Executive Director

The Venerable Carole Maddux, Archdeacon, The Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

Carole Maddux has extensive experience in advocacy, leadership, policy, and nonprofit management. Ordained as a deacon in the Episcopal Church in 2006 and appointed archdeacon of the Diocese of Atlanta, encompassing north and middle Georgia, she has a passion for pursuing God’s mission in the world.

Archdeacon Maddux has served on multiple boards in the community including local service nonprofits (both faith-based and secular), statewide healthcare organizations, and an international religious organization. She is both founder and executive director of the Georgia Interfaith Public Policy Center. Archdeacon Maddux has 24 years of experience in nonprofit management, 16 of which are at the executive level.

She has an undergraduate degree in communications from Georgia State University and master’s degree in Health Care Policy and Administration from Mercer University.

Born in Waycross, GA, she is a ninth generation Georgian with a deep love of Georgia and Georgians.

Board of Directors

The Reverend John Moeller, Chairman of the Board

The Reverend Moeller has more than 25 years’ experience in ministry and nonprofit leadership. Before joining Inspiritus in February 2017, he served for five years as the CEO and President at Action Ministries in Atlanta. Under his leadership, Action Ministries expanded its service territory and increased its revenues while revitalizing its relationship with its United Methodist Church roots. Prior to Action Ministries, The Reverend Moeller served for ten years as chief executive officer of MUST Ministries in Marietta.

He is ordained as a minister in the United Methodist Church and served as Pastor to UMC congregations in North Georgia from 1991 to 2001 before being called to work in nonprofit human and social services. The Reverend Moeller retains his ordination status and currently serves as an ordained elder.

As an outdoor enthusiast, The Reverend Moeller spends much of his leisure time hiking, biking, and pursuing other activities in nature. He is a graduate of the University of Georgia and received his Master of Divinity from Emory University.

Soumaya Khalifa, Executive Director, Islamic Speakers Bureau, Vice Chair

Mrs. Khalifa is the founding Executive Director of the Islamic Speakers Bureau of Atlanta (ISB), an organization she and a group of Atlanta leaders launched in August 2001. The ISB has been active in the metro Atlanta area and its volunteers have presented to thousands in metro Atlanta and surrounding areas about Islam and Muslims.

Under her leadership, the ISB launched several key initiatives. The initiatives include the 100 Influential Georgia Muslims, 40 Under Forty Georgia Muslims, and the newest initiative of the ISB Leadership Institute. In 2017, the ISB partnered with the Atlanta Mayor’s office to host the first Ramadan Iftar at the Atlanta City Hall. In 2018 and 2019, the Atlanta Mayor’s Iftars were attended by over 250 people.

Soumaya has received many awards and recognitions for her work with the ISB include the Phoenix Award, the highest award given by the Mayor of Atlanta to a citizen, being named a Women Making a Mark by the Atlanta Magazine, and named a Women of Achievement by the Atlanta YWCA. In addition to her work with the ISB, Khalifa is president of her intercultural consulting firm Khalifa Consulting. Soumaya is also an adjunct faculty at Emory University’s Center for Continuing Education where she offers courses on intercultural communication and Human Resources. Khalifa serves on Grady Foundation’s Grady Ambassadors, the board of the Concordia Forum, and is a past board member of AIB TV and SIETAR USA. Soumaya received the FBI’s Director Leadership Award and completed the FBI’s Citizens Academy. She is a 2015 Leadership Atlanta Alum.

Ann Cramer, Secretary of the Board

Mrs. Cramer is retired after a long and successful career at the IBM Corporation, where she started as a Systems Engineer in Jacksonville and retired as its Director for IBM Corporate Citizenship and Corporate Affairs for the Americas.

Ann is an active member of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, where she has served as Senior Warden of the Vestry. Ann is committed to and involved with the improvement of conditions for families and children, equity, social justice and breaking the cycle of generational poverty.

In support of those priority faith and focus areas, Ann served as chair of the Atlanta Public School Superintendent Search Committee, as chair of the Atlanta Partners for Education, and as chair of Public Broadcasting Atlanta (PBA). She has also been a part of the Georgia Foundation for Public Education and WorkSource Atlanta, the ARC Educated Subcommittee, Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education (GPEE), the Carter Center Board of Councilors, Communities- in-Schools Georgia, the Georgia Chamber’s Education Committee, Voices for Georgia’s Children, Georgia Shakespeare Festival, and the Georgia Chapter of the International Women’s Forum.

Howard Mosby, Senior Vice President, Grady Healthcare System, Treasurer of the Board

Mr. Mosby is a twenty-six-year employee of the Grady Health System. He is Vice President of Faculty Contracts Administration.

Grady Health System is the largest public health system in the state of Georgia. It serves as a major teaching institution for the Emory University School of Medicine and the Morehouse School of Medicine. He is responsible for managing a budget of more than $250 million. Mr. Mosby also serves on the Emory University School of Medicine, the Morehouse School of Medicine’s Graduate Medical Education Advisory Committee, and is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives.

He is also a member of the Georgia Association of Medical Staff Services, as well as the National Association of Medical Staff Services. Mr. Mosby is a Georgia licensed Certified Public Accountant, and a Chartered Global Management Accountant, and is an active member of the Georgia Society of CPA’s (GSCPA) and serves on that group’s Board of Directors. He is an alumnus of the 2008 Class of Society’s Leadership Academy. He is also an active member in the American Institute of CPA’s (AICPA).

Currently, he serves as Chairman of the 1st Choice Credit Union Board of Directors, immediate past Chairman of the East Lake YMCA Advisory Board, former Treasurer of the Georgia Charitable Care Network, and former Treasurer of the National Black Caucus of State Legislators. Mr. Mosby also serves on the newly formed Atlanta-region Transit Link Board.

Chester Fontenot, Jr., PhD, Baptist Professor of English and Director of the African American Studies, Mercer University, Macon, Georgia, Director

Dr. Fontenot earned a B.A. in Theoretical Math and Political Science from Whittier College in 1972 and a Ph.D. in Comparative Cultures from the University of California at Irvine in 1975. He did postdoctoral study at Yale University and attended Christian Theological Seminary. He came to Mercer in 1999.

Dr. Fontenot is the author and/or editor of eight books, including two works in the influential series, “Studies in Black American Literature,” and the first book-length study of racial theorist Frantz Fanon. He has also published over 60 articles and numerous book reviews and newspaper articles.

Dr. Fontenot was a founding member and first chair of the Modern Language Association African-American Literature Section and editor of the Black American Literature Forum. He has received numerous awards, and his biography is included in the National Biographical Center in London, England.

Dr. Fontenot has earned a national and international reputation in his fields of academic research and has lectured at more than 40 universities in the United States and as a visiting scholar at six universities in four countries abroad. He is the general editor of the Mercer University Press book series, “Voices of the African Diaspora.” He has also served as a consultant for more than 30 years for multiculturalism, diversity, and inclusiveness efforts by institutions.

The Right Reverend Frank Logue, Bishop, The Episcopal Diocese of Georgia, Director

Frank Logue is the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia, which covers the southern two-thirds of the state.

A native of Alabama, he moved to Georgia when he was six. Frank graduated from Georgia Southern University in 1984 and worked as a photographer for two daily newspapers, the Warner Robins Daily Sun and the Rome News Tribune. With his wife, Victoria, he hiked the Appalachian Trail in a single hike in 1988. The two wrote seven books together on hiking and the outdoors, and wrote for several magazines before Frank went to seminary in 1997. Upon graduation, he and Victoria and their daughter, Griffin, worked with others from 2000-2010 to start King of Peace Episcopal in Kingsland, Georgia. During that time Frank discovered a passion for ecumenical and interfaith work, joining with others to do more than any faith community could do on their own.

From 2010-2020, he served as an assistant to the previous bishop of Georgia. He was ordained bishop in May 2020. Frank continues to enjoy photography, taking pictures of the people and places he encounters while driving Georgia backroads as bishop.

Leo Smith, CEO, Engaged Futures Group, LLC, Director

Leo Smith is the founder and principal of Engaged Futures Group L.L.C., a public affairs, government relations, and social technologies consultancy. He joined the Georgia Interfaith Public Policy Council in 2023. Recognized for political bridge-building and groundbreaking political consulting, he has over 25 years of experience leading social, cultural, and business transformation. Serving as a regional NAACP President, Smith founded the cross-racial New River Ecumenical Alliance and a regional Human Relations Council; both organizations continue to provide bridge-building service in Virginia and beyond. Mr. Smith is a licensed minister through the African Methodist Episcopal Church and served as a minister at Saint Philip AME Church in Blacksburg, VA.

Smith was the founding co-lead of The Democracy Resilience Network in partnership with The Carter Center. Today, he continues to promote the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision of nonviolent democracy as Special Advisor on Democracy at The Martin Luther King Center for Nonviolent Social Change.

A father of two teenagers at The Westminster Schools, he was a founding advisor of Atlanta Classical Academy after working to win public charter school legislation in Georgia. Smith is also a founding board member of Northwest Classical Academy, where he ended his term on the board last year.

The Reverend Taryn Strauss, Acting Senior Minister, Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta, Director

Rev. Taryn Strauss was raised by civil rights activists in Chicago and spent her formative adolescent years learning at the feet of justice makers in Knoxville, Tennessee.

A lifelong theatre practitioner, she served as the founding artistic director of Scapegoat Theatre Collective in Asheville, NC, while working as the education director of the Western North Carolina AIDS Project. In 2015, Rev. Strauss graduated from Union Theological Seminary in New York City where she studied with Dr. Cornel West and Dr. James Cone, among other luminary faith and justice leaders.

She now lives at the intersection of art, activism, and faith, in Decatur, Georgia.

The Reverend Kevin Strickland, Bishop, Southeastern Synod, The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Director

Prior to being elected as Bishop of the ELCA’s Southeastern Synod on June 2, 2019, Bishop Strickland served as the Assistant to the Presiding Bishop, Executive for Worship. He served in the churchwide office since August of 2014.

Born and raised in Lexington, SC, Bishop Strickland is an honor graduate of Newberry College, Newberry, SC with a Bachelor of Arts in Religion and Philosophy and a minor in History. He also obtained a Master of Divinity from Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Columbia, SC.

In December of 2019, Newberry College awarded him a Doctor of Divinity. Bishop Strickland served as pastor of Holy Trinity Lutheran, Nashville, TN and St. Paul Lutheran, Maryville, TN prior and has served at Incarnation Lutheran, Columbia, SC, St. Philip’s Lutheran, Newberry, SC, Lutheran Church of Redeemer, Newberry, SC, and Mt. Tabor Lutheran, West Columbia, SC in the area of youth and family ministry. Bishop Strickland has served on various local and national non-profit boards and has a heart for justice and advocacy ministry. Bishop Strickland has been published in several worship and preaching journals and books.