Amrith Kaur Aakre
Legal Director, Sikh Coalition
Amrith Kaur Aakre joined the Sikh Coalition, a national civil rights organization, in 2017 as Legal Director. In this role, she supervises complex high impact litigation and manages policy initiatives to protect the civil rights of all Americans in areas such as hate crimes, bullying, racial profiling, workplace discrimination, and religious rights matters.
Amrith has successfully litigated religious accommodation and bias-based school bullying cases, advocated on behalf of hate crime victims and provided rapid response legal services, submitted testimony before the EEOC regarding emerging employment discrimination issues including those arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, and drafted several amicus briefs that were cited by ScotusBlog as “petitions to watch.” She has also coordinated with local and federal law enforcement agencies to provide cultural competency and implicit bias trainings geared toward workplace equity. Amrith is a recognized expert on issues of race and religious rights.
Prior to joining the Sikh Coalition, Amrith served as a Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney in Chicago for 11 years where she created and directed the Bond Court Initiative, a transformative restorative justice program focused on rehabilitating felony offenders rather than incarcerating them. Amrith serves on the Board of Directors for the ACLU of Illinois, was an Emerging Leaders Fellow for the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, is a recipient of the Asian American Coalition’s Community Service of the year award and was recognized by Crain’s Business as a Top 100 Leading Woman Lawyer.
In her free time, Amrith teaches HIIT bootcamp classes, is an avid runner, and organizes the Battle of the Books program at her son's school. Amrith holds her Bachelor of Arts in Applied Science & Technology Engineering and English Literature from The George Washington University, and her Juris Doctor from The University of Illinois at Chicago's Law School.
Dr. Ossama Bahloul
Imam of the Islamic Center of Nashville and the founder of islamin500.org
Dr. Ossama Bahloul, Ph.D., is a graduate of the renowned Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt, where he earned his BA in Islamic Studies, as well as his Master’s degree and ultimately his Ph.D. in Comparative Religions. His thesis titled Critique of Christian Issues within Will Durant’s “The Story of Civilization” is widely acclaimed.
Dr. Bahloul’s passion in comparative religions has fueled over 18 years of experience in interfaith dialogue and numerous public corroborations with both Muslim organizations and religious leaders from other faiths. As an academic, he has worked on peer-reviewed research and has traveled extensively and lecturing at the university level about critical interfaith issues facing Muslims.
As an Imam, Dr. Ossama has gained knowledge, experience, and insight in guiding community members to achieve their Islamic educational and spiritual goals. Dr. Bahloul’s unwavering commitment, enthusiasm and perseverance for the educational and spiritual growth and wellbeing of his community have culminated in his induction into the Fiqh Council of North America.
Prior to his tenure at the Islamic Center of Nashville, Dr. Bahloul was the Imam at the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro where he led and supported the community through severe islamophobic attacks while building the only mosque in Murfreesboro, all of which was covered extensively by local and national media.
William P. Benac, Sr.
Chairman of the Religious Freedom Alliance Council
Bill Benac is an active board member of various non-profit organizations including; Founding Forward which advocates civic and constitutional education across the United States, the DFW Alliance for Religious Freedom and Human Dignity, and the International Center for Law and Religion Studies a global organization based at BYU. Bill is national Chairman of the Religious Freedom Alliance Council (currently in 24 states) and co-founder of Pathway India, an organization which has educated and rehabilitated 40,000 handicapped and disadvantaged
Indian youth. Prior to his retirement in 2016 Bill held senior executive positions with global corporations, private equity firms, and as an entrepreneur. Bill earned his bachelor’s and MBA degrees from Brigham Young University and a law degree from Pace University in New York.
Steven T. Collis
Clinical Professor of Law and Faculty Director at UT School of Law
A law professor at the University of Texas School of Law, Steven T. Collis is one of the leading academics in the nation on the First Amendment, religious freedom, and productive discourse. His scholarship has been cited by numerous state and federal appellate courts and the United States Supreme Court. He is also the faculty director of Texas’s Bech-Loughlin First Amendment Center and its Law and Religion Clinic. Before joining the faculty at Texas, he was a research fellow at Stanford Law School and an equity partner at Holland & Hart LLP, where he chaired the firm’s religious institutions and First Amendment practice group. The author of three critically acclaimed books related to thriving in a pluralistic society, he has been interviewed by and quoted in various news and media outlets, including The New York Times, Bloomberg, NBC, CBN News, NPR, The Washington Post, PBS, and numerous podcasts and television shows. Reviewing his latest book, Habits of a Peacemaker, the American Library Association has said, “In this time of sharp political divides and overwhelming feedback, Collis is a much-needed voice of reason and compromise.”
Lauren Gray
Senior Vice President, Edelman
Lauren Gray is a Senior Vice President at Edelman. She brings nearly 15 years of experience in strategic communications, crisis management, policy and social issues to help clients manage complex reputational issues and insulate clients from risk. As part of Edelman's Social Issues team and LGBTQ+ Task Force, Lauren has counseled clients across industries such as tech, finance, CPG, retail, and fashion on when and how to effectively engage on issues. Prior to Edelman, Lauren provided crisis communications support to the City of New York and Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
Judge Thomas B. Griffith
Retired Judge, United States Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit
Thomas B. Griffith was appointed to the U. S. Court of Appeals for the D. C. Circuit by President George W. Bush in 2005. He stepped down from that court last year and is now Special Counsel with the international law firm of Hunton Andrews Kurth. He is also a Senior Adviser at the National Institute for Civil Discourse, a Senior Fellow at the Wheatley Institution of Brigham Young University, and a Lecture on Law at Harvard Law School. Earlier this year, President Biden appointed Judge Griffith to the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court. Before his appointment to the D. C. Circuit, Judge Griffith was the General Counsel at Brigham Young University. Earlier in his legal career, he was a partner at major law firm in Washington, D. C. and for four years served as the nonpartisan Senate Legal Counsel, the chief legal officer of the United States Senate.
Steve Helms
President, DFW Technology Prayer Breakfast
Steve Helms is an Emerging Technologies Specialist at Dell Technologies and President of the DFW Technology Prayer Breakfast. At Dell Technologies, Steve volunteers with the Dell Interfaith ERG as a liaison to other company faith based resource groups for the purpose of sharing best practices across business based faith organizations. Mr. Helms started his career at Sun Microsystems and has served in multiple functions across many industries, partnering with companies that provide research, consulting, services and software. He currently supports Public Cloud Partners in the Global Alliances Organization of Dell Technologies.
Dr. Robert Hunt
Director of Global Theological Education, SMU Perkins School of Theology
Robert A. Hunt was born in Dallas, Texas, in 1955. After attending school in Austin and Richardson, he majored in History at the University of Texas in Austin. After completing a Master of Theology at Perkins School of Theology (SMU) he served the Bethany United Methodist Church in Austin, Texas. In 1985 he and his wife Lilian moved to Kuala Lumpur, where they taught at the Seminary Theology Malaysia. From 1993 to 1997 he taught at the Trinity Theological College in Singapore. In 1994 he received his PhD from the University of Malaya, focusing on Christian missions to and relationship with Muslims in Southeast Asia. From 1997 to 2004 he was pastor of the English Speaking United Methodist Church of Vienna, and an adjunct professor at Webster University in Vienna. Dr. Hunt is presently Director of Global Theological Education at the Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University and teaches courses in World Religions, Inter-religious Dialogue, and Mission.
Kent Johnson
Senior Corporate Advisor for the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation (RFBF)
Kent is the Senior Corporate Advisor for the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation (RFBF). In that role he helps companies design and implement best practices regarding religious diversity and inclusion and promotes authenticity and connection among employees across the belief spectrum in ways that strengthen recruitment, engagement, retention, morale, ethics and personal fulfillment. Kent also helps companies navigate their legal obligation to accommodate employees’ religious expressions and practices while carefully avoiding any impression of compulsion to participate in or agree with them. Before joining RFBF, Kent served for 37 years as a senior legal counsel at Texas Instruments Incorporated, where, in different assignments over the years, he had responsibility for legal support of nearly all of TI's businesses and its worldwide ethics, quality, corporate responsibility and risk management functions. He also helped launch the company’s faith-oriented employee resource groups and served as Chair of the TI Diversity Network.
Rabbi Nancy Kasten
Chief Relationship Officer, Faith Commons
Rabbi Nancy Kasten is Chief Relationship Officer for Faith Commons, a Dallas-based organization promoting public discourse rooted in the common values of many faiths. She is a past Co-Convener of Faith Forward Dallas (FFD) at Thanksgiving Square. She was ordained by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1990 and served as Hillel Director, Associate Chaplain, and Adjunct Professor of Biblical Hebrew at SMU. Rabbi Kasten is a community educator, volunteer and activist, as well as a certified Jewish Mindfulness Meditation Teacher.
Rev. Dr. George A. Mason
Senior Pastor, Wilshire Baptist Church
Rev. Dr. George A. Mason has been senior pastor at Wilshire since August 1989. His three decades as pastor follows the pattern of his predecessor, Bruce McIver, who was pastor at Wilshire 30 vibrant years.
George is a nationally recognized faith leader, rooted in congregational life. He combines the prophetic and pastoral voices within and beyond the church. He has served in leadership roles with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, Fellowship Southwest, New Baptist Covenant, Duke Divinity School, Perkins School of Theology, Faith Forward Dallas at Thanks-Giving Square and other local and global ecumenical and interfaith endeavors. He is the founder and president of Faith Commons, a multi-faith, multiethnic nonprofit organization committed to promoting the common good from a faith perspective.
George is the host of the Good God project, a weekly audio and video conversation sponsored by Faith Commons. He is a frequent op-ed contributor to the Dallas Morning News on subjects of public interest that intersect religion, such as public education, race relations and predatory lending. He writes a monthly column on public theology for the Lakewood/East Dallas and Lake Highlands editions of the community news magazine The Advocate.
At Wilshire, George birthed and directs a pastoral residency program that has become a model for other congregations nationwide since 2002. His book, Preparing the Pastors We Need: Reclaiming the Congregation’s Role in Training Clergy, was published in 2012 by Alban Press. One of his passions is encouraging those whom God has called into vocational ministry.
George earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in 1978 from the University of Miami (Florida), where he was a quarterback on the football team. He holds both the Master of Divinity (1982) and Doctor of Philosophy (1987) degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. His doctoral field of study was systematic theology, with a minor in philosophy of religion. His dissertation was God's Freedom as Faithfulness: A Critique of Juergen Moltmann's Social Trinitarianism.
A native of New York City, George has been married to his wife, Kim, since 1979. They have three children and six grandchildren. He enjoys all sports, including politics, but especially golf.
Jeff Mateer
Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer at First Liberty Institute
Jeff Mateer is the Chief Legal Officer of First Liberty Institute, where he serves as a member of the executive leadership team and oversees and directs First Liberty’s legal operations, including its litigation, media/communications, and external affairs teams. Jeff rejoined First Liberty Institute in 2020 after serving as First Assistant Attorney General of Texas with oversight for over 30,000 active cases and almost 800 attorneys. Jeff previously had served as General Counsel of First Liberty Institute, and he was in private practice in Dallas. During his thirty-year legal career, Jeff has represented clients ranging from large international organizations to local businesses, schools, ministries, churches and individuals in complex federal and state court actions involving religious liberty, civil rights, employment, intellectual property and business matters. He has tried numerous jury and bench trials in both federal and state courts, and has successfully argued before the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and Texas appellate courts. He received his undergraduate education at Dickinson College, where he graduated with honors, and his legal education at Southern Methodist University, where he graduated with honors. While in law school, he served as an editor of the law review.
Fr. Greg McBrayer
Chief Flight Controller and Corporate Chaplain of American Airlines
Father Greg McBrayer is the Chief Flight Controller and Chaplain at American Airlines (IOC) Integrated Flight Operations Control Center in Dallas-Fort Worth Texas. He has worked and served in the aviation industry for over 40 years. As a Bi-Vocational Priest, Father Greg currently serves as the Parish Priest at Saint Barnabas Anglican Church in Fort Worth Texas. He also serves as Senior Chaplain and EAP Representative for (PAFCA) The Professional Airline Flight Controllers Association at American Airlines IOC and is a member of the Deployable American Airlines Emergency Response Care Team.
Maj. Dawn McFarland
Salvation Army
Major Dawn McFarland is a commissioned and ordained officer/minister in The Salvation Army since 1989, and has been a Salvation Army officer for 33 years. Together with her husband, Major Paul McFarland, she has served in multiple ministry roles including leading 5 local churches and the social services operations, 5 residential recovery facilities, and is now providing oversight to The Salvation Army’s work throughout North Texas. She has a BA in counseling, an MA in Integrated Recovery for Co-Occurring Disorders from Hazelden Betty Ford Graduate School of Addition Studies and is a licensed chemical dependency counselor in Texas.
Joey O’Donnell
University of Texas Law Student
Joey O’Donnell is a second year student at the University of Texas School of Law. Joey is originally from Grapevine, Texas. This summer, he will join Jones Day’s Dallas office as a summer associate.
Dr. Bob Roberts Jr.
Pastor at GlocalNet
Dr. Roberts is a pastor and renowned bridge builder who has dedicated his life to promoting and advancing religious freedom, peacemaking and civil engagement. He is the founder of GlocalNet, a ministry dedicated to mobilizing the church to bring about transformation in the public square, co-founder of the Multi-Faith Neighbors Network (MFNN), an organization committed to promoting religious freedom through ntentional cross-cultural relationships, and newly appointed president of the Institute of Global Engagement (IGE), an organization that catalyzes freedom of faith worldwide so that everyone has the ability to live what they believe. With decades of experience in peacemaking and international religious freedom, Dr. Roberts’ groundbreaking work has earned him respect and recognition from the United Nations, U.S. Department of State, World Economic Forum, ambassadors, international royal families, and policy leaders worldwide. For over 30 years, Dr. Roberts led Northwood Church near Dallas, Texas, where he is now the Founding Global Pastor. He is also a prolific author of six books and the host of the Bold Love podcast. Dr. Roberts holds a Doctorate of Ministry from Fuller Theological Seminary, a Masters of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and a BA from Baylor University.
Mark Romney
Co-Founder of DFW Alliance for Religious Freedom and Human Dignity
Mark Romney is a Co-Founder of the DFW Alliance for Religious Freedom and Human Dignity. He is the owner of the Texas law firm, Romney Law Firm. He is actively engaged in international transactions law with an emphasis on Latin American issues and representation of Latin
American clients in the United States. Mark also practices business related litigation and alternative dispute resolution. Mark serves as the Stake President of the Dallas Texas Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with oversight responsibility for multiple congregations in the Dallas area.
Richard Salgado
Partner at McDermott Will and Emery
Richard Salgado is a partner and the head of the Dallas Litigation Practice Group at McDermott, Will & Emery, among the 25 largest law firms in the U.S. He is a trial lawyer who represents clients in complex disputes. He has substantial appellate experience and formerly chaired the firm-wide appellate practice for a large, international law firm. He has handled appeals in all 13 US Court of Appeals and the US Supreme Court. His successful outcomes have been featured in national publications. Mr. Salgado devotes substantial time to pro bono service. His commitment to diversity within and outside of the legal profession include litigating in support of those with special needs and disabilities, the LGBT+ community, and the cause of religious freedom. He has also served as an adjunct professor at multiple law schools, teaching courses on trial advocacy and appellate practice. He received his undergraduate and law degrees from BYU and clerked on the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Aiman Salih
Co-Chair of the Muslim Employee Network at TI
Aiman Salih is the co-chair of the Muslim Employee Network at Texas Instruments. He is originally from Orlando, FL and his extended family is from Sudan. Aiman graduated from UCF with a BS and master’s degree in Electrical Engineering. He currently works as a Process Integration Engineer in RFAB in Richardson, TX. Aiman has been active with the Muslim Employee Network from his first day at TI. In 2022 he took on the role of co-chair of the network where he is passionate about fostering an environment of understanding and employee engagement and development for members and TI.
Steve Sandberg
Assistant to the President and General Counsel, Brigham Young University
Steve Sandberg has served as Brigham Young University’s Assistant to the President and General Counsel since 2018. At BYU, he oversees the Department of Risk Management and Safety, the Integrity and Compliance Office, and the Office of the General Counsel. He also serves as a liaison for BYU on state and federal government relations matters. In addition to his roles at BYU, Steve is the general counsel for BYU–Hawaii, BYU–Idaho, and Ensign College.
Prior to working for BYU, he clerked on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit for Judge Andrew J. Kleinfeld in Fairbanks, Alaska, and was an associate at Morrison & Foerster, LLP in Irvine, California.
Rabbi David Saperstein
Former United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom
Rabbi David Saperstein served as the United States Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom from 2015 to 2017. In this capacity he served as principal advisor to Secretary Kerry and President Obama on issues of international religious freedom. He previously served as the director and chief legal counsel at the Union for Reform Judaism’s Religious Action Center for more than 30 years. In 2019-20, Rabbi Saperstein served as the President of the World Union for Progressive Judaism. As an attorney he taught seminars on Church-State law and comparative Jewish and American Law at Georgetown University Law Center for 35 years.
Prior to working for BYU, he clerked on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit for Judge Andrew J. Kleinfeld in Fairbanks, Alaska, and was an associate at Morrison & Foerster, LLP in Irvine, California.
Brett Scharffs
Chair and Professor of Law at BYU School of Law
Brett Scharffs is the Rex E. Lee Chair and Professor of Law at Brigham Young University’s J. Reuben Clark Law School, and Director of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies. His teaching and scholarly interests include law and religion, legal reasoning and rhetoric, philosophy of law, and legislation and regulation. Scharffs has written more than 100 articles and book chapters and made over 300 scholarly presentations in 30 countries. He received both bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Georgetown University. He was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University and received a JD from Yale Law School, where he was Senior Editor of the Yale Law Journal. Scharffs was a law clerk on the U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit, and worked as a legal assistant at the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal in The Hague. Before teaching at BYU, he worked at a New York law firm and taught at Yale University and George Washington University Law School. He has been a visiting professor at multiple international universities. Scharffs served as Chair of the Law and Religion Section of the Association of American Law Schools and is on the editorial board of the Oxford Journal of Law and Religion.
Shannon Minter, Esq
Vice President of National Center for Lesbian Rights
Shannon Price Minter is a transgender man and the longtime legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, one of the nation’s leading LGBTQ legal advocacy organizations. Shannon has litigated dozens of landmark cases, including several victories in the U.S. Supreme Court. He is a national expert on LGBTQ law and has received widespread recognition, including awards from Cornell Law School, Stanford Law School, the Ford Foundation, California Lawyer Magazine, the National LGBT Bar Association, and the U.S. Department of Justice LGBT Pride Group. Shannon is committed to building bridges between conservative religious leaders and groups and LGBTQ people.
Hannah Clayson Smith
Associate Director of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at BYU
Hannah Smith is the Associate Director of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at BYU Law School. She previously worked for U.S. Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito and as Becket Law’s Senior Counsel where she secured four landmark Supreme Court victories. Hannah has appeared before Congress and on national media, and is a sought-after speaker. Hannah received her BA from Princeton University and her JD from BYU Law School (Order of the Coif), where she served as the Law Review’s Executive Editor. Hannah received BYU’s Alumni Achievement Award, the Women-in-Law Leadership Award, and the James Madison Award. Hannah worked in private practice at national law firms in Washington, D.C. Hannah served as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in France. She is a Director for the Religious Freedom Institute, a chair on the JRCLS’s Religious Freedom Committee, and a member with her husband John on the ICLRS International Advisory Council.
Bishop Kenneth Spears
Pastor, First Saint John Cathedral, Fort Worth
Bishop Kenneth Spears is the pastor at First Saint John Cathedral in Fort Worth. He is also a bishop, author, media personality, and community leader. He is a native of Fort Worth, Texas, and has served as pastor of First Saint John Cathedral since 1995. Bishop Spears is joined in ministry by his wife Angela and their two sons, Kenneth and Kyle. Bishop Spears answered his call to ministry in 1981 at the age of seventeen, while still a student in the Fort Worth public school system.
Emmalyn Spruce
University of Texas Law Student
Emmalyn Spruce is currently a second-year student at the University of Texas School of Law, where she is a participant in the school’s Law and Religion Clinic. Prior to law school, Emmalyn spent several years as a management consultant. She received her undergraduate degree in Economics at the University of San Diego, where she also obtained minors in both music and international business.
Jon Thatcher
City Attorney, City of Fate
Jon Thatcher is the City Attorney for the City of Fate, Texas. As City Attorney, he provides a broad range of legal services to the City Council, administration and directors. He is responsible for negotiating, drafting, and evaluating contracts, deeds, leases, and other legal instruments, as well as preparing municipal ordinances and resolutions for adoption by City Council. Mr. Thatcher also manages the City’s litigation and serves as legal counsel for various City boards and prosecutor for the Fate Municipal Court. He has been practicing municipal law since 2009 where he has served as Assistant City Attorney for such cities as Aubrey and Anna, Texas, and City Attorney for Forney, Texas.