Imam Tom Facchine

Imam Tom Facchine is a Muslim intellectual, political strategist, and community organizer. He works at Yaqeen Institute as a Research Director, where his work focuses on Islamic political thought and modern ideologies. He is also a co-founder of Tamkeen, a youth-led organization dedicated to Islamic political activism, education, and mentorship. He also teaches Tafsir and Islamic History at Legacy International Online High School. He holds a BA in Political Science from Vassar College (2011) and studied in Madinah from 2015-2020, where he obtained a BA from the Faculty of Shariah at the Islamic University.

Esther Farmer, JVP

Esther Farmer Is a Palestinian Jew who is the co -editor of the book, A Land With A People: Palestinians and Jews Confront Zionism, (2021). She is on the leadership team of New York City Jewish Voice for Peace and is the creator and artistic director of the storytelling project, Wrestling with Zionism. She is also the creator of JVP’s national project, How to Have Hard Conversations about Israel/Palestine.

Dr. Marc Lamont

Dr. Marc Lamont Hill is a cultural anthropologist, critical policy scholar, and radical educator whose work explores race, education, and citizenship in the United States and the Middle East. For over two decades, Hill has conducted ethnographic research on how Black communities cultivate intellectual traditions, identity, and political consciousness in schools, bookstores, religious spaces, and digital platforms.

Hill also studies Afro-descendant communities in Israel and Palestine, producing research and the ethnographic film Black in the Holy Land, which explores race, citizenship, and antiblackness in the region. His work has earned the 2021 Palestine Book Award for Except for Palestine: The Limits of Progressive Politics.

Dr. Zakir Ahmed

Dr. Zakir Ahmed is a New York-based imam and educator. He holds a Ph.D. in Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences from the International Islamic University Malaysia, an M.A. in Islamic Studies and Muslim-Christian Relations from Hartford International University for Religion and Peace, and a B.A. in History and Education from Queens College. Dr. Zakir serves as one of the imams at the Islamic Cultural Center of New York and as the Muslim Chaplain at Mount Sinai Hospital. Outside of his work in spiritual care and community leadership, he cherishes his role as a father of three and values spending time with his family and loved ones.