Meet the Team
SARAH RIGGS REED
Sarah joined the Center for Interfaith Relations in 2012 and became Managing Director in 2014. She has worked with a talented team to expand the Festival of Faiths as a physical audience, and a global virtual audience on both live stream and our YouTube channel. Prior to joining the Center, she directed fund development, business training, and program operations in local community development efforts, concentrating both in the workforce and urban business development services. Sarah also worked in finance in Boston and in Louisville. A graduate of Wellesley college, Sarah received her Master in Public Administration from the University of Louisville. Sarah is a life-long Episcopalian with early family experiences in ecumenism as the daughter of missionary parents in Colombia.
HALIDA HATIC
Halida leads the Center’s fundraising efforts, connecting diverse stakeholders to our vision, mission and values. Halida believes fundraising is an act of love and sacred work. For her, it is an honor to help people unlock their greatness by inviting them to join the Center in building a community true to our motto of Many Faiths, One Heart, Common Action.
Halida also infuses her passion and commitment to protecting public health and the environment into all of CIR’s daily operations and ongoing programming. Before joining the CIR staff, Halida worked for ten years in the environmental sustainability field, including six years at the New England office of the Environmental Protection Agency. Halida is a 2014 graduate of the Bioneer’s Cultivating Women’s Leadership program.
Halida is a native of Cincinnati. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in International and Development Economics from the University of New Hampshire and a Master of Arts in Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning from Tufts University.
REBECCA KATZ
Rebecca supports communication with stakeholders, speakers, and community members at the Center. She also manages CIR’s social media channels. Rebecca believes in the power of the people and taps into her organizing skills to engage CIR’s community online.
Prior to joining CIR, Rebecca focused on developing civic skills in youth. Rebecca has worked with AmeriCorps, YouthBuild Louisville, Inspire Kentucky, and the Network Center for Community Change to facilitate and support opportunities for young people to elevate their voices and engage in public life. She has collaborated with diverse young adults, neighbors, and volunteers on a number of successful community building initiatives, and has developed curriculum on service learning and civic engagement.
Rebecca holds BA in Religious Studies from Western Kentucky University and spends much of her free time dancing.
DAPHNE WALKER
Daphne is the Graphic Designer in the Center’s media department. She is a firm advocate for access to information and believes that utilizing graphic art and pictures is crucial to outreach, especially for underserved populations.
Daphne immerses herself in the world of social change. She co-facilitates GLOW: Girls League of the West, a program that encourages and embraces Black Girlhood. Daphne is also working towards creating and managing her own program to teach Black youth graphic design skills.
Prior to working at CIR, Daphne was a student at Jefferson Community and Technical College where she graduated from the Communication Arts and Technology Program with an associate’s degree in Advertising Design. In 2017, Daphne received several American Advertising Federation “ADDY Awards” (formerly known as the “Louie Awards”) in recognition of her work, including two Silver Awards, two Gold Awards, and a Judges’ Choice Award.
KIM BECKER
Kim supports the Center as the Event Logistics Coordinator. Kim works with all CIR staff and a variety of vendors to produce the annual Festival of Faiths and other Center for Interfaith Relations events. Kim does everything from writing contracts to arranging travel and transportation for Festival speakers to working with catering for receptions, making sure our events are seamless.
Kim works with several other non-profits through her own company, Emerald Meeting & Event Planning. She holds a B.Sc. in Hotel, Restaurant & Institutional Management from Drexel University and an MBA from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Kim is a proud dog mom and her free time is spent volunteering for Saving Sunny, Inc., a Louisville based non-profit committed to rescuing domestic animals.
NICO BOTONES
Nico supports video editing and production for the Center’s burgeoning media department. Nico believes in the power of storytelling and exploring new perspectives through film.
In addition to his work with the Center, Nico coaches high school marching bands in Louisville and volunteers with A Cappella and Barbershop singing workshops and festivals. Nico belongs to a top 10 International medalist Barbershop chorus, The Kentucky Vocal Union, and leads his own barbershop quartet, In the Mix.
Nico was born in Manila, Philippines. He moved to the U.S. in 2006, and became an American citizen 2015. Nico holds an Associates of Arts in Communication Arts Technology from Jefferson Community & Technical College.
WILL HOLLIS
Will coordinates all office activities at the Center. He manages finances with vendors, guest relations, and front-line communications and branding.
Will is from Cincinnati, and received his MFA from Western Kentucky University. He is a poet, community arts advocate and his work has appeared in Caravel, Literary Orphans, the Sourland Mountain Review, Longleaf Pine, and Fourth River. His writing follows rivers, investigating the emotional, economical, and ecological impact they have on the people who live on their banks. He finds the silence of woods to be the most sacred sound.
BRIANNA WRIGHT
Brianna joined the Center in 2018 and currently serves as development associate. In this capacity, she supports our ongoing fundraising efforts, which put our mission into action.
In addition to her work at the Center, she takes every opportunity to mentor young African American youth on their journey to love themselves and learn about their history.
Brianna also owns a natural haircare line, From My Roots, with the purpose to help African American women embrace their natural hair through health.
Say Hello!
Address
Center for Interfaith Relations
415 W. Muhammad Ali Blvd
Louisville, KY 40202
Phone
Office | 502-583-3100
Fax | 502-583-8524
