Hartford Seminary Welcomes Five New Trustees

At its meeting on Nov. 4, 2019, Hartford Seminary’s Board of Trustees unanimously approved five new members.

They are as follows:

Noora Brown

Noora graduated from the Hartford Seminary MA program in Islamic Studies and Christian-Muslim Relations in 1997. Noora holds a certificate in Pastoral Care and Counseling from St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center (1997) and a Certificate in Gerontology from the Worcester Consortium of Colleges (1993) in addition to some MBA coursework. Noora is a founding board member of the Farmington Valley American Muslim Center Inc. (FVAMC), in Avon, CT (2013) where she is the Chairwoman for Interfaith and Outreach. For the past five years, Noora raised funds and organized an interfaith food packaging event in conjunction with the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service to stock local area food pantries with ready-to-make food products. To date this project has provided 150,000 meals for families in need and has consistently generated over 200 volunteers from more than 20 different faith-based and civic organizations in the area. Also, in coordination with the Town of Avon Social Services and Foodshare, Noora coordinates the Mobile Foodshare stop and volunteers at FVAMC, which distributes food every other Tuesday throughout the year. Noora is an active leader and advocate of interfaith dialogue and a public speaker at libraries, schools, senior centers, and houses of faith. She is active in many organizations in the Farmington Valley, such as 100 Women Who Can and the Hunger Action Team. Married to Khamis Abu-Hasaballah, together they have three children. Noora is also a licensed professional Realtor® in CT.

John Cordani

John is an intellectual property attorney at the Hartford-based law firm Robinson & Cole. His practice involves litigation of patent, trade secret, trademark, and antitrust cases across the United States. In addition to his role on the Hartford Seminary Board of Trustees, he currently serves as an Adjunct Professor at Quinnipiac University School of Law and provides pro bono services to indigent defendants in criminal appeals. John is a member of the United Church of Christ and lives in Prospect, CT, with his wife, Elizabeth, and two children, JD and Mary.

Imran Eba

Imran Eba is a partner at Action Potential Venture Capital (www.actionpotentialvc.com) in Cambridge, MA and invests in technology enabled healthcare companies and companies that are pioneering bioelectronic medicines – i.e., wearable or miniaturized implantable devices that stimulate nerves to treat a broad range of human diseases.

Before joining Action Potential, Imran was in the Worldwide Business Development group of the pharmaceutical company, GlaxoSmithKline, working in a variety of business development and investing roles.

Imran is a co-founder and board member of the Taha Collective (www.tahacollective.com) a diverse and inclusive organization that aims to create a community for the residents of the Boston metro area looking to learn about Islam and get closer to God through the teaching of the Prophet Muhammad and his family.  Imran is also the principal of the Ahlulbayt School for Knowledge (ASK, www.askne.org), a weekend religious school that aims to inspire young scholars to learn about their Islamic faith and inculcate a sense of commitment to the communities they live in.  Imran serves on the Advisory Board of the Harvard University HealthTech Fellowship and is on the Board of Ambassadors of the Brooke Charter School a K-8 public charter school network in Boston dedicated to getting underserved students to and through college.

Imran now lives in the Boston area with his wife, Hena and their four daughters.

Ojas Sampat

Ojas Sampat is a Managing Director in the Global Procurement and Third Party Management (GP/TPM) team at Cigna. He leads the TPM function for the non-IT/business segments at Cigna and oversees an spend portfolio of approximately $2.4 billion. He started his career at Cigna in the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Center of Excellence where he assisted business areas with their BPO engagements to improve profitability and accelerate growth through the use of global delivery models. Prior to joining Cigna, Ojas headed the Medical Devices Practice at Infosys where he was responsible for sales, account management, service delivery, and solution development for the sector. His experience also includes sales and account management leadership roles at consulting companies like Accenture and Cap Gemini. Ojas has a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Bombay. He was born in Bombay, India, moved to the United States in 1998, and currently lives in West Hartford with his wife, Rachana. They are proud of and immensely enjoy raising their children, Parth and Parami.

Thomas C. Hofstetter

Tom has more than 20 years of experience in the financial services industry, having worked at UBS and Morgan Stanley before joining Wells Fargo Advisors as a Managing Director – Investments in 2016. He currently serves as a member of the Executive Committee for the Westport Arts Center, the President of the Trustees of Temple Lodge #65, and as a Board Member and Vice Commodore for Saugatuck Harbor Yacht Club. He previously served as a member of the Board of Masonicare in Wallingford, CT (2005-2010), a Member of the Development Committee of the Fairfield County Chapter of the American Cancer Society (2003-2007), and was a Board Member for the Westport Chamber of Commerce (1995-1998). Tom graduated from the University of Connecticut in 1988. Prior to joining the financial services industry, Tom spent three years as an Artillery Captain in the U.S. Army. He currently resides in Westport with his wife, Veronica, and sons, Noah, Henry, and Oliver.