Staff

Kendyl Crawley Crawford: Baptist

Director
kcrawford@vaipl.org
(804) 505-4624

Kendyl Crawley Crawford is excited to be at the forefront of congregational organizing efforts taking place in Virginia around the issue of climate change, which has far-reaching justice and moral implications, as the Director of Virginia Interfaith Power & Light.

As the former Richmond Conservation Program Coordinator for the Sierra Club Virginia Chapter, she worked on community organizing around climate change and toxic pollution. She has spent time closely organizing with faith communities around the state. She received a bachelor’s degree in Marine and Environmental Science from Hampton University in 2012 and has a Master’s of Science in Environment, Science and Society from University College London where she conducted research on social movement organizations mobilizing around air pollution in London on a Marshall Scholarship. In 2015, she successfully completed the Midwest Academy Organizing for Social Change Training. In 2018, she received a Master’s of Nonprofit Studies degree at the University of Richmond and was chosen to be Student Commencement Speaker representing her class.

Kendyl is also a member of the NAACP and has volunteered for several organizations including Chesapeake Climate Action Network and the City of Hampton Clean City Commission. She has received a Creating a Climate for Change Certificate of Recognition, National Hampton Alumni Association Outstanding Academic Achievement Award, a Proclamation from the City of Hampton, VA and also was declared a Young Futurist by theRoot.com.

 

Alex Fisher: Unitarian Universalist

Digital Organizing Manager
afisher@viapl.org

Alex Fisher has a background in digital advertising strategy and is excited to apply his communication and market research skills learned in the for-profit-world to the mission of environmental justice.

He received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from High Point University in 2012 and has a Master’s of Arts in Public Relations and Advertising from DePaul University in Chicago. In his free time Alex enjoys paddling on the James River with his wife and dog.

 

Steering Committee

Kim Bobo: United Methodist

Kim Bobo is a nationally known promoter of social justice who leads Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy’s advocacy, outreach, and development work. She literally wrote the book on faith-based organizing. Kim joined Virginia Interfaith Center in 2016, where she mobilized a historic faith advocacy campaign and played a leadership role in the statewide Healthcare for All Virginians coalition advocating Medicaid expansion, which passed in 2018. She moved to Virginia from Chicago, where she founded and served as executive director of Interfaith Worker Justice, the nation’s largest network of people of faith engaging in local and national actions to improve wages, benefits, and conditions for workers.

Prior to that Kim was national organizing director for Bread for the World and an instructor at the Midwest Academy. Born in Cincinnati, Kim has a B.A. in religion from Barnard College and an M.A. in economics from the New School for Social Research. She was married for 31 years to Stephen Coats, who died unexpectedly in 2013. Their twin sons, Benjamin and Eric, are organizing for economic justice in Illinois and Ohio. Kim married David Duvall Orr, a long-time Chicago reform politician, in 2017. She is a member of Wesley United Methodist Church, where she sings in the choir. Kim served as the choir director at her previous church for more than 25 years.

Richard Cizik: Evangelical Presbyterian, Anglican

Richard Cizik is the President of the New Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good, a faith-based organization committed to an agenda that fosters values consistent with an open and free society. Cizik participated in Climate Forum 2002, at Oxford, England, which produced the “Oxford Declaration” on global warming. He was instrumental in creating the Evangelical Climate Initiative, introduced in 2006. The following year, Cizik formed a group of scientists, including nobel laureate Eric Chivian and Harvard Professor Emeritus Edward O. Wilson, along with leading evangelical pastors and professors, to compose a groundbreaking document entitled “Scientists and Evangelical Call to Action.”

Cizik graduated with a B.A., cum laude, Political Science, Whitworth University (1973); Master of Divinity, Denver Seminary (1979); M.A., Public Affairs, The George Washington University School of Public & International Affairs (1985). In 2005, he was awarded the Ecclesiastical degree of Doctor of Divinity, honoris causae, The Methodist Episcopal Church, USA.  In 2014, Whitworth University awarded him a Doctorate in Humane Letters (D.H.L.) for his pioneering theological work in creation care. Cizik sits on advisory boards of the Institute on Religion and Public Policy, the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions at Duke University, and the Evangelical Environmental Network.

Aliya Farooq: Muslim

Aliya Farooq has a degree in Business Administration from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. She was born in Washington DC and raised in Maryland. Aliya moved to Chester Virginia in 1997, when her husband began his medical practice in Hopewell. She has enjoyed raising her four children in the Richmond area. She served on the Board of Directors at Iqra Academy of Virginia from 2000 to 2015, in the positions of secretary, vice-chair, chair and consultant.

Since then, Aliya has been an active member of several local interfaith organizations such as Richmond Interfaith Climate Justice League and Salaam Shalom. With Richmond Interfaith Climate Justice, she was able to assist in three educational programs regarding urgent climate change issues, held at the Islamic Center of Virginia. She has also contacted other local Mosques and has encouraged them to implement greener practices. Aliya believes that women are the backbone of all societies and have the power to create change within communities.

Monica Flippen: Baptist

Monica Flippen is a native of Richmond, VA, and is the youngest of four siblings. She is Vice President of KEi Architects, where she has been employed for over 18 years. She’s a member of the National Organization of Minority Architects and Construction Specification Institute.

Monica has a Bachelor’s of Science in Geology and Mathematics, a Master’s degree in Mathematical Sciences and is currently matriculating through the Master of Divinity Program at The Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology, Virginia Union University (STVU).

Monica is passionate about creation care and is an advocate for education and awareness within faith-based organizations. She currently serves as the student representative for the Green Seminary Environmental Certification Program at STVU.

Monica’s goal is to encourage, equip, and enlighten others to grow in the grace and knowledge of creation care.

Rev. Dr. Faith Harris: Baptist

Chair
faithybharris@gmail.com

Rev. Dr. Faith B. Harris is a minister, community organizer, and activist as well as adjunct faculty for The Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology, Virginia Union University (STVU).

She teaches several courses for STVU’s Center for Lifelong Learning (Continuing Education) and in its Master of Divinity degree program among them are Systematic Theology and Creation Care, Grassroots Organizing, and the Church, and has taught other practical theology courses for STVU.

Dr. Harris volunteers for a number of interfaith and grassroots organizations among them, Organizing for Action and Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy. She is passionate about serving the faith community advocating for creation care and other justice issues to improve the quality of life and faith for all.

She demonstrates her passion and faith through the diverse activities of community organizing, teaching, public speaking, and ministry in the university, the community, and the church.

She has earned the Doctor of Ministry Degree and the Master of Divinity degree, from Virginia Union University and a Masters of Sacred Theology, with an emphasis in Practical Theology, Christian Social Ethics, and Ecclesiology from Boston University School of Theology.

Mark Hoggard: Roman Catholic

Mark Hoggard is a disciple of Jesus Christ in the Roman Catholic Christian Tradition. He holds an M.Div. in Theology from St. Meinrad School of Theology, and an M.A. in Liturgical Studies from the the University of Notre Dame. He has over 30 years experience in parish ministry. For the last 15 years, Mark served as Director of Lifelong Faith Formation at the Church of St. Thérèse in Chesapeake, and was hired recently as Director of Adult Faith Formation at St. Kateri Tekakwith Catholic Church in Tabb, Virginia. He is passionate about liturgy, peace and justice issues (especially environmental concerns), and helping parishes and individuals discover their God-given talents and use them to spread the Gospel.

Mark serves on the Board of the National Association for Lay Ministry, and is a member of the National Association of Pastoral Musicians. He is trained in group facilitation methods by the Institution for Cultural Affairs USA, and is a Level I Strengths Coach with Gallup Faith Practices. He volunteers regularly with the Sierra Club.

He is a life-long resident of Virginia, and a member of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Hampton, where he serves in the choir, and on the Care for Creation Team. He lives in Hampton, Virginia, with his dog, Jake.

Michael Reilly: Catholic

Michael Reilly is a lifelong Catholic and member of St. Thomas Aquinas University Parish in Charlottesville. He is in formation to become a professed Secular Franciscan as a member of the Mount La Verna Fraternity, based at Church of the Incarnation in Charlottesville. Michael speaks and writes frequently about the connection between faith, food, and the environment. He completed the Animators program for the Global Catholic Climate Movement.

In his professional life, Michael serves as co-founder and executive director of Slow Money Central Virginia, a non-profit whose mission is to support the financial needs of Virginia’s small organic farms through 0% loans, land acquisition, and financial education. Michael started his career in banking and then worked for 15 years as an executive in the broadcast TV business before turning his attention to advocacy for local agriculture and food justice.

Michael serves on the board of directors for Grow Ahead, a worldwide non-for-profit that teams up with farmer organizations in Africa, India, Central & South America and other parts of the world to support climate resiliency initiatives through crowdfunding. Michael also serves on the board of Market Central, a nonprofit that administers the SNAP program and other functions for the Charlottesville farmers markets. He is on the planning team for the Charlottesville Food Justice Network, and he serves on an advisory committee for the Virginia Association of Biological Farming.

Michael earned an undergraduate degree in history from Yale University, and a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University. He lives in Charlottesville with his wife and four children.

Beth Roach: Longhouse Traditional

Beth Roach grew up immersed in brackish James River waters surrounding rural Surry County. During her childhood, there was a decade long fishing ban due to Kepone, a toxic chemical containment. This experience showed Beth how negligent human choices can devastate local environments.

Fascinated by the intersection of community, environment, and public memory, Beth earned her degree in History from James Madison University. She spent 7 years leading public programs that shared stories of communities and environments statewide for Virginia State Parks. As grants manager for the James River Association, Beth raised over $4 million for the James River, which has resiliently rebounded since her childhood.

An enrolled member and Tribal Councilwoman for the Nottoway Indian Tribe of VA, Beth actively leads environmental and storytelling programs, and she recently served as Vice-Chair for the Governor’s Advisory Council on Environmental Justice. In 2018, Beth co-founded the Alliance of Native Seedkeepers with a Tuscorara and two Monacans.

Beth joined Mothers Out Front in 2018 to expand this national group’s presence into central Virginia. As community organizer, she builds teams of mother advocates who implement climate action campaigns to create a more hopeful future for their children.