Chicago Staff
Executive Director
Rev Dirk Ficca
Rev. Dirk Ficca serves as Executive Director of the Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions. Dirk worked closely with the religious and spiritual communities of the Chicago metropolitan area to plan and organize the 1993 Parliament event in Chicago. Given the enthusiasm generated by the 1993 Parliament, Dirk continued to lead the Council's efforts to build a vibrant interreligious movement in Chicago and around the world. Dirk is an ordained Presbyterian minister and prior to joining the Council served for eleven years as pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Benton Harbor, Michigan. Dirk teaches at DePaul University, the Lutheran School of Theology and Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary.
Contact Dirk Ficca.
Deputy Executive Director & Partner Cities Director
Ms Zabrina Santiago
Zabrina Santiago has served as Deputy Executive Director and Partner Cities Director of the Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions since 2008. Zabrina played a leading role in the oversight of the 2009 Parliament of Religions –Melbourne and currently serves as co-chair of the 2014 Parliament of Religions Site Selection Committee. In her role as Partner Cities Director, she oversees the involvement of over 70 international cities in the implementation of localized multi-faith and multi-sector initiatives focused on reducing religious, social, political and economic conflict.
A longstanding leader in campaigns promoting social justice and peacekeeping through the Presbyterian Church (USA), Ms. Santiago combines religious commitment with social activism. She holds a masters in theology from McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago. Previously, Ms. Santiago served as Director of Client Services for Morningstar Investment Services, Inc. Contact Zabrina Santiago.
Communications Director
Ms Alisa Roadcup
Alisa Roadcup brings nine years of nonprofit experience in strategic marketing and communications to the Council. Supported by a team of twelve, Alisa led the Council’s most successful international marketing campaign for the 2009 Parliament to garner an estimated 50 million media impressions internationally, surpassing coverage from previous Parliaments. Alisa also supports the Ambassadors Program and the design, launch and management of PeaceNext.org. Prior to the Council, she worked for Amnesty International's Urgent Action Network and AI’s Stop Violence Against Women Campaign. Alisa has also served as Education Director at Fresh Start Women's Foundation in Phoenix, Arizona.
Alisa holds a B.A. in Humanities, an M.A. in Religious Studies and wrote her thesis on Thomas Merton's Theology of the Self as Influenced by Christian Mysticism and Zen Buddhism. She went on to study Contemplative Social Action at Naropa University. Alisa is a graduate of Women Unlimited and was selected for participation in the Emerging Leaders of Chicago program sponsored by the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network (YNPN). She was also awarded a scholarship to present at the 2010 North American Interfaith Network (NAIN) conference. Contact Alisa Roadcup
Executive Associate
Amelia Perkins
Amelia Perkins has studied and worked in the areas of religion and the arts. After receiving a Masters of Theology from Harvard in 2005, she received a Sheldon travel fellowship to research Eastern Orthodox monasticism in Greece. Amelia has worked as a researcher at the Harvard Center for the Study of World Religions, where she helped shape the exhibit content for the Museum of World Religions in Taiwan. She also worked for Dharma Master Hsin Tao at One Center in New York to connect Taiwanese Buddhists to the wider interreligious community, mainly through interfaith arts events. She presented a Religious Art and Healing Workshop at the Parliament of the World's Religions in Barcelona in 2004. In her role as executive associate, she is working on arts programming for the 2009 Parliament, as well as general support of the executive strategies and administration.
Contact Amelia Perkins
Partner Cities Associate
Ms Brittany Loveisky
As Partner Cities Associate Brittany Loveisky supports the Partner Cities Network and the 2014 Parliament Site Selection Process. She also conducts outreach to communities and host organizations that held Pre- & Post-Parliament Events in over 70 cities worldwide. In addition, she works to build strategic partnerships and develop innovative synergies in effort to grow and diversify the initiatives and constituency of the Partner Cities Network. Leading up to the 2009 Parliament, Brittany served as the Group Outreach Liaison managing all religious, spiritual, and academic groups attending the Parliament. In Melbourne she worked onsite to fortify relationships with potential donors, existing funders, foundations, and guiding philanthropic institutions. Previously, Brittany worked at the Loyola University Museum of Art as a Special Exhibit Associate and is a graduate of Loyola University Chicago where she majored in Religious Studies and Journalism.
Contact Brittany Loveisky
Website Development Manager
Mr Matthew Black
Matt Black is committed to harnessing the power of the internet to bring people together. He holds a B.S. in Computer Science from Penn State University and an MDiv from McCormick Theological Seminary. He has worked for years as a web developer for organizations in both the corporate and non-profit sectors, currently focussing his work in both the interreligious movement and peacemaking. He is also a singer/songwriter and lives in an intentional community in Chicago.
Contact Matt Black
.jpg)
Volunteer Coordinator
Ms Connie Sulkin
Connie Sulkin was a preschool teacher and director for over thirty years. She then developed preschool programs at The Field Museum and was an early childhood consultant for the Chicago Public Schools. During much of this time she volunteered for the Parliament and attended many Parliament activities at the 1993, 1999 and 2004 meetings in Chicago, Cape Town, and Barcelona.
Contact Connie Sulkin.
Cara Stevens graduated from St. Olaf College with a B.A. in Religion and Art History. Cara served as a state advocate for survivors of domestic and sexual abuse in Minnesota as well as a campus educator to prevent sexual assault in college settings. In addition to non-profit marketing, Cara’s main interests include Holocaust studies, women’s right advocacy, and theological exploration of the arts. As an intern at the Council, Cara is working on both strengthening the Parliament’s Ambassador Program and general marketing and communications support.
Contact Cara StevensEmily M. Rostkowski will spend June and July at the CPWR as the
Beatitudes Society Summer Fellow. After graduating from Marquette University with a B.A. international affairs, Emily spent nearly three years volunteering in Bolivia, Chile, and Ecuador. During her time at a Catholic organization in Quito that serves "shoe-shine boys" and their families, she came particularly interested in the way that religious thought influences development projects. This led Emily to attend Catholic Theological Union (CTU) in order to explore not only the Catholic Church’s response to international poverty and justice issues but also to study the potential for interreligious collaboration in these areas. She graduated in May with an MA in theology from CTU and will pursue an MSFS in international development at Georgetown University this fall.
Contact Emily Rostkowski
Intern
Intern
