father in 1958. As lead facilitator for the One Text Initiative and member of the Council of the Arigatou Foundation’s Glob...
BISHOP DR. (PHD) CAMILLO ANGELO BALLIN
Roman Catholic Vicar Apostolic, Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia
Bishop Camillo Ballin is an Italian Roman Catholic bishop, writer, missionary, and educator who is the Roman Catholic Vicar Apostolic of the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia, providing spiritual assistance to the Catholics in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. He was ordained Priest of t...
THE VENERABLE DHARMA MASTER HSIN TAO
Founder, Museum of World Religions, Taipei, Taiwan
Founder, Ling Jiou Mountain Buddhist Foundation
Founder, Global Family for Love and Peace (GFLP)
Born in upper Burma in 1948 to ethnic Chinese parents, Master Hsin Tao was left orphaned and impoverished at an early age. Having been taken in by the remnants of ROC military units operating along the border of Yunnan, China, he was brought to Taiwan in 1961. At the age of 15, he was deeply moved b...
ATTORNEY-AT-LAW DISHANI JAYAWEERA
Co-Founder, Directress, Programme Designer and Strategist, Center for Peace Building and Reconciliation (CPBR)
Dishani Jayaweera is the directress, programme designer and strategist of the Centre for Peacebuilding and Reconciliation(CPBR). Recognizing her work in peace-building, she received the Peacemaker in Action award by Tanenbaum Network- USA in 2012, and became the 2nd runner-up of the Annual ‘Coexi...
SAMIR SOMAIYA
President, Somaiya Vidyavihar
Somaiya Vidyavihar was founded in 1959 with the conviction that modern education has to have its roots in strong values. It is among the largest private educational campus in Mumbai, and has 34 institutions with 39,000 students and 1,500 teaching staff. It provides value-based education alongside qu...
SADHVI BHAGAWATI SARASWATI
Secretary-General, Global Interfaith WASH Alliance
President, Divine Shakti Foundation
Director, World-Famous International Yoga Festival, Parmarth
Sadhviji was raised in an American family in Hollywood, California and graduated from Stanford University. She was completing her Ph.D. when she left America in 1996 to come and live permanently at Parmarth Niketan Ashram in Rishikesh, India. She has been living there for 22 years, engaged in spirit...
SWAMI CHIDANAND SARASWATI
Co-Founder, Global Interfaith WASH Alliance (GIWA)
Founder, Interfaith Humanitarian Network-Project Hope
President and Spiritual Head, Parmarth Niketan Ashram
Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji’s motto in life is, “In the Service of God and humanity.” He left his home for the Himalayan jungles and forests in early childhood, in order to live a life devoted to God and in the service of humanity. He spent his youth in silence, meditation, yoga and austerit...