Asim Ijaz Khwaja is Director of the Center for International Development at Harvard University, the Sumitomo-Foundation for Advanced Studies on International Development Professor of International Finance and Development at the Harvard Kennedy School, and co-founder of the Center for Economic Research in Pakistan (CERP). His areas of interest include economic development, finance, education, political economy, institutions, and contract theory/mechanism design. His research combines extensive fieldwork, rigorous empirical analysis, and microeconomic theory to answer questions that are motivated by and engage with policy.

Imam Omar Suleiman is the Founder and President of the Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research, and an Adjunct Professor of Islamic Studies in the Graduate Liberal Studies Program at SMU (Southern Methodist University). He is also the Resident Scholar at Valley Ranch Islamic Center and Co-Chair Emeritus of Faith Forward Dallas at Thanks-Giving Square.

Imam Dr. Khalil Abdur-Rashid is the first full-time University Muslim Chaplain at Harvard University, Instructor of Muslim Studies at Harvard Divinity School, and Public Policy Lecturer at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. He serves all Muslim students at Harvard, supervises the staff of the Harvard University Office of the Chaplain and also serves on the Board of Religious, Spiritual and Ethical Life at Harvard.

Tariq H. Cheema, a renowned social innovator & philanthropist, is the founder of the World Congress of Muslim Philanthropists and the Global Donors Forum. Since his career switch from surgery to philanthropy in 1997, Dr. Cheema has had an unusually diverse career as a senior executive, advisor, and a non-executive director, in both nonprofit and corporate sectors. During the course of his career, he has put his mark on a number of social initiatives, managed medium to large grant programs, and worked closely with world leaders, grantmaking foundations, and businesses to design strategic giving and investing models. In recent years, his trend-setting efforts towards institutionalizing Muslim Philanthropy worldwide has earned international acclaim. Dr. Cheema ranks amongst the 500 Most Influential Muslims impacting the world today.

Mehmet Bulut is the Rector of İstanbul Sabahattin Zaim University as well as a Professor of Economics and Economic History. He received his PhD from the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands in 2000, and MA from Posthumus Institute (1998) in the field of Economic History. He received his BS and MA degrees from Dokuz Eylul University in Economics. Dr. Bulut taught at Baskent University and served as the chair of its Economics Department. He became Dean of the College of Political Sciences and Vice-President at Yildirim Beyazit University in 2011, and served as a member of the Turkish Academy of Sciences (TUBA) in 2012. He has also served as a member of the board of directors in several public and private companies.

A. Razzaque Ahmed, MD, DSc, MPA, FRCP (Edin.) is a dermatologist who is locally and nationally recognized as an expert on blistering diseases. He was trained at the University of Buffalo, UCLA and Harvard. He is uniquely trained for treating blistering diseases, because he is trained in dermatology and oral medicine. He is a Professor of Dermatology at the Tufts University School of Medicine and Director of the Center for Blistering Diseases. Dr. Ahmed is credited with having pioneered the use of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) and rituximab therapy in treating blistering diseases. His uniquely designed protocols have resulted in producing clinical remissions lasting more than 20 years off all therapy. In recognition of his contributions he has received Lifetime Achievement and Research Contribution Awards and Awards for Excellence in the US and many other countries. Dr. Ahmed was born in Hyderabad, India.

Emad El-Din Shahin was the Dean of the College of Islamic Studies (2016-22) and Interim Provost (2019-21), Hamad bin Khalifa University, Qatar Foundation. Before joining CIS, he was Hasib Sabbagh Distinguished Visiting Chair of Arabic and Islamic Studies and a visiting professor of Political Science at the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. Shahin holds a PhD from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, MA and BA from the American University in Cairo. He has taught in leading universities including Harvard, Notre Dame, George Washington, and Boston University. Shahin was a Distinguished Visiting Scholar at Columbia University and public policy scholar at The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. His research and teaching interests focus on Islam and Politics Comparative Politics, Democracy and Political Reform in Muslim societies, and Political Economy of the Middle East.

Aamir A. Rehman is a Senior Fellow at the Richard Paul Richman Center for Business, Law, and Public Policy at Columbia University. His contributions to the Center focus on investors’ ESG considerations and the public aspects of private investments. Dr. Rehman is a partner at Princeton Stone House Capital, a strategic investment office. He is also an advisor to Fajr Capital, a private equity group of which he was a co-founder and managing director. In addition to his work in investment management, Dr. Rehman is Senior Advisor to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and a Consultant to the World Bank Group’s Finance and Markets Global Practice.

Fr. Séamus Finn, OMI, is a global leader in faith-based and socially responsible investing and a priest of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, a missionary religious congregation. He is the director of the Oblates' United States Province Office of Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation, coordinating their advocacy work on behalf of marginalized peoples and communities living in poverty. He served as chair of the Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility's board of directors for five years and is the director of Faith Consistent Investing for the Oblate International Pastoral Investment Trust. The latter includes an active shareholder investment program both for the U.S. province and for the congregation, as well as a presence at international institutions like the World Bank, IMF and the UN. He serves on the boards of several organizations focused on justice priorities in the public policy arena. Finn has been interviewed for print and radio shows and has appeared on dozens of TV shows, including CNN, CNBC, CBS, PBS, Al Jazeera America, RTE, and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

Bilal Kaleem is the co-founder and Managing Partner of Hoopoe Advisors. His background is in finance, technology, and non-profit management. He completed Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from MIT in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and a Master’s degree from Harvard focusing on finance and international trade. He is credentialed with Series 7, 24 and 66 registrations.

Prior to Hoopoe, Bilal was at J.P. Morgan in multiple roles, including the Chief Investment Office/Treasury, and Asset Management. Prior to that he led a non-profit focused on immigrant civic engagement where he completed the planning and financing of a $16 million cultural center. His experience in technology includes a communications startup, and designing business analysis software at Oracle Corporation.

Dr. Mohamed AbuTaleb served as the Imam of the Islamic Association of Raleigh. He is a lifelong student of the Qur’an and Islamic studies, has studied with a number of credentialed scholars and teachers, and has been blessed to memorize the Holy Qur’an. Mohamed has pursued seminary training through the Cambridge Islamic College and Al-Salam Institute in the United Kingdom and studied under teachers trained at Islamic universities in India, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt. Mohamed also shares a love of science and reason and completed his Ph.D. and Master’s degrees in electrical engineering from MIT along with degrees in physics and mathematics from the University of Maryland.

Dr. Shashi Dwarakanath is the Sevak / spiritual guide at Chinmaya Mission Boston. She met Pujya Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda in 1989 and was profoundly moved and inspired by Swamiji’s presence. Having started the Chinmaya Bala Vihar program in her basement in 1989, she continued to be the Bala Vihar program coordinator at Chinmaya Mission Boston until 2013. Her interest in Vedanta got the blessings of Swami Tejomayananda and she attended the Sandeepany Sadhanalaya Vedanta Course in Mumbai between 2014-2016. Swami Bodhatmananda was the Acharya of the course. Shashiji took early retirement from her position as the Chief of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Lowell General Hospital, MA, in order to continue uninterrupted service to the Mission. She was awarded the “Life Achievement Award” in 2017 by India New England news. Presently she holds regular satsangs, meditation sessions and other classes.

Mr. Shikoh is the CEO and Managing Director at DinarStandard. As the founder of DinarStandard- a boutique advisory firm specializing in in the emerging Muslim Lifestyle Market, Rafi has shaped the narrative and is actively engaged in helping companies develop value propositions and investment cases for the trillion dollar Halal investing opportunity.

Taha bin Hasan Abdul-Basser is an independent scholar of Islamic ethics and law who has acted as a shari`a compliance reviewer, examiner and consultant to investment funds, investment banks, retail banks, financial advisories, legal advisors and other for-profit and not-for-profit entities since 1998. He was lead contributor to the Harvard Islamic Finance Information Program's database software on Islamic financial ethics and jurisprudence, independent study course instructor ("Principles of Islamic Finance") at Harvard Business School and a Senior Tutorial Advisor at Harvard University's Department of Near Eastern Language and Civilizations.

Rashid Dar is a Program Officer for Culture and Global Perspectives at the John Te mpleton Foundation, where he oversees the Foundation’s Islam-related grant portfolio across the globe. Prior to this role, he worked as a researcher at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC, analyzing the relationship between Islam and politics, often termed Islamism. He received his Master’s degree from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), and attended Darul Qasim, a traditional Muslim seminary near Chicago. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin, and has published a number of essays in the Brookings Institution, The Washington Post, The American Interest, and other publications.

Nageeb Sumar is an expert on philanthropy and global development diplomacy, with over 15 years experience in partnering with organizations and philanthropists to create global change. He currently serves in a leadership position at Fidelity Charitable, partnering with the nation’s most generous donors in their efforts to catalyze social change in the US and abroad.

Previously, Nageeb worked at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's D.C. office, where he oversaw an international team which engaged governments, foundations and philanthropists to improve the overall effectiveness of the charitable sector.

Hooman Keshavarzi is licensed as a psychotherapist in the state of Illinois, he holds a Doctorate of Clinical Psychology, a Masters of Clinical Psychology and a Bachelors of Science – specialist psychology track/minor in Islamic Studies. He is currently an assistant professor at Ibn Haldun University (Istanbul, Turkey), Adjunct Professor at American Islamic College, Hartford Seminary, EDEP and ISAR Istanbul and Usūl Academy Online and the founding director of Khalil Center – the first Islamically oriented professional community mental wellness center and largest provider of Muslim mental healthcare in the US. He is also a fellow at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding at the Global Health Center, conducting research on topics related to Muslims and Mental Health. Hooman Keshavarzi is an international public speaker and has authored several published academic papers in recognized peer-reviewed journals on Islam and Psychology.

Dr. Syed Nazim Ali is Research Professor and Director of the Research Division at CIS. He has spent the last 30 years spearheading interdisciplinary research in Islamic finance and faith-based initiatives in finance as well as community development. He was formerly the Founding Director of the Islamic Finance Project at Harvard University and Acting Executive Director of the Islamic Legal Studies program at Harvard Law School.

Dr. Shariq Siddiqui is an Assistant Professor of Philanthropic Studies and Director of the Muslim Philanthropy Initiative at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. Shariq has a Ph.D. and M.A. in Philanthropic Studies from the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. He also has a JD from the McKinney School of Law at Indiana University and holds a B.A. in History from the University of Indianapolis. Shariq authors research on Muslim philanthropy and the Muslim nonprofit sector.

Dr. Khan is a scholar-practitioner, with expertise in American philanthropy, civil society, international development, religion and culture. He has worked across the nonprofit, for-profit and government sectors in India, UAE and the US. Dr. Khan served as a Board Member of The Community Impact Fund, a Washington DC based community foundation and is an active member of the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA) and the Chair of South Asia Section of American Society for Public Administration(ASPA). Dr. Khan is also a founding member of IOREM, a research organization focused on research and migration (iorem.org).

Ibrahim holds a BA in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from the University of Oxford, an Alimiyyah degree from the Al Salam Institute, and an MA in Islamic Finance. He was previously a private equity/venture funds lawyer in the City. He is the co-founder of Islamicfinanceguru.

Eleanor's 16 years of business development experience spans across the private, non-profit and the international development sectors where she's established strategic relationships with wealth managers and philanthropists throughout the US. Currently, she is working to drive Acumen's global fundraising strategy, building community and implementing a robust partner engagement strategy. Deep knowledge of social impact, entrepreneurship and the issues of poverty, as well as wealth management, investment philosophy and estate planning.

Salma is a Board Member of PennyApeal USA, a relief and development organization. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Wellesley College and a Masters of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School. She is an accomplished general manager with professional experience across finance, operations, human resources, and training in professional services firms and in the nonprofit sector.

Abdullah Syed is a seasoned executive in the humanitarian and faith-base space. Over the last fifteen years he has helped start, grow and innovate faith-based and non-profits organizations such as Amaanah Refugee Services, Bayyinah Institute and Islamic Relief USA. He currently serves as the Executive Director of A Continuous Charity Foundation (ACC) which provides interest-free loans for higher education. Other than compassionate lending, he enjoys learning the Arabic language and traditional Islamic sciences. Born in Pakistan, he grew up in Connecticut but soon found his way to the great state of Texas. Abdullah currently resides in Dallas with his wife and 4 kids, who outnumber the parents and for all intents and purposes run the house.

Dr. Recep Şentürk is the Dean of the College of Islamic Studies at HBKU. He was the former Founding President of Ibn Haldun University in Istanbul (2017–2021). Dr. Şentürk holds a PhD from Columbia University’s Department of Sociology, and specializes in Civilization Studies, Sociology, and Islamic Studies with a focus on social networks, human rights, and modernization in the Muslim world. He served as a researcher at the Center for Islamic Studies (İSAM) in Istanbul, and as Founding Director of the Alliance of Civilizations Institute. He is Head of the International Ibn Khaldun Society, and has a seat on the editorial boards of multiple academic journals. Among his books are, in English: Narrative Social Structure: Hadith Transmission Network 610-1505; and in Turkish: Open Civilization: Towards a Multi- Civilizational Society and World; Ibn Khaldun: Contemporary Readings; Malcolm X: Struggle for Human Rights; and Social Memory: Hadith Transmission Network 610-1505. Dr. Şentürk’s work has been translated to Arabic, Japanese, and Spanish.

Hanan Hashem is a Researcher and Community Educator at The Family and Youth Institute. She completed her Master’s in Counseling Psychology at Wayne State University in 2016 and a Masters in Quantitative Methods from The University of Texas at Austin in Spring 2021. Hanan is also in the last year of her Doctorate training in Counseling Psychology at The University of Texas, Austin. She currently lives in Boston, where she is finishing her clinical work at the Center for Multicultural Training for Psychologists at the Boston Medical Center.

Hanan’s main interests are in research, clinical, and community work. Her current research focuses on contextual factors that influence American Muslim youth development, including the role of their racial, religious, and gender identities on their everyday experiences. Hanan has also taught a course called Intergroup Dialogue for multiple years at UT-Austin, where she explored the psychology of race and gender with her students.