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.
Swami Varadananda
Board of Trustees, Parliament of the World’s Religions
Swami Varadananda is a Hindu monk of the Ramakrishna Order, which has its headquarters at Belur Math in India. Swami Varadananda joined the Vivekananda Vedanta Society of Chicago in 1973, was ordained in 1982, and is now the manager of the center. Of Catholic background, he discovered Vedanta and me...
Sohini Jana
Education USA Advisor, United States-India Educational Foundation (USIEF)
Associate, Institute for Faith-Based Diplomacy
Sohini Jana is the Director of Jammu and Kashmir Policy Institute, and acting Chapter President for the India chapter of the Euphrates Institute, a US-based non-profit organization. A post-graduate in English Literature, her interest in IRD stems from books, as she took to listening to the "othe...
DR. KEZEVINO ARAM
President, Shanti Ashram
Co-moderator and Executive Committee Member, Religions for Peace International
Chairperson, International Interfaith Council for Children, Arigatou International
Member, Governing Council, National Foundation for Communal Harmony
Dr. Aram is currently the President of a dedicated Gandhian Institution Shanti Ashram. In its 32nd year, it has become a centre for development, learning and practice. The service outreach of Shanti Ashram has also grown over the past 10 years to cover nearly 80,000 vulnerable children and partne...
Kiran Bali, MBE JP
Global Chairperson, United Religions Initiative
Member of the Executive Committee, World Congress of Faiths
Kiran Bali, MBE JP, is a practicing Hindu scholar and a social entrepreneur. As a recipient of numerous international awards, Kiran has been leading at the global interfaith level for many years. As an environmental activist, Kiran has been leading grassroots projects to help tackle climate action. ...
HONOURABLE ELA GANDHI
Trustee, Gandhi Development Trust
Ela Gandhi is the granddaughter of Mohandas Gandhi, also known as 'Mahatma' (great soul) Gandhi, the man who famously led Indians to independence from their British colonizers in 1946. She was born in 1940 and grew up in the Phoenix Settlement, the first Ashram established by Mahatma Gandhi,...
PROF. PRIYANKAR UPADHYAYA
UNESCO Chair Professor for Peace and Intercultural Understanding, Banaras Hindu University
Global Fellow, Peace Research Institute Oslo
Professor Priyankar Upadhyaya is widely regarded as the pioneer of peace studies in India and holds the UNESCO Chair for Peace and Intercultural Understanding at Banaras Hindu University, in addition to over thirty years teaching international relations and peace studies as well as managing the M...
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...
DR. KUSUMITA P. PEDERSEN
Professor Emerita, Religious Studies, St. Francis College, New York
Trustee, Parliament of the World's Religions
Vice President, Committee of Religious NGOs, United Nations
Co-Chair, Interfaith Center of New York
Kusumita P. Pedersen is Professor Emerita of Religious Studies at St. Francis College, New York, and has has been part of the global interfaith movement for over thirty years. She is a Trustee of the Parliament of the World's Religions and serves as Co-Chair of the Interfaith Center of New York....
DENA MERRIAM
Founder and Convener, Global Peace Initiative of Women (GPIW)
Founding Member, The Contemplative Alliance
Ms. Merriam began working in the inter-faith movement in the late 1990s when she served as Vice Chair of the Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders held at the United Nation in New York in the year 2000. She subsequently convened a meeting of women religious and spiritual...
DR. MULJIBHAI L. PINDOLIA
President, Hindu Council of Africa
Honorary President, Religions for Peace (RfP)
Dr. Pindolia, born in 1942, in Cutch, India, emigrated to Kenya on the 30th of October 1952. He is currently the Chairman of Kens Metal Group of Companies, however, on from an interreligious aspect, he is the president of the Hindu Council of Africa, and an honorary president for Religions for Peace...