Meet the team
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Muslim Co-President
M Irfan Qureshi
Irfan Qureshi (MiQ)
Mohammad Irfan Qureshi, also known as MiQ, is a dedicated social warrior with over 35 years of experience championing equity, justice, and systemic change. His work is driven by a deep commitment to building a fairer world — not only for his loved ones and family, but for all future generations. A passionate advocate and tireless changemaker, he brings both lived experience and strategic insight to every cause he supports. Outside of his advocacy work, MiQ is an avid sports enthusiast who believes in the power of play, teamwork, and perseverance — values that resonate in both his personal life and professional mission.
CHRISTIAN CO-PRESIDENT
Brendan Donnell
Brendan Donnell
Brendan began his engineering career with an unconventional OE in Pakistan, where he formed lasting friendships within both Muslim and Christian communities. These experiences inspired in him a deep appreciation for building bridges across cultures and faiths, and they continue to shape his involvement with the Council of Christians and Muslims (CCM), where he has been active for over a decade. He is married with two teenage children and is a member of the Windsor Park Baptist Church community on Auckland’s North Shore. Holding a Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Theology, he has long been interested in the intersection of faith and everyday life. He currently works as an engineering consultant.
Secretary
Nekhat Rahman
Nekhat Rahman
Nekhat Rahman was born and raised in Malaysia and has over 20 years of teaching experience in animation and visual effects. She is currently a lecturer with the Games Department at a college in Auckland. Nekhat is also a published illustrator, having recently released a children’s book celebrating the festive foods of Eid-ul-Fitr. With a deep interest in interfaith dialogue, Nekhat values her involvement with the Council of Christians and Muslims (CCM) as an opportunity to learn from her fellow Abrahamic brethren and to engage in thoughtful exchange with those beyond the Abrahamic faiths.
TREASURER
Aadil Baasha
Committee 3
Hassan Boulmarouf
Hassan Boulmarouf
Hassan is a software engineer from Morocco and a father of three. While living in Toronto, Canada, he came to deeply appreciate the incredible human diversity that God has created — a realization that shifted his perspective on the world and his place in it. During his time there, a simple message on a TTC bus — “Treat others the way you’d like to be treated” — left a lasting impression, inspiring him to engage more thoughtfully with people of different faiths and backgrounds, including his own Buddhist flatmate. A few years later, Hassan experienced another moment of clarity: he recognized how global systems contribute to conflicts and suffering, particularly in Africa. This awareness, following a period of reflection and personal struggle, led him to understand that meaningful collaboration is essential to confronting such challenges — but that true collaboration requires embracing one another’s differences at the deepest level. As a member of the Council of Christians and Muslims (CCM), Hassan values the opportunity to put these beliefs into action, fostering mutual respect, understanding, and genuine human connection across faiths.
Committee 5
Ilan Ari Blumberg
Ilan Ari Blumberg
Ilan grew up in a traditional Jewish family in Apartheid South Africa. As a young adult, he attended the first public speech by Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela following his release — a moment that symbolized hope and justice. Five years later, he was in the crowd in Tel Aviv when Israeli Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin was assassinated by a right-wing extremist, an event that left a profound mark on him. After completing his compulsory military service in the IDF, he joined his immediate family in New Zealand. Today, he works as an architect and lives in the beautiful Waitākere Ranges with his wife, daughter, son, and two mothers-in-law. As a family, they celebrate Shabbat and the major Jewish festivals, embracing these as opportunities to share their heritage, rituals, and beliefs with friends and the wider community.
Committee 2
Bruce Harrison
Committee 4
Hina Nasir
Hina Nasir
Hina Nasir (she/her) is a research designer/ artist, and community partner/ advocate based in Tāmaki Makaurau. A South Asian with whakapapa hailing from Lahore Punjab, Pakistan, working at the intersection of creativity, care, and cultural inclusion. With a background in human-centred design, facilitation, and governance, she brings her lived experiences supporting migrant, ethnic, faith-based, and underserved communities, and has been a visible advocate for social cohesion and family harm prevention in Aotearoa. Hina uses co-design, systems thinking, and visual storytelling to foster identity, voice, and connection — creating spaces where care practice is grounded in purpose, reflection, and cultural responsiveness.
Committee 5
Noel McGrevy
COMMITTEE 1
Aarif Rasheed
Committee 5
J Stirling
Joy Stirling
Joy first discovered Peacenic – A Picnic for Peace after coming across an article in the local newspaper. The idea of a mixed‑faith gathering in the park at Monte Cecelia struck her as both simple and powerful: an act of community, a gesture towards peace that anyone could take part in. Curious and encouraged by the spirit of the event, she went along. Year after year, Peacenic returned, steadily growing in meaning for those who attended. As the tradition took root, she felt increasingly drawn to support it more actively, eventually stepping forward to volunteer, joining the organising team and working alongside CCM members who had become familiar faces. Only later did Joy realise that this wasn’t her first encounter with CCM at all. Years earlier, she'd been involved in another community initiative led by one of CCM’s long‑standing Executive members—a connection that, at the time, had seemed incidental but now felt like part of a larger thread. With a background in public service—particularly in planning and compliance—and experience running a small business, Joy brought a useful understanding of Council and Local Board processes. All those paths, skills, and earlier community efforts had quietly converged, leading them back to Peacenic, the very event that had inspired them from the start.
Committee 5
Stuart Vogel
Stuart Vogel
Stuart Vogel is a retired Presbyterian minister and former Christian Co-President of the Council of Christians and Muslims (CCM). He has long held a deep interest in interfaith relations and is the author of a chapter in Christian–Muslim Relations: A Bibliographical History, Volume 16, focusing on the relationship between Christians and Muslims in 18th-century China.
Stuart believes that both Christianity and Islam, as faiths with firm convictions about the one true God, have much to gain through dialogue and collaboration in the pursuit of peace and justice. Through such engagement, he believes, we come to understand one another—and ultimately, to understand God more clearly.
Volunteers
Bilaal Rasheed
Become a member!
When you become a member, you tautoko CCM’s vision: building positive relationships between people of faith and nurturing a community grounded in manaakitanga—care, hospitality, and respect.
An annual membership of $10 helps cover essential costs such as simple hospitality at community gatherings and maintaining our website where we share stories and updates.
As a member, you’ll join our contact list and receive a few emails each year with important news and upcoming events.