In 1976 Dr. Katz and his wife began their lifelong studies with Sheikh M.R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (rad.). Soon afterward Dr. Katz began to integrate his experiences with the teachings of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen into his medical practices. He states, “Bawa taught that God is the active principle in healing, and that all healing is actuated by God’s Qualities. Only God is the Healer. We, through God’s Qualities, can become the ‘scalpel in the hand of God’. A person becomes truly human through acting with the intention of God’s Qualities: Love, Compassion, Truthfulness, Patience, Tolerance, Equality, Justice, etc. By acting with this intention, one is an instrument of the healing Qualities of God.”

Professionally, Dr. Katz practiced family medicine in the Greater Sacramento of California in both rural and urban settings. He is also currently an Associate Professor of Family Practice at the University of California Davis School of Medicine, and has taught medical students and residents in his clinical practice. He is a retired Medical Director of a Federally Qualified Health Center and is currently a volunteer preceptor if medical students at CommuniCare Health Centers in Woodland, California.

Dr. Katz is currently the president of the California Branch of the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship.

Went to school at Saint Francis Elementary, Christian Brothers High, has a degree from the University of Georgia where he also played football for the Bulldogs. Came back to Sacramento where he had several jobs in marketing and video production and took over as program director for Sacramento Faith TV in 2008 where he also changed his faith to become a Seventh Day Adventist. Ron serves his community through their family business Code 3 catering, as well he is the CEO of his own company Aexion Inc invents and provides life-saving products for First Responders and the public at large.

Jason has a passion for urban ministry, ecumenical and interfaith work. He served two years in the Lutheran Volunteer Corps working for Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service to coordinate the Detention Watch Network in Baltimore, Maryland and the Seminary Consortium for Urban Pastoral Education in Chicago, Illinois.

The Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer of which Jason serves has a nearly 60 year history in Sacramento of social activism including protesting the Vietnam war, calling and ordaining the first woman for Lutherans in the region, activism around racial redlining in the housing market, and taking a public witness in support of gays and lesbians in 1989. The current focus of the congregation is confronting the abuse of the earth by working to create a community garden on its vacant acre lawn and encouraging study of local food systems. Gethsemane Lutheran Church has a long history of interfaith and ecumenical work. Currently the mission emphases of Gethsemane are in support of those facing domestic violence and older adult ministries.

In addition to serving as a Reserve Chaplain to the United States Airforce (Travis Air Force Base), Jason has done work as an Associate Chaplain for Sutter Medical Center and served on the hospital’s Bioethics Committee and the Professional Consultation Committee for the Spiritual Care Department. He has also been a member and officer of the Interfaith Counsel of Greater Sacramento and appointed representative on the North State Ecumenical Commission. He has chaired the planning task force for the Sacramento Gay and Lesbian Center and is a speaker in the Center’s educational outreach, is a board member of Opening Doors which resettles refuges in Sacramento. In the Sierra Pacific Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in American (ELCA), Jason serves on the Policy Council of the Lutheran Office of Public Policy, has served as a Conference Dean and Treasurer, completed a term on the Candidacy Committee of the Synod, and serves on the synod’s Hunger Committee. Jason sits as an invited member of the faith advisory boards of Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones and Sacramento City Police Department. An avid runner, Jason is a member of Frontrunners Sacramento and enjoys swimming and yoga.

Carol’s dedication to volunteerism began when she was a teenager, working with many youth programs, was a camp counselor and led many fundraising events. Reaching twenty- one years of age, she joined the Young Adult Division of the Jewish Federation of San Francisco and had the privilege of being tutored in community service by their Executive Director, the late Lou Weintraub. That started a lifestyle that inspired Tikkun Olam (the repair of the world) as an integral part of each day.

Moving to Sacramento allowed Carol to pursue many community opportunities that resulted in the best job for a volunteer, President of the Jewish Federation of the Sacramento Region.

“During my position as President, I received a true gift courtesy of Jon Fish, then President of the Interfaith Community of Greater Sacramento.”

“I was invited to the “Power of One” dinner and found a magnificent community that I would never have known about without being invited through my Federation presidency. From that time on, my life was enhanced by sharing in the customs, traditions and gifts of the much Greater Sacramento Region.”

“I was thrilled to be asked to join the board of the ICGS where friendships grow deeper and my life has opened to the power of joining together to create a better world.”