Tony Khashram
(kctj GOTJ GMT) CEO & CO-FOUNDER
A Jerusalemite with family ancestors going back 800 years in the City of Jerusalem, Tony Khashram holds an MA in Travel and Tourism and has extensive years of management experience. Mr. Khashram is the Managing Director of Aeolus Tours & Levant Ta’am. Past President of the Holy Land Incoming Tour Operators Association, and Past Chairman of the Coordinating Catholic Aid Organizations, in addition to consulting on destination/tourism projects and for small startup businesses. He is part of several charitable organizations, Past Vice President of St. Vincent de Paul Society and Past Vice President of The Jerusalem Christian Community Development Association. He is also on the board of the Jerusalem International YMCA. Member of several international Christian Orders.
Rev. DR. Fursan Ayed Zu`mot
SPIRITUAL ADVISOR
Rev. Dr. Fursan Ayed Zu’mot of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Reformation in Beit Jala. Born in Amman – Jordan 1980. Grew up in the Anglican (Episcopal) Church, called to ministry in 2003 in the Anglican Church, studied Theology at the United Theological Collage of the West Indies in Jamaica. Ordained in the Anglican Church in November 2009. Joined the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land and appointed pastor of the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in Jerusalem in 2014 until 2024. Pastor Zu’mot is also serving the Church’s Ecclesiastical Court of Appeals in the capacity of judge.
Rev. Dr. Maria Leppäkari
INTERNATIONAL aDVISOR
Rev. Dr. Maria Leppäkari has cultivated a professional relationship with Jerusalem for more than three decades. Her work as Director of the Swedish Theological Institute in Jerusalem (STI) from 2015 to 2022, and later as Country Director and FELM Center Director for the Finnishvangelical Lutheran Mission (FELM) from 2025 until now, reflects her longstanding commitment to the region. She encourages people to build bridges of understanding and trust through intercultural and interreligious dialogue, entrepreneurship, and friendship. Rev. Dr. Leppäkari holds a Doctor of Theology degree (2002) from Åbo Akademi University, Finland, and is a Docent (Associate Professor) in Comparative Religion. Her expertise spans academic research, higher education, leadership, entrepreneurship, and organizational management. In 2019, she became the first woman to be ordained as a pastor in Jerusalem within the Arabic-speaking congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL). In 2026, Rev. Dr. Leppäkari was knighted in Jerusalem and invested as a Chevalier of the Permanent Preceptory of the Holy Land of the Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem (SMOTJ).
Ranan Issa
BOARD MEMBER & GENDER FOCAL POINT
Ranan Issa is the Gender Justice Ministry Director at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land. She holds a Master’s in Gender and Diversity Studies from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Ranan believes that young people are the future of the country, with influential and innovative voices. They need to be inspired, empowered, and equipped to become agents of change who can build a better future where everyone is included and equal.
DEACON Bassem Thabet
cHAIRMAN & CO-FOUNDER
Bassem Thabet has more than 27 years of experience working with local and international organizations in the field of peacebuilding, development, advocacy, and humanitarian aid. He is the Director of Operations at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land. Previously, he worked for eleven years with the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) as their Office Manager. He also worked with the Health, Development & Information Policy Institute (HDIP) as a Program Manager. He has a master’s degree in leadership and Christian Ministry from Luther Seminary in Minnesota, USA in 2023, and another Master of Science Degree in English-Arabic Translation and Interpreting from Heriot Watt University, Scotland, UK in 1998.