The Culture of Encounter Project - Georgetown University

Stephen Hanmer D’Elía is a research fellow with Georgetown University’s Collaborative on Global Children’s Issues. D’Elía led UNICEF’s work with religious communities from 2008 to 2012, including the development of global policies and strategies for over 160 country offices. Other experience includes directing youth and parent support programs for one of the largest child welfare agencies in the United States and overseeing child protection and refugee programs with leading humanitarian organizations in Africa and the Middle East. D’Elía also conducts individual and group therapy with young people and families. He has lived and worked in more than 20 countries. D’Elía is a member of the Working Group on Child Rights and Family Values, part of the Culture of Encounter Project.

Since 2005, Rabbi Diana Gerson has been the Associate Executive Vice President of the New York Board of Rabbis (NYBR), representing the organization at the United Nations and leading efforts to unite religious leaders across faiths to improve children's welfare. She has facilitated workshops aimed at eliminating violence against children and their families and serves as a steering committee member for the Child Dignity Alliance. Rabbi Gerson also contributes to building multi-faith coalitions to protect vulnerable populations in the physical and digital realms and serves as a clergy liaison for the New York Police Department Community Affairs Bureau. In 2022, she became the Senior Advisor for Partnerships and External Relationships at the Interfaith Alliance for Safer Communities. Her leadership was particularly highlighted at the Child Dignity in a Digital World forum in Abu Dhabi in November 2018 as a member of its steering committee.

Azza Karam is a member of the United Nations’ Secretary General High Level Advisory Board on Multilateralism and president and CEO of Lead Integrity. She is secretary general emerita of Religions for Peace International and previously was a professor of religion and development at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. She served for nearly two decades in the United Nations (in UNDP and UNFPA), where she coordinated the Arab Human Development Reports, co-founded and chaired the United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on Religion (with over 20 UN system bodies), and founded and convened its Multi-Faith Advisory Council. Karam created and facilitated the peer-to-peer “Strategic Learning Exchanges” on religion, development, and diplomacy. Karam is a member of the Working Group on Child Rights and Family Values, part of the Culture of Encounter Project.

Jedd Medefind serves as president of the Christian Alliance for Orphans (CAFO). CAFO unites 270+ member organizations and a global network of churches in shared initiatives to serve vulnerable children and families worldwide—from foster care and adoption to family restoration. Prior to this role, he led the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives under President George W. Bush. Previously, Medefind held a range of posts in the California State Legislature. He has worked, studied, and served in more than 30 countries, from Christian Life Bangladesh to Price-Waterhouse, Moscow.

Michael J. Nyenhuis is the president and CEO of UNICEF USA, bringing in over 25 years of global humanitarian and development experience, fundraising acumen, and proven results to this role. Before joining UNICEF USA, Nyenhuis was the president and CEO of Americares from2014 to 2020. He was CEO of the global nonprofit MAP International for 13 years prior. A former journalist with a passion for global health, he previously served on USAID’s Advisory Committee on Voluntary Foreign Aid and chaired the board of the Integral Alliance, a global network of faith-based NGOs. He also currently serves on the board of InterAction, the largest coalition of U.S.-based relief and development organizations working internationally, and the leadership council at Concordia, an organization and forum that promotes cross-sector partnerships for social impact. 

Rebeca Rios-Kohn has served since 2015 as the executive director of Arigatou International New York Office, a not-for-profit organization working for children’s rights and well-being with its headquarters in Japan and leads the initiative Prayer and Action for Children. She is a citizen of Uruguay and France with 30 years of experience working for the United Nations in the areas of human rights, women, and children’s rights. Rios-Kohn was one of the lead writers of the “Faith and Children’s Rights: A Multi-religious Study on the Convention on the Rights of the Child” (2019), developed by Arigatou International with UNICEF and other partners. Previously, she held senior level positions with UNICEF and United Nations Development Programme. During her tenure with the UN, she worked in over 30 countries leading advocacy initiatives promoting children’s rights. She co-authored “Protecting the World’s Children, a Comparative Study on the Impact of the Convention on the Rights of the Child: Law Reform in Selected Common Law Countries” (2007), published by UNICEF.