Every year, a group of Interfaith America Emerging Leaders offer their time and talent to teach, mentor, and build relationships with students at the Summit.
Summit trainers facilitate participants’ journeys toward pluralism, but they also model cooperation across difference and embody interfaith leadership in their everyday lives.
As we look forward to the 2026 Summit, “A Road Forward,” get to know some of this year’s trainers, who shared about their backgrounds, their histories with Interfaith America, and their road trip essentials:
Laura Bohorquez Duque
‘Foundational Skills for Interfaith Leadership’ Training Track
Years Involved with IA: 13
Interests: Immigrant rights advocacy, spending time with her two dogs
Occupation: High school teacher
Go-to road trip snack: Sour cream & onion Pringles
What can someone who is coming to the Summit for the first time expect?
“You can expect a very intentional community of people who are there to learn and to build relationships.”
Rakeea Chesick Gordis
‘Foundational Skills for Interfaith Leadership’ Training Track
Years Involved with IA: 1.5
Interests: Faith organizing & progressive political work in the Jewish community
Occupation: Program manager for community initiatives addressing social isolation
Go-to road trip snack: Green grapes, gluten free pretzels, and a ginger kombucha
What is one thing people should bring with them on the journey to build a more pluralistic society?
“Have a map and be excited to turn off the highway when there’s something that you see on the side of the road. Be open to exploring unplanned adventures along the way.”
Dieu Do
‘Foundational Skills for Interfaith Leadership’ Training Track
Years Involved with IA: 2
Interests: Storytelling, trying new restaurants
Occupation: Public policy & community organizing
Go-to road trip snack: Trolli sour gummy worms
What is the most rewarding part of training students at the Summit?
“Being able to create a safe space for not only students, but folks who come to Interfaith America to ask the hard questions and to seek guidance, and to connect with one another.”
Paul Hudson
‘Respect, Relate, COOPERATE: Interfaith Activities to Bring People Together’ Training Track
Years Involved with IA: 3
Interests: Playing NBA 2k, going to the beach, basketball
Occupation: Student life staff and basketball coach at boarding school in New York
Go-to road trip snack: Honey roasted peanuts, slushy with Trolli gummy worms
What is one thing people should bring with them on the journey to build a more pluralistic society?
“Curiosity. I’m a big curiosity advocate, just trying to understand the complexity that’s in each and every individual, especially in our diverse society.”
David Katibah
‘Foundational Skills for Interfaith Leadership’ Training Track
Years Involved with IA: 2.5
Interests: Gardening, cooking, hosting
Occupation: Public theologian, peacemaker, poet, and divinity student
Go-to road trip snack: Rye chips
What is one thing people should bring with them on the journey to build a more pluralistic society?
“Internal peace, or in my Christian tradition, a word that really resonates with me is ‘belovedness’: this experience or belief or openness to knowing that you are safe and that you are loved. In my experience that has opened me up to so much curiosity, because I now no longer need someone to respond a certain way or to have a certain belief in order to feel safe myself, in order to feel like I belong myself.”
Seedy Njie
‘Foundational Skills for Interfaith Leadership’ Training Track
Years Involved with IA: 5
Interests: Creating community events and programming as a fellow at the Abrahamic House (read more: How Emerging Leader Seedy Njie Builds Interfaith Community in DC)
Occupation: Business operations
Go-to road trip snack: Protein bars, lightly salted Lay’s potato chips
What is the most rewarding part of training students at the Summit?
“Hearing the beautiful conversations that come out of it, and as a facilitator, watching the students. At the end of the Summit, what emerges for them is usually something very positive. There’s a very beautiful thing about watching people learn, and you can see it happen in real life.”
Keryn Wouden
‘Foundational Skills for Interfaith Leadership’ Training Track
Years Involved with IA: 14
Interests: Rock climbing, playing games with her husband and kids, sewing
Occupation: Harpist, nonprofit consultant, interfaith liaison in central New Mexico
Go-to road trip snack: Baby carrots, jerky, and fruit of any kind
What is the most rewarding part of training students at the Summit?
“Seeing the growth within the participants and having them realize and acknowledge that they actually already have a lot of tools for this work and are already prepared in their own ways to go out and make a difference in the world, for the better.”
Rida Zaidi
‘Respect, Relate, COOPERATE: Interfaith Activities to Bring People Together’ Training Track
Years Involved with IA: 8
Interests: Roller blading, biking, trying new places to eat in Chicago
Occupation: Paralegal, leads the Interfaith at Work Business/ Law Cohort
Go-to road trip snack: Sour Strips, Sour Patch Kids
What can someone who is coming to the Summit for the first time expect?
“A fun environment where you are building a lot of friendships. I attended ILI three times as a student, and I’m still friends with people to this day. It’s a fun way to learn from one another, meet cool trainers — sometimes you meet trainers that aren’t even your own trainers — and eat some good food.”
