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ABOUT US |
Our Partners
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Uplifting the Platinum Rule
“Do Unto Others What They Would Have Done Unto Them” |
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Board of Directors
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Imam Jamal Rahman, President
Imam Jamal Rahman is a popular speaker and author on Islam, Sufi spirituality, and interfaith relations. Along with his Interfaith Amigos, he has been featured in The New York Times, CBS News, BBC, and various NPR programs. Jamal is co-founder and Muslim Sufi Imam at Interfaith Community Sanctuary, and adjunct faculty at Seattle University. He travels nationally and internationally, presenting at retreats and workshops. Jamal’s passion lies in interfaith community building and activism. |
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Sally Jo Gilbert de Vargas, Secretary
Sally Jo Gilbert de Vargas has recently retired from being a public school teacher and administrator for 40 years. She is an Associate Minister at Interfaith Community Sanctuary, and a Cherag (Persian word for lamp, or minister) in the Sufi Order International. She has served on the Guiding Council of Interfaith Community Sanctuary for 14 years in various capacities, including president, secretary and is currently treasurer. Sally Jo has been a volunteer, supporter, and member of the Board of Directors of Project Ethiopia since 2005. She is also on the Board of the Suraiya Ataur Medical Clinic in the village of Chondipur, Bangladesh, another service project of Interfaith Community Sanctuary. Sally Jo is currently active with various organizations working for climate justice, racial justice, and voting rights. |
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Silvana Hale, Treasurer
Silvana has a broad range of experiences, skills, and interests. Born in Eritrea under bombardment, she was raised in Italy, emigrated to Venezuela, earned her CPA in Italy, worked as a Chief Accountant, married her husband John, a Peace Corps Volunteer, and came to the US where she completed her education with an MA in Sociology. She then taught in a migrant ghetto school in SE Texas and later started a small business and became an entrepreneur. Silvana credits her passion for interfaith to 9/11 and her good friend Soraya from Saudi Arabia. She knew her life in this country would never be the same, but she wanted to help. She and John began to learn more about Islam and that began a decades long quest to engage, learn, understand, and share life experiences with people from other religions and spiritual traditions. They were co-founders of a non-profit interfaith organization that has now merged to become Northwest Interfaith. As Treasurer she enjoys the opportunity to share her accounting skills in an endeavor that reflects her life values. |
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Rabbi Anson Laytner
Anson Laytner is a happily retired rabbi, living in Seattle, whose career in non-profit and academic settings focused on fostering positive interfaith and interethnic relations. He is the president of the Sino-Judaic Institute and editor of its journal Points East. He is also past president of Northwest Interfaith and has long been active in local interfaith affairs. A graduate of York University (Toronto), Hebrew Union College (Cincinnati) and Seattle University, Laytner is the author of Arguing with God (1990), co-author of The Animals’ Lawsuit Against Humanity (2005), co-editor of The Chinese Jews of Kaifeng (2017), and author of The Mystery of Suffering and the Meaning of God (2019). Rabbi Laytner is married to Richelle Harrell. He has two living daughters, three sons-in-law and five grandkids. |
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Rev. Karen Lindquist
Reverend Karen Lindquist is co-founder and co-minister of Interfaith Community Sanctuary, a spiritual community grounded in circular leadership principles. She co-creates interfaith services throughout the year at the Sanctuary and with interfaith organizations in the greater Seattle area. For many years she served as a board member on The Interfaith Council of Washington and The Interfaith Network, now known as Northwest Interfaith. |
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John Hale
John successfully applied his engineering and business education for over 20 years within a Fortune 50 corporation. Then, he cultivated entrepreneurial skills by starting his own business as a communications infrastructure contractor. His life’s focus changed with 9/11 when he and his wife realized how little they knew about Islam, and about other non-Christian religions as well. Since that time they have committed themselves to interfaith engagement, understanding, and celebration. John co-founded Northwest Interfaith Community Outreach (NICO) to bring people together and discover the richness of our religious traditions and the common ground that we share in our principles and values. NICO has since merged to form Northwest Interfaith and enjoys partnerships with many religious, spiritual, and secular allies in the community. He likes to say: “this work is almost like traveling the world without leaving home!” |