Halima Samad

Regional Director of Tri-State Area (NY-NJ, CN)

Halima Samad grew up in Nashville, Tennessee and moved to Pakistan at age 11 where she spent a majority of her adolescent years.  She returned to the United States to pursue her undergraduate education, starting her work in the non-profit sector in the areas of public and foreign policy after graduating from college.  Her commitment to civic engagement has led her to serve as as the Islamic Center of NYU community service co-ordinator where she arranged service projects in conjunction with various non-profits including Project Sunshine, the Council on the Environment of NYC, Women in Need, NY Cares, Publicolor, Street Project: Harlem Dowling and soup kitchens in New York City.  She is a also a member of the NJ state judiciarys minority concerns committee which educates the public and works with officials within the court system & local non-profits to solve issues ranging from domestic violence to juvenile justice.  Halima holds a B.A. in Economics and Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies from NYU, and previously worked at Dow Jones & Inc. as an Associate Producer for the Wall Street Journal Online. 

Catherine Manfre

National Director of Egypt

Catherine Manfre grew up on Long Island, moved to Florida when she was 12, and recently graduated from New York University majoring in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies and minoring in Economics. She was a member of AIESEC, an international student led organization, and completed an AIESEC traineeship in Istanbul, Turkey last summer. She has also interned for political campaigns and worked for the Washington Square News at NYU. Currently, she resides in Cairo, Egypt working at a magazine called ICT Business as an editor, writer, and designer. She hopes to get her M.A. in Middle Eastern Studies and later get either her MBA or J.D. (this changes weekly). She is interested in World Faith because she believes that people are much more similar than the media and stereotypes make it appear. People generally have similar goals like making a living for themselves, having a family and being happy. These similarities are much greater than differences in religion, culture and ethnic background. She hopes that World Faith will help build relationships between diverse people so that these similarities are realized. 

Naazish YarKhan

Regional Director of Chicago

Naazish YarKhan founded the Refugee Assistant Programs to address the needs of refugees from around the world who were relocated to Chicago.  In 2010 RAP became a World Faith Chapter, joining in the global interfaith service movement.  She is a syndicated writer, blogger for the Huffington Post, publicist and public speaker.  Her commentaries have aired on Chicago Public Radio and NPR.  She has written for over 30 publications globally.  In 2009, she was the recipient of the inaugural MWA "Inspiring Woman Award."  She lives in Chicago with her husband and two children, and is working on her first fiction novel.