Zeidler Group Announces Appointment of Pardeep Kaleka as Executive Director and Sharon McMurray as Program Director

Pardeep Kaleka. Photo courtesy of the Zeidler Group.

[MILWAUKEE, WI, July 2, 2020] The Zeidler Group Board is excited to announce the appointment of Pardeep Kaleka, accomplished and respected community leader, as Executive Director of the Zeidler Group. Pardeep will remain as Executive Director of Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee. His work around Interfaith’s Restorative Practices aligns well with Zeidler Group’s services and creates opportunity for collaboration between the two organizations. With the transition, the Interfaith Conference will begin to share office space with the Zeidler Group, both now based out of Redeemer Lutheran Church on West Wisconsin Avenue.

Sharon McMurray. Photo courtesy of the Zeidler Group.

The Board is also pleased to share the good news that Sharon McMurray, long-time Zeidler Group Facilitation Leader, has accepted an ongoing position of Program Director. A community leader, activist, and mentor, Ms. McMurray was honored as the Zeidler Group’s 2019 Facilitator of the Year and is an expert in the Zeidler facilitation method.

Board Chair Susan Tyndall welcomes the new leadership team to Zeidler Group, saying, “Our community, state, and nation are currently facing an extraordinary time of transition. Now more than ever, the work of the Zeidler Group is critical in helping our community engage in productive dialogue that can help change the course of our city. This team’s strong leadership and expertise will continue to build trust and bring about positive change.”

“The Zeidler Group, along with Interfaith, were both formed with the aspirational goal of connecting community,” Pardeep said. “Both organizations’ profound reliance on moderators and community involvement speaks to a unique type of service model. With a location in the heart of the city, we have a duty to facilitate difficult dialogue across race, religion, ethnicity, language, regionality, gender, and experience dynamics. We aim to foster understanding which serves as the impetus for positive reform at the individual and societal level.”

The Zeidler Group will use this transition as an opportunity to assess how Zeidler Group can best serve the community in a year of unprecedented challenges. Under Pardeep’s leadership, Zeidler Group will develop new methods for delivering remote services, while forging new connections, creating partnerships, and building trust. The Zeidler Group Board and Executive team will be meeting over the coming weeks to address immediate community needs and develop opportunities for positive dialogue and connection.

About the Zeidler Group

Founded in 2006, Zeidler Group is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping people have difficult conversations. It leads with a new tagline “Building Bridges. Facilitating Change.” which reflects the organization’s Mission to foster civil dialogue and invite trust in the midst of differences. The Zeidler Group keeps true to former Milwaukee Mayor Frank P. Zeidler’s Legacy of holding dialogues across divides. Zeidler Group also provides place-based support to individuals, communities, institutions and businesses on the local, national and international level. We offer training and workshops, professional facilitation, team building, strategic planning, change management and community engagement services. Over the past 3 years our team of professional facilitators have worked in 3 different countries and served 15,000+ dialogue participants.

In 2020, Zeidler Group launched its new program model that integrates public discussions, workshops on contemporary topics and facilitator certification. The Frank Talks series is a monthly public conversations series about important issues and subjects. Frank Talks take place the First Tuesday of each month at 7:00 pm. The July 7, 2020 series topic will be A Conversation on Mental Health: “Taking Care of You.”

For more information find the Zeidler Group online at: www.zeidlergroup.org

About Pardeep Kaleka

Pardeep Kaleka is Executive Director of Zeidler Group, Executive Director of Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee, Founder of Serve2Unite, Published Author of “The Gifts of Our Wounds,” Award-winning Community Relations columnist and Clinician specializing in utilizing a trauma-informed approach to treat survivors and perpetrators of assault, abuse and acts of violence. A native of Punjab, India, Pardeep Singh Kaleka grew up in Milwaukee, WI. As a former Police Officer and Educator in the city of Milwaukee Pardeep understands many of the dynamic difficulties facing communities locally and abroad. Both in his practice and out, Pardeep’s passion remains one of healing and loving transformation. An example of this is Serve2Unite, an organization he co-founded in response to tragedy. This organization engages communities in building healthy social fabric and communal identity to address conflict from a trauma-informed lens.

About Sharon McMurray

Ms. McMurray has over 3 decades of experience in management and as a business-owner. She is well-known in the Milwaukee community as a leader, mentor to young women, volunteer and activist, taking on the plight of the poor, disabled and the disenfranchised to heart. Over 5 years ago, Ms. McMurray decided to become a Zeidler Group Facilitator as a way to grow personally and expand her repertoire of expertise in interpersonal communication and listening. Since that time, she has been an essential part of the Zeidler Group’s Facilitation leadership team, supporting both the staff and participants with her dependability, breadth of expertise, clarity of communication and facilitation skills. She was honored as the Zeidler Group’s 2019 Facilitator of the Year. In 2020, with the retirement of Dr. Katherine Wilson, Ms. McMurray served as Interim Director. With Pardeep Kaleka’s addition, Ms. McMurray will continue as Program Director for the organization.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.