Allison Blackwell grew up on a farm north of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She graduated from Queens University of Charlotte with a bachelor’s degree in creative writing and religion/philosophy. While at Queens, she participated in and led her school Interfaith Leadership Council, which focused on facilitating interfaith dialogue across campus and Charlotte, North Carolina. She was also involved in several Christian nonprofit service organizations and churches within the city. Through her work in interfaith during her undergraduate studies, she became interested in pursuing ministry and more specifically, chaplaincy. After graduation, she served as a Young Adult Volunteer through the Presbyterian Church (USA) in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she worked for a year in refugee resettlement with people from all over the world. This fall, she will be continuing her studies at Vanderbilt Divinity School’s Master of Divinity degree program. She is also pursuing ordination with the Presbyterian Church (USA). As she moves forward in her career, she is excited to further explore how interfaith engagement and community service intersects with and informs her faith.

Madison Cissell just finished her second year at Indiana University as a dual master’s student studying folklore and library science. She currently works at the library’s reference desk and IU’s Institute for Digital Arts & Humanities. Her research interests include community archiving, digital humanities, foodways, and birth stories. She recently curated a digital collection, “Voices of Pawpaws and Persimmons: a gathering spot for those interested in native foodways.” Before attending IU, she received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Kentucky, where she minored in Jewish Studies. While in Lexington, Kentucky, she worked on oral history projects about Jewish Kentucky, women in bourbon, the League of Women Voters, and homelessness in Lexington. In her free time, Madison likes to read, swim, and send postcards to her friends. She has two boy cats; a white cat named Angel Mami and a gray cat with three legs named Stumpy.

Mohammed Jibriel is a biomedical and public health professional with a background in molecular biology, infectious diseases, and community health education. He is currently a doctoral student in public health at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. His research focuses on exploring religion’s impact on individual health behaviors and outcomes, and its influence on health practices. Mohammed is also an interfaith leader. He co-founded the Belk Chapel Muslim-Jewish Interfaith Initiative and serves as co-chair of the Charlotte Black/Jewish Alliance. Identifying as a Muslim, he derives inspiration from his faith to actively promote unity and drive positive change. Mohammed believes that interfaith engagement transcends religious or faith traditions, emphasizing that our shared differences can be as unifying as our commonalities.  

Zack Steinberg is a song leader and Jewish program coordinator from Buffalo, New York. He grew up attending diverse public schools while also attending his temple’s religious school and spending summers at Camp Lakeland, a Jewish sleepaway camp. At Lakeland, he learned to play guitar, conduct Shabbat services, and create community away from home. After completing degrees in music and business at the University at Buffalo, he moved to New York City where he worked for the Tkiya organization, traveling all over the city to deliver Jewish experiences at parks, temples, and community centers. Zack came back to Buffalo in 2019 and has served as a Cantorial Soloist at Temple Beth Zion. He enjoys working at the Jewish Community Center where he engages with staff and children of diverse backgrounds and religions, and designs inclusive Jewish programming. Zack likes walking his neighborhood bike path while listening to sports and religion podcasts and hanging out at home with his girlfriend Sarah and their cats Freddie and Lana. In the future, he is looking forward to building bridges between diverse groups and organizations in Buffalo, working to deepen compassion and understanding.