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Faculty of Business & Government
Religious Freedom & Human Dignity Initiative

2026 United States of American Delegates

Delegates

  • President, Polynesian Cultural Center, United States

    Alfred Grace is the President of the Polynesian Cultural Center on the north shore of Oahu, Hawaii. Alfred grew up in New Zealand and then moved to Hawaii for an engineering apprenticeship and later attended BYU Hawaii. He had hoped to become a tour operator for New Zealand, but ended up working for the PCC, where he then became president. The PCC is one of Hawaii’s top destinations, having served more than 40 million visitors since opening in 1963.

  • Director, International Government Relations, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, United States

    Justin Harding is the director of international government relations for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a position he was appointed to in September of 2024. He is based in Salt Lake City, Utah. In his role as director of international government relations, he oversees and helps to direct the work of the Church’s international offices, coordinating across multiple Church departments and entities on international government relations matters. From 2021 to 2024, Justin and his wife served as the mission leaders of the Pennsylvania Philadelphia Mission for the Church, overseeing the work of hundreds of volunteer missionaries, ensuring their temporal and spiritual needs were met. Prior to his service as a mission leader, he spent 22 years in public service, serving as either a senior staff member or as the chief of staff to 5 different elected officials (3 members of the US Congress, and 2 governors). During his professional life, he has lived primarily in Washington, DC, and Utah. In his prior professional roles, Justin traveled abroad extensively in support of the work of the US Congress and advancing the interests of the state of Utah. He graduated with honors from Southern Utah University (SUU) in political science and was recognized as an outstanding young alumnus. He serves as a member of the Board of Trustees at SUU.

  • Program Lead and Adjunct Assistant Professor for the Legal Studies Program in the Faculty of Business and Government; Faculty Chair and Advisory Board Member for the Religious Freedom and Human Dignity Initiative, Brigham Young University–Hawaii, United States

    Jennifer Kajiyama Tinkham graduated from BYU–Hawaii as valedictorian in 2002, studying political science and Japanese. As an undergraduate, she worked in the U.S. Senate for the Secretary of the Senate, the Hawai'i Attorney General's Office, the Hawai'i State Supreme Court, and the Hawai'i State House of Representatives. Jennifer also served a mission in the Japan Nagoya Mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Upon her return, she attended the J. Reuben Clark Law School in Provo, Utah, with an emphasis in international law and alternative dispute resolution. As a law student, Jennifer was editor-in-chief of BYU's International Law and Management Review Journal, and selected as a top oralist from the Western Region in the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition. Jennifer also completed a Master of Public Administration at the BYU Marriott School of Management, specifying her studies in non-profit and human resources management. Jennifer is a licensed attorney and a certified court mediator, divorce mediator, and arbitrator. She has worked for several judges and law firms, working on cases ranging from business law to worker's compensation and most recently, family law. Jennifer is the Legal Studies Program director at BYU–Hawaii, professor for the legal studies classes, and serves as the Prelaw Society faculty advisor.

  • Director, International Center for Law and Religion Studies, and Rex E. Lee Chair and Professor of Law, J. Reuben Clark Law School, Brigham Young University, United States

    Brett G. Scharffs is the Rex E. Lee Chair and Professor of Law at Brigham Young University’s J. Reuben Clark Law School, and Director of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies. He earned a BSBA in international business and an MA in philosophy from Georgetown University, a Bphil in Philosophy from Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar, and a JD from Yale Law School, where he was Senior Editor of the Yale Law Journal. Scharffs has helped organize certificate training programs on religion and the rule of law in Beijing, Vietnam, and Myanmar. He is co-author with W. Cole Durham, Jr. of the casebook, Law and Religion: National, International, and Comparative Perspectives. Scharffs has written more than 100 articles and book chapters and has made more than 300 scholarly presentations in 30 countries.

  • Director and Associate Professor in the Faculty of Religious Education; Advisory Board Member for the Religious Freedom and Human Dignity Initiative, Brigham Young University–Hawaii, United States

    Aaron Shumway earned an undergraduate degree from BYU–Hawaii and a law degree from Washington & Lee University School of Law in Lexington. Upon graduation from law school, Aaron began practicing business and real estate law at Ashford & Wriston LLLP in Honolulu. In 2012, Aaron left the practice of law to take a position with Seminaries & Institutes for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He taught religious education classes to college-aged young people, trained volunteer teachers who taught religion classes to high schoolers before school, and worked with church leaders to strengthen young people in their faith. Beginning in 2013, he taught a Fundamentals of Gospel Teaching class at BYU–Hawaii as an adjunct professor in Religious Education. On August 1, 2021, Aaron began his service as the Director of Religious Education at BYU–Hawaii.

  • Associate Director, International Center for Law and Religion Studies (ICLRS), United States

    Hannah Smith worked for U.S. Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito and as Becket Law’s Senior Counsel where she secured four landmark Supreme Court victories. Hannah has appeared before Congress and on national media and is a sought-after speaker. Hannah received her BA from Princeton University and her JD from BYU Law School (Order of the Coif), where she served as the Law Review’s Executive Editor. Hannah received BYU’s Alumni Achievement Award, the Women-in-Law Leadership Award, and the James Madison Award. Hannah worked in private practice at national law firms in Washington, D.C. Hannah served as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in France. She is a Director for the Religious Freedom Institute, a chair on the JRCLS’s Religious Freedom Committee, and a member with her husband John, on the ICLRS International Advisory Council.

  • Academic Vice President and Professor, Brigham Young University–Hawaii, United States

    Isaiah Walker was born and raised in Keaukaha, Hilo, Hawaiʻi. After joining The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1990 and graduating from Hilo High School in 1991, he moved to Lāʻie and attended BYU–Hawaii. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in history from BYU–Hawaii in 1997 and earning a master's degree from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, Isaiah completed a PhD. from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Isaiah studies Hawaiian history and colonialism from a unique perspective, from the vantage of Hawaiian surfers. Focusing primarily on a Hawaiian surfing club formed on the North Shore of O‘ahu in 1976, his dissertation analyzes the history of surfing, resistance, and masculinity in Hawai‘i. Contending that the ocean surfing realm was a sanctuary and borderland for Hawaiians, his research creatively analyzes a space where Hawaiians were empowered, and colonial hierarchies were often turned upside down. Portions of his research have been published as articles, found in the Spring 2008 issue of Contemporary Pacific and the November 2005 issue of Pacific Historical Review. He is currently a professor and department chair in the History Department, where he teaches World, Hawaiian, and Pacific Islands history.

  • Director, David O. McKay Center for Intercultural Understanding; Assistant Professor, Faculty of Culture, Language and Performing Arts; Faculty Advisor for the Religious Freedom and Human Dignity Initiative, Brigham Young University–Hawaii, United States

    David Whippy is an Assistant Professor at Brigham Young University–Hawaii, teaching in the Intercultural Peacebuilding program. His class basket contains Intercultural Peacebuilding, Intercultural Mediation, NGOs and Conflict Resolution, Peace Ecology, Restorative Justice, and Peace Education. He also serves as the Director of the David O. McKay Center for Intercultural Understanding, supporting student peacebuilding initiatives that provide students with knowledge, experience, and the practical tools necessary to be influencers for peace in their homes, their communities, and in the world.

  • President, Hardwired Global, United States

    Tina Ramirez Lee serves as the Founder and President of Hardwired Global and brings 25 years of experience in human rights, foreign policy, and education. She has developed Hardwired’s innovative human rights education programs, which have been proven to increase legal and social protection of religious freedom in numerous countries. Previously, she served as a foreign policy advisor for the U.S. Congress where she founded the bipartisan International Religious Freedom Caucus and negotiated legislation and policies to protect religious freedom in nearly 30 countries. Tina has published extensively, including a series of children’s books, an encyclopedia of human rights, a history of Iraq, and several articles, including on her educational research in the Journal of Social Science Education.  Her work with teachers and students in Mosul, Iraq to overcome extremism was recently featured in the Emmy-nominated PBS series The Good Road.

  • CEO, Span Construction & Engineering, Inc., United States

    King Husein is the Chairman and CEO of Span Construction and Engineering, one of the United States’ largest metal building construction companies. The company specializes in the engineering and construction of large steel buildings. It is also the exclusive builder for Costco Wholesale worldwide. King received a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Bombay. He also received his master’s degree in civil and structural engineering from Brigham Young University. King was born in Bombay, India.

  • Department Head and Charles Redd Professor of Religious Studies, Utah State University, United States

    Dr. Ravi M. Gupta holds the Charles Redd Chair of Religious Studies and serves as Department Head of History at Utah State University. He has published numerous journal articles and five academic books, including, most recently, "Hinduism: the Primary Sources," co-authored with Dr. Jeffery Long and published by Oxford University Press. Ravi has received four teaching awards, a book award, a National Endowment for the Humanities summer fellowship, and two research fellowships at Oxford. He is a Permanent Research Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies and a past president of the International Society for Hindu-Christian Studies. He enjoys teaching World Religions, Hinduism, and Sanskrit at Utah State. Prior to arriving at USU, Ravi taught at the University of Florida, Centre College, and the College of William and Mary. He is regularly invited to speak to both academic and devotional audiences around the world on topics related to Hindu practice and philosophy.

Resources

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Marigold image in middle of team circle with the words: One Family, One Humanity, BYU-HAWAII 2026