Staff (2007-08)

Suzie Armstrong

Suzie Armstrong is the Vice President of The Interfaith Alliance and The Interfaith Alliance Foundation, non-partisan grassroots organizations dedicated to uniting people of faith and good will to promote democratic values, defend religious liberty, challenge religious bigotry, and reinvigorate informed civic participation. As vice president, Suzie oversees day-to-day operations and serves as chief of staff to the organizations’ president, the Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy. Suzie manages a senior leadership team responsible for directing the organizations’ activities in the areas of grassroots organizing, public policy, religious outreach, communications and development. Since joining the staff in 1997, Suzie has led The Interfaith Alliance’s successful efforts to expand its national membership and build relationships with foundations and individual major donors. She holds a B.A. in government and English from The College of William & Mary and is currently pursuing a Master of Arts degree in Organizational Management at The George Washington University. Among other volunteer activities, she currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the Mountain Retreat and Learning Centers in Highlands, North Carolina and the Board of Directors of the Faith & Public Life Resource Center in Washington, DC. Suzie lives in the Glover Park neighborhood of Washington, DC.

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Denny Davidoff

Denny is a Senior Consultant on The Interfaith Alliance Foundation staff and Director of LEADD. She was among the Founding Directors of The Interfaith Alliance in 1994. Denny is currently a member of the Trustee Council of the World Conference of Religions for Peace, a Trustee of Meadville Lombard Theological School (Unitarian Universalist) in Chicago, and Board Chair of the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Larger Fellowship. Her volunteer career with the Unitarian Universalist Association began in 1971. She has served the movement as Treasurer and President of the UU Women's Federation, Chair of the General Assembly Planning Committee, Trustee-at-Large and as the elected Moderator of the Association from 1993 to 2001, presiding over the Board of Trustees and the annual General Assembly. She is an active member of The Unitarian Church in Westport, CT. After graduating from Vassar College in 1953 where she majored in political science, Denny wrote promotion copy for The New Yorker, TIME and LIFE Magazines. In 1959 she transferred her writing skills to the Connecticut advertising world and eventually founded her own advertising, marketing and public relations agency, Davidoff & Partners, Inc. which she sold in 1990 in order to pursue a fuller volunteer life. She continues to consult with businesses on issues of marketing to this day. Denny and her husband Jerry live in Norwalk, CT.

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E.Edwin Brooks, Jr.

Ed hails from Virginia, earning his B.A. Degree in contemporary civilization from Washington & Lee University. After college he joined the Peace Corps and taught for two years in an orthodox Hindu boarding school in India. He returned to the U.S. to take up studies at Yale University Divinity School, receiving a B.D. Degree in 1969 with an emphasis on teaching religion in high school and in pastoral counseling. Ed is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. His teaching career at Northfield Mount Hermon School, Northfield, MA, spanned thirty-six years, where Ed taught courses in biblical studies and world religions. He also collaborated with colleagues to develop interdisciplinary courses in the areas of genetics and ethics, violence and nonviolence, and environmental studies. From his Peace Corps experience Ed has developed an ongoing interest in the practice of Hinduism in village India. Since his retirement in 2005, he continues to pursue interests in international education and interfaith dialogue.

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Virginia K. Brooks

Ginny retired in 2005 from the Northfield Mount Hermon School, Northfield, MA, after a 36 year career as Teacher, Dormitory Director and Chaplain. She taught courses in the introductory study of religion, biblical studies, human development and personal growth, and feminist theology and collaborated with colleagues to develop interdisciplinary courses in women’s studies, freshman humanities, and alternatives to violence. As co-Chaplain with her spouse, Ginny developed a broad ministry of hospitality and pastoral care for interfaith groups, peace and justice initiatives, spirituality and worship. She served as Chair of the Religious Studies Department from 1974-1980 and 1997-2005 honing her skills in administration, mentoring, curricular development, and the process of institutional change. Ginny earned a B.A. in Religion, magna cum laude, from The College of Wooster and a B.D. with focus on Biblical Studies and Christian Education from the Yale University Divinity School and is an ordained Presbyterian minister. She has traveled extensively, particularly in India where she and her husband spent five weeks earlier this year.

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Jerry Davidoff

Jerry is a retired lawyer, now in his 81st year. His formal education included a B.A. from the University of North Carolina and a law degree from Yale. He was in the private practice of law for 45 years, during which, among other involvements, he served as president of the local bar association, was a founder and board member of Connecticut Women’s Educational and Legal Fund and of the Connecticut Divorce Mediation Council. Civic activities included nine years on the Westport, Connecticut, board of education, two years as chair, service on the town’s legislative body for four years, and chairing the board of the Westchester Institute for Training in Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy for five years. Jerry is a trustee, secretary and on the executive committee of The Alban Institute. He has served the Unitarian Universalist Association as an elected member of the Ministerial Fellowship Committee for eight years, six years on the Commission on Appraisal, and served as chair of several committees for the UUA’s board of trustees.

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Glen Johnson

Glen retired in 2004 after nearly 40 years in the political science department at Vassar College teaching courses on international politics, US foreign policy, South Asian politics, international law and international human rights. At Vassar, he was the founding director of the International Studies Program and twice served as Acting President while President Frances Fergusson was on sabbatical. After retiring, Dr. Johnson worked part-time for two years at the American University in Cairo to help establish their American Studies Program. Glen has been a Fulbright Professor in India on two occasions including a three year stint as Director of the American Studies Research Center in Hyderabad. He has also worked as a volunteer with the Eleanor Roosevelt Center at Val-Kill, a not-for-profit organization using Mrs. Roosevelt’s country home for educational projects to further the causes she worked for during her life time. Dr. Johnson graduated from Georgetown College in 1958 and received his Ph.D from the University of North Carolina.

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Sipra Bose Johnson

Sipra retired in 1996 after teaching anthropology at the New Paltz campus of the State University of New York for over 30 years. Professor Johnson taught a variety of courses including The Cultures of India, The Culture of China, Culture of the Middle East, Cultural Anthropology, General Anthropology, World Peasantry, and The Modern World. She also served as the Special Assistant to the Vice-President for Academic Affairs for five years. Her special interest in India, both personal–she spent her childhood there before immigrating to the United States with her parents–and academic, was broadened with more then four subsequent years living and working in India, where she lectured widely and had opportunities to do research. Sipra is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of North Carolina in International Relations and holds an MA in Anthropology from Columbia University. Presently she is involved in the work of the Center for Lifetime Studies (CLS), Marist College’s program for the continued intellectual growth of retired peoples. Glen and Sipra Johnson have served in recent years as co-lecturers for Vassar and National Geographic study tours of India. They met at The University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

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Janice Marie Johnson

Janice is a curriculum developer and trainer at Educators for Social Responsibility (Metro New York) and instructor at The New School University. She is the acting director of religious education at the Community Church of New York Unitarian Universalist. She is an occasional consultant, working primarily in the areas of conflict resolution, anti-racism and cross-cultural issues. Janice was a presenter at the Parliament of World Religions, July 2004 in Barcelona, Spain. The Symposium on Interfaith Education sponsored her two workshops entitled Tools for Conflict Resolution in Interfaith Dialogue. She is a native of Jamaica and earned her B.A. from Fordham University.

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Henrietta Mountz

Henrietta Mountz retired in 2000 after teaching global studies and American history for 30 years in the Wappingers Central School District. At John Jay High School, she founded a gay-straight alliance and served as the advisor to the school’s chapter of Youth Against Racism. Mrs. Mountz was a nominee for N.Y.S. Teacher of the Year in 1999 and recipient of the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, SUNY, New Paltz, 2000. Presently, she directs a TAH grant which provides professional development for secondary teachers of American History at Marist College. Mrs. Mountz serves on the Geriatric Subcommittee of the Dutchess County Mental Hygiene Board and the Board of Trustees of Vassar-Warner an adult home for seniors. Mrs. Mountz received a B.S. and M.S. in Secondary Education from the State University of New York at New Paltz in 1971.

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Preetmohan Singh

As Deputy Director of Public Policy at The Interfaith Alliance, Preet works with TIA’s 185,000 members across the country and representatives on Capitol Hill to defend religious liberty; challenge hatred and religious bigotry; and reinvigorate informed civic participation. From 2002-2005, he served as National Director of the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF), a national non-profit organization. In addition to his work with TIA, Preet is currently working with an award-winning documentary filmmaker on a film about post-9/11 hate crimes and previously produced a multimedia educational project promoting respect for all children in schools. Among other volunteer activities, Preet serves on the National Board and Executive Committee of the national American Civil Liberties Union and has worked at Sikh youth camps across the country for the last six years. Preet is a graduate of Georgetown University and also studied at Oxford University in England.

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