COLUMBIA, Mo. (RNF) – The Religion News Foundation is pleased to announce the appointment of Muhammed Chaudhry and Judith Golub to its Board of Trustees effective immediately.

“In Muhammed and Judy, we are thrilled to attract such high quality and competent board members who will be able to contribute immediately,” said Elaine Justice, Chair, Religion News Foundation (RNF).

RNF advances religious literacy through its websites, resources, networks, training seminars, video and events and other programs tailor-made for media professionals, corporate clients and the general public. RNF is the parent of Religion News Service, LLC, an 84-year old independent, nonprofit professional journalism organization that covers religion, spirituality, culture and ethics.

“My faith as a Muslim and my nationality as an American both drive me to champion universal freedom of conscience,” said Muhammed Chaudhry. “And the first step to successfully achieving that goal is education and religious literacy. This is a major reason I’m both excited and grateful to join RNF and build on an already remarkable organization for the benefit of all people.”

For most of his life, Mr. Chaudhry has immersed himself in educational causes, uniting leaders of the business, technology and academic communities to advance those causes.

After earning a degree in business, graduating from the Stanford Executive Leadership Program and working in the private sector as a brand marketer with Clorox Company and Dazzle Multimedia, Mr. Chaudhry’s passion for philanthropy led him toward a career in the nonprofit sector.

As past President and CEO of the Silicon Valley Education Foundation (SVEF), Mr. Chaudhry forged fruitful partnerships with world-leading firms in Silicon Valley, such as Oracle, Cisco, Google, HP, SAP, Target and Walmart, among others. As a result of his efforts, these firms have actively supported SVEF’s key education initiatives to improve student performance in science and math, better prepare students for college, and advance the future of global innovation by educating our workforce on 21st-century technological and business challenges.

Since 2008 alone, Mr. Chaudhry has raised over $100 million for numerous education initiatives. Under his leadership, SVEF has become the go-to education foundation serving Silicon Valley, focusing on new and innovative ways for students to learn while closing the achievement gap — especially for under-represented and minority students.

Mr. Chaudhry also serves as Communications Director for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA.  He currently serves on the boards of American Leadership Forum Silicon Valley and the National Science Foundation EHR. He also serves on several advisory boards. In 2017, he joined the board of the Madison, Wisc.-based Wall Family Enterprises.  Mr. Chaudhry resides in San Jose, Calif., with his wife and twins.

“I am honored to join RNF’s Board of Trustees and be given the opportunity to work to advance RNF’s critically important mission of advancing religious literacy. Such literacy is vitally important today given that issues of religion and religious freedom top the U.S. domestic policy agenda and the foreign policy agendas of the U.S. and other countries,” said Ms. Golub.

Ms. Golub most recently was the Director of Congressional Affairs & Policy and Planning at the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), an independent federal commission that monitors religious freedom abroad and makes policy recommendations to the President, Secretary of State, and Congress. She served on the Commission staff from January 2009 until December 31, 2017.

Before joining USCIRF, she was the Executive Director of the San Francisco-based Immigrant Legal Resource. She also was the Senior Director of Advocacy at the American Immigration Lawyers Association, and Legislative Director at the American Jewish Committee, both based in Washington DC. She brings decades of experience working with Congressional staff, federal agencies, and the White House; planning, coordinating and implementing legislative strategies; developing, policy, media and grassroots issue advocacy campaigns in support of legislation and policies; developing and working in coalitions with like-minded organizations to help create effective networks; and working with the media.

Ms. Golub has focused on a broad range of issues during her career including religious freedom, hate crimes, due process protections, civil rights, refugee and asylum issues, and immigration.  Ms. Golub lives in Washington, DC.

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About Religion News Foundation
Religion News Foundation (RNF), the parent of Religion News Service, LLC, is an independent, nonprofit educational and charitable foundation affiliated with the University of Missouri School of Journalism, which advances religious literacy through its websites, resources, networks, training seminars and events and other programs tailor-made for media professionals, corporate clients and the general public. RNF facilitates and encourages discourse about religion in a neutral and informative way without endorsing or promoting any particular belief system or point of view.  See https://religion.news