MEET OUR TEAM
Rev. LeDayne McLeese Polaski joined the MeckMIN staff October 1, 2019. She served on the staff of the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America ~ Bautistas por la Paz for 21 years, ending as Executive Director. She loved the international nature of that work, but after a long period of discernment, left that role hoping to find a similar position focused on work on the local level. She’s thrilled to have fulfilled that hope by becoming part of MeckMIN’s mission to promote interfaith collaboration to foster understanding, compassion and justice.LeDayne and her husband Tom are active members of Park Road Baptist Church. Their daughter Kate is a student at Meredith College.LeDayne loves “being outside and moving” so she loves walking, hiking, swimming, kayaking and more. She’s a avid reader and her favorite part of the week is completing the New York Times Sunday crossword.
Executive Director
Christian, Baptist
“One cannot level one’s moral lance at every evil in the universe. There are just too many of them. But you can do something, and the difference between doing something and doing nothing is everything.”
–Daniel Berrigan
Rev. LeDayne McLeese Polaski has been the Executive Director of MeckMIN since October 2019. She previously served on the staff of the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America ~ Bautistas por la Paz for 21 years, ending as Executive Director, and she began her career as the Minister of Youth at Myers Park Baptist Church. LeDayne and her husband Tom are active members of Park Road Baptist Church. Their daughter Kate is a recent graduate of Meredith College. LeDayne loves “being outside and moving” so she loves walking, hiking, swimming, kayaking and more. She’s an avid reader, a crossword enthusiast, a podcast addict and an obsessive fan of Jeopardy.
Finance & Communications Manager
Bahá'í
"Consort with the followers of all religions in a spirit of friendliness and fellowship." ~ Bahá'u'lláh
Jenni Brannan brings to MeckMIN more than two decades of experience in finance, regulatory compliance, and organizational management. After serving on MeckMIN’s Board of Directors, including as Treasurer, she stepped into the role of Finance Manager to help strengthen the organization’s financial systems and sustainability.
Jenni’s career spans leadership positions with major financial institutions where she focused on compliance policy, process improvement, and fiscal oversight. In addition to her corporate background, she has worked extensively with nonprofits, supporting strategic planning, budgeting, and financial reporting.
She is passionate about MeckMIN’s mission of building bridges across lines of difference and sees sound financial stewardship as a vital part of supporting that work.
MEET OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS
MeckMIN’s Board of Directors work together as representatives from Bahá’í, Buddhist, Christian, Islamic, Jewish and Quaker houses of faith. All are welcome in our community.
NIMA NEMATOLLAHI
Board President
Litigation Attorney at McGuireWoods LLP
[Bahá'í]
ERKAM ADIGUZEL
Secretary
Software Engineer in Test, Bank United
[Muslim]
MERYEM
ASKIN-ALTINOK
Salesforce Release Administrator
[Muslim]
VANESSA CLARK
Entrepreneur, Dreamland Media, Assistant Guru, and Urbandustrial Culinary
[Catholic - Jesuit]
IVAN MAYERHOFER
Associate Chaplain for Buddhist Programs, Director of the Davidson Meditation Initiative, Coordinator of Interfaith Programs - Davidson College
[Buddhist]
KENDAL P. (KIP)
MOBLEY
Professor of Religion at Johnson C. Smith University (JCSU)
[Christian]
PILAR PÉREZ
YMCA Association Director of Family Engagement, Part-time pastor to Commonwealth UMC in Charlotte
[Christian]
TERRI VILAGOS
Board-Certified Chaplain and Manager of Mission & Education Spiritual Care at Atrium Health Carolinas Rehabilitation
[Christian]
KYNDRA FRAZIER
Vice President
Founder & CEO,
KYND Consulting, Inc.
[Interspiritual (Christian & Ifa Practitioner)]
JOHN JAYE
Treasurer
Retired Attorney
[Jewish]
KRISTEN ANDERSON
Communication Director,
Western North Carolina
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
[Christian]
ASHER KNIGHT
Senior Rabbi & Interim-Executive Director Temple Beth El
[Jewish]
PAUL McALLISTER
President of Global Leaders in Unity and Evolvement (GLUE)
[Christian]
KAREN MODELL
Red Cross Disaster Spiritual Care
[Charlotte Friends (Quaker) Meeting]
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DIEGO TORRES
Consultant, Center for Digital Equity, Queens University
[Christian]