Event Speakers

Meet Our Panelists

New York City 1/31: John Sexton, Martha Minow, Farah Pandith, Adam Strom

Washington, DC 2/23: John Sexton, Charles C. Haynes, Zainab Al-Suwaij, Adam Strom

Photo: John Sexton; source NYU

John Sexton, President of New York University since 2001, Benjamin Butler Professor of Law, and Dean Emeritus of NYU Law School. Past Chairman of the Board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and Chair of the Federal Reserve Systems Council of Chairs. 

In addition to his duties as president, Sexton is an active teacher whose recent courses include a freshman seminar on the Supreme Court’s church and state cases, and a year-long course on the American Constitution, religion, and government for visiting students in NYU’s Abu Dhabi  program. From 1966 - 1975, he was a Professor of Religion at Saint Francis College in Brooklyn, where he was Department Chair from 1970-1975.

New York University Office of the President

Photo Farah Pandith; source @Farah_Pandith

Farah Anwar Pandith, first ever Special Representative to Muslim Communities, U.S. Department of State. Former Director for Middle East Regional Initiatives for the National Security Council. Chief of Staff for the Bureau for Asia and the Near East for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).  From 1997 to 2003, Special Representative Pandith was Vice President of International Business for ML Strategies in Boston, Massachusetts.

U.S. Department of State Biography

Farah Pandith on Twitter

Photo Martha Minow; source Harvard Law

Martha Minow, Dean of the Faculty of Law, Harvard Law School, Jeremiah Smith, Jr. Professor of Law. Professor Minow has taught at Harvard Law School since 1981, where her courses have included civil procedure, constitutional law, family law, international criminal justice, jurisprudence, law and education, nonprofit organizations, and the public law workshop. 

An expert in human rights and advocacy for members of racial and religious minorities and for women, children, and persons with disabilities, she also writes and teaches about privatization, military justice, and ethnic and religious conflict. 

Harvard Law School Dean Martha Minow Biography

Photo: Zainab Al-Suwaij; source American Islamic Congress

Zainab Al-Suwaij, is the Executive Director and co-founder of the American Islamic Congress, a non-profit established in the wake of the September 11 attacks in order to build interfaith understanding and mobilize a moderate voice in the American Muslim community, as well as promote human and civil rights in the Muslim world.  She is a native of Basrah, Iraq and the granddaughter of Basrah’s leading cleric.

Ms. Al-Suwaij has been working in Iraq to empower civil society, strengthen women’s rights, and rebuild the Iraqi education system. She is also the editor of AIC’s A Modern Narrative for Muslim Women in the Middle East, a ground breaking publication which challenges stereotypes about the roles of Middle East women. Ms. Al-Suwaij briefed the President and the Secretary of State, and worked with Congressional leaders from both parties. She has written frequently for The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and other papers,  and been featured on CNN, NPR, BBC, and Al-Jazeera.  She has lectured at Harvard, Yale, Georgetown, and numerous other universities.

American Islamic Congress Leadership

Photo: Charles C. Haynes; source First Amendment Center

Dr. Charles C. Haynes is director of the Religious Freedom Education Project at the Newseum. He writes and speaks extensively on religious liberty and religion in American public life. Haynes is best known for his work on First Amendment issues in public schools. Over the past two decades, he has been the principal organizer and drafter of consensus guidelines on religious liberty in schools, endorsed by a broad range of religious and educational organizations.  

Haynes is the author or co-author of six books, including First Freedoms: A Documentary History of First Amendment Rights in America (2006) and Religion in American Public Life. His column, "Inside the First Amendment," appears in newspapers nationwide. Widely quoted in news magazines and major newspapers, Haynes is also a frequent guest on television and radio.

First Amendment Center Biography

Adam Strom, Director of Content, Research and Development, Facing History and Ourselves, has written and taught extensively about religion, migration, and identity and is the principal author and editor of numerous Facing History publications including the study guide to accompany the award-winning civil rights era documentary, Eyes On the Prize;  Totally Unofficial: Raphael Lemkin and the Genocide Convention; Stitching Truth: Women’s Protest Art in Pinochet’s Chile; Stories of Identity: Religion, Migration, and Belonging in a Changing World; and What Do We Do with a Difference: France and the Debate over Headscarves in Schools.

Mr. Strom also facilitates staff development programs, both online and face to face, for educators around the world. He has primary responsibility for Facing History and Ourselves International Scholars Board and for the Harvard Law School/Facing History Project which develops educational materials and sponsors major international conferences.