President Gay Montague
WTB is governed by a Council comprised of women of diverse faith traditions. It meets monthly to plan the activities of the organization. Council members hold staggered terms of one to three years, beginning each September. The Advisory Board, comprised of past Council members, gives guidance to the Council.
Continuing as president for 2010-2011 is Gay Montague. Gay retired from teaching and working with teens in crisis and currently writes children’s books focusing on issues of peace and non-violence. She volunteers with local refugees and considers spiritual peacemaking as part of her ministry. Gay is coordinator of the 25th Congressional District Campaign for a US Dept. of Peace and enjoys traveling. She and her husband Len have six children and six grandchildren.
WTB Co-Founders are Danya Wellmon and Betsy Wiggins.
Danya
Danya is a medical technologist with the American Red Cross. She is the mother of three and lives in Dewitt. Danya is uniquely able to bridge the Christian and Muslim traditions, as she grew up in a Methodist family but reverted to Islam in 1992.
Betsy works as a speech pathologist in Syracuse, primarily with patients who have had strokes. She spent much of her life in Georgia and worked for former President Jimmy Carter at the Carter Center. She lives in DeWitt with her husband, Jim.
WTB Council
Tanya Atwood-Adams serves as the Director of Spiritual Care for Interfaith Works of CNY. She is also the Palliative Care Chaplain at St. Joseph’s Hospital. She holds a Master of Divinity degree from Yale and is also a Reiki Master Teacher. Tanya grew up in the Protestant faith tradition, joined a Quaker meeting in college and continues to practice a blend of the two traditions.
A retired English teacher, Jennifer Roberts Crittenden, lives with her husband in Bridgeport, a suburb of Syracuse. She enjoys activities with grandchildren, sails on Oneida Lake, volunteers at a nursing home, and is active in her Roman Catholic Church. She is WTB’s secretary.
Daryl
Our vice-president, a native of Chicago, Daryl Files was born in Chicago, but has lived in Syracuse for 33 years. She formerly owned and operated a sports bar with her husband, Noel, and has been a personal development trainer. She has been very involved with many local non-profits, including the Autism Research Institute. Daryl is Jewish. She is the mother of four daughters and the grandmother of three.
Hetty Gingold is a volunteer at Wanderer’s Rest and University Hospital and loves travel. Her interest in diversity, stemming from her career as a teacher in the city schools, led her to WTB. She was raised in a Jewish home and continues to follow Jewish cultural life.
Luann M. Healy was born on Long Island and relocated to Syracuse in 1992. She is currently the Chief Operating Officer for Central New York Services, Inc., in Syracuse. Her interests include history, reading and photography. She is WTB’s Treasurer.
Saro Kumar grew up in Malaysia and while there studied for 13 years at the Holy Infant Jesus Convent . Her grandmother took her to Chinese, Buddhist, and Hindu temples, as well as Christian churches. She studied medicine in India, continued her studied in the US, and is a child and adolescent psychiatrist. She loves gardening and traveling.
Elizabeth (Betty) Lamb has a background in both Christianity and Judaism. She taught religious education in the Roman Catholic Church and is now active at both Temple Adath Yeshurun and Temple Society of Concord. She is retired from a career in retail and education and volunteers with many community organizations.
Joy Pople formerly directed the Baldwinsville Volunteer Center. From her International travel experiences she has become committed to fostering understanding and cooperation among people from various cultures. Her faith background is in the Mennonite, Episcopal, and Unification Churches.
A former WTB president, Ann Eppinger Port, has rejoined the Council for 2010-2011. She worked for many years as a freelance medical writer and editor. Her ongoing interests include complementary and energy-based healing modalities; Jewish history, spirituality, and mystical traditions. She is a Reiki Master, a Psych-K practitioner, and a Literacy Volunteer. She and her husband Howard are the parents of two sons.
Mam-Yassin Sarr lives in Brewerton with her partner and their two children. She is the director of Starfish International, a nonprofit organization that provides international service opportunities to The Gambia, in West Africa. She is also a doctoral student in Educational Leadership at Syracuse University. Yassin was born in a Muslim family in The Gambia, attended Catholic, Baptist, Methodist and interdenominational schools and is now a Baha’i. She enjoys traveling, service projects, reading, and fundraising to build an academy for girls in her home country
Cara Steiner is retired after working in public health nursing and health administration positions in Syracuse. Born in an Ohio Mennonite family, Cara is a tutor with Literacy Volunteers and serves on the Auxiliary Board of the Onondaga County Health Dept. She enjoys traveling with her husband to see their children and families in North Carolina and Colorado. They live in Syracuse and attend Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ.
A native of Baltimore, Christine Welch, is a teacher, currently working as a substitute at the Bernice M. Wright Laboratory School at Syracuse University. She is Christian, has been affiliated with many branches (Lutheran, Episcopal, Presbyterian, United Methodist, and Unitarian Universalist) and describes herself as as a liberal, progressive Christian. She serves on the board of Interfaith Works. Chris enjoys traveling to out-of-town meetings with her husband, Tom; going to a monthly French Club; and summers at a camp on White Lake.
Advisory Board
This group of women, all former Council members, provide special expertise to the Council:
Judy Antoine was born in Iowa but raised in Chile by Methodist missionaries. She is a retired Spanish teacher in Syracuse City Schools. Judy attends May Memorial Unitarian Universalist Society. Her daughter is a Muslim. Judy lives with her husband in Syracuse.
A historian of education, Joan Burstyn, is a professor emerita, Syracuse University. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of Congregation Beth Shalom-Chevra Shas and is currently co-authoring a book titled: Searching for God with a Study Partner. She and her husband live in Syracuse. They have three children; one lives in Wisconsin, and two live in Israel. Joan and her husband travel to Israel annually to see them and their children.
Roko Sherry Chayatis the abbot of the Zen Center of Syracuse (Buddhist). In 1998 Eido Shimano Roshi gave her “inka”, Dharma transmission, in the Hakuin/Torei lineage. The author of three books and many articles, she lives with her husband in Syracuse and travels widely to speak about Zen.
Tori DeAngelis is a freelance journalist and editor who writes about psychology, science, medicine, culture and spirituality. A Syracuse native, she has lived in Washington, DC, and San Francisco. She enjoys doing artwork, traveling, hiking, yoga and meditation, and is on a Buddhist path. She lives with her companion, Jeff, and their cats, Toonces and Buddy.
Janet Donaghue is a retired school community counselor who formerly did crisis intervention with teens. She also trained professionals about drug-addicted and disruptive teens and has facilitated support groups for recovering teens, parents and gay students. Janet now volunteers with women transitioning out of homelessness. She and her husband live in Syracuse and worship with a multi-faith group.
The retired executive director of Thanks-Giving Square in Dallas, Texas,Elizabeth Espersen, now lives in Liverpool. She is a Roman Catholic and has spent 35 years in interfaith work at the local, national and international level. She does interfaith consulting through “Meetings in Faith”.
An active United Methodist, Barbara Croll Fought teaches broadcast and digital journalism and communications law at Syracuse University. She lives with her husband in Dewitt. Barbara manages this web site.
Linda Lloyd Fuchs uses her background in anthropology to create multi-cultural jewelry and teach beadwork classes. She and her husband belong to Bet Harvard, a Jewish Harrah. They have two adult daughters. Her interfaith work has focused on the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice and she is an officer of the local chapter of the National Organization for Women.
Jan Garman led WTB as president in 2005-2007. A retired elementary school teacher, Jan continues to work part time for the Syracuse City School District. She volunteers in several community groups such as Literacty Volunteers and Meals on Wheels and co-chairs the Task Force on Peace with Justice in Palestine/Israel of the North Central Conference of the United Methodist Church. She lives in Syracuse with her husband.
Terra Harmatuk is a minister of Covenant of the Goddess (COG) and HPS of Circle of the Rising Phoenix. She says she lives an eclectic-Wiccan spiritual path. She has been employed by the Onondaga County Department of Social Services for 30 years. She believes that there are many paths to spirit. She and her husband live on Onondaga Hill and have two children in college.
A pediatrician now working in New Jersey, Romana Hosain, served on the Council when she lived in Central New York. She linked WTB to Ibtida, with whom WTB built a school in Pakistan. She and her husband are raising four children.
The co-founder of mothers Against Gun Violence (MAGV), Helen Hudson conducts vigils after each Syracuse homicide and works with families of teens killed. Helen is a single working mother with one son and has become “Mom” to countless young people in Syracuse. In her current role as the AFL-CIO Community Services Liaison for the United Way of Central New York, Helen’s reach extends throughout the community.
A chiropractor, Irum Hussein brings WTB a diverse background. She is of Pakistani descent, was born in Kenya, and then lived in Saudi Arabia, England, and Ireland. She integrates spirituality into her practice. She is a Muslim and with her husband, fosters a weekly dialogue on faith called Purification of he Heart for students at SU.
Tazim Kassam , a Muslim, heads the Religion Department at Syracuse University. Her research and teaching interests include gender, ritual, devotional literature, and the cultural heritage of Muslims in South Asia. She has written a book about Hindu-Muslim ideas expressed in the song tradition of the Ismaili Muslims of the Indian Subcontinent.
A former elementary school teacher, Molly King has also worked as an adult career counselor, an assistant to the Dean of Students at Syracuse University, and coordinator of an SU management seminar. She has volunteered in many social service agencies. Molly lives in Jamesville.
Beatrice Muhammad lives in Syracuse and is semi-retired. The mother of three, she loves working with children and is involved in community activities, including the Islamic Society of Central New York.
Nancy Sullivan Murray is a member of the Mideast Dialogue group and a Past President of the Interreligious Council. She edits scholarly texts professionally, guides reflective retreats and is a poet by avocation. The central focus of her commitment to social change is to engender peace through dialogue.
A native of India, Smita Rane has worked at a visitors’ center at Syracuse University. She now lives in Connecticut. Smita loves to get involved in the community to learn about other cultures and share hers with others. She is Hindu.
Eleni Roumpapas grew up in the Greek Orthodox faith. She works as an eligibility examiner for the Onondaga County Dept of Social Services. She is also self-employed as an independent distributor for Relive International, a food science company with a mission to nourish the world.
Sabra Reinhardt, a Baha’i, is part of an interfaith marriage, as her husband is a Christian. They have five children and two granddaughters. Sabra’s first career was in education. She’s currently the CFO of a small business and a family foundation.
A pioneer in developing vocational training for Special Education students in CNY, Liz Spence was born in Jamaica, British West Indies, of Scottish Baptist missionaries. She grew up in the Northeastern U.S. and from an early age has been involved in issues of peace and justice. She is a founder of what is now Peace Action of CNY. Liz has two grown sons and resides in Liverpool. Liz is our Corresponding Secretary.
Bonnie Shoultz lives at the Zen Center of Syracuse and was ordained a Buddhist nun in 2003. She is Buddhist chaplain at Syracuse University’s Hendricks Chapel and is a contract chaplain with InterFaith Works, teaching meditation at the Onondaga County Justice Center and Hillbrook Youth Center. She has two adult children and one college-age grandson.
Mara Sapon-Shevin is a professor of education at Syracuse University and is actively involved in peace and justice work within the community. The mother of two grown daughters, Mara is involved within the Jewish, Buddhist and Wiccan communities, and finds all these paths wonderfully complementary.
Cjala Surrat coordinates public relations and is a theater instructor for the Community Folks Arts Center in Syracuse.
Margaret Susan Thompson teaches history, political science, and religion at Syracuse University, where her research focuses on Catholic nuns and the intersections of religion and politics. She is an associate member of the IHM [or Immaculate Heart of Mary] Sisters of Monroe, Michigan. Peggy grew up in the Jewish tradition and is now a Catholic.
