Our Team
STAFF
Tasneem Sultan, Director
irt.wc.mi@gmail.com
Tasneem Sultan is a peace advocate and a community organizer with many years of experience collaborating with different organizations, including ethnic, religious, cultural, and advocacy across the US.
Tasneem began her activism while living in Alabama, where she was active in organizations like Interfaith Mission Services and the Arts Council of Huntsville, Alabama. When she relocated with her family to New Jersey, she became involved in many groups. She chaired the Human Relations Council of West Windsor Township, NJ, and served as a member of the ‘United We Create Advisory Committee’ of Young Audiences New Jersey, along with many other organizations.
Tasneem co-founded and served as the president of La Convivencia, a NJ nonprofit devoted to the ideals of coexistence and dialogue. She also founded a youth online platform, ‘Connecting With Humanity,’ which brought young people across the US to work together for educational, advocacy, and community service projects. Currently, she is a board member of the Jewish Voices for Peace-Detroit, serves in the Parent & Family Intercultural Advisory Council at the University of Maryland, is a communication committee member at Meta Peace Team, Detroit, and also serves in the core committee in BRIDGE of Evansville, IN. Furthermore, she has a Human Connections blog page to share racial/social justice stories and foster genuine human connections.
Tasneem’s experiences living in Pakistan, France, Canada, and various States in the US offered her firsthand knowledge of diverse people and convinced her of the importance of creating dialogues between people of different faiths, cultures, and ethnicities. As an American Muslim woman, she knows that misunderstandings due to a lack of acceptance and decreased empathy could easily lead to stereotyping, tensions, and violence. She is determined to do what she can to help others understand and appreciate different cultures and work together for the common good.
In 2019, Tasneem was honored as a recipient of the Mercer County (NJ) Women of Achievement Award by the Mercer County Commission on the Status of Women. She was also recognized in New Jersey’s 2019 State Governor’s Jefferson Honorees for Justice award. Tasneem’s faith and values motivate her commitment to equality, human rights, and service to humanity. She is committed to creating sustainable cross-cultural and interfaith cooperation and raising awareness of systemic racism through the power of compassionate dialogue and storytelling. Her goal in life is to inspire change that matters and to mobilize as many people as possible to speak in the name of justice, peace, and human dignity.
OFFICERS
Bryan Weinert, Zion Lutheran Church, Chair
Kaye Foyle, Baha’i Faith, Vice Chair
Christine Modey, Ph.D., Director, Michigan Community Scholars Program, Treasurer
Kelly Gauthier, St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, Secretary
MEMBERS AT LARGE
Rev. Diane Smith, Journey of Faith Christian Church
Rev. Dean M. Aponte-Safe, Co-Pastor, The Episcopal Church of the Incarnation, Ann Arbor
Lucinda Kurtz, M.A., Pardes Hannah
Sangita Shivakum, Chinmaya Mission Ann Arbor
Humza Irfan, Muslim Student, University of Michigan
rev. theresa rohlck, Minister of Pastoral Care, Liturgist/Worship Team Member, First Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Ann Arbor (First UUAA).