Board of Directors
Nidal Abu-Shukhaidem - Nidal Abu-Shukhaidem is a native of Jordan, was born in Kuwait City Kuwait, lived in Saudi Arabia and Jordan and, since 1988, has lived in United States. He received a Bachelors of Science degree (1993) in Computer Engineering and a Masters of Science degree (2000) in Software Engineering from the University of Illinois at Chicago. He works at Lucent-Alcatel developing mobile technology products that are sold globally. Nidal has been a volunteer teacher at the Islamic Cultural Center in Northbrook, where he teaches the Arabic language and Islamic studies to the children of Muslim-Americans residing in the Chicago area.
Leonard Lehrer - Leonard Lehrer is a painter and printmaker whose work has been seen internationally for three decades. He has had more than forty solo exhibitions in the United States, Germany, Austria and Spain; he has had five one-person museum exhibitions. Museums that house examples of his work include the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the National Gallery of Art and the Library of Congress, Washington, DC; the Philadelphia Museum of Art; Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris; the Sprengel Museum of Art, Hannover, Germany; and some ninety other public collections. His work is cited in various books, anthologies and catalogues. He has also participated in national and international symposia including the First International Conference of Fulbright Scholars, Delphi, Greece, 2000. Former Director of the School of Art, Arizona State University and Chair, Department of Art and Art Professions, New York University, he now serves as Dean, School of Fine and Performing Arts, Columbia College Chicago. Lehrer also serves as a Trustee of the International Print Center New York (IPCNY), Trustee of apexart, NYC, and Trustee of the International Centre for Culture and Management (ICCM), Salzburg, Austria. Recipient of numerous awards including the Grand Prize of the Heitland Foundation, Celle, Germany, and two Fulbright Scholar Program Grants to Greece, both in printmaking.
Joseph F. Putignano- Born to a Catholic Italian family in the heartland (Chicago), Joe’s childhood experiences were richly influenced by his Italian immigrant parents and grandparents’ storytelling around the family table. With a cultural thirst for learning Italy’s different regions, his passion led him to examine different town inhabitants, their housing needs and the manner in which each regional language influenced its people and their surrounding architecture. He received his Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture from Illinois Institute of Technology, with further graduate studies specializing in the grammar of architecture. At the University of Illinois, he further developed his area of expertise, researching and studying historic preservation. He was an Associate Professor of Architecture at Harrington College of Design for two years. During his 10–year tenure as project manager for a large national retailer, he was accountable for construction management of new full-line retail stores. The interplay between culture and urban planning dovetails into his focus as a registered Illinois architect and professional builder today. He currently specializes in upper bracket residential and historic renovation and is a company member of the Builder’s 500 Group, presented by Qualified Remodeler. Various homes he designed have been published locally in Chicago Magazine (2001 to present) and nationally in Architectural Digest and Florida Design. He was the recipient of the Chicago AIA Award for CTA expansion in Rosemont, Illinois and was awarded Excellence in Housing Design 2004 by Home Builders Association of Chicago. Marrying his passion for stunningly beautiful places with his commitment to high performance building technology, his architectural masterpieces allow their inhabitants to flourish and realize their individual potential while working within the spaces he creates.
Shahin Shahida- Born, in Tehran, Composer, Producer and Guitarist Shahin Shahida is one of the first published Iranian musicians to incorporate traditional Persian scales with Western rhythms and compositions. His early schooling at the Tehran International School introduced him to Western education, culture and music, providing a backdrop for his early musical interests. Self-taught on old blues, folk and R&B, he often collaborated with Persian musicians equally intrigued by his Western style of guitar playing as he was with their traditional Persian format. His move to the US unleashed his talent as a songwriter and galvanized his natural facility to create innovative ensembles, the most successful of which was his collaboration with Sepehr Haddad. After performing at the White House, they went on to record an entire body of compositions named One Thousand & One Nights. This collection of 11 songs attracted record company executives at Higher Octave Music, who signed the artists onto a five album contract. Released in the fall of 1994, this debut CD, produced by Grammy Nominee Producer William Aura (producer for Ottmar Leibert) made its way to #6 on the Billboard Charts. Since then, the duo has released five more CDs including Aria, e, East West Highway, Nostalgia, Pascha and World Café all at the top of the Billboard Charts. Throughout his musical career, Shahin used his voice as a messenger for peace, collaboratively performing and recording with renowned musicians from all over the world, including one of the most prominent Iranian tar and oud players, Shahram Mir Jallali, Persian Santur Virtuoso, Ardavan Kamkar, (on Peter Gabriel’s Real World label,) Iranian composer and Santur player, Kazem Davoudian, Cameroonian singer, Armand Ntepe, and Afghani singer- songwriter, Humayun Khan. Shahin has appeared on NPR, CNN, ABC, and the BBC, always referring to his successful collaborations with other international artists as examples of efforts to enrich the human experience. The moto that graces his CD covers As in music, so in life, best describes Shahin’s personal approach to life.
Peter Siu- Peter is a JD/MBA student recently selected into Northwestern University Kellogg’s Non-Profit Management Board Fellows Program for 2007-8. He graduated with honors from MIT with a degree in Urban Studies and Planning. He currently assists the World Bank as a Strategic Communications Consultant in microfinance, where he facilitates communications planning for a multimillion dollar technology innovation program. Fluent in Cantonese and English, conversant in Mandarin, French, Dari, Spanish and Dutch, he has served as Communications Consultant for UNICEF/China and as a Research Assistant for the National Bureau of Economic Research. In his five year tenure at Chemonics International, he launched and directed international reconstruction programs, including ambitious irrigation infrastructure projects and extensive employment programs in Afghanistan. Among his numerous accolades, he was the recipient of the 2006 DaimlerChrylser Reaching Out Scholarship and was further honored when Gap, Inc. selected him as a Corporate Social Responsibility Scholar. He will serve on the Board of GATC for 2007-09 with a focus on strategic planning /operations management.
Wendy Sternberg, MD – GATC Founder & Executive Director
For her work on GATC, Wendy has been featured numerous times as a WBEZ/NPR guest on Eight Forty-Eight and Worldview, the BBC, Al Jazeera, and UN Radio. She also appeared as a guest on ABC 7 News, and Channel 5 News Chicago, WTTW TV and WCIU TV. She and GATC have been the subject of numerous articles in The Chicago Tribune, The Chicago Sun Times, The LA Times and The Washington Post, The Chicago Reader, JUF News, , among many others. She was named Finalist for the 2003 Fourth Annual Susan F. Berkowitz Award for Teaching Tolerance to Children, was featured as a “Woman to Watch” in Chicago in the January 2004 issue of Today’s Chicago Woman Magazine, and was nominated in 2004 for Crain’s Chicago Business 40 Under 40 Award. She was featured in ChicagoMagazine, August 2005 issue, and was elected to the Illinois Arts Council’s Ethnic and Folk Arts Program Advisory Panel for 2006-9. Cook County Treasurer, Maria Pappas presented her with the 2006 Award of Excellence and she was featured in a cover story by Chicago Jewish News as one of the “10 Jewish Chicagoans of the Year.” (2006) This Spring, she presented GATC to the National Conference of Children’s Museums’ Diversity in Action Showcase, (Chicago,) to Consul Generals, Mayors, university deans & students, architects and the media (Casablanca, Morocco) and also to members of Congress, DC-based interest groups and the media at the Alliance for Middle East Peace Conference on Capitol Hill. She is the recipient of the 2007 Publicity Club of Chicago’s Silver Trumpet Award in Issues Management & the Rotary Club’s 2007 Frankel Ward for her work in the social justice arena.
Wendy practices Internal Medicine part-time and is Teaching Faculty at Northwestern University Medical School. She earned both a BA in French literature with a semester abroad in Paris, and an MD at University of Pennsylvania. With international educational grants and foundation support over the years, she studied Hebrew, led a Project Renewal Program for children in an Israeli North-African resettlement community and extended her medical studies to include Third World pediatrics in India. Among her many hobbies, she has Israeli folk danced for 18 years.
2008 Rising Board Members:
Sana’a Hussien, Attorney & Co-Founder, Cohen & Hussien
President of the Arab-American Bar Association
Board Member of the Amman Committee, Chicago Sister Cities International
Mike Walters, Anchor, CBS News
Miryam Zayed, Teacher, Chicago Public School
Genesis at the Crossroads’ Advisory Board
Monsour Ajami – Arabic Language and Cultural Consultant (part-time consultant) Of Lebanese heritage, Professor Ajami completed eight years of study on the oud and vocal training at the Lebanese National conservatory and went on to pursue both a BA and MA in Arabic Language and Literature at the American University in Beirut. He completed his Masters and his PhD in Arabic Literature and Islamics at Columbia University and has taught at UC Berkely, Columbia, Princeton and Washington Universities He is extensively published and has recited poetry and given lectures and concerts of Arabic music internationally. He currently is the United Nations’ Arabist Reviser/Translator for New York and Geneva.
Esther Hershenhorn –Children’s Publishing Consultant (part-time paid & volunteer) Former elementary teacher, Esther teaches Writing for Children at Ragdale, an artist’s residency program in Lake Forest, Chicago’s Newberry Library and the University of Chicago’s Writer’s Studio. She serves on the Board of Directors of The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and is the Regional Advisor of the organization’s Illinois Chapter. She was named SCBWI Member of the Year in 1998 and won the 2003 Sydney Taylor Book Award for Younger Readers, 2002 Best Books and 2003 citation for Special Merit.
Mark Johnson – Community Outreach Liason (volunteer) Recently named Executive Director of the Fellowship of Reconciliation/USA, Dr. Johnson is a graduate of Ohio’s College of Wooster holding a Doctorate in Sociology from Columbia University, with alternative service as a conscientious objector in Lebanon, living and teaching in Beirut for six years. For the majority of his professional career, he served as Executive Director of the YMCA Silver Bay Association conference and training center, and as a volunteer in environmental, arts, peace and social justice organizations. Over the past six years, he has been active with the Alliance for Middle East Peace and has supported the development of leadership and training programs for young adults at the Jerusalem International YMCA, as a member of the staff of the YMCA of the USA. Mark serves on non-profit boards of Associated Solo Artists/Creative Leaps International, Schools That Can and the International Student Exchange Program, the advisory boards of Girls Learn International and Whole Women Healing, and is an executive committee member of the Leadership Forum.
Stacy Keach – Artisic Advisor, Music Theater Consultant (part-time volunteer) A graduate of UC Berkeley, the Yale School of Drama, and England’s London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art where he was a Fulbright scholar, he has won three Obies, Best Actor Tony nomination and the Helen Hayes Award, the prestigious Millennium Recognition Award for contribution to classical theater, A Golden Globe, Best Actor Emmy nomination for his TV performance in Hemingway andLifetime Achievement Award by the San Diego Film Festival
Robert Khoury-Robert Khoury is a Palestinian-American whose diverse childhood experiences living in Beirut, Lebanon, Jordan and Rhode Island drew him to Princeton University and eventually to Saudi Arabia with Price Waterhouse. At Duke University’s MBA program he co-coordinated the first business school venture in Egypt and Israel to expose MBA students to cross-cultural business practices, which included a private session with Shimon Peres. Rob worked as a derivatives trader for First Chicago/Bank One and NewArc Investments. He currently is Project Manager for GETCO. He focuses on fundraising as well as Arab-American community outreach.
Lori Lippitz – Music Consultant (part-time volunteer) Band-leader, vocalist and guitarist Lori Lippitz expanded her BA in music to include graduate work in Slavic studies at the University of Chicago. She founded the Maxwell Street Klezmer Band, launched the Midwest’s Klezmer revival, organized an annual Midwest Klezmer and Yiddish Music Institute, the Maxwell Street Junior Klezmer Orchestra and co-founded the Yiddish Arts Ensemble. She lectures on Klezmer music, is a frequent guest on NPR and Public TV and has multiple recordings. Lori helped create GATC’s original Arab-Jewish Fusion Project.
Hazaan Alberto Mizrahi – Music Consultant (part-time volunteer) Greek-born Tenor, Alberto Mizrahi, is the internationally renowned Hazzan of Anshe Emet Synagogue and one of the world's leading interpreters of Jewish music. He has thrilled audiences at worldwide recitals, Sephardic concerts, symphony concerts, and opera. His repertoire, spanning nine languages, makes his performances unique in the field. He has appeared as a soloist in Avery Fisher, Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center and on a world-wide PBS broadcast concert of the CANTORS: A Faith in Song, The Dave Brubeck Quartet in Gates of Justice and The 50th Newport Jazz Festival, to name a few.
Harold Ramis – Documentary Filmmaker (part-time volunteer) got his start in comedy at Second City. He produced, directed co-wrote numerous films including: Animal House, Stripes, Ghostbusters, Caddyshack, Groundhog Day, Multiplicity, Analyze This and The Ice Harvest. He is on the Board of Facets Cinema, The Goodman Theater and is involved in After School Matters and the national program, Journeys in Film. He has served as Principal for a Day at Senn High.
Elaine Waxman – Educational Outreach, Editor (part-time volunteer.)
Elaine is a researcher and lecturer at The University of Chicago, where she is pursuing a doctoral degree in Social Services Administration. Elaine’s areas of research include low-wage labor markets and economic justice issues. She has been involved in numerous arts-related endeavors in the Chicago area, having served as Chair of the Friends of Gallery 37 and as a Member of the Visiting Committee for Gallery 37 in the Schools. She is a member of the Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation in Evanston, where she coordinates social justice activities for children and families and is a Member of the congregation's AIDS in Africa initiative. GATC is privileged to have such a committed activist bring her community outreach, fundraising, visionary brainstorming talent and editorial skills to our book writing project and organization.