Religious Peace-building: Challenges and Opportunities for Transformative Peace

Registration will be open shortly... 

Transformative Peace is excited to announce its fourth Transformative Conversation with Rev. Dr. Fatimah S.  Salleh and Ms. Omar  Manal on Religious Approaches to Peacebuilding. Now more than ever, it is critical to understand how religious frameworks can be harnessed as a positive force for transformation to guarantee a more peaceful future. The speakers will examine the state of religiously-motivated violence and discrimination in the world today, including the impact of COVID-19, the new tools being used by religious peacebuilders to transform conflict, and the potential for religious peacebuilding to contribute to lasting social and transitional justice.

About the Speakers:

• Manal Omar, is the founder and CEO of Across Red Lines, a pioneering organization that focuses on a holistic approach to building inclusive and diverse societies through its investment in women leaders.  Manal uses her 20+ years of global experience to approach religious communities, government, and civil societies to advocate for women’s rights through a faith-based approach. Previously she was the Associate Vice President for the Middle East and Africa Center at USIP.  She was an inaugural fellow for Foreign Policy Interrupted and is a 2016 Truman National Security Fellow. Omar was named among “Top 500 World’s Most Influential Arabs”  by Arabia Business Power in 2011 and 2012; and recognized among the “500 Most Influential Muslims in the World” by Georgetown University and The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre in 2009. She holds a master's degree in Arab studies from Georgetown University and a bachelor's degree in International Relations from George Mason University.

• Rev. Dr. Fatimah S. Salleh was born in Brooklyn, NY to a Puerto-Rican and Malaysian mother and an African American father. Dr. Salleh received her PhD in Mass Communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She also earned a Master’s degree from Syracuse University in Public Communication and a second Master’s in Divinity from Duke University. She is married to Eric Sorensen and they have four children. She is currently the founder of A Certain Work, an organization dedicated to educating on the intersection of issues in faith, diversity, equity, and inclusion.