wfn.org | NCC's Kireopoulos named chair of Save Darfur Coalition

["Philip Jenks" <pjenks@ncccusa.org>]

>Kireopoulos named chair
>of Save Darfur Coalition 

Washington, July 28, 2009 - Dr. Antonios Kireopoulos, National Council  of Churches' Senior Program Director for Faith & Order and Interfaith  Relations, has been elected chair of the Save Darfur Coalition by the  Coalition's Board of Directors. 

In this role, Kireopoulos will oversee the coalition's efforts to raise  public awareness about the genocide in Darfur and advocate for a lasting  and just peace in Sudan and the surrounding region.  

"As the genocide in Darfur has continued to take its toll on millions of  innocent civilians, the collective voices of concerned people of faith  and conscience have continued to call for an end to this horror," said  Kireopoulos.  

"The urgency of achieving peace in Darfur has not diminished and will  not do so until the violence stops, and the men, women and children  displaced by these crimes are able to safely return to their  homeland." 

As board chair, Dr. Kireopoulos will oversee the affairs of the  coalition's advocacy campaign executed by its staff of 25 professional  organizers, policy advisors and communications specialists.  

The Save Darfur Coalition is an alliance of more than 180 faith-based,  advocacy and human rights organizations that raises public awareness  about the ongoing genocide in Darfur and mobilizes a unified response to  the atrocities that threaten the lives of people throughout the Darfur  region.

The coalition's member organizations represent 130 million people of all  ages, races, religions and political affiliations united together to  help the people of Darfur.

Earlier, Kireopoulos served the National Council of Churches as  Associate General Secretary for International Affairs and Peace.  Previously his responsibilities included helping the NCC formulate its  position on international issues and U.S. foreign policy. High on the  agenda were the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Iraq War, and Darfur.

His responsibilities in international affairs often called upon his  experience in interfaith relations. In the last four years he was  extensively involved in initiatives of the Interfaith Relations  Commission. Before he came to the NCC, he served as executive director  of the U.S. Conference of Religions for Peace, which is a national  non-profit organization that promotes multi-religious collaboration and  religious-secular partnerships on issues that cut across community  lines. He also served as advisor to the secretary general of the World  Conference on Religion and Peace, the USCRP's parent organization, which  advances this same mission globally.

Dr. Kireopoulos has also been closely associated with the Faith and  Order Commission and has spent most of the last 20 years in ecumenical  dialogue. This began with a seminary internship and continued through  his membership on the Commission, where he represented the Greek  Orthodox Archdiocese of America.

Dr. Kireopoulos holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree in theology from  Fordham University (2003); a Master of Divinity degree from St.  Vladimir's Orthodox Seminary (1991); a Master of International  Management from the Thunderbird School of Global Management (1983); and  a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service degree from Georgetown  University (1981).

Dr. Kireopoulos has more than 15 years of experience in non-profit  management, including administration, board relations, budgeting,  development, program direction and public relations.

Previous to leading the United States Conference of Religions for Peace,  he worked as Special Assistant to the Archbishop of the Greek Orthodox  Archdiocese of America, where his duties included representing the Greek  Orthodox Church at the United Nations and at the US State Department,  and as the Assistant to the Chancellor of the Orthodox Church in  America, in the area of executive communications.

Among his affiliations, he is the past president of the United Nations  NGO Committee on Freedom of Religion or Belief.

The full Save Darfur Coalition board of directors includes: 

Vice-Chairperson: Sam Bell, Genocide Intervention Network;
Secretary: Omer Ismail, Darfur Peace and Development;
Treasurer: Mike Edington, Wellspring Advisors, LLC;
Dr. Mahmoud Braima, Darfuri Leaders Network;
Zeinab Eyega, Sauti Yetu Center for African Women;
Rev. David Emmanuel Goatley, Ph.D., Lott Carey Foreign Mission  Convention;
Rabbi Steve Gutow, Jewish Council for Public Affairs; Ruth Messinger, American Jewish World Service;
John Prendergast, ENOUGH Project;
Jill Savitt, Dream for Darfur; and
Rev. Gloria White-Hammond, M.D., My Sister's Keeper

NCC News contact:  Philip E. Jenks, 212-870-2228 (office),  646-853-4212 (cell) , pjenks@ncccusa.org

Save Darfur Coalition news contacts: Andrea Clarke, 202-556-2106; Emily  Diamond-Falk, 202-556-2120; press@savedarfur.org